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dsrtao_The Walls of the Universe_, Paul Melko.
Melko's first book was _Singularity's Ring_, a slightly flawed but very interesting adventure told from the perspective of the members of a group consciousness in post-singular-apocalyptic Earth (and orbit). What does he do for an encore? Something better.
OK, the setup: our protagonist is a high school senior, farm boy, pretty intelligent, lots of practical skills but not all that great at the social skills. We can relate. One day in the barn a stranger with his face approaches him. It's himself from a few universes over; he's got this device which will transport you...
But the stranger doesn't mention that it's a one way trip.
OK, so we have the bildungsroman, the growing-up-novel, that Heinlein liked so much. We have the question of whether our protagonist will ever get home. Melko is clever enough that we know some of the answers before we see them played out, but not all of them. Oh, and there's the evil dimension-hopping Visigoths to consider. Sometimes we get to see what the stranger is doing back where our protagonist started...
It's a good story. Things are mostly wrapped up at the end -- you won't feel cheated if Melko doesn't return to this setting, and on the other hand, this could be the beginning of a series.
Melko's first book was _Singularity's Ring_, a slightly flawed but very interesting adventure told from the perspective of the members of a group consciousness in post-singular-apocalyptic Earth (and orbit). What does he do for an encore? Something better.
OK, the setup: our protagonist is a high school senior, farm boy, pretty intelligent, lots of practical skills but not all that great at the social skills. We can relate. One day in the barn a stranger with his face approaches him. It's himself from a few universes over; he's got this device which will transport you...
But the stranger doesn't mention that it's a one way trip.
OK, so we have the bildungsroman, the growing-up-novel, that Heinlein liked so much. We have the question of whether our protagonist will ever get home. Melko is clever enough that we know some of the answers before we see them played out, but not all of them. Oh, and there's the evil dimension-hopping Visigoths to consider. Sometimes we get to see what the stranger is doing back where our protagonist started...
It's a good story. Things are mostly wrapped up at the end -- you won't feel cheated if Melko doesn't return to this setting, and on the other hand, this could be the beginning of a series.
