Infinity Gate (The Pandominion, 1)

3.5 stars
This is a tricky one to review, because though I had an awfully good time reading it, I came away with some mixed feelings. I'll start with what worked.

First sentence: "Hadiz Tambuwal saw Armageddon coming from a long way off."
(That is a SOLID open.)

This is a story of parallel worlds, told in 3rd person omnicient that slips occasionally into first-person, and the reader picks up in pieces here and there that the story is being recounted after (perhaps long after) the events described by an unnamed narrator. Due to this POV, there's not exactly a main character so much as a cast of major players.

The story is set in Lagos (many variants of it), which is incredibly neat. One of the first characters we meet is... well, she's very interesting; and while perhaps not terribly sympathetic, she is very much herself. Hadiz Tambuwal, physicist, is a well-rendered character--and on the subject of writing full, believable characters, I still find I'm impressed in spite of myself when cis male writers write women who notice the things that are part of the annoying background radiation of sexism in the world that fall under a lot of radars (like the problematic ubiquity of giving machines, AI, and automated personal assistants female voices).

This is my first time reading Carey, and on the whole his writing works very well for me. There was a little bit of clunky hand-waving science: "Rolling up her sleeves, she went in to take a closer look at the subatomic level"--I'm sure it's supposed to be metaphorical and make whatever she's doing seem a little more accessible, but it's hard for the brain not to trip up over the thought of anyone "rolling up their sleeves" to take a closer look at something imperceptible by human senses.

I appreciated a low-key Star Trek reference tucked in; a mention of transparent aluminum.

Tongue-in-cheek and humor have to be done carefully, in my opinion, to keep from distancing the reader from the story. Carey's prose walks a fine line at times between cute and cutesy that mostly nails it and occasionally wobbles.
"For this to work she would have to deform the QEI field into a cylinder, which proved much more fiddly than she had imagined," felt like it was teetering on that line, but this passage made me chuckle: "There was pain, but fortunately it was unbearable so she didn’t have to bear it. Her nervous system, seeing what was coming, handed in its notice and walked out of the building."

More often, though, Carey's prose ranges from wry and astute:
"The phrase, in a long-obsolete Uti language, means 'wise people' – another near-universal. Sentients on every world have this moment when they think intelligence is what separates them from the rest of creation. It takes them a lot longer to figure out that they’re arguing from the very heart of survivor bias, and therefore underestimating the importance of blind, brute chance."
--to startlingly lovely:
"Moreover, and beyond that, all self-organising and self-replicating patterns are rare and valuable in their own right. Life is a movement that makes itself within the great unmaking that is the entropic universe.”

So why the mixed feelings? Just as the reader is heading into the final climactic confrontation (and hopefully to discover the identity of our narrator), the book ends. The reader is encouraged to look for the next book to find out what happens next.

There is an implied contract between writer and reader; it's one thing to resolve *some* big questions, have a climactic victory or defeat, and then set in a hook by leaving some *part* of the plot unresolved or by introducing a new and urgent question right at the end (I'm looking at you, Scholomance)--but the reader does reasonably expect to have a fair amount settled first, not to feel things are building to the most tense final confrontation only to find that there's no more book left. I will absolutely read the next book, because I enjoyed this and want to find out what happens next, but I'm also annoyed and was left feeling the author hadn't quite played fair with the reader.

I was provided an ARC by Netgalley and Orbit Books in exchange for an unbiased review.

I had devoured M. R. Carey's "Rampart Trilogy," so when I saw "Infinity Gate" offered on NetGalley, I immediately requested it.

"Infinity Gate" is the first book in the Pandominion series. The Pandominion is a federation of worlds, but rather than spanning multiple planets in space (see Star Trek), it consists of a staggering number of alternate versions of Earth, multiverse-style. Some are only a little bit dissimilar from the Earth we know, others are so wildly different as to be completely unrecognizable.

Additionally, unlike Star Trek’s Federation, the Pandominion is not a bunch that is friendly to outsiders – the versions of Earth that do not belong to their collective. People who populate these outside worlds are referred to as "sinkholders" and considered "no ones," who live "nowhere," and as such don't really exist and can be killed without any consideration (or guilt). Additionally, the Pandominion, while accepting of any and all iterations of citizen Selves (whether humans descended from apes, or Uts descended from rabbits, etc.), does not give any credence to artificial intelligence, and only considers sentient Selves as truly alive, any constructs/robots are not given that consideration. And so, when the Pandominion stumbles upon another federation of alternate Earths, this one populated by self-aware machines (aka the Ansurrection), conflict erupts, and complete and utter destruction looms.

We learn all this not through inconvenient info dumps, but through the eyes of three POV characters.

At the very beginning of the book, an unnamed omniscient narrator introduces itself and tells us about these three protagonists: a genius scientist named Hadiz Tambuwal (human from a doomed Earth), a out-of-luck rogue named Essien (human from an Earth similar to ours), and a young female Uti (rabbit) named Paz.

In an interesting twist, we get to know these characters and their stories not by jumping back and forth between their POVs, but rather in a chronological order. First, Hadiz Tambuwal invents the technology that allows her to transport herself from one Earth to another, right at the time when our own Earth meets its apocalyptic end. Hadiz transports herself to another version of Earth, where she meets Essien Nkanika, whose story picks up the narration of the overall plot. Paz, of the intelligent rabbits’' Earth, is the closing POV. Each story comprises roughly one-third of the entire book, and as such allows us to get to know each characters in depth, and experience the world-building of the Pandemonium through them.

The end of the novel is a definite cliffhanger, but that was to be expected as part one of a series... Our characters are now united, with a goal (or two) in mind, and it's anyone's guess how they will achieve it - I strongly suspect, though, that the end result will be the "creation" of an entity/self who is none other than the mysterious omniscient narrator, recalling the story for us. Certain elements are already clearly in place, and having read the "Rampart Trilogy" I have some strong suspicions...

I only have on criticism, really: I thought the world of Ut, populated by intelligent rabbits, was still too close to our human one to be entirely believable (their society structure is virtually the same). For that - and because I still think "The Rampart Trilogy" was a better story - I am deducting one star. Absolutely reaching for the next in the series when it comes out, though. This is good stuff.

The idea of a multiverse, a million million squared worlds, each one different from the other in sometimes subtle, sometimes in huge ways is kind of comforting to me. I like the idea that somewhere out there a different me is living a life, that maybe I never had the courage to try here. Or that another me is enjoying better sequels to movies, or books by authors who never had the opportunity to publish or even better politics. Of course it is real hubris to think that I matter and that I would even be on a million million worlds, or that I would be happier or more successful on those world. But why not. Humans always think the grass if greener on the other side. The other side just happens to be behind a dimensional wall. However behind that wall maybe things are not as green, but far more dangerous. Infinity Gate is the first in a new series by best selling author M. R. Carey about the millions of Earths that exist, the power that controls them, and the enemies that might be waiting out first steps in the multiverse.

The Earth that Hadiz Tambuwal knows is slowly dying. Resources have been stretched, weather is turning and of course humans are killing themselves over what is left. Hadiz is trapped in the University that Hadiz teaches at, the last instructor with plenty of food, water, fuel and an Artifical Intelligence to help Hadiz with her work, a work that is all she has left. Hadiz has found a way of travelling to other Earths, Earths that still have resources that can help her Earth. Hadiz hopes to find intelligent life to find permanent solutions for their problems, but all of Hadiz's explorations have triggered alarms through the different Earths. For these Earths are overseen by the Pandominion, which has a few problems of its own. One of which is a war. Soon Hadiz will find others a decisions will have to be made on what side to take, and what is best for the many different worlds.

This is a big hard science fiction book that reads sort of like a fantasy quest story. There is a lot of world building which makes sense but even though the story is almost 500 pages there is no real ending just a cliffhanger for the next book. Again like a fantasy novel. There are three storylines that play one after the other, but all meet near the end, and make sense. I've enjoyed Carey's previous books, and his comic book work and this has everything I enjoy in his writing. The characters are fresh and different and fully sketched out, with a solid sense of who they are and why they are doing what they are doing. The science was nerdy fun, with lots of terminology that sold what was happening. The ideas are really good, and one can't help but get sucked into the story, I just wish there was a bit of an ending instead of having to wait for the next book. Which I will definitely read. There is a lot of potential here, and a lot of places for the story to go and I look forward to see what Carey decides.

Recommended for fans of Carey, and for readers who miss those big old hard science fiction novels that readers in the 1980's and 1990's grew up on, from authors like Gregory Benford, or Robert L. Forward. There is a quite a lot going on in the book, I can't wait to read more.

So, this book did take a bit to get going. First introducing Hadiz and then once I was into her story, it stopped and started up Essien. And I was like "okay where is this going" .. then it starts up a third time with Paz. But then after their stories came together the book flew by and I couldn't put it down. I will be impatiently waiting for the next book.

I just reviewed Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey. #NetGalley

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

While I adored the premise of Infinity Gate, there were a few factors which made my reading experience drag a bit. In general, there were a few times that I felt like the pacing of the book slowed down which made me struggle to get through those sections. It isn't that there isn't action per say, but there's a bit of a build up to figure out Infinity Gate. With these multiple characters, for a while, I wasn't sure who was who and how their stories would interact.

From the premise, I loved the idea of the multiverse and specifically how it could be used to create order and also disorder. Because when you have these scientific possibilities, spaces for exploitation and also power dynamics will never be a non-issue. But it was difficult for me to get a handle on the Panadmonium system and these larger world building ideas. It was like being told about these struggles and then given just a smidge less information than I needed for it to click together.

4.5 stars

I love a good multiverse story, and this book does it so well! A lot of the worlds are very similar to ours, but most of them aren’t. It examines what would happen if the environment were just a little bit different – how would flora and fauna evolve with different base materials? When new worlds are discovered they are “welcomed“ into the Pandominion, i.e. they better get in line, or else. And then a new player comes in, and we all find out what “or else“ means.

The book follows a few main characters, and the chapters skip back-and-forth between each of their stories. Authors, if you want to know the way to my heart, it’s to switch POV‘s between chapters. This method of storytelling just keeps me hooked and on the edge of my seat.

This book ends on a massive cliffhanger. And when I say cliffhanger I actually mean you are chucked right off that cliff. It was a bit jarring, and I really need the next book to be published ASAP because it’s driving me crazy 😬

M. R. Carey provides a novel take on the multiverse, AI, and selfhood. Thought-provoking and entertaining at once, the book kept me guessing, made me care about the characters, and will keep me thinking about possibilities for a long time to come.

“I will come to all these stories in their pace, ending… with my own story. My awakening, which was the end of history.”

Having read the synopsis of INFINITY GATE, I was really excited to read it. AI uprising, inter-dimensional travel, a super scientist searching for solutions in a post-apocalyptic world. All ingredients of a book that is right up my alley.

I am going to make this review fairly short, though, because I don’t want to harp on the fact that I did not end up liking it as much as I hoped.

I actually thought the first 100 pages were great. The narrative sets up to be really interesting from the start following Hadiz and Essien’s interactions. I was really looking forward to finding out their fates and reading the type of story I thought it was going to be.

But, it turned out to be a very different sort of story. Which is not always a bad thing, but things just got really muddy with all the inter dimensional stuff. And every time a new character was introduced the reader would get a long history of that being’s past. For me, there was just too much over explaining.

I do want to mention that one other aspect I did enjoy was the way Carey utilized technology in this book. That is definitely one of the author’s strengths.

In the end, INFINITY GATE was not for me. That does not mean you should not give it a try. If you do, let me know what you think.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the early read.

This is a fairly long book that starts off kind of slow due to the world building. I requested this book due to the Rampart Trilogy and The Girl With all the Gifts. Carey has excelled once again at building a world that messes with your imagination.  I am looking forward to the next in the series. If you enjoy a good sci fi....definitely check this out.

Hadiz Tambuwal, a scientist, is searching for a solution to Earth's demise when, with the help of an AI, she stumbles upon the ability to travel to another dimension...technically an alternate reality in which an infinite number of Earth's exist. Little does she know that “stepping" has already been discovered by other "Earth's" and is governed by a collective political alliance known as The Pandominion. Her travel is identified as a potential threat and sets off a series of events spanning across multiple universes during a potential war between Artificial and Natural Intelligence.

I'm a big fan of M.R. Carey's work so I was very excited to get my hands on this new series called Infinity Gate. I loved so many of the characters in this novel and the world building was very intriguing. The novel takes place amongst several versions of Earth some of which evolved much differently than what we have come to identify as "normal" or "intelligent". The novel does a good job of providing insight into what determines a "self" between natural and artificial life. I really enjoyed this novel and cannot wait for the next book in the series. This novel is a bit technical on the science jargon so just be warned that if you don't geek out over science this may be a bit over the top for some readers. Fantastic...a must read for 2023!