A great escapism fantasy. Would recommend for any people who like books like Andy Weir. . . .

Everyone seems to be doing a multi-verse story these days. This latest instalment from the creator of Ender’s Game was no exception.

Laz had always been a side-stepper. It meant that at any particular point in time, he was able to see multiple realities and step into the one he liked. One day, he woke up alone in a high-tech coffin in an abandoned Earth. Based on everything he experienced, he came to a conclusion that he was actually a clone. But he couldn’t figure out the purpose of his existence. Moreover, he found another clone nearby that seemed to be alive, but sleeping. He literally had endless possibilities in front of him to pick his next step, and hopefully he could choose the right reality version where he got the best consequences for his actions.

The conceptualisation of multi-verse in this book was superb, and one of the best I had ever seen. Of course, I had expected nothing less from Orson Scott Card. Everything was explained thoroughly (might even be too thorough for some people), just the way I liked it.

The romance, however, wasn’t my cup of tea. I got the intention of ‘young love’ concept introduced here, and I got the purpose of it in the story. But the way it was explained (note: emphasis on explained, not shown with feelings) was very mechanical. And while I understood why it was done that way, I could see how it wasn’t quite enjoyable to read, especially considering the book was categorised as YA.

The pacing of the book was also a bit funny to me. I personally divided the book into three parts in my head. The first part, while necessary, was really long. And after we got to the second part of the book, I didn’t see the point of having to endure the first part for that long. On the other hand, the third part, where exciting things happened to move the story forward, was too brief for my liking. I couldn’t believe it ended when it did, because I thought the story had just built up into something more. However, seeing that this was the first book of a series, it might have been done that way on purpose.

Having said all that, I still tremendously enjoyed this book. Again, it was one of the best multi-verse stories I’d ever seen. So yes, of course I will be reading the next book in the series!