What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Hello,

I read a book a good while back (1990s but could also have been 1980s or early 2000s, sorry for not remembering a more exact range, read a lot and some of the books and times get muddled in my head). I cannot remember the title, author or cover and have googled and used online databases extensively but so far unfortunately unsuccessfully.

Spoilers on the plot ahead...

The book is about a billionaire who's got his mind set on finding the perfect universe to live in for the population but his troops end up in fights with the troops of alternate versions of the billionaire in other universes. There's also an artificial intelligence that can "transport" entire populations to a new, better universe and does so even when the new universe is only marginally better.

Any help in locating the title of the book would be hugely appreciated, thank you.

This is John Barnes' Finity, I think. I'll add a link later - currently on my phone.

Finity for the link

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "Finity for the link"

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate it but I'm afraid Finity is not the book I'm looking for. Mine did not involve alternative versions of history.

Ok. I'll let you know of i think of any other possibilities

Kirsten wrote: "Mine did not involve alternative versions of history."

Also:

Kirsten wrote: "...alternate versions of the billionaire in other universes."

Can you explain how both of these statements are true? I'm a bit puzzled.

Sorry, only seeing the last note now. The alternative universes are all in the present, they're not different versions in history.

That fits Finity, I think - people are shifting between alternate versions of the present

Kirkus Review of Finity by John Barnes - Andy's suggestion:

"College professor Lyle Peripart, the descendant of American expatriates, tries to ignore the various Reichs that rule the world following the Axis victory in WWII over a century ago, until the powerful industrialist Geoffrey Iphwin, interested in Lyle’s clever statistical analyses, hires him. After the interview, he’s beaten and interrogated by the fearsome female Gestapo operative, Billie Beard—but her questions are baffling. Stranger still, it emerges that Lyle managed to be in two places at once: while he was being interviewed, he was also flying to Saigon with his fiancé, Helen Perdita. Shrugging, Lyle joins Helen in Saigon, where a fat German tourist tries to assassinate him..."

Thanks, Andy, that could be it.

Great!