Review of Worldlines

[Rachael S 1]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Worldlines" by Adam Guest.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Worldlines by Adam Guest is a mystery thriller in the science fiction genre. This novel deals with the revelation of multiple universes that exist at the same time and place, separated by single defining events.

The story begins with Gary Jackson racing to cross the street before being hit by a large truck. On his way, he drops his pen and reaches down to grab it, and, with encouragement from his friends, dives to the side to barely miss being hit by the truck. The result of the event gives him the courage to ask out his school crush, Michelle.

Five years later, Gary and his best friend, Sinead are attending a university physics class where they discuss near-death situations that they have been in and how the theory of the creation of multiple parallel universes could be born from that moment. Gary then goes home and plans a skiing holiday with his now girlfriend Michelle, where they discuss the options of getting married and moving in together. The pair return from their trip and attend a birthday party thrown by Sinead. Suddenly, Gary finds himself in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, but no memory of the event.

Five years later, in a parallel universe, Gary is a long-term mental health patient dealing with depression and post-traumatic stress from when a truck hit while crossing the street. He is living with his girlfriend, Sinead, yet still bitter that his school crush, Michelle, turned him down when he asked her out. One night, he has a dream that he is at a party with Michelle and stabs her in the neck right before he wakes up.

The multiple Garys' were created from the near-death incident of the truck. In one world, Gary escapes the truck with nothing more than a bad memory, in another, Gray is hit full-on and must deal with the consequences. However, now one Gary has found a way to affect the actions of another Gray in a parallel universe and the Garys must find a way to save Gary from prison for the murder of his girlfriend.

I love the idea of this story. How one action can have ripple effects that create multiple universes to play out each scenario of the action. The author does a good job at creating characters that you become invested in. When one Gary kills the girlfriend of another Gary, your heart breaks because you know how much Gary loved her. Each world the author creates from the truck accident is a very real reality with characters that are slightly adjusted based on the experiences and circumstances that they are dealt with.

One of the negatives to this story is because there are so many timelines, conversations are repeated a few times. After a while, this is kind of wearing on the reader to read and then re-read situations. Another issue is how the storyline can be a little dull at times while the author tries to lay the groundwork for future events in parallel universes. It can be a little difficult to hang on in the beginning, but it is worth the wait. Once you get into the "meat" of the story, the storyline moves at a very rapid pace that keeps you glued.

I would rate this book a four out of four stars. It was a fun read, and I am excited to get onto the next book in the series. There were a few run-on sentences and a handful of errors, mainly spacing and punctuation issues. Overall, the book was professionally edited and a joy to read.

This book will appeal to anyone who is a fan of science fiction, especially those who are a fan of the multi-universe theory. Any audience, young or old, will be able to read and appreciate the story. There is no use of profanity, and the sexual content is very slight and mostly just implied.

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Worldlines
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[Asma Aisha Ansari]

The multiverse theory is very fascinating. The chaos and the mess created by the multiverse is beyond any human's comprehension. So, kudos to the author for writing something so challenging. And the repetition can get annoying but I think the overall story will make up for it.
Thanks for this amazing review.