Breathtakingly complex and intricately built. This multi-author novel has exceeded my expectations, and the clear shifts in voice only enhance the narrative, adding layers to believable characters who inhabit this brutal but hopeful future world.

Transmentation|Transcience is a multiverse based book co-authored by 5 people. I have never read a book coauthored by so many, and of the authors the only one I’d read previously is Cadwell Turnbull (whose work I really like).

I was simultaneously intrigued by this book and slightly... apprehensive? I do think that multiverse books can be a bit ‘all over the place’ (ha!) and at times hard to follow, and I was concerned that with so many voices contributing the result might feel really messy. It doesn’t. It is, if anything, a relatively linear story that is not too hard to follow. There are a lot of characters, and this does mean the reader gets less time with each; some stood out to me more than others and a few I thought could’ve been done without.

The focus is on Burel Hird, a society that has colonized many worlds, some more thoroughly than others – worlds ranging from ‘outside’ to ‘fully under Burel Hird control’ to in betweens like ‘there are some Burel Hird agents there.’ Inevitably, there are multiple factions within and adjacent to Burel Hird with a range of ideologies and motivations and not all want Burel Hird’s dominance to continue. It is in this context that the main plot – related to an experiment, the machinations of the ruling Council, and an assassination attempt – unfolds.

This is described as being “the first book in a sweeping multiverse of adventure and intrigue;” I will pick up whatever is published next in this world for sure. I am keen to learn more about the worlds of this universe, which the first book only gave glimpses of.

Content warnings: violence, gun violence, colonization, murder

Thank you Blackstone Publishing, the authors, & NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review.

This novel takes place in a sprawling multiverse, but there’s no physical travel between worlds. Instead, only your consciousness can travel between universes, jumping from host body to host body. These extra bodies are known as “proxies.”—still exist when you’re not there, with spouses and families and skills and ways of speaking, but they’re just facsimiles, going about a preset routine. If you travel to a universe you’ve never been before, a new proxy is knitted out of whole cloth, retroactively having lived out a full life for you to slip into. Reality, in every universe, bends around these travelers.

The novel has a lot to “savor” in the characters, politicians and warriors and family men; there’s a lot to love in the plots, whether it’s intrigue, prophecy, romance, or even legal drama; and there’s a lot to ponder in the ideas it tackles. Its central premise alone—transferring consciousness between bodies—throws up a hundred questions of ethics, mind-body relations, and cosmology, and many of the characters, by nature of their existence as travelers, spends a good amount of time wrestling with what they believe. The author consists of five authors that wrote this science fiction novel. I was surprised that so many authors “wrote” this novel. I would had never guessed as the novel is so well written. I enjoyed this first volume of a trilogy.

This book is a wild ride of massive proportions. This is science fiction meets the west wing. It's one of those stories that you try to explain to a friend only to fall down a rabbit hole of details.
The team that is Darkly Lem has stitched together a mind bending story of travelers jumping from body to body across universes. The story focuses on the lives of several operatives on different sides of a multi-universe power struggle.

I really enjoyed the world building and the character development in this book. Getting used to the terms and culture of travelers was a small hurdle at the beginning, but before long it seems oddly easy. There is a good amount of action and a lot of political intrigue.

I think the only real issue I had was near the end. I don't want to post to much and spoil the plot, but there is a lot of time in the book dedicated to three characters that have a fateful encounter in the very first chapter. I didn't feel like their story went anywhere of value in this volume. I enjoyed how their various encounters unraveled more of the mechanics of the Simulacrum, but there just wasn't much payoff for all their maneuvering.

I really enjoyed the weird journey of this book. This is a very different kind of sci-fi story and I'm really happy with the final product. I look forward to what comes nex.t

Darkly Lem’s richly woven tapestry of a science fiction novel asks us who we are, deeper than the flesh and memories that imprison us, and if we can ever escape the societies that we belong to. Characters jump from universe to universe, from shell to shell, seeking to hold on to core identity that they're not always confident exists. In lieu of the certainty of self, they lean on that of belonging to something greater than themselves–even when their society betrays them, they cling tightly to this sense of meaning in their lives. As someone who suffers from mental illness, I found the themes of identity fascinating.

And as a fan of expansive, thrilling science fiction, I was equally drawn in. There were universes of political scheming to match the White Tower, and others of fighting bug-eyed monsters with stolen swords. There was love, or friendship, or some ambiguous tangle that's both and neither, lost beneath ambition. Each fantastical world is as richly detailed as the characters that inhabit it, and they're combined to tell a captivating, satisfying tale.

Like Darkly Lem (who is five authors in an impeccably tailored trench coat, in their own words), Transmentation | Transcience: [insert book’s subtitle here] is several different stories woven into a cohesive novel.

What is it about? To quote the book itself, TT is a “work of speculative history,” written by individuals from a society that is mentioned but never actually shows up. There is a disclaimer and everything, in a very academic style that thankfully does not persist throughout the book. In fact, it’s really easy to forget that bit of information as you read, because immediately after, the action starts, sweeping you up into various worlds and the wildly different tones and tensions of each.

Every universe is unique, even if they are affiliated with the same society. One thing you have to get over very quickly is that these dimensions don’t just differ in minor ways. They are completely different, working on different laws of physics and biology and what have you. We’re talking worlds made of coral and flying whales (no hotdog fingers, though). This was where it got confusing for me, personally, especially since interplanetary travel and aliens are also a thing. Still, the creativity is off the charts, and the physical, cultural, and administrative differences are all amazing, building beautiful settings that bring the worlds vividly to life.

There’s a lot that goes on in this book. So many people, places, and plots to keep track of, with many threads and details you have to hold onto in your mind until the end when things start to pay off. It can be a lot, but I think it’s worth it. (Note: it’s definitely easier to read in a digital format where you can do a word search). Thing is, TT is very much a first book, laying the foundations for what hopefully comes next, and thus the pacing is a bit off.

That said, it’s still a very fun read. There are spies, bar brawls, and conspiracies upon conspiracies, but also moments of contemplation and softness. It could also easily be interpreted as messy and tangential at times; guess it depends on what you take away from it.

And there’s a lot you can take away from it. Like any good book that tackles the multiverse, there are questions about who you are and what makes you you. I don’t know if I’m projecting, but I also see some elements that hit very close to home, considering the current (waves hands at the world). Burel Hird’s imperialism and Firmāre’s quest for profit by any means necessary may be born in different worlds, but the same is definitely happening here and now, and I’m very much invested in how things work out in the series while trying to escape from our own realities.

If there’s one thing I want to see from future books, it’s how the characters, so embedded in their societies’ beliefs, break free from them instead of follow them. For now, I’ll have to settle in to wait for the next book and hope that others have joined me by the time it’s out.

Transmentation | Transcience: Or, an Accession to the People’s Council for Nine Thousand Worlds by Darkly Lem, is a science fiction/speculative fiction gem. This book is not for passive or cozy science fiction reader.

Transmentation was obviously meant to be the introduction to a complex and multi-layered series where the reader must commit for the long haul. The five authors, Caldwell Trunbull, Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, and M. Darusha Wehm make up the Darkly Lem consortium slowly and deliberately build up a cast of characters and complex multiverse in this first installment of what promises to be an engaging series.

Thank you, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 stars
Pub Date: Mar 18 2025

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“Transmentation|Transcience” by Darkly Lem is an exciting experiment in science fiction, and would be particularly appreciated by those who enjoy their scifi with a bit of mystery and political intrigue mixed in. The first chapter of the book begins with meeting representatives of three of the societies of importance for the book, though we very quickly leave all of those characters behind to focus on the political narrative of Burel Hird, the society of most focus throughout the novel. Although we do later return to most of the characters from chapter 1, this quick change of focus does make it hard to remember the original cast of characters when they do reappear. I think this is a function of the entire Part I of the story, as the reader is quickly tossed between different groups that do not seem to have any overlap with each other. However, as the novel goes on, the characters flesh out more and the main characters gain their own voices, making them easier to remember and distinguish. The Interludes, in particular, distinguish themselves quickly as the setting is very different from the rest of the novel.

The pacing of the book is a bit slow but it also fits the plot and the focus of the story - which is mostly on the political interactions between the multiple factions and worlds. Although there are moments of action, these are rare as Darkly Lem spends most of their words slowly making readers question who are the heroes to root for, and changing that answer as the story goes on. Some time is spent on developing the multiverse of worlds that exist in the novel, as well as their way of traveling between them, but more time is spent in conversation between two or more characters, and slowly revealing a major political situation from multiple points of view. I found this very engaging and by the time the pace picked up towards the end, I was fully on board with solving the mystery.

Despite being a group of 5 authors, Darkly Lem weaved each of their unique voices into a pretty cohesive narrative in this book. I received this book as an ARC (and am providing my honest review) after reading No Monsters, No Gods by Cadwell Turnbull (a member of Darkly Lem) and I think other fans of his would also like this book. Although it takes some time to get into, the payoff at the end is completely worth it.

I was provided both an ALC and ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is perfect for fans of Caldwell Turnbull's No Gods, No Monsters and the Convergence Saga. Turnbull is a member of the author who make up Darkly Lem, the other authors in the collaboration are Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, and M. Darusha Wehm. This didn't feel like it was written by multiple authors, and felt like a cohesive effort by the five members that make up Darkly Lem. If you enjoy that style of writing and storytelling you will enjoy this sci-fi, speculative fiction. This touches on politics, philosophy, environmental factors, corruption, self-reflection, and more.

Overall I really enjoyed this. It is strange in the best way, and while the pacing is a bit slow that fit the plot as it develops and the characters move about the multiverse. It is told from several different perspectives, but I had a hard time telling the characters apart and perhaps that was by design. There is a definite undertone of self-reflection by the characters as they move from place to place and they question their own identities. A major part of the plot is that characters can travel the multiverse and they inhabit different "husks" in different worlds. Their consciousness travels, while their "prime body" stays put, but don't quote me on that I'm still not 100% clear on that point. Some people have the ability to travel on their own, while others can move multiple people at once and the characters visit something akin to a train station to travel. It wasn't always clear if the character was another person when they traveled or if they were themselves, and that was a bit confusing for me. This is one of those books that I feel like upon re-read I would really understand the world and the science much better. I enjoyed the various characters once I got comfortable with their plotlines and motivations. There is alot going on and I was left with that feeling of "What did I just read?" when I was done. With this book that is meant as a huge compliment to the authors as I want to start over and dive back in because this book was so intriguing and interesting. I want to pick up on all of those things that I missed the first time through and pay closer attention to certain characters. I believe this is the beginning of a series and will 100% continue on.

They lost me. I know there's an audience for this novel that's really a mutliverse from a team of writers but I'm just not it. It's not that it went over my head (it did) it's that I was unable to connect with any one character. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.

I was hooked in the first chapter—what a compelling read! Just the kind of Kindle reading novel I love reading before bedtime! At first, the extensive dramatis personae made me uneasy. Worrying that the worldbuilding would be overly expository and dense. Leaving me to struggle and give up on a weird SF version of a 19th-century Russian novel trying to keep all the names and concepts straight. My concerns were unfounded. My second concern was the different writing styles of the various authors wouldn't work, that I would favor some more than the others. This was not a problem as it worked well given the novel features alternating POVs. I look forward to future volumes!

This was a good read. I do enjoy when a book can deliver a complex and compelling storyline with enough levity to keep me from getting bogged down by the hard science on which the book is based. This is a multiverse jaunt that has multidimensional travel, alien life, political intrigue, and interesting characters that held ne until the end.

This is clearly a FREAKING EXCELLENT book – I am in AWE of the worldbuilding, and the writing is crisp and quick without sacrificing complexity.

But, uh. I am too dumb for this, basically.

It’s not that Transmentation | Transience is hard sci-fi, full of technical details that make no sense to us laypeople – it isn’t! But it does take the ‘swim or drown’ approach to explaining to us what’s going on, and while I do normally love that, I have realised that I love it when the water is much shallower than this. Here, the reader is dropped into the middle of – well, everything, and everything involves multiple alternate realities which each have (as they should!) wildly different societies/cultures/relationships to each other/etc. I found this dizzying, to be honest. There were so many proper nouns thrown at me immediately without explanation or even much context – just the character list at the beginning of the book is incredibly confusing! – that it rapidly became overwhelming.

There also wasn’t really any incentive to push through it and continue: I didn’t actually like any of the bits of worldbuilding I could make sense of, I didn’t find any of the characters especially interesting, and I can overlook all of that if I’m given really scrumptious prose, but that’s not the style here. I’m very impressed, but I wasn’t enjoying it, and it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which I would come back and try again.

On a technical, writerly level, I think this is amazing. I just don’t want to read it.

Five authors, one premise -- while I really, truly, love the experimental nature of this book, I don't think it avoided the "too many cooks" curse. Combined with that of a multiverse story, it's like asking five people to draw a maze from memory on trace paper then flatten them together to reveal... chaos. So many ideas, not enough practical story application for them. Story always has to be king.

All of that being said, I absolutely want these kinds of experimentations to continue. I love what it brings to the table. But it needs to be more cohesive and driven by either story or character; ideally both. Not just ideas.

“Transmentation|Transcience” by Darkly Lem is a deep dive into a futuristic multiverse that deals with themes of corruption, power, conspiracies, exploration, and identity. Through a wide cast of characters, readers are introduced to societies and factions within the multiverse where nothing and no one is exactly who they appear to be.

A lot of world-building has been carefully thought out to create such a complex and vivid multiverse for the characters (and readers) to traverse. When it comes to fiction, especially science fiction, it’s easier to get into a story when the authors have a good comprehension of the rules and laws of the world they’ve created and what that world looks like. Not to mention, it’s easier for the setting to feel more tangible like it actually, totally exists somewhere in the universe. At the same time, the amount of information felt overwhelming and made it hard to follow at times. Yet, the pro of having so much thrown at the reader is that there is time to adapt and figure out what is going on versus having the story feel underdeveloped and left with unanswered questions.

There was a good mix of characters, each one having their own positions in these societies and multiverses. This created a good contrast of characters who had their own motivations and goals inspiring their actions. Sometimes I found the style of the writing or the voices of the characters blended and they lost their unique characterization, making it hard for me to keep the cast of characters separate when reading. I was also sad that one of the characters I really liked played a minor role in the story. It made me question why it was necessary to have them in the book at all and if the beginning could’ve started differently.

Overall, this was a fascinating read with a lot for the reader to chew on. Unfortunately, having not read a lot of sci-fi, I feel I wasn’t the perfect reader for this book as I often felt lost and confused. Those who enjoy science fiction will likely enjoy what this book is doing and what it has to offer for the genre. Even I can tell Darkly Lem is doing something really cool with this book and pushing against the margins of what sci-fi is all about. The writing style also wasn’t intriguing to me, making it hard to get into the book and keep going to the end. It felt neutral and almost monotone, like a retelling of events instead of a narrator invested (or interested) in the events taking place. While this was likely intentional, it didn’t help me fall in love with the story or the characters. Still, for five writers working to create a unified, cohesive story, they did a pretty good job and there will be a lot of sci-fi readers out there who will appreciate and enjoy Darkly Lem’s intent with this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and Darkly Lem for providing me with an e-arc of this story and the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review. “Transmentation|Transcience” by Darkly Lem is expected to be published on March 18th, 2025.

This was a wild ride.
Speculative science fiction about identity and relating to the world. This was told primarily through dialogue between all of the characters but had a lot of plot.

A very interesting way to tell a story.

Thanks to netgalley and blackstone publishing for an eARC.

This book was an interesting collaboration. I though it was going to be hard to follow but, it held my attention for the most part with the characters and the multi worlds. The characters were truly well written into this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

This is an interesting science fiction novel, set in a futuristic multiverse. It is written jointly by five science fiction authors using the pseudonym of "Darkly Lem". (I presume this is somehow an allusion to the great Polish sf writer Stanislaw Lem). I have only previously read solo works by one of the authors in the consortium: the excellent Cadwell Turnbull. The book is an engaging and rich narrative, set in a multiverse of sufficient complexity that it is so far hard to get a line on all the issues at stake. This book is only the first volume of what will be a multi-volume series, and it works mostly just to set things up -- many things are left hanging at the end of the book. There is a series of universes, most of which seem to have only one known inhabited planet. There are methods of traveling between the universes: when you go from one to another, you find yourself in a different body in each universe. When you go somewhere else, the body you leave behind seemingly functions autonomously on its own until you return, but it only does routine activities when it is by itself. There is no sense of consciousness for the abandoned bodies, though the travelers find their personality inflected by the particular body they are in at any given time. This shifting of identities is the most interesting aspect of the novel. Various political schemes are afoot between the different worlds (or between the powers on these different worlds). One of them is clearly imperialistic, others seem to be continually varying; the stakes of the power struggles are not entirely clear. What we mostly get is vivid pictures of particular individuals who travel from one universe to another, and who sometimes come into conflict. None of these individuals, however, is able to discern the big picture (assuming such even exists). There are maneuvers, fights, adaptations, and even an assassination of a leading political figure in one world. I have little sense of where this series is going, but it was engaging enough that I will read future volumes. I remain curious about the division of labor among the five authors.

This was really fun, if not a little weird. Which I don't mind at all! A true sci-fi experience, and not for the casual sci-fi fan. I'm going to buy it for my husband when it's released because this is 1000% his domain.

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. There is definitely a lot going on in it and there's definitely more to explore. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but it is a solid start to a potential series.