Like any good science fiction novel, the plot of Vangie's Ghosts is based on science, and it never waters down this quality. It's from the extrapolation and exaggeration of science that the plot develops. Like every good fantasy, it takes care to establish a universe (multiverse), the rules of which are consistent across its plot. Many elements that perplex the reader in the beginning are convincingly explained before the end. The novel is divided into two parts that are separated by an unspecified time difference. I felt that the shift from part one to part two was jarring, and it took some time to get myself aligned with the narration. But the final resolution is quite simple, yet as elegant as that of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Vangie’s Ghost has a brainy concept: an autistic child’s ability to jump between worlds, timelines, and various versions of herself. Filippo’s prose is descriptive and straightforward. The book is a fast read. It starts and ends well. We meet Vangie (short for Evangeline) at age 3. We learn that she was adopted and that her autistic state is a source of frustration to her new parents. Nothing is known about her birth parents, as a baby she seemed like any other baby. Her parents, who live in a trailer park, are not sure how to help her. To them she is just an unresponsive silent child. They are unaware of the turmoil in Vangie’s head. If you live in a trailer park, a tornado is usually coming for you. Such is the case here. A tornado hits and Vangie and her parents are tossed in the air and crash down. Vangie is hurt and near death. She goes into her mind viewing a multiverse where she survives. She thinks about her adopted parents only briefly. She decides a world where only she survives is perfectly fine and makes the jump.

All this in a prologue! 

What follows is designated as Book 1. (There is a Book 2 as well.) Book 1 reads like a mainstream horror/suspense novel. We are first introduced to Kris Troy. A social worker who becomes interested in a metaphysical quasi-religious leader named Vardis Salthouse and helps to build his “church.” Meanwhile, Vangie has been placed with a woman, Ginny Everett, who fosters children for the money it provides. She is not a great mother, but she is not abusive, just too uncaring and small-minded. There are five children including Vangie. The oldest child, Gavril, keeps it all working. Vangie, still quiet and unresponsive, reveals a portion of her abilities to her foster siblings. Ginny Everett reacts negatively and is thrown into a coma. Kris Troy learns of the event through Gavril. Kris Troy explains that with Ginny unable to care for the family something will have to be done. Ginny immediately recovers. (Vangie is amorally ruthless, causing things to happen if they benefit her.) Kris tells Vardis Salthouse about Vangie and Salthouse realizes Vangie’s abilities can build his church. Things proceed in that direction. Ginny Everett dies, the children are adopted by Kris and Salthouse (now married.)

The reader (and the characters in the book) get to learn and understand Vangie’s abilities. The novel proceeds in breakneck cinematic fashion to the church’s rise in influence and popularity. Salthouse and a Senator Calgary conspire to use Vangie’s abilities to get a reality where Calgary is President.

I’m not going to summarize anymore. Book 1 tells a compelling story that crescendos to an exciting conclusion.

Book 2 is more like trippy science-fiction than mainstream horror. We are now in a different reality. Di Filippo is more humorous in this section. We are reintroduced to a different Gavril, whose father was killed by Pumas. There are lots of jokes I got (Viridian Party = Green Party) and probably more I didn’t. Book 2 is like a Phillip K. Dick novel in ways. Filippo aware of that makes a joke of it. In Book 2, the stakes are higher. Vangie is in total control of her abilities and is confronted with a nemesis in the form of Durant Le Massif, nicknamed “The Massive.” Detailing the plot any further would spoil the experience for the reader. Previous characters reappear in different ways. 

If you like multiverse alternative realities, this book is for you. Paul Di Filippo has written an exciting novel that provides thrills, suspense, and a surprising amount of intellectual speculation on how multiverses work.

Rated 2.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley and Edelweiss, and got approved on both sites. Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

The premise of this book is fabulous, and the author put a wild, imaginative spin (or more like, a series of them) on the multiverse trope. Too bad the writing style didn't work for me, and the story itself lost me along the way (technically, I did finish the book, but skimmed the whole last section, because I couldn't muster the energy to care about that version of the main characters and the particular world they were living in). I tend to get excited when a book provides the random unusual, neglected word, but a whole novel filled with terms like "internecine", "certitude", "recumbent", "expenditure" and the likes, and written in an often cumbersome prose, is wont to to kill my reading mojo. I didn't have a problem with (most of) the far-off science stuff, but I found it hard to suspend disbelief for scenes - or scenarios - that read more like a spy-thriller parody than like honest storytelling (down to the required awkward sex scene). Most of the events (and the characters themselves) came across as over-the-top, and again, I'm not talking about the sci-fi bits per se (for instance, I especially found it jarring that the protagonist's inner monologue as a young kid was above and beyond her age and level of knowledge/understanding). Ultimately, I could see that Vangie's Ghosts had terrific potential, but the execution didn't do it justice.

(Apropos of nothing: at least two verbs are missing in this novel. Where were the proof editors?).

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).

This is decent story from an experienced author. I don't most of his stories are mainstream, but they are generally pretty good. I didn't get in to this one as much as i thought I might. Nonetheless this is good overall.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

Thank you Paul Di Filippo, Netgalley, and Blackstone Publishing for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

I wasn't able the finish the book, as I couldn't connect with the main character or any of the others. That's unfortunate, as it seemed like an interesting story.