Walls of the Universe
Author: Paul Melko
Publication Date: 2/3/09
Publisher: Tor

Blurb (GR): John Rayburn thought all of his problems were the mundane ones of an Ohio farm boy in his last year in high school. Then his doppelgänger appeared, tempted him with a device that let him travel across worlds, and stole his life from him. John soon finds himself caroming through universes, unable to return home—the device is broken. John settles in a new universe to unravel its secrets and fix it. 

Meanwhile, his doppelgänger tries to exploit the commercial technology he’s stolen from other Earths: the Rubik’s Cube! John’s attempts to lie low in his new universe backfire when he inadvertently introduces pinball. It becomes a huge success. Both actions draw the notice of other, more dangerous travelers, who are exploiting worlds for ominous purposes. Fast-paced and exciting, this is SF adventure at its best from a rising star. 

Review:
I picked this book up from the library after it was mentioned in an io9.com article about great sci-fi stories (and that also mentioned the movie rights to this book had recently been sold). Anyway, this book tells the story of a young man in Ohio who is visited one day by a version of himself from another universe. The story is set along the lines of a many worlds theory about universes wherein there are infinite (rather, not infinite but who knows how many) universes coexisting at the same time and some people have transfer devices to travel between them. John, the main character, is visited by John Prime and the plot runs at a fast pace from that point. 

This novel started out as an award-winning shorter version of itself and, regrettably, I could tell. I was four star enjoying it for most of the ride and then I completely lost interest during the CLIMAX. When the hell does that happen? I felt like the last 30 or so pages of the book were rushed and the Visigoths and Corrundrum were not as well developed as they could've been. 

I also thought the one sex scene between John (Farm Boy) and Casey was ridiculous. It was like two sentences long and completely unnecessary to any part of the story or character development. And, frankly, I couldn't see any real reason why the Johns wanted to be with the Caseys so badly anyway. I know this is sci-fi and not romance, but I've read sci-fi that had better relationship development and this book lacked a little in that area. 

I'm giving this book 4 stars because it definitely kept me interested. I thought the author did a great job of creating universes that had slight differences and altogether different options. My favorite part was when John Farm Boy was traveling through the universes one at a time. However, I feel that the book is somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me. 

3.5/5 stars

Stray (Touchstone, #1)
Author: Andrea K. Höst
Publication Date: March 20th 2011
Publisher Andrea K. Hösth

Blurb (GR): On her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive.

The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles. Where are the people? What is the intoxicating mist which drifts off the buildings in the moonlight? And why does she feel like she's being watched?

Increasingly unnerved, Cass is overjoyed at the arrival of the formidable Setari. Whisked to a world as technologically advanced as the first was primitive, where nanotech computers are grown inside people's skulls, and few have any interest in venturing outside the enormous whitestone cities, Cass finds herself processed as a 'stray', a refugee displaced by the gates torn between worlds. Struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, she must adapt to virtual classrooms, friends who can teleport, and the ingrained attitude that strays are backward and slow.

Can Cass ever find her way home? And after the people of her new world discover her unexpected value, will they be willing to let her leave?

Review:
How useful would you be in an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic situation? My best friend and I had a discussion about this for a while the other day. (Well, to be honest I have this discussion all the time.) While we obviously tally people’s skills up in the positives column, we were in agreement that two of the biggest advantages a person can have is their ability to just go with the flow and their tendency not whine or complain about things. The reason I bring this up is because the first third or fourth of this book is about a teenage girl, Cass Devlin, walking home from school and suddenly finding herself in a completely foreign place. As she walks around, the thinks about what is going on in a very logical manner.  She thinks about where the sun is located, how long the days are, what kinds of wildlife is around, what she might be able to eat, how to actually make things from raw materials. Gosh, thanks for that Andrea K. Höst, because my reading partner and I were so excited to read about a character who actually thought about all the things a person should be thinking if they are somewhere they have never been before. I’ve read several books since I finished this one (as has my reading partner) and we’ve repeatedly said “Ugh, Cass Devlin would never do something like this.” I also enjoyed her sense of humor about her entire situation and the new society she finds herself a part of.

The interesting thing about this book, and this could really be a positive or negative depending on the reader, was how it was very in-depth setup for the rest of the series.  What this book needs is a kickass editor to contain the awesome. Here is a very scientific graph I’ve made for the occasion:

Wouldn't we all like to have that problem? I’d get overly excited if I were the author, too.  It is clear that Ms. Höst has mapped out this world, its inhabitants, the powers, technology, and the history...and I was into all of it! At a point, while I never lost interest, I was looking for a little less description of every single power, its amplification, and the different spaces the teams went to. (this sentence probably makes very little sense but I don’t want to ruin the plot of the book for future readers) Several of the characters intrigued me and I wished we got to know a few of them more in depth rather than tens of them by name only. In the end, this book has the potential to be a five-star read for me if it was completely edited. (There were a couple affect/effect, hanger/hangar-type errors but overall, the writing was fun and there were very few errors for a self-pub) However, the final product as it is was quite enough to make me buy the remaining two ebooks in the series to see how it all pans out and definitely enough to recommend it to a lot of people. 

Surprisingly, there is no concentration on romance, at least not in this installment of the series. There are 
a few hints and several possibilities but it was nice not to have that weighing down the plot. Instead of Cass wondering about what X or Y dude thinks of her, she actually wonders about how everything in the world works, how she might get home, and the ramifications of her choices. Crazy!

To the author, if you are reading this at any point (which you might be!), please write a survivalist or post-apoc novel! I will read it and love it. Until then, I'll continue with this series and enjoy those ones.

I never would’ve found this book without Goodreads. My pal Chichipio has an aversion to buying books that cost more than $5. Sure, I often yank his chain about this habit but this is it, Gonza, your REVENGE. I really loved this book, so thank you. (be sure to check out his review!)

4/5 stars 

Singing the Dogstar Blues
Author: Alison Goodman
Publication Date: 7/15/99
Publisher: Puffin

Blurb (GR): Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel, and a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student, Mavkel, from the planet Choria. And Mavkel has chosen Joss, of all people, as his roommate and study partner. Then Mavkel gets sick. Joss quickly realizes that his will to live is draining away. The only way she can help Mavkel is by breaking the Centre's strictest rules . . . and that means going back in time to change history.

Review:
I’m always on the lookout for a fun space-related story. Singing the Dogstar Blues isn’t set in space but there is a very futuristic feel to it and ALIENS so it definitely hit my sweet spot. If you are wondering if this book reads at all like Goodman’s other book Eon, the answer, at least for me, is absolutely not. I enjoyed Eon but the pacing was off and I wasn’t especially attached to any of the characters. That’s not the case here. Joss Aaronson attends a prestigious time-jumping school and holds one of 12 coveted spots in the program for her year. She is a comp, which basically means that her mother used a donor to have her and comps are looked down on as genetically manipulated because people can use up to even 5 or 6 donors to create the child of their choice. She is snarky, sassy, and unlike Eon/a, it doesn’t take her eras to figure out what is going on around her. Thank goodness for that.

Overall, the book has a bit of a campy and adventurous feel. The plot primarily revolves around Joss and her new school partner, Mavkel, the first alien to be admitted. As expected, there are enemies and allies in the school administration and amongst the students but Joss and Mavkel hold this entire story on their backs and they succeed in doing so. I couldn’t picture what Mavkel actually looked like but it didn’t hinder the character development. His personality came through even with a language barrier and extensive cultural differences. He and Joss bond over music and that is where the title of the book comes from.

There are hints that this was Goodman’s first novel—the writing definitely favors utility rather than description, for instance. Since this is what I prefer in my sci-fi, I was more than happy with the style. And Ms. Goodman actually surprised me with a plot twist near the end. (I laughed out loud at the Petri dish scene) I wish this book started a series so we could find out how Joss and Mavkel’s partnership continued to develop during their school years. As it is, I guess I will just have to hope that Alison Goodman writes some more sci-fi one of these days.

4/5 stars

The Juniper Game
Author: Sherryl Jordan
Publication Date: 1991
Publisher: Point

Blurb (GR): Juniper is a beautiful and popular 14 year-old girl. She has many friends and a handsome boyfriend – 7th former Kingsley Blayd. However, Juniper has an interest that sets her apart from her peers. She is obsessed with all things medieval. Her room contains an impressive collection of medieval treasures - bunches of dried herbs and flowers, pictures of castles, brass rubbings, a beautiful stained glass window and a shelf ready to hold the ornate silver chalice that Juniper knows will soon be hers. She even has straw on the floor!

In addition to Juniper’s penchant for all things medieval she is also telepathic. When she discovers that the new boy at school Dylan Pidgely is a talented artist she realises that he would be the perfect person for her to conduct her experiment of telepathic image exchange with. And he is. The experiment is a success right from the start. Soon the pair have established a strong telepathic bond. Through mediation they are able to travel through time to medieval London and record their experiences. However, Juniper soon becomes obsessed with the experiment. She gets drawn further and further into another time – one that seems to be happening simultaneously with the present and begins to threaten the future…

Review:

I wanted more time travel, I got more of Juniper treating Dylan like a doormatfriend for almost the entire book and long descriptions of Dylan drawing better pictures than Da Vinci.

Or maybe I was just Sassy McCrankypants while I was reading this. I wanted it to be BAM! POW! TIME TRAVEL! $*(#& and it totally wasn't.

Can you think of more quirky cool or quirky annoying characters? Let's discuss! (I am immovable regarding the characters on the list but feel free to disagree:))

3/5 stars