The Sisters Sputnik are a trio of very different women traveling in time and among 2052 parallel universes, each created by the detonation of an atomic bomb. Debbie, leader of the Sisters Sputnik, finds herself in bed with an old lover who asks her to tell him a story. Over the course of the night, she tells him the saga of what the Sisters Sputnik have been through together.

I did not realize this was a sequel to Favro’s prior book <i>Sputnik’s Children</i> until I had almost finished this book. However, this can easily be read as a standalone novel, as the backstory is filled in. This was such a captivating story; any time I had to put the book down, I couldn’t wait to get back to it to find out what came next. It was definitely a unique story. Shannon McDonough did a nice job with the audiobook narration.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

This was a bizarre story. I'm really not sure how I feel about it and I'm also not sure I completely followed what happened. It is very nonlinear storyline with multiple timelines and parallel worlds. Ultimately, this was a story about xenophobia, bigotry, and the immigrant experience. It was very imaginative and had interesting villains and robots. I liked how the known and unknown were mixed up. We get to see both the familiar (Niagara Falls, Frank Sinatra, etc.) and the unfamiliar (cyborgs, alternate worlds, etc). The author manages to show bigotry and xenophobia on a spectrum from bad to extreme. But while it is discussing some heavy issues, this feels like a romp. There is a silliness to it that mingles with the seriousness. This was a really unique reading experience.

I listened to the audio and the reader did a nice job.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Sexual violence? Yes. Other content warnings? Xenophobia, bigotry, eugenics, kidnapping, torture, misogyny.

This is a fairly hefty science fiction/fantasy dystopian multiverse written by a Canadian author. I didn't know it was a sequel until after I finished the book, nor, of course, can I know whether I would have been more appreciative had I read its predecessor.

At the start, I thought it was going to be great fun—perhaps in a similar vein to John Scalzi, Douglas Adams, or Dennis E. Taylor's Bobiverse series—science fiction with a little social commentary and a lot of humor. Well before the end, I felt like it was too heavy on the social commentary and trauma (however accurate and well-deserved) and far lighter on the humor. Most likely, it's just not the book for me at this time—though it is a fine book for this time. The acknowledgments indicate that the author started building one of the dystopian storylines before it became a reality in which we are currently living. While I have read heavily in the areas of politics and social and racial justice, I find myself currently needing more entertainment for entertainment's sake. That is, while I'm not ignoring that we are living in a tenuous time socially, politically, and historically (I read news every day), I need to have a break from that each day, too. Recreational reading needs to be my break time for now.

Cons: drags on; doesn't seem to trust that we'll get references unless we're hit over the head with them

Pros: many strong, clever, creative, daring, loyal, task- and team-oriented female characters; diversity in humans and other species (imagined or real—who am I to say?); quest to save life in multiple universes and times; interesting connections made between the times/universes

Thank you, NetGalley and ECW Press Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected June 30.

This is a spitfire of a book and I loved every second of it. This mind bending trip into a spinning multiverse is dizzying and sustained by the compelling voice of Debbie Reynolds Biondi a time-travelling comic creating dynamo of a certain age. There is definitely something of the Odyssey about this book with a beautiful cosmic love story thrown in. It's like if Stan Lee was a woman and had a chance to jump around the multiverse himself!
This book is such fun and I cannot recommend it highly enough

Broad, sweeping story that spans all 2058(!) worlds in the multiverse (and some time shifts to boot) — starring Sputnik Chick: A Girl With No Past. Debbie Reynolds Biondi is Sputnik Chick — and the comic book artist and storyteller bringing her to life for others. What I loved about this book — and I really did love listening to it — was the way the author brought every one of the various worlds to life with each fully developed (and different) culture resulting from differences in the world’s timeline. Synthetic humanoids, AIs brought to life, mutations, language deterioration, and Cozy World — where pandemics had converted the populace into retiring hermits terrified of human interaction. I’ve been reading science fiction since I was 5 (really) and this book constantly surprised me with both new ideas and many old ideas morphed and molded into unrecognizable emerging customs and habits. There is plenty of action and adventure — which I can find boring — but it was all enveloped in such interesting philosophy, reflection, and world building that I never had to skim.

Highly recommended for those interested in a more human-centric, creative type of science fiction.

The Sisters Sputnik was just okay for me. It kinda reminded me of Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon. They’re both speculative fiction set in the not too distant future and feature a character named Flip and a heavy presence of AI. I rated both books 3 stars. I don’t think I’ll be reading this genre again for a while.
.
This novel is about a woman, Debbie, who’s a comic book writer and travels through time in an alternate reality. There’s a lot going on and it can get confusing at times. I liked how one of the settings is Toronto. It was fun how celebrities like Frank Sinatra and the Queen of England were characters. I just found this meandering storyline to be too all over the place. The multiverse aspect was pretty well defined but I didn’t care enough for Debbie as a character. My fave parts were all the times they mentioned the little free library!! I love little free libraries!
.
Thank you to ECW Press for my gifted review copy and ECW Press Audio via NetGalley for my ALC!
.

This was so borderline that I went back and forth a few times trying to decide on a grade. In the end, I decided middle of the road was best. It was difficult to get into the story, being thrown into the narrative with very little prepation (the author has another novel called Sputnik's Children, which may have been required reading, but I didn't see anything indicating this was a sequel) but I thought maybe once I got into the swing of things it would settle down. Unfortunately it never seemed to find its stride and almost seemed to be tripping over itself at points.

I'm torn on pop culture references in novels. A few can be fine, but this felt too try-hard. "Like Stan Lee, you know, the guy who created Marvel Comics, do you get the reference?" It dropped references in the same way The Big Bang Theory did, for the "Oh hey I know that reference!" It was like a less obnoxious/obvious Ready Player One (people who liked Ready Player One will probably love this one).

By the end, I think the idea is good, the writing and worldbuilding is decent, but the story stringing it all together just failed to work for me.

The narrator was perfect for playing the lead. She was authentic and really brought the character to life for me.