Cover Image: The Space Between Worlds

The Space Between Worlds

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The Space Between Worlds is the debut novel by author Micaiah Johnson. I didn't know anything about the novel going in to reading it - the novel's description was interesting enough on Netgalley for me to place a request, but I'd seen no press for it and hasn't heard of the author prior to requesting it. I'd even managed to forget that plot summary in the month between my request of the book and when I started reading (this is not that uncommon, I like going into books cold). All of which is to say I didn't have any expectations of The Space Between Worlds going into this novel.

But if I'd had any expectations, I think they'd easily have been blown away. The Space Between Worlds is absolutely tremendous, a piece of fascinating SciFi featuring a fascinating exploration of themes of class, race, family and love, to go along with a story featuring multiversal travel. It's lead character is absolutely tremendous, and the rest of the cast is excellent in their own ways as the plot takes some fascinating turns from beginning to end. And the themes it hits and explores are done so well, and so damn poignant to today's world. This a must read, that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------
In a future version of our world, a man discovered the Multiverse....and how to send someone from our Earth into another one. There's just one catch: while materials and objects can be taken from another Earth without problem, people cannot travel from one Earth into another in which another version of themselves still lives. If they try, the new Earth rejects them, painfully and horribly, and spits them back out. And so, to travel to other Earths, and to gain all the knowledge that can be obtained from them, you need to find people who are already dead in those worlds....and the people most likely to be dead in many worlds are the people who are only barely surviving in this one....

People like Cara. Caramenta grew up an Ashtowner, a resident of the poor Desert town/city that exists outside the walled controlled wealthy Wiley City. Ashtown is controlled by its cruel emperor Nik Nik, and Cara knows the cruelty of the Emperor and his runners full well, to say nothing of the life as the daughter of a woman who was once a Worker (prostitute) for the House. After all, in the 380 Earths that humans can reach, Cara is dead in all but 8 of them. Which makes her the perfect traverser for the Eldridge Institute - able to travel and gather information for its rich masters to nearly every world out there. And in return, Cara is able to live in comfort in a city that would otherwise never accept her presence....even if she knows no true residents will ever look at her like an equal.

But one of Cara's dopplegangers on the 8 remaining Earths dies, Cara's mission to that Earth - a totally new one to her - goes horribly wrong. And in the process she will learn more about herself, and all the worlds than she ever realized before - a knowledge that will suggest she has merely traded one barbaric wasteland for another.....
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The Space Between Worlds packs a ton into its not too long page-length. We have travel between multiverses! A pair of contrasting towns - one a desert wasteland ruled by a brutal emperor and his "runners", with a Church and a House (of Prostitution) as the other major institutions; the other a rich walled off city with control over weather and people live on higher and higher levels like an archology! A main character with a dark secret past, a love of family and a longing for a woman she might never be able to have! This setting and its characters pack a ton into this one novel, with twists that other books might have made major climactic surprises being revealed as early as the second chapter here. And it all works all so damn well.

The Space Between Worlds is a book about Class....and Power.....and Family.......and Love. It's all of these things at once and it nails all of these themes tremendously in multiple ways. The theme of class is the most prominent, with the nature of multiversal travel meaning that the rich once more need the poor people like Cara they discarded, and exploit them until they're of no more use - as seen in an early sequence in which another traverser is fired because there are no longer any worlds to which she can travel but others cannot. And of course, the rich are exploiting the multiversal project to do things like get information on the stock market and whatnot, because of course they are. Meanwhile, the poor who aren't lucky enough to be traversers are stuck in a desert wasteland ruled by a cruel emperor who would kill any who might be seen as insulting him, and the only other two powers are a House of Worship run in large part by a teenager and a House of Pleasure for any with money to pay.

In other books, this setup would be enough to make the point on class, but The Space Between Worlds does more, and does so tremendously effectively, as Cara's journey in the multiverse reveals quite clearly that the differences in people of different classes - in their backgrounds, in their behaviors, and well everything is basically just an illusion. "Warlord, Emperor, CEO.....No Difference:" one character remarks eventually, and this book proves it so damn true. And honestly, even with that quote, it's never heavy handed about the whole thing, or really too heavy handed, with the book showing us the situation as much as it tells us though Cara's internal monologue. I could seriously write a full essay about class differences and power in this book, but uh, I won't here. But it'd be a damn deep essay.

And really, what a monologue, because Cara is a tremendous heroine and main character. Due to her tragic history, and of course the knowledge that she has died nearly 400 times in other worlds, she's a character who at first is desperate to survive, and to hold on to what little good things she has: the sister and family she loves back in Ashtown and the safety and security in the City, and maybe the voice of the woman who she longs for but doesn't believe could ever love her. Cara is a badass at surviving, but at the same time, she harbors such tremendous self doubt and hatred of herself for where she comes from and what she did to get there. But as the plot goes on, and Cara is confronted with a world with a major difference from the one she calls home, one that throws her for a loop at first but proves not to be as different as it seems on first appearance, Cara's determination moves her in a new direction- a direction towards an acceptance of who she herself is, and of what she has to do for herself to truly feel worth the things she cares about. It's a tremendous journey of character development and she's so great in it all. The other characters in this book are perhaps hit or miss: some of them are mere skeletons (the love interest Dell is honestly the most notable of these) while others, like Cara's stepsister Esther, who is a religious leader of such strength and conviction and caring you could write another entire book about her, are more developed - but honestly it doesn't matter because Cara carries everything so well.

Again, I could go on and on about this book in many many different ways, but if I do any further here I'm afraid I won't ever stop. It's just such a deep book, with fantastic characters, and a plot that will just draw you in from start to finish and won't let you go, with you being too drawn in to notice some of the tricks it's pulling until it's too late. And it ends on such a perfect note, in a way that's powerful and yet, in a rarity for this type of book with these themes, in a way that is not depressing at all.

Must Read. And I don't say that lightly.

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Very clever World hopping scifi, using the multiverse as metaphor. The Eldrdige corporation has figured out how to send a few Traversers to other closely similar worlds in the metaverse. Our heroine has seen her lives and deaths on several hundred earths, each with slightly different consequences. As we learn more about her loves, families, and the dystopian Earth’s factions, we are rooting for her to help save her “real” earth from dire consequences. The notion of moving material across the metaverse to help other Earths is well handled. A very good read.

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Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is an intelligent, well written sci fi novel that has philosophied the concept of a multi universe. We look thorough the lenses of our heroine who despite the odds of surviving in other words she has beat those odds. While her thoughts are bleak and her life that of a traveler whose worth is based on how well she can travel from Earth to earth, her determination to rise above expectation is admirable. The author did a terrific job creating a realistic picture of what a multi universe would be like and setting the rules of traveling.
While the plot did lag in parts it's a story worth reading.

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I loved the concept for this novel--"Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive"--and was thrilled when it became about much more than the logistics of inter-universe traversing. The title, "The Space Between Worlds" is about much more than a multitude of Earths--Cara finds herself between the worlds of Ashtown and Wiley, between the worlds of "Rurals" and "Runners" and between the worlds of love and indifference. Twists abound throughout, creating complex scenarios beyond the complications of mutiverse travel.

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*** I”ve received this ARC in exchange for an honest review ***

TLDR: a solid sci fi must read for 2020!

I’ve been really enjoying this read. This feels like a sci-fi that focuses on dimensional travel, but simplifies it in such a way where you don’t have to know physics or science to understand the technology or how it works. The author perfectly meshes spirituality with science in such a way that brings meaning to the saying that sufficiently advanced science looks like magic, and it totally does here.

The clear class and racial differences also add another layer onto the story that ties tit well together. Without the social structure, I feel that it would not have worked well to tie the story together.

I wasn’t always a fan of the relationships portrayed, but who does?, however they seemed realistic. It’s hard to escape some things. It was just so interesting to see how the various characters played out in different worlds, and what did or did not happen in her’s.

I’ve enjoyed my time in their worlds, and would give a hardy recommend to other readers who enjoy sci-fi but don’t want to dive into a reference book every time they read. This is pure reading enjoyment.

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Good stuff. Imaginative, good amount of action, and fun time travel. It has well written characters, good pacing, and the right amount of suspense. I may have to read it again -- fun. Recommended.

Thank you very much for the ARC for review!!

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This book is about a woman who travels to many alternate worlds. I enjoyed the difference and the similarities of alternate worlds. Not just with her but the other ones in the story. How small changes in people's choices makes a difference. It's not so science detailed that it's impossible to read but does get slightly detailed on the experience of the travel. I wasn't happy with the way it ended but that is more of a personal preference. I liked this book and would recommend it. I would read more books by this author.

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I thought was crazy cool and really well written and I loved the concept (young people traveling to alternative versions of Earth and bringing back data that can help save our own planet from disease, natural disasters, etc.) and the book explores some really interesting and relevant themes (specifically race, poverty and sexuality). There are at least 5-6 awesome twists that I did not see coming, and it's definitely one of the better sci-fi books i've read recently!

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The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is a story about the multiverse and what would happen if we could travel between these worlds. Cara is a traveler. She walks the space between parallel worlds and gathers information to bring home. She can do this because on most worlds she is dead. That is the one thing she is good at doing, dying. Her doppelgängers are only living on eight versions of Earth that can be traveled to. This makes her something special as most people can't travel to as many worlds as she can.

I really enjoyed the idea of alternate versions of the world, but for me it was the relationship of the characters that really made the story for me. Dell is Cara's handler at Eldridge and from the opening we see that she cares, and that Cara thrives in those moments. In person Dell seems aloof though and Cara can't help flirting with her.Then there is Nik Nik the Emperor of the Ashtown, who Cara thinks she knows on every world. Ester Cara's sister who is wise while still being innocent. These characters are mix of rough and polished and it works well to see the contrast of the city and Ashtown and the people from both.

The author opens with a very reflective almost philosophical writing style. It isn't maintained through out the story though and most of the story is told in an easily accessible style. This isn't a young adult book but it reads like one. The story doesn't go into the details of the science fiction invention that allows for the travel between Earths, but you know it is there. Overall this was a light read. I think it will be best enjoyed by readers of young adult fantasy/science fiction.

I enjoyed escaping to different Earths with Cara.

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This book was great. The characters were unique and interesting and so diverse. The plot was fun and intense and kept me guessing all the way through to the end. I really enjoyed it.

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Unfortunately, I'm marking this as DNF/did not finish. While the beginning was intriguing, I found the excessive usage of exposition made it difficult to fully get into the flow of the story, particularly due to the dry prose. While it was intriguing when we learned that Caramenta was from another world rather than the one she lives in, it wasn't enough to invest me in reading. I also found the world-building inconsistent at points and confusing at others. If Caramenta gets brutally injured to the point of death when she arrives in another Earth where Nelline still lives, why can she continue to exist there after healing? If two people can't exist in the same world together, it should hold true for the rest of their stay there, even if they've healed. It was interesting that Nelline and Caramenta couldn't look at each other because their brains rioted, believing they were hallucinating from poison, but that didn't remain consistent either, as later on in the book Nelline and Caramenta seemed to look at each other quite often due to their understanding of each other's expressions. I needed logic behind that, and perhaps we get information later on, but I'm not invested enough in the plot or the characters to continue reading.

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"It is only one world in infinite universes where this impossible happiness exists, but that is what makes it so valuable."

This was, in short, a very good book. I'll preface my review by saying that the multiverse is one of my FAVORITE topics in science fiction, and The Space Between Worlds was a fascinating and unique application of the idea. Johnson weaves together believable science, a Mad-Max esque dystopian society on the fringes of an equally dystopian utopia, and poignant commentary on class and race to create a unique and thoroughly breathtaking tale. While the world-building was also great, one of the best parts was that this, like most of my favorite science fiction, was firmly grounded in humanity. This novel explored notions of the multiverse but also meditated on topics of psychology and philosophy. It asked questions such as: what causes people to act as they do? Is there such thing as an "ideal" version of ourselves? Are we as people capable of change, or are we so firmly grounded in our ways as to be intractable? And all this without being too-heavy handed.

Furthermore, Cara was a remarkable protagonist with the kind of strong, singular voice I often fail to see in contemporary sci-fi. I also thought her romance with Dell was lovely. I would strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a refreshing, heartfelt science fiction story that will stay with you long after the final page.

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THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS has almost everything a good science fiction tale needs: great quotes from physicists and philosophers to tickle our imaginations as we begin sections, compelling characters that dazzle and charm and a backstory that engages; but somehow it just doesn’t quite pull everything together. Author Micaiah Johnson has crafted an impressive novel and one that kept me engaged for the most part. I just kept wondering why the tale felt repetitive when it didn’t need to; when there was so much available to wow me further. Even when there were great twists in the story, they were repeated too often to keep them fresh. Perhaps this book would do better with a younger audience, there’s nothing here to prevent young adults from adoring this book. For SF readers, it was a tad repetitive and a bit too long. But these are minor complaints for a book that is worth reading. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

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I love science fiction about cross-dimensional travel and this is a great one. I've always been fascinated by the concept of the multi-verse and of meeting your Doppelgänger on another world. This book explores the idea of traveling to other versions of the world where things have turned out differently. While it is not easy to survive a trip to a world where you already exist in this book, it does happen. The storyline is full of twists that will keep you guessing.

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I absolutely adored this book. I haven’t felt like reading lately and this book hooked me right from the start. I enjoyed the whole thing.

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The Space Between Worlds is a mystery, a love story, a world-building science fiction story that succeeds at all three. The protagonist works at a unique job that allows her to experience virtually unlimited versions of her own world with the resulting interaction between those worlds affecting everyone on her “own” world. The existence of multiple versions of herself and everyone she interacts with provides multiple interlacing stories that are ably kept clear and intriguingly revealed by a masterful story teller. The relationships created and the world moving events of this story beg a sequel - al least one. There are multiple story lines that are left open and the appetite for their continuation is wetted.

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this is a unique, beautifully crafted story. i was immersed almost instantly and grew to love this story so much. i will reccomend this to all my friends, because this is not one to miss

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Wow! Micaiah Johnson has written a book with so much depth and constantly changing enigma that it was hard to put down.
It made me think of the many facets of a person, each singled out to be a different version of themselves. Ever thought that with just one different choice, or change in circumstances you might be a different person? Or heard the old adage, "But for the grace of God, there go I?" That's what I thought of while reading "The Space Between Worlds". Cara is sent to do a job and doing that job forces her to come in contact with different versions of people she's either known and loved, or known and feared. The hard part is that on most of the worlds she visits she's already died, otherwise she couldn't visit those worlds, she couldn't go into the space between worlds if there was a version of her still living...or could she? And what would be the consequences if she did? She has to come to terms with those different versions of people she knew on her own world and choose how to either trust them, or escape from them, learn when to let go and when to hold on.
This is easily the best book I've read so far this year and it will stick with me for quite some time.

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This book immersed me in so many different worlds all at once so beautifully. The story pieced together perfectly. And the romance had ME pining for more. A novel truly out of this world.

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Cara is a cross-dimensional traveler who visits worlds where her parallel selves are no more - dead from a life that could have easily taken her. She is a survivor with a big enough heart that when things start to turn south, she fights. She carries around a guilt for surviving when her alternate selves have not, but knows that the world she lives in is cruel and uncaring and it is every person for themselves. The author gives us an emotional four parts in this book, each filled with secrets, adventures, and a heavy plot that leaves you aching until the end.

This novel delves deep in identity, privilege and belonging. It's a world where you take any opportunity thrown your way; and for Cara, she doesn't hesitate to leave her previous life not for a second. If it means keeping secrets from her employers and kind-of-crush, Dell, then it's a risk she's more than willing to take. She finds that she is very good at her job, and it's easy to go with the flow of it. We witness the struggles Cara faces with her survival when her other, alternate selves, have not. But in a cruel world where her people are looked down on, and given little to no opportunity to strive, she carries herself with her head held high and knows that one wrong move could have all if it crumbling down.

I personally had no idea where this book was going, but it strung me up and took me for one wild ride. Oh boy, I had no idea I was going to feel like this when I finished. It was a stunning debut, and though the premise seems like it would lean heavily into sci-fi, I found that it wasn't and I didn't even mind. I was more interested in the characters and the world-building - which, absolutely stunning. We get a diverse world, with diverse characters, and a build-up that did not disappoint.

Looking for a book filled with political intrigue, deception, incredible world-building and characters with an engrossing story? This is for you.

CW: abuse, torture, gore

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

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