Infinity Gate (Pandominion, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

May 10, 2023 Lindsay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

In the near future and not too far from the end of human civilization due to climate change, the last mad rush to extract the last resources of a depleted world and war because of these things, scientist Nigerian scientist Hadiz Tambuwal uses the full resources of her deserted research facility in Lagos to pursue her research and with the help of the facility's AI Rupshe. Unexpectedly she discovers a method to travel between universes, but sadly too late to save her own world.

In an alternate Nig In the near future and not too far from the end of human civilization due to climate change, the last mad rush to extract the last resources of a depleted world and war because of these things, scientist Nigerian scientist Hadiz Tambuwal uses the full resources of her deserted research facility in Lagos to pursue her research and with the help of the facility's AI Rupshe. Unexpectedly she discovers a method to travel between universes, but sadly too late to save her own world.

In an alternate Nigeria in another universe, Essien Nkanika is an uneducated child living on the fringes of Lagos society. As he grows up and endures horrific things he eventually stumbles into prostitution and gets picked up by a strange scientist, he finds himself caught up in a conflict beyond his possible imagining.

The Pandominion is a huge multi-world confederation of alternate Earths with a billion-strong brutal standing army of enhanced cyborg sentients called the Cielo. The Pandominion has only recently encountered another huge multi-world civilization that they're referring to as the Ansurrection, but would be better described as the machine hegemony. The Pandominion immediately start a war with the machines, but they seem evenly matched and the war extends and escalates. In one world of the Pandominion where the sentient species is rabbit-descended. a lonely young student Topaz (Paz) Tourmaline FiveHills makes her first serious friendship with Dulcimer (Dulcie) Standfast Coronal, only to discover in the most traumatic way that Dulcie isn't who Paz things she is.

Hadiz and Essien take up most of the first half of the book before the book hands over most of the action to the wonderful rabbit schoolgirl Paz and her friend Dulcie as they flee across worlds.

How these individuals come together and how they relate is the point of this whole book. In many ways its very much setup for the concluding book by establishing who the players are, what's at stake and how these worlds and societies work. The second book should be fascinating to see how it's all resolved., particularly given the mysterious viewpoint of the unidentified narrator.

Highly recommended and if you liked this, you should definitely try The Doors of Eden which Carey cites as an influence on this book. (Although, oddly he didn't mention The Long Earth which is also similar.)

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Sep 14, 2024 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2024-shelf

I've read a good number of M. R. Carey's books, but this one has quite a different feel from all the rest. This is a surprisingly great thing, believe it or not.

We follow three interesting characters across a universe-hopping worldbuilding extravaganza, caught in the cogs between the Pandominion, a multi-species biological multi-universe enclave, and a machine empire. This is just a broad description, however.

Strangely enough, at least to me, it has all the earmarks of afrofuturism. Nigeria, es ...more

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Oct 25, 2023 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, arc, x2023-read

The Pandominion is made up of a vast number of alternate Earths, where an intelligent, humanoid species became the top of the food chain and discovered the ability to traverse, "step", from their planet to alternate Earths. The Pandominion is held together through trade and politics, and the Cielo, a brutal militarized group, monitors transports and incursions into Pandominion space, and eradicate it summarily.

We're introduced to the Pandominion through the work of Nigerian scientist Hadiz Tambu The Pandominion is made up of a vast number of alternate Earths, where an intelligent, humanoid species became the top of the food chain and discovered the ability to traverse, "step", from their planet to alternate Earths. The Pandominion is held together through trade and politics, and the Cielo, a brutal militarized group, monitors transports and incursions into Pandominion space, and eradicate it summarily.

We're introduced to the Pandominion through the work of Nigerian scientist Hadiz Tambuwal living in Lagos; her Earth is falling apart due to climate disasters, energy crises, and numerous wars. She is intent on finding some way of helping her planet, and through her experiments, aided by an AI called Ruoxi, she stumbles upon an alternate dimension. She quickly discovers many more, and eventually decides to leave her Earth for one of these after things become untenable on her home.

Hadiz arrives in a version of Lagos where Essien Nkanika lives. He has experienced nothing but poverty and violence, and longs to escape his indentured servitude. One night he meets Hadiz, and the two become involved. When she finally introduces Essien to an alternate dimension, he sees the advantage for himself, and decides to capitalize on what he sees as her naivete. When everything goes wrong, Essien is captured and tortured by the Cielo, and eventually seeing no other options, joins the military. Thus begins his life as a brutal enforcer. And the Pandominion's encounters with another multi-world-spanning intelligence, the Ansurrection, which is entirely machine-based.

During his engagements, he meets the last of the main characters in this book: Topaz Tourmaline Fivehills, a sentient, humanoid rabbit, who completely stole my heart.

Topaz's life, and her understanding of her society is completely torn apart when the Cielo arrive on her Earth, causing her and her best friend Dulcie to flee across multiple dimensions.

Exuberant, wonderfully inventive, M.r. Carey has created a fully believable multiverse, with a fantastic trio of characters whose gradual awakening to the reality of the Pandominion in all its vibrancy, diversity, and its brutal, atrocities-dealing complexity takes much of this book, which is the setup for a multiverse spanning war between the Pandominion and the Ansurrection.

I was reminded of Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett’s overly long and frequently tedious series opener "The Long Earth" while reading this book, which I had a much more positive response to, as "Infinity Gate" grabbed my interest from the get go. M.R. Carey keeps the pacing moving along at a good clip, and I felt each Earth he took us to was real and plausible. As well, the three main characters were captivating.

This is the start of a series, so there is much setting up of stakes (but I never felt bored) and giving us a good sense of the mindset of the Pandominion . I loved this book, and really can't wait for the next instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review. ...more

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Apr 02, 2023 Helen rated it really liked it

This was an interesting tale on more than one level. Firstly, you have the story about various characters who live their lives and become more entwined with each other as the story progresses.

But also because these characters all come from different versions of Earth. Hadiz’s Earth (I think of this as ours) is virtually barren from mis-use. Imagine being able to leave and start again but with more knowledge. On Hadiz’s Earth, pollution is at a deadly level, swathes of land are becoming uninhabi ...more

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Jun 21, 2023 Victor Gutierrez rated it really liked it

4.5/5.

I bought this while I waited for my copy of Locklands to arrive via Amazon on a gamble after seeing that it had few (but high) reviews. I was very surprised by this title and the pacing of it. It had very strong sci-fi concepts that reminded me of Children of Time, had military SF elements, and also touched on the currently ubiquitous "fear of AI" theme that has been appearing in many modern SF titles. Interestingly enough, the novel had very memorable and even likable characters, which c ...more

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Feb 05, 2024 Cindy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, sci-fi

Multiverses (Multiversi?) and those who “step” between them. Imagine if humanoids did not evolve as the dominant species on some versions, if some versions did not have their resources as depleted as our Earth, if some beings could travel between such versions, etc. Lots of interesting stuff here with some quite likable characters. A bit of a slow start, but once it gets going it is pretty exciting. Definitely looking forward to the sequel.

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