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For fans of Emily St. John Mandel and Kelly Link, a profoundly imaginative debut novel set in numerous universes, which follows a queer physicist's search for belonging across time and space.
Raffi works in an observational cosmology lab, searching for dark matter and trying to hide how little they understand their own research. Every chance they get, they escape to see Britt, a queer sculptor who fascinates them for reasons they also don't—or won't—understand. As Raffi's carefully constructed life begins to collapse, they become increasingly fixated on the multiverse and the idea that somewhere, there might be a universe where they mean as much to Britt as she does to them…and just like that, Raffi and Britt are thirteen years old, best friends and maybe something more.
In Universes is a mind-bending tour across parallel worlds, each an answer to the question of what life would be like if events had played out just a little differently. The universes grow increasingly strange: women fracture into hordes of animals, alien-infested bears prowl apocalyptic landscapes. But across them all, Raffi—alongside their sometimes-friends, sometimes-lovers Britt, Kay, and Graham—reaches for a life that feels authentically their own.
Blending realism with science fiction, In Universes explores the thirst for genius, the fluidity of gender and identity, and the pull of the past against the desire to lead a meaningful life. Part Ted Chiang, part Carmen Maria Machado, part Everything Everywhere All At Once, In Universes insists on the transgressive power of hope even in the darkest of times.
"A soul-stirring debut…This crackling chronicle of queer love is a must read." —Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
"This spellbinding novel moves across infinitely branching realities to uncover the deepest truths about our relationships… While darkness lurks across worlds and in dangerous choices, this is ultimately a hopeful view of the power of human connection, no matter the cost or the reality." —Booklist
"Bafflingly good. In Universes is an exhilarating, disorienting fabulist extravaganza to which we can only, and happily, submit. But it is also, secretly—and brilliantly—kind of a meta-novel about the melancholia of science fiction itself." —Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox
"Daring, brilliant, and revelatory, In Universes scatters its characters' stories across the multiverse, showing us every one of the infinite lives we might live. It's a miracle of physics and art, filled with wonder and grief, hope and regret, survival and romance and loss. By its end, we know: the best of all possible worlds is this one where we get to read Emet North's writing." —Julia Phillips, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth
"Beautiful and surreal, In Universes is a tenderly-crafted maze that brims with emotion—despair and regret, love and hope—as it wrestles with the endless seeking of self and the 'what-ifs' that define a life." —Fonda Lee, author of The Green Bone Saga and winner of the World Fantasy Award
This information about In Universes was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Emet North has lived in a dozen states over the past decade and has no fixed residence, though they feel most at home in the mountains. In previous lives, they worked in an observational cosmology lab on a grant from NASA, taught snowboarding in Montana, researched Lie algebras, led wine tastings, waited tables, trained horses, and wrote a thesis on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. They translate from Spanish to English with a particular focus on queer and trans voices and are always looking for new projects.
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