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Multiverses: An Anthology of Alternate Realities
A mind-blowing anthology of 18 stories bringing you the infinite Earths of the multiverse.
INFINITY. HERE. NOW.
What if every decision you’ve ever made created a new reality. A new life, a new world of possibilities for what you could become? What if the best of all possible worlds is just around the corner? Or the worst?
This anthology brings together an international cast of luminaries to explore the infinite worlds of what could be. The smashed together chaos of multiple Londons piled on top of each other; a world where a tunnel turns Japan and the United States into close neighbours; catastrophic accidents on multidimensional spacecraft; shadowy organisations and the merciless assassins they control; the unstoppable force of your infinite grandmothers.
Explore the infinite beauties and terrors of the multiverse with the finest minds writing in science fiction today, and see what could have been…
Featuring stories from:
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
Charlie Jane Anders
Eugen Bacon
Clive Barker
Paul Di Filippo
Alix E. Harrow
Rumi Kaneko (translated by Preston Grassmann)
Ken Liu
Ian McDonald
Annalee Newitz
Yukimi Ogawa
Chana Porter
Alastair Reynolds
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
D. R. G. Sugawara
Jeffrey Thomas
Lavie Tidhar
INFINITY. HERE. NOW.
What if every decision you’ve ever made created a new reality. A new life, a new world of possibilities for what you could become? What if the best of all possible worlds is just around the corner? Or the worst?
This anthology brings together an international cast of luminaries to explore the infinite worlds of what could be. The smashed together chaos of multiple Londons piled on top of each other; a world where a tunnel turns Japan and the United States into close neighbours; catastrophic accidents on multidimensional spacecraft; shadowy organisations and the merciless assassins they control; the unstoppable force of your infinite grandmothers.
Explore the infinite beauties and terrors of the multiverse with the finest minds writing in science fiction today, and see what could have been…
Featuring stories from:
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
Charlie Jane Anders
Eugen Bacon
Clive Barker
Paul Di Filippo
Alix E. Harrow
Rumi Kaneko (translated by Preston Grassmann)
Ken Liu
Ian McDonald
Annalee Newitz
Yukimi Ogawa
Chana Porter
Alastair Reynolds
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
D. R. G. Sugawara
Jeffrey Thomas
Lavie Tidhar
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2023
22 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 22, 2023
A fun and varied collection all based around the theme of the multiverses - a great author selection that highlights the great authors of our current time. Well worth a look
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
June 2, 2023
"Banish" by Alistair Reynolds - I really enjoyed this story! It's a tale of ethics across alternate realities, and how to react when you're called to save a person you know (or know of) in your own reality in a different universe. Great story, 3.5/5 stars
"Cracks" by Chana Porter - it's an interesting, winding tale of selfhood and the many alternate yous there could be out in the multiverse. there's not much of a plot unfortunately, and while I liked it fine enough, it's not something I'd return to re-read. 2/5 stars
"A Threshold Hypothesis" by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy - A story about the way other universes slip into our own. It started off slow, but ends strongly, and is all around an interesting read. 3.5/5 stars
"Crunchables" by Ian McDonald - A fascinating story of a couple just trying to survive as pieces of the multiverse rewrite the world around them constantly. It starts out a little slow, but picks up immensely. A lot of the writing is as mind-bending as you'd expect from a story about the multiverse, and the ending is a fascinating one that makes you want to question things. 4/5 stars.
"Quorum's Eye" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - An interesting look at what the reality of your alternate selves might hold, and how that could impact a person's self-confidence. It's a question of whether aloneness is preferable to being part of a Quorum of other yous, and raises some interesting questions that you find yourself wondering the answers to. That said, this is ultimately a character study and a worldbuilding exercise rather than a plotted story, which is why I give it 2.5/5 stars.
"Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filipo - This is perhaps the best story so far, about a drug addict whose intervention is facilitated by a multitude of multiversal hims and his family members. It's a fascinating look at the ways the ability to travel the multiverse can be used for more "everyday" purposes, while also creating great worldbuilding that makes this choice an unusual one rather than the expected everyday one. 5/5 stars
"Days of Magic, Nights of War" by Clive Barker - a sweet poem by Barker that unfortunately feels a little out of place in this collection. while I enjoyed it, I don't feel like it added anything to the book. 2.5/5 stars
"A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel" by Ken Liu - A look at an alternate timeline in which an underwater tunnel to transport people and goods was built during the Great Depression, linking Asia and America and reducing the impact of the Depression, as well as heading off WW2. An interesting meditation on how things stay the same, no matter how much they change. 4/5 stars
"Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko - A fantastic story that's hard to describe - a historian comes into contact with originals by Hosukai, only from another world, and they end up changing her world in ways she couldn't expect. 5/5 stars, my favorite so far.
"The Cartography of Sudden Death" by Charlie Jane Anders - A mind-bending look into an Earth ruled by an Empire, where planetary travel is possible and a woman travels through time using unexpected deaths of important people. At the same time, a fascinating meditation on grielf, though a bit light on the plot in my opinion. 3.5/5 stars
"The Rainmaker" by Lavie Tidhar - I'm not going to pretend I understood much of where the histories diverged in this story, but it's an interesting read nonetheless. Packed with action, plot, superhumans, and strange sort of nostalgia and longing, it was an entertaining read. 3.5/5 stars (I'd happily give it more if I understood it better, I think)
"The Imminent World" by D.R.G. Sugawara - a short and sweet poem to bookend this section, just Barker's poem bookended the last. I don't really have much to say about it beyond it being a quick read. 2.5/5 stars
"#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz - I love this so much. It combines fae with the hellscape that is capitalism, and three women teaming up to get one of their exploitative boss. I loved the characters, I loved the vibe of it being set in a beauty/"self-care" shop, and I loved the subtle hints of it taking place i a more technological future. Just fantastic all around. 5/5 stars
"A Witch's Guide to Escape" by Alix E. Harrow - As someone with depression, i loved this so much. A story of depression, libraries, books that demand to be read - and witchy librarians who ensure you get the books you need the most. 5/5 stars
"Amber Too Red, Like Ember" by Yukimi Ogawa - A story of an unexpected space rescue and intersecting timelines. It's an interesting read that leaves you asking questions about the main protagonists at the end. 3.5/5 stars
"The Set" by Eugen Bacon - A story about a character whose life is constantly being rewritten like a TV script, for no discernible reason. It's an interesting premise, but I didn't feel the impact of it like I suspect the author wanted me to. Not one I'd come back to, I don't think. 2/5 stars
"There is a Hole, There is a Star" by Jeffrey Thomas - set in an alternate universe in which many sentient species co-exist, this is the story of a woman trying to go about her daily business in a city that has been affected by a mysterious "Hole," and the secret she finds behind the washing machine in her building. an introspective look at daily life in a world that is, ultimately, not that different to our own, even though it is very different to ours. 4/5 stars.
"There was a Time" by Clive Barker - another poem to bookend the third and final section of the book. again, there's no much I have to say about, though I did like it best of the three poems. 3/5 stars
Final Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the variety of stories and authored featured in it. I featured some gems that I'll be back to re-read, and while I'm not keen on the 3 poems (I don't think they do much for the anthology), I don't think they take away too much from it either. 4/5 stars for the collection as a whole.
My favorite stories:
> "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filipo
> "Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko
> "#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz
> "A Witch's Guide to Escape" by Alix E. Harrow
"Cracks" by Chana Porter - it's an interesting, winding tale of selfhood and the many alternate yous there could be out in the multiverse. there's not much of a plot unfortunately, and while I liked it fine enough, it's not something I'd return to re-read. 2/5 stars
"A Threshold Hypothesis" by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy - A story about the way other universes slip into our own. It started off slow, but ends strongly, and is all around an interesting read. 3.5/5 stars
"Crunchables" by Ian McDonald - A fascinating story of a couple just trying to survive as pieces of the multiverse rewrite the world around them constantly. It starts out a little slow, but picks up immensely. A lot of the writing is as mind-bending as you'd expect from a story about the multiverse, and the ending is a fascinating one that makes you want to question things. 4/5 stars.
"Quorum's Eye" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - An interesting look at what the reality of your alternate selves might hold, and how that could impact a person's self-confidence. It's a question of whether aloneness is preferable to being part of a Quorum of other yous, and raises some interesting questions that you find yourself wondering the answers to. That said, this is ultimately a character study and a worldbuilding exercise rather than a plotted story, which is why I give it 2.5/5 stars.
"Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filipo - This is perhaps the best story so far, about a drug addict whose intervention is facilitated by a multitude of multiversal hims and his family members. It's a fascinating look at the ways the ability to travel the multiverse can be used for more "everyday" purposes, while also creating great worldbuilding that makes this choice an unusual one rather than the expected everyday one. 5/5 stars
"Days of Magic, Nights of War" by Clive Barker - a sweet poem by Barker that unfortunately feels a little out of place in this collection. while I enjoyed it, I don't feel like it added anything to the book. 2.5/5 stars
"A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel" by Ken Liu - A look at an alternate timeline in which an underwater tunnel to transport people and goods was built during the Great Depression, linking Asia and America and reducing the impact of the Depression, as well as heading off WW2. An interesting meditation on how things stay the same, no matter how much they change. 4/5 stars
"Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko - A fantastic story that's hard to describe - a historian comes into contact with originals by Hosukai, only from another world, and they end up changing her world in ways she couldn't expect. 5/5 stars, my favorite so far.
"The Cartography of Sudden Death" by Charlie Jane Anders - A mind-bending look into an Earth ruled by an Empire, where planetary travel is possible and a woman travels through time using unexpected deaths of important people. At the same time, a fascinating meditation on grielf, though a bit light on the plot in my opinion. 3.5/5 stars
"The Rainmaker" by Lavie Tidhar - I'm not going to pretend I understood much of where the histories diverged in this story, but it's an interesting read nonetheless. Packed with action, plot, superhumans, and strange sort of nostalgia and longing, it was an entertaining read. 3.5/5 stars (I'd happily give it more if I understood it better, I think)
"The Imminent World" by D.R.G. Sugawara - a short and sweet poem to bookend this section, just Barker's poem bookended the last. I don't really have much to say about it beyond it being a quick read. 2.5/5 stars
"#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz - I love this so much. It combines fae with the hellscape that is capitalism, and three women teaming up to get one of their exploitative boss. I loved the characters, I loved the vibe of it being set in a beauty/"self-care" shop, and I loved the subtle hints of it taking place i a more technological future. Just fantastic all around. 5/5 stars
"A Witch's Guide to Escape" by Alix E. Harrow - As someone with depression, i loved this so much. A story of depression, libraries, books that demand to be read - and witchy librarians who ensure you get the books you need the most. 5/5 stars
"Amber Too Red, Like Ember" by Yukimi Ogawa - A story of an unexpected space rescue and intersecting timelines. It's an interesting read that leaves you asking questions about the main protagonists at the end. 3.5/5 stars
"The Set" by Eugen Bacon - A story about a character whose life is constantly being rewritten like a TV script, for no discernible reason. It's an interesting premise, but I didn't feel the impact of it like I suspect the author wanted me to. Not one I'd come back to, I don't think. 2/5 stars
"There is a Hole, There is a Star" by Jeffrey Thomas - set in an alternate universe in which many sentient species co-exist, this is the story of a woman trying to go about her daily business in a city that has been affected by a mysterious "Hole," and the secret she finds behind the washing machine in her building. an introspective look at daily life in a world that is, ultimately, not that different to our own, even though it is very different to ours. 4/5 stars.
"There was a Time" by Clive Barker - another poem to bookend the third and final section of the book. again, there's no much I have to say about, though I did like it best of the three poems. 3/5 stars
Final Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the variety of stories and authored featured in it. I featured some gems that I'll be back to re-read, and while I'm not keen on the 3 poems (I don't think they do much for the anthology), I don't think they take away too much from it either. 4/5 stars for the collection as a whole.
My favorite stories:
> "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filipo
> "Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko
> "#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz
> "A Witch's Guide to Escape" by Alix E. Harrow
June 8, 2022
I had the great fortune of reading this wide-ranging volume in draft form. My favorite is an original story by Alastair Reynolds called “Banish” and it’s worth the price of this volume alone. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get nominated for a major award. Fortunately, there are several great stories here, which include “Crunchables” by Ian McDonald, and “Nine Hundred Grandmas” by Paul Di Filippo.
April 1, 2023
"Mulitverses" is described as a "mind-blowing anthology" - and I completely agree. I couldn't tell you my favourite (or least favourite!) story, but I can tell you that each and every one is pretty special in its own way. The standard of writing is as high as you would expect, and helps to make this collection a real treat.
My thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
April 1, 2023
Multiverses is an anthology in which fifteen short stories and three poems from seventeen authors are collected. As the title suggests, they have in common that they all have some link with the multiverse. The book is divided in three major parts. Part one is about parallel worlds, with stories about interaction between such worlds. Part two contains stories about alternate histories. Mostly, they deal with our not too distant past in which events evolved somewhat differently. The last part is called fractured realities, and I didn’t immediately know what to expect. It turns out to be a collection of stories that are in most cases set in our universe, in which something is a bit off. Every parts starts with a nice drawing by Japanese artist Yoshika Nagata and ends with a poem, two times from Clive Barker, and the other one from D.R.G. Sugawara (just like they did for Out of the Ruins, an anthology containing post-apocalyptic stories).
First a small thing on the poems. Poetry is not for me, I don’t like it, don’t read it, and will therefore refrain from commenting on them. The total word count of the book is over 80,000 words, and the three poems take up about 350 of them, so it’s not unfair to ignore them. It disappointed me that Barker, whose name is prominently visible on the cover, who has written some of the best speculative fiction I have ever read, whose name had a big impact on me deciding to select this book, contributed nothing more than two small poems of which one is almost 20 years old and copied from one of his Abarat books.
Part 1: Parallel Worlds
Alastair Reynolds opens the anthology with Banish, a very nice story about remote brain surgery. Remote surgery is already happening in our universe and time, but it becomes a bigger deal when part of the team is located in another universe. Reynolds added a nice dilemma to spice things up even more. Strong opener that I liked a lot. Multiverses continues strongly with Cracks by Chana Porter, in which somebody gets to see what she would have become if circumstances had been only a little bit different. The ending was a bit lame, and I favour suggestion over explicit sex in stories, but nevertheless a nice read. I am not going to go into detail about every story, but the stories by Ian McDonald and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro also appealed to me. The other ones were okay but nothing more. As always with anthologies, some stories you like, some you don’t. I never expect to be blown away by every story in collections, so I’m fine with that.
Part 2: Alternate Histories
The topic is in general less interesting, because such stories all too often are WWII related. Germany won the war, Germany never started the war, Germany lost in a different way, and so on. I’ve read enough of that. Preston Grassmann did a good job though, by not selecting these stories. Only the first one, A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel, written by Ken Liu, mentions WWII briefly, in one sentence, but has nothing to do with it furthermore. Liu writes about Charlie, a man from Formosa who helps building a trans-Atlantic tunnel that connects Shanghai, Tokyo and Seattle. Building starts at 1929 and ends in 1938. The best thing about this story is how Liu has developed Charlie’s background. It’s the strongest story of this part. The other stories were all well-written and had a decent story development, but I sometimes missed a satisfying story ending. Some stories just end at some point, while nothing seems to have changed. And in some cases, I simply found them not very original.
Part 3: Fractured Realities
There is a little bit of everything in this part. It starts with #Selfcare by Annalee Newitz, about Skin Seraph, a kind of shop selling skin products and treatments. It shows the influence of social media on how a shop is perceived and how little is needed to change that perception. This is basically a story about what is already happening around us, just pulled over the top. I missed the multiverse in it. A Witch’s Guide to Escape by Alix E. Harrow is much clearer on that. The librarian uses the books a young boy selects with every visit to profile him. Very original, and it has a nice ending too. Another very original story in this part is Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukimi Ogawa with every house being it’s own universe bubble. The other two stories included in this part were fun reads as well, actually.
Overall I didn’t read any story I’d award five stars, but the number of stories I gave 3, 3.5 or 4 stars totals up to 12 out of 15. Three stories got less, and I didn’t rate the three poems. I ended up at an average of 3.2 stars, which is as I had expected, given the diversity in stories and authors. All in all a recommended read for those who like multiverses and short stories.
(Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for a free DRC in exchange for an honest review.)
First a small thing on the poems. Poetry is not for me, I don’t like it, don’t read it, and will therefore refrain from commenting on them. The total word count of the book is over 80,000 words, and the three poems take up about 350 of them, so it’s not unfair to ignore them. It disappointed me that Barker, whose name is prominently visible on the cover, who has written some of the best speculative fiction I have ever read, whose name had a big impact on me deciding to select this book, contributed nothing more than two small poems of which one is almost 20 years old and copied from one of his Abarat books.
Part 1: Parallel Worlds
Alastair Reynolds opens the anthology with Banish, a very nice story about remote brain surgery. Remote surgery is already happening in our universe and time, but it becomes a bigger deal when part of the team is located in another universe. Reynolds added a nice dilemma to spice things up even more. Strong opener that I liked a lot. Multiverses continues strongly with Cracks by Chana Porter, in which somebody gets to see what she would have become if circumstances had been only a little bit different. The ending was a bit lame, and I favour suggestion over explicit sex in stories, but nevertheless a nice read. I am not going to go into detail about every story, but the stories by Ian McDonald and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro also appealed to me. The other ones were okay but nothing more. As always with anthologies, some stories you like, some you don’t. I never expect to be blown away by every story in collections, so I’m fine with that.
Part 2: Alternate Histories
The topic is in general less interesting, because such stories all too often are WWII related. Germany won the war, Germany never started the war, Germany lost in a different way, and so on. I’ve read enough of that. Preston Grassmann did a good job though, by not selecting these stories. Only the first one, A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel, written by Ken Liu, mentions WWII briefly, in one sentence, but has nothing to do with it furthermore. Liu writes about Charlie, a man from Formosa who helps building a trans-Atlantic tunnel that connects Shanghai, Tokyo and Seattle. Building starts at 1929 and ends in 1938. The best thing about this story is how Liu has developed Charlie’s background. It’s the strongest story of this part. The other stories were all well-written and had a decent story development, but I sometimes missed a satisfying story ending. Some stories just end at some point, while nothing seems to have changed. And in some cases, I simply found them not very original.
Part 3: Fractured Realities
There is a little bit of everything in this part. It starts with #Selfcare by Annalee Newitz, about Skin Seraph, a kind of shop selling skin products and treatments. It shows the influence of social media on how a shop is perceived and how little is needed to change that perception. This is basically a story about what is already happening around us, just pulled over the top. I missed the multiverse in it. A Witch’s Guide to Escape by Alix E. Harrow is much clearer on that. The librarian uses the books a young boy selects with every visit to profile him. Very original, and it has a nice ending too. Another very original story in this part is Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukimi Ogawa with every house being it’s own universe bubble. The other two stories included in this part were fun reads as well, actually.
Overall I didn’t read any story I’d award five stars, but the number of stories I gave 3, 3.5 or 4 stars totals up to 12 out of 15. Three stories got less, and I didn’t rate the three poems. I ended up at an average of 3.2 stars, which is as I had expected, given the diversity in stories and authors. All in all a recommended read for those who like multiverses and short stories.
(Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for a free DRC in exchange for an honest review.)
June 8, 2022
I had the great fortune of reading this wide-ranging volume in draft form. My favorite is an original story by Alastair Reynolds called “Banish” - it’s worth the price of this volume alone. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get nominated for a major award. Fortunately, there are several great stories here, which include “Crunchables” by Ian McDonald, and “Nine Hundred Grandmas” by Paul Di Filippo.
November 16, 2023
This is a well thought out anthology filled with gems of some of the best writing from many of our favorite writers. Recommend reading it and to have in your permanent collection .
March 4, 2023
A nice collection of stories, although not all stick closely to the multiverse theme. Highlights were the stories from Ian McDonald, Alix E. Harrow and Annalee Newitz. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
January 24, 2024
Favourites:
"Cracks" by Chana Porter ★★★★
"Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko ★★★★
"#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz ★★★★
"Cracks" by Chana Porter ★★★★
"Thirty-six Alternate Views of Mount Fuji" by Rumi Kaneko ★★★★
"#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz ★★★★
December 18, 2024
Exactly what it says on the cover... but the three sections of this anthology show three different interpretations of "alternate realities":
- Parallel Universes: Stories focused on the implications of the multiverse being opened up to folks. The highlight of this section is "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filippo, where a drug addict is subjected to the ultimate intervention.
- Alternate Histories: Just what it says. Probably the most interesting in this section is "The Cartography of Sudden Death" by Charlie Jane Anders, a time-travel story that seems to be cheating by being set in an unrecognizable alternate history. (Still interesting, though.)
- Fractured Realities: Basically a random assortment of vaguely interdimensional urban fantasy/weird fiction stories. To be honest, even though this is the most memorable set, nearly all feel like they belong in a different anthology. The standout (if least multiverse-y) is "#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz, where a beauty-products chain runs afoul of the fae.
Overall, this anthology is OK - no truly amazing stories, but many interesting ones, and no truly bad ones. The final section still feels a bit like it's taking up space that could have gone to actual multiverse stories, though. (B)
- Parallel Universes: Stories focused on the implications of the multiverse being opened up to folks. The highlight of this section is "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filippo, where a drug addict is subjected to the ultimate intervention.
- Alternate Histories: Just what it says. Probably the most interesting in this section is "The Cartography of Sudden Death" by Charlie Jane Anders, a time-travel story that seems to be cheating by being set in an unrecognizable alternate history. (Still interesting, though.)
- Fractured Realities: Basically a random assortment of vaguely interdimensional urban fantasy/weird fiction stories. To be honest, even though this is the most memorable set, nearly all feel like they belong in a different anthology. The standout (if least multiverse-y) is "#Selfcare" by Annalee Newitz, where a beauty-products chain runs afoul of the fae.
Overall, this anthology is OK - no truly amazing stories, but many interesting ones, and no truly bad ones. The final section still feels a bit like it's taking up space that could have gone to actual multiverse stories, though. (B)
January 5, 2025
Great book of short stories to fill in gaps between my other books. Some high points for me:
- “Cracks” by Chana Porter, a cool story that explores the “what if you could meet and talk to other versions of yourself?”
- “A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” by Ken Liu, one of my favorite stories by one of the best authors around today
- “The Cartography of Sudden Death” by Charlie Jane Anders, a super-interesting story where a big part of the narrative for me is what isn’t said. She’s one of my favorite authors and this is a great example of why
- “A Witch’s Guide to Escape” by Alex Harrow, a love letter to books and libraries in fantasy form. I’m not usually a fantasy reader but on the strength of this story will be trying out some more of her work
Great anthology, check it out!
- “Cracks” by Chana Porter, a cool story that explores the “what if you could meet and talk to other versions of yourself?”
- “A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” by Ken Liu, one of my favorite stories by one of the best authors around today
- “The Cartography of Sudden Death” by Charlie Jane Anders, a super-interesting story where a big part of the narrative for me is what isn’t said. She’s one of my favorite authors and this is a great example of why
- “A Witch’s Guide to Escape” by Alex Harrow, a love letter to books and libraries in fantasy form. I’m not usually a fantasy reader but on the strength of this story will be trying out some more of her work
Great anthology, check it out!
July 20, 2023
I love science fiction and a big part of it is made up of Multiverses. Pure theory and philosophical, it’s really fun to think about. A really great sci-fi author can make you believe the earth is flat or make up an entire religion for movie stars. This anthology is put into three sub categories: Parallel Worlds, Alternate Histories, and Fractured Realities featuring some big deal authors in the genre.
Banish by Alistair Reynolds
Surgeons helping out alternate realities through screens. Going through an issue of ethics once a patient is recognized as basically Hitler and go through a ton of arguments about whether or not they should inform the other reality or even help at all.
Crunchables by Ian McDonald
A man and his wife have run out of their cat’s preferred cat food and a quick trip to the corner store in no small ordeal because different realities called Moots randomly show up and take what was there and replace it with the Moot’s reality.
Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukimi Ogawa
Space/Fauna/Steampunk world where a grandson goes through repairing his grandmother’s robot body while they are on the run with a neighbor he meets remotely with stones and an alien pet. Intersecting timelines and space rescue is very unique in this story.
https://piratetwinkiereadsblog.wordpr...
Banish by Alistair Reynolds
Surgeons helping out alternate realities through screens. Going through an issue of ethics once a patient is recognized as basically Hitler and go through a ton of arguments about whether or not they should inform the other reality or even help at all.
Crunchables by Ian McDonald
A man and his wife have run out of their cat’s preferred cat food and a quick trip to the corner store in no small ordeal because different realities called Moots randomly show up and take what was there and replace it with the Moot’s reality.
Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukimi Ogawa
Space/Fauna/Steampunk world where a grandson goes through repairing his grandmother’s robot body while they are on the run with a neighbor he meets remotely with stones and an alien pet. Intersecting timelines and space rescue is very unique in this story.
https://piratetwinkiereadsblog.wordpr...
August 2, 2023
Maybe I'm just too basic, or maybe I don't read enough short fiction, but I didn't really get half of these stories. And only about half of the ones I did understand the point of were what I'd call a multiverse story ('Fractured reality' was an incredibly vague concept with some stories fitting far more easily into the fantasy genre than sci-fi)
Regardless, Nine Hundred Grandmothers, and A Witch's Guide To Escape were easily enough to bump this from a 3 star to a 4 star read. There were definitely some interesting concepts and themes to chew on in some of the other stories too.
Regardless, Nine Hundred Grandmothers, and A Witch's Guide To Escape were easily enough to bump this from a 3 star to a 4 star read. There were definitely some interesting concepts and themes to chew on in some of the other stories too.
May 10, 2023
The standouts:
- The Cartography Of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders
- A Witch's Guide to Escape by Alix E. Harrow
- Quorum's Eye by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
- The Cartography Of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders
- A Witch's Guide to Escape by Alix E. Harrow
- Quorum's Eye by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
November 12, 2024
Overall there were a handful of stories I liked here, but also a lot of duds. I think a lot of the authors got tempted to go too big, and then weren't able to pull the story together in the number of pages that a short story gets. The ones that managed to cover the topic without needing too much worldbuilding worked out best for me.
Parallel Worlds:
Banish by Alastair Reynolds - brain surgeons operate on a war criminal from another dimension. Great balance of worldbuilding with philosophy, a really good start to the collection. 5/5
Cracks by Chana Porter - a woman sees other versions of herself that made different choices. 4/5
A Threshold Hypothesis by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy - in Bangalore a man sees windows to the past. Interesting idea but it doesn't really go anywhere. 3/5
Crunchables by Ian McDonald - intersecting dimensions mean people constantly risk getting taken by a rift. Great ending. 4/5
Quorum's Eye by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - a young woman tries to solve math problems on her own instead of in a quorum of her parallel selves. Kind of boring actually. 2/5
Nine Hundred Grandmothers by Paul Di Filippo - a drug addict is served an intervention by his parallel selves. This one was like Di Filippo had the idea and then couldn't figure out where to go with it. 2/5
Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker - poem. I'm not going to rate the poetry because I thought it was all fine but didn't really seem to fit into the collection.
Alternate Histories:
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu - a digger on a continental undersea tunnel reflects on what he saw and did. This was a reread that I remember liking a lot the first time and it holds up well on reread. 4/5
Thirty-six Alternate View of Mount Fuji by Rumi Kaneko - Japanese alternate reality with geothermal energy. This one was cool, and the ending was also very well done. 5/5
The Cartography of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders - unexpected deaths in the timeline let people time travel. This was a cool idea but there didn't seem to be enough pagetime to really explore it, so it feels unfinished. 3/5
The Rainmaker by Lavie Tidhar. Mercenary superheroes or something like that. This one was sort of convoluted. 3/5
The Imminent World by DRG Sugaware - poem.
Fractured Realities
#Selfcare by Annalee Newitz - a fae curses a skincare shop. Not super well written, bordering on twee. 2/5
A Witch's Guide to Escape by Alix E Harrow - a foster kid escapes into a book, literally. I liked the writing voice a lot and it's a really nice self-contained story. 5/5
Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukini Ogawa - bubbles in the universe (?) that intersect and a woman trying to repair her clockwork grandmother? This one was super chaotic. Parts worked but I wanted more explanation. 3/5
The Set by Eugen Bacon - a guy stumbles through a bunch of different TV plots/sets. I found this one hard to follow for some reason. It's sort of convoluted and didn't really go anywhere. 2/5
There is a Hole, There is a Star by Jeffrey Thomas - woman finds a space under her laundry room that feels safe. I liked this one a lot, the vibe was very nice. 4/5
There Was a Time by Clive Barker - poem
Parallel Worlds:
Banish by Alastair Reynolds - brain surgeons operate on a war criminal from another dimension. Great balance of worldbuilding with philosophy, a really good start to the collection. 5/5
Cracks by Chana Porter - a woman sees other versions of herself that made different choices. 4/5
A Threshold Hypothesis by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy - in Bangalore a man sees windows to the past. Interesting idea but it doesn't really go anywhere. 3/5
Crunchables by Ian McDonald - intersecting dimensions mean people constantly risk getting taken by a rift. Great ending. 4/5
Quorum's Eye by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - a young woman tries to solve math problems on her own instead of in a quorum of her parallel selves. Kind of boring actually. 2/5
Nine Hundred Grandmothers by Paul Di Filippo - a drug addict is served an intervention by his parallel selves. This one was like Di Filippo had the idea and then couldn't figure out where to go with it. 2/5
Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker - poem. I'm not going to rate the poetry because I thought it was all fine but didn't really seem to fit into the collection.
Alternate Histories:
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu - a digger on a continental undersea tunnel reflects on what he saw and did. This was a reread that I remember liking a lot the first time and it holds up well on reread. 4/5
Thirty-six Alternate View of Mount Fuji by Rumi Kaneko - Japanese alternate reality with geothermal energy. This one was cool, and the ending was also very well done. 5/5
The Cartography of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders - unexpected deaths in the timeline let people time travel. This was a cool idea but there didn't seem to be enough pagetime to really explore it, so it feels unfinished. 3/5
The Rainmaker by Lavie Tidhar. Mercenary superheroes or something like that. This one was sort of convoluted. 3/5
The Imminent World by DRG Sugaware - poem.
Fractured Realities
#Selfcare by Annalee Newitz - a fae curses a skincare shop. Not super well written, bordering on twee. 2/5
A Witch's Guide to Escape by Alix E Harrow - a foster kid escapes into a book, literally. I liked the writing voice a lot and it's a really nice self-contained story. 5/5
Amber Too Red, Like Ember by Yukini Ogawa - bubbles in the universe (?) that intersect and a woman trying to repair her clockwork grandmother? This one was super chaotic. Parts worked but I wanted more explanation. 3/5
The Set by Eugen Bacon - a guy stumbles through a bunch of different TV plots/sets. I found this one hard to follow for some reason. It's sort of convoluted and didn't really go anywhere. 2/5
There is a Hole, There is a Star by Jeffrey Thomas - woman finds a space under her laundry room that feels safe. I liked this one a lot, the vibe was very nice. 4/5
There Was a Time by Clive Barker - poem
September 15, 2023
Multiverses: An Anthology of Alternate Realities edited by Preston Grassmann.
The 18 stories (a couple were poems) in this book are categorized around these areas: Parallel Worlds, Alternate Histories, & Fractured Realities. I was hoping to like this book, but most the stories unfortunately didn’t click with me. I was surprised how low my hit-rate was. Maybe I wanted stories that were more concrete and defined a path to how they came to be? I’m not sure.
The two stories that were standouts for me were: "A Witches Guide to Escape," and "A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel." Otherwise, I found the complete collection only okay.
Too bad, as I love most alternate history novels.
The 18 stories (a couple were poems) in this book are categorized around these areas: Parallel Worlds, Alternate Histories, & Fractured Realities. I was hoping to like this book, but most the stories unfortunately didn’t click with me. I was surprised how low my hit-rate was. Maybe I wanted stories that were more concrete and defined a path to how they came to be? I’m not sure.
The two stories that were standouts for me were: "A Witches Guide to Escape," and "A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel." Otherwise, I found the complete collection only okay.
Too bad, as I love most alternate history novels.
July 28, 2024
What I learned from reading is book is that I’m not a personal fan of anthologies. I found that a few of the chapters I felt very invested in and wanted to continue reading, but unfortunately it was over and there was never any circling back. Because this was a book on Multiverses, I thought maybe there would be a connection between some of the previously introduced characters later in the book, but that wasn’t the case. Also most of the chapters were hard to follow along with because it was either too dialogue heavy or the plot didn’t make much sense. I would say there were about 3-4 chapters that I did enjoy which is why I gave it 2 stars and not 1 star.
September 11, 2023
If you are looking for a collection of diverse tales playing with the concept of alternate realities in all its glory, then this anthology may be your cup of tea. There is a mixed cast of authors here and their take on the topic is quite eclectic. But as with all anthologies, some tales are better fits for individual readers. For me, those were "A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel," "Thirty-six Alternative Views of Mount Fuji," and "A Witch's Guide to Escape." Take a look at the list of authors and make your own choice.
dnf
July 5, 2025DNF; page 133
The stories are just okay, and I didn't feel it necessary to finish.
Parallel Worlds
"Cracks" by Chana Porter: you keep meeting different versions of yourself from different universes; all the things you could've been if you'd just made slightly different choices. Would you want to be them? Would you be jealous? Would you feel superior? Would you want to switch places with them?
"Days of Magic, Nights of War" by Clive Barker: a lovely short poem
"A Threshold Hypothesis" by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy: if you live somewhere long enough, you are able to see the places in which time seems to slip. Also, something's coming to get you. "It seemed to me that the city was like an old videotape which has been recorded over too many times on a crummy old VCR, and sometimes the old picture shows through. There were echoes of people and things from long ago. It was just ethereal playback, that was all."
"Banish" by Alastair Reynolds: imagine there's a Hitler in a different universe who hasn't committed the atrocities that the Hitler in our universe has, but he's still not a very good guy; would you kill him as a preventative measure?
"Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filippo: drug addict's rich parents sic alternate versions of himself and people he loves on their son in the hopes of changing his ways. A bit unfocused.
"Quorum's Eye" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro: people join forces with their alternate selves from other universes, which causes class disruption. This story focused too much on the technicalities and not enough on world-building.
"Crunchables" by Ian McDonald: Skipped. Far too many nonsense words in the first two pages; it felt like reading Simlish.
Alternate Histories
"A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel" : Imagine if instead of Japan bombing the USA in WWII, the two countries collaborated to build an underwater tunnel between the the two countries/continents.
The stories are just okay, and I didn't feel it necessary to finish.
Parallel Worlds
"Cracks" by Chana Porter: you keep meeting different versions of yourself from different universes; all the things you could've been if you'd just made slightly different choices. Would you want to be them? Would you be jealous? Would you feel superior? Would you want to switch places with them?
"Days of Magic, Nights of War" by Clive Barker: a lovely short poem
"A Threshold Hypothesis" by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy: if you live somewhere long enough, you are able to see the places in which time seems to slip. Also, something's coming to get you. "It seemed to me that the city was like an old videotape which has been recorded over too many times on a crummy old VCR, and sometimes the old picture shows through. There were echoes of people and things from long ago. It was just ethereal playback, that was all."
"Banish" by Alastair Reynolds: imagine there's a Hitler in a different universe who hasn't committed the atrocities that the Hitler in our universe has, but he's still not a very good guy; would you kill him as a preventative measure?
"Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by Paul Di Filippo: drug addict's rich parents sic alternate versions of himself and people he loves on their son in the hopes of changing his ways. A bit unfocused.
"Quorum's Eye" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro: people join forces with their alternate selves from other universes, which causes class disruption. This story focused too much on the technicalities and not enough on world-building.
"Crunchables" by Ian McDonald: Skipped. Far too many nonsense words in the first two pages; it felt like reading Simlish.
Alternate Histories
"A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel" : Imagine if instead of Japan bombing the USA in WWII, the two countries collaborated to build an underwater tunnel between the the two countries/continents.
July 21, 2025
*10+ stars*. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!!!!!! Absolutely wonderful, thought provoking, fascinating, creative, dark, fun, mysterious, horror & humor, everything you would want in a collection of stories! There wasn’t one story that I didn’t find great……some of these authors I knew already but others I didn’t and I will be looking for books/stories from them. Amazing collection and a top, top, top anthology of the year!!!! I will absolutely be rereading this book!
April 14, 2023
An anthology featuring Ken Liu, Lavie Tidhar, Alix Harrow and many other excellent author cannot be less than a 5* in my book and according to my gut feeling.
My gut feeling was right as the stories in this anthology are all at high level, thought provoking, and entertaining.
I strongly recommend it because it's a great read.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
My gut feeling was right as the stories in this anthology are all at high level, thought provoking, and entertaining.
I strongly recommend it because it's a great read.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
March 16, 2025
A so-so collection of short stories, some of which I had read before, in a general mix of stories involving multiverses, as the title implies.
A real mixed bag, and a bit of a slog at times, which is why this was "being read" for nearly 4 months.
Not a book I will be picking up again any time soon.
A real mixed bag, and a bit of a slog at times, which is why this was "being read" for nearly 4 months.
Not a book I will be picking up again any time soon.
March 28, 2023
I am a huge fan of Clive Barker and Ken Liu so I was happy to see their writing included in this anthology. There are so many great stories here. I love the idea of a multiverse and it's one of my favorite sci-fi themes to explore.
June 27, 2023
It really should be more like 3.5 because it’s hard to rate anthologies or short story collections. Some were very good and some were a little too gimmicky but overall I enjoyed the varied nature of the stories.
August 23, 2023
3.5
A well assembled collection with a few less interesting choices. Grassman has curated an interesting bunch of short stories including some future all-time classics. There are a few weaker ones in the last third but overall this was an enjoyable read.
A well assembled collection with a few less interesting choices. Grassman has curated an interesting bunch of short stories including some future all-time classics. There are a few weaker ones in the last third but overall this was an enjoyable read.
January 4, 2024
Since I lean slightly more to fantasy than sci-fi, it's no surprise that "A Witch's Guide to Escape" by Alix E. Harrow was my favourite story from this collection. There are some gems in here, though I found myself skimming over others.
February 23, 2024
I really enjoyed this book!
I really like the fact that this book is a collection of short stories from multiple authors. Each story seems to be a mix of Science fiction and philosophical elements. The stories are unique and opens up a whole new genre of books that you can potentially read.
I really like the fact that this book is a collection of short stories from multiple authors. Each story seems to be a mix of Science fiction and philosophical elements. The stories are unique and opens up a whole new genre of books that you can potentially read.
May 31, 2024
Hit and miss. It is striking how modern writing style differs from classic stories.
I liked the most:
- A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel (Ken Liu)
- The Cartography of Sudden Death (Charlie Jane Anders)
I liked the most:
- A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel (Ken Liu)
- The Cartography of Sudden Death (Charlie Jane Anders)
dnf
August 16, 2025Found this on BookBeat, read the Alastair Reynolds story which was the only one I was interested in tbh. Tried to get into some others but, nah.
September 7, 2025
I got this purely for Chana Porter’s short story (which was a 10/10) but I ended up enjoying many others despite me not being a bit sci fi girlie
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