Full review and links to social will be posted as soon as possible.

I'd like to thank the publisher Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey is a wild, exhilarating ride that had me hooked from the first page to the last. It’s the kind of book that keeps you turning pages long after you should be asleep. What's not to love? With a cast of great characters and a truly fabulous story, Carey masterfully leads the reader through an intricate multiverse, where every twist and turn feels fresh and unexpected. The pace is relentless, and the stakes keep climbing, culminating in a satisfying finale that still leaves you wanting more.

Sci-fi fans will be captivated by Carey's vision of the Pandominion—a sprawling alliance of countless dimensions—and the thrilling concept of AI threatening to unravel it all. Hadiz Tambuwal is a brilliant protagonist, caught up in a battle that spans worlds she never even knew existed, while the supporting cast adds depth and richness to the plot. Each new Earth we visit feels vividly imagined, and the novel's exploration of alternate evolutionary paths is nothing short of fascinating.

Infinity Gate delivers both pulse-pounding action and moments of deeper reflection. It’s a compelling journey through infinite possibilities, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. For fans of science fiction, this is an absolute must-read—prepare to be transported to places beyond your wildest imagination.

M.R. Carey’s INFINITY GATE (Orbit, 535 pp., paperback, $18.99) is an immense achievement, an impeccably crafted book without a single word out of place, which manages to make several well-worn science-fictional concepts — the lone scientist trying to save the world; the multiverse; the war between organic life and machines — feel fresh and tender and unprecedented. Incredibly, it somehow also begins a series.

The concept is that there are an infinite amount of Earths. They range from ever so slightly different from our own, to unrecognisably so. We can get to these worlds through a step plate (instant transportation). In this universe, mankind/alienkind live in worlds of plenty. There is no need that is not fulfilled by one Earth variant somewhere in the infinite multiverse that Carey has created (The Pandominion).

There is a downside, though. For every world that falls within the domain of the Pandominion, there are countless others that do not. The multiverse is infinite after all. Anyone who strays into Pandominion territory is usually ruthlessly put down and their whereabouts delved into to make sure nothing of the sort happens again. This gruesome task of butchery and lesson-teaching falls to the Cielo (super soldiers designed to be as close to genetically perfect as possible). If you see that blood red armour coming for you, chances are you won’t live to see many other sights going forward.

The book is split into three perspectives. One of them is a scientist, another is a rogue who lives hard and will do most anything to put food in his belly, and the third is Paz (a humanoid sentient rabbit; just one of the anthropomorphic species that make up the Pandominion). These individual, from different Earths, make up a trio of wonderfully written protagonists that all have an interest in upsetting the status quo, whether they’re aware of it or not. Each character gets roughly a third of the book to call their own and things tie up so nicely between the three of them that is has me wishing for two things above all else: 1: that book 2 was already in my hands and ready to read. 2: that this was going to be more than a two book series.

I thought that M. R. Carey was going to have to get up pretty early in the morning AND knock several home runs clean out of the park to come up with a book/series that I would enjoy more than his Rampart trilogy. I don’t know if he’s been setting the alarm clock a touch earlier, or practicing his swing, but he’s certainly succeeded in writing something that I either care for as much or a shade more than Koli and his trials and tribulations. He’s certainly cemented himself as one of the best authors to write for machines/AI across those two series.

TLDR: This was really good. And you should read it.

A good read. Though I am not that familiar with Carey's book. I read this with a blindside view and it was good.

INFINITY IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds – except that they’re really just the one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they’ll eradicate it by whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to human life.

Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is looking for a solution to her own Earth’s environmental collapse when she stumbles across the secret of inter-dimensional travel. It could save everyone on her dying planet, but now she’s walked into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of.

And she needs to choose a side before it kills her.

Hadiz Tambuwal knows our days are numbered. We’ve ravaged the planet without a second thought. Resources have been pillaged to the point of ecological catastrophe. Hadiz’s view of humanity is probably best described as dispassionate. That said she does want to try and save us, even when it looks like we’ve passed the tipping point. How best to do this? Well, it just so happens that Hadiz has stumbled upon the secret to interdimensional travel. If our Earth has depleted its resources beyond all hope, why not just pop to an alternate universe and pick up whatever you need. The only minor wrinkle in that plan? What if there is already a vast, all encompassing bureaucratic entity out there doing exactly the same thing. Can one woman, no matter how clever she is, outwit an entire multiverse?

Infinity Gate is a masterclass in world-building (or should that be worlds-building?). Each iteration of Earth is unique. I particularly like the fact that primates haven’t always become the ascendant species. One of the novel’s main characters, the fabulously monikered Topaz Tourmaline FiveHills, is from an alt-Earth where rabbits won out on the species lottery.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I sometimes struggle a bit when it comes to the science part of science fiction. The first time I attempted The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton I bailed before the end of the first chapter. It felt like all the scientific explanations were making my brain bleed out of my ears. I did come back to it a few years later however and, once I got past my initial science-centric apprehension, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and its sequels. I’ll admit I had some of the same reservations when it came to Infinity Gate, but it turns out I needn’t have worried. The Step technology used to unlock the secrets of the universe is simply explained and seems relatively straightforward*.

I think the possibility of alternate Earths has always appealed to me. The idea that, cosmologically speaking, we live next door to one another but remain blissfully ignorant of each other’s existence. Perhaps these other Earths are not quite at the granular level where every single decision creates another version of reality. That might be a bit much. Something more akin to some defining moment or change that alters the course of the world. Elon Musk being a decent human being for example. Hmm, that might be just a trifle too outlandish.

In the same way that The Girl With All The Gifts is far more than a zombie novel, Infinity Gate isn’t just science fiction. It’s a cautionary tale exploring the nature of humanity’s hubris. Carey’s writing picks apart a whole host of ideas. I’ve already mentioned the environmental overtones but there are also insights into the core of the human condition. How do we define individuality? What constitutes self-awareness? This is the sort of stuff that requires deep pondering. I love it.

I shouldn’t be surprised really should I? M R Carey never fails to disappoint. Describing Infinity Gate as gripping, thought-provoking or entertaining doesn’t even get close to doing it justice. It succeeds on so many different levels. Infinity Gate is part one of a duology so there will be a second book for us all to look forward to and enjoy in the future. Based on what I’ve learnt, there is probably another Earth where it’s already been released. If that’s not cause for immediate invasion on our part, I dont know what is.

Infinity Gate is published by Orbit and is available now. Highly recommended. In fact I’ll go further, I reckon this is the best thing I have read so far this year. It made me engage the old grey matter. I always have time for any book that forces me to think.

My musical recommendation to accompany this novel is the sublime soundtrack to The Antares Paradox by Arnau Bataller. Perhaps with just a dash of Interstellar by Hans Zimmer thrown in for good measure. They are both more than science-fictiony enough to fit the book’s universe-bending tone.

*Obviously when I say relatively straightforward I mean I get that someone stands on a thing and it whisks them off to an alternate dimension. The actual science remains an arcane mystery. If I met M R Carey I’d probably end up shouting ‘WIZARD!’ before trying to burn him at the stake.

The storyline was engaging and really pulls you in, with the suspense level increasing as the story progresses.
The characters are realistic and believable, and you can certainly feel yourself sharing in their emotions throughout.

You could bemoan the multiplicity of multiverses knocking around in fiction at the moment, not just because the relatively simple idea at its heart has hit the mainstream. I recently read (and reviewed) a pretty stinky multiverse adventure series starter where it was, yet again, a trip to the world where the Nazt's won and, well the rest seemed to write itself without much quality control. I trust Mike Carey a lot more to do something a touch more interesting, and he has managed to crack the nut of the big idea of multiverses (ie anything is possible) with the big problem with multiverses (er - anything is possible so nothing matters). He does this is a number of ways, in particular setting up his jumping off point to be broadly our Earth on the brink of destruction, he pushes off from a jetty we understand and slow drip-dripping his bigger tweaks into the narrative.

The building blocks of his visualization of the multiverse is the idea of parallel evolution. Both in as much as other creatures occupying an alpha role on their Earth, but also the idea that parallel scientific development means other Earths will have developed multiversal travel too. Then, taking a hint from our old tired Nazi trope above, that its relatively fair game to exploit worlds without travel (including potentially slave labour), but build a robust defense against aggressive multiversal counterparts, we end up with the equivalent of a Galactic Empire, but spread across worlds. There's another neat wrinkle from our early stuff in that worlds are arranged in a fractal formation, so similar worlds are "next to each other" but their position can be predicted. Our heroine stumbles across much of this, has some relatively poor first contact, throws an unfortunate but not innocent into the mire and then we finally meet another antagonist. And again its the implacable machine intelligence from beyond time destroying everything, because this is at its heart a sideways space opera.

That is not meant to be dismissive at all, this is a sideways space opera with a sideways genetically altered military, a decent sense of the grit and hustle of doppelganger Lagos, and just when that doesn't sound cute enough, our final lead character arrives and is a from a world where rabbits top the food chain. Carey pegs his characterization of the various animal/humanoids in a broadly accessible way, he might have a word about how our rabbit girl is genetically built out of a hyper-adrenalised fight or flight system, but she's also just a girl having a bit of trouble at school. Carey uses our familiarity with many of these concepts in different settings (the baddies use some of the BSG Cylon playbook) to tweak and interrogate those ideas, but as is usual with Carey, it is the humanity (rabbitity, AI-ity?) of the characters that push you forward and you barely notice the relentless worldsbuilding as you reach a satisfying end which is just basically bringing the gang together.

And his sideways galactic empire is called the Pandominion - which mentioning here might be burying the lede, but is a fabulous play on worlds.

4.5 stars - The multiverse, capitalism and AIs, oh my!

Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey is the first in a new series and after having enjoyed "The Girl with All the Gifts" greatly I was really curious how he would handle a more epic story. And I am happy to say that I really loved this one!

The story is narrated from POVs that change around in irregular intervals as fits the advancement of the plot. We start out by Hadiz Tambuwal, a brilliant physicist who is unfortunately living on an Earth that is quite literally dying. She is the last on her campus close to Lagos, Nigeria and spends her last days doing what she can do best: being a scientist. She is on the brink of a great new discovery and we follow her along that journey as she methodically and slowly finds out how to move from one iteration of Earth to another.

Of course there is a multiverse out there, a number of Earths that is so close to infinite as to make the difference meaningless. We learn that this discovery gives her the chance to leave her dead home and move to a very similar version of Earth where she meets Essien, a boy who has not been dealt the best hand by life and who is struggling to build something worth living from that.
Theirs is a chance encounter and it is also by chance that they together jump to an Earth that is part of the Pandominion - a gigantically huge civilization covering a multitude of Earths and ever expanding to feed its capitalist credo of constant growth. These intruders from outside of the "Pando", as it is called, draw some attention and quickly their lives become inextricably intertwined with it.

At roughly the same time, the Pandominion meets another civilization that is solely comprised of AIs and is quickly on the brink of war with them - for surely, if the Pandominion does not destroy them, they will do just that very same thing to them, right?

And thus a complex story with many more characters and side characters unravels and it is best to just follow the ride along. Carey must be one of those writers with a very rich imagination. Just the sheer number of ideas he has incorporated in the world-building is impressive. And still he has all threads in his hands, weaving a story that is coherent and compelling.

And while the concept of a multiverse in itself provides plenty of potential already, the real focus is actually on the way cultures deal with other cultures and the mechanisms of accepting other beings as "same" or "other" based on their similarity to oneself and also of coursed based on whether that "other" might be in the way to more riches. As it goes.

This is handled very well - not heavy-handed at all but as a natural part of a quickly progressing plot that kept me turning the pages. This one isn't short but there is also plenty of story to be told.

There was one tiny thing that was odd: the story is mostly set in Lagos, Nigeria across many different worlds and I did have to wonder why Carey picked it. After all, at least one of the characters is very much from a Lagos like our own one, deeply rooted in its culture as a part of a group that is facing serious discrimination. How familiar could Carey be with that? So, that felt a bit tokenist to me - but at least he had Tade Thompson help him to make sure the facts are accurate instead of just making something up.

All in all, I really loved this - the concept and the execution - and will come back for the rest!

I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley from the publisher and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK, Orbit for supplying me with a digital copy to review.

Infinity Gate is the first book in the Pandominion Series by M.R. Carey.

Hadiz Tambuwai, a scientist from a dying alternate Earth tasked with discovering a way to save her world and fails. She does though discover a way to traverse across the multiverse, but she is too late to save her world. Deciding to leave behind her world she scourers the alternate Earths for a reality similar enough to her own and quickly realises the vastness of the multiverse and placing her in the sights of the Pandominion, a ruthless multiverse federation that itself also discovers it isn't the only multiversal superpower out there...

This multiverse epic opened strong with an almost post-apocalyptic story of surviving as the lights begin to go out and then springboards out into a multi-character, multi-world tale that converges and sets the stage for the continuing series. Dealing with topics like AI and past trauma, it has great world-building which I look forward to returning to.

Overall I give Infinity Gate 4 Stars.

The first part M.R Carey's Pandominion trilogy is set in a Federation-type space where millions of worlds have joined a trading alliance. Occupants of these worlds have the shared technology that allows them 'Step' between universes. This does not include Earth until Hadiz Tambuwal creates it.
This is a solid start to Carey's trilogy and a fantastic read. Well recommended.

I am aware that my huge excitement at getting hold of a copy of this one probably didn’t do me any favours – because I was initially somewhat disappointed. I’m not a fan of info-dumps – and when the book starts with an explanation of the world and the main characters and what their role is going to be, then my heart sinks. Particularly when the author is as accomplished as Carey. I’m not even sure it’s in the right place – for going back and rereading it, I think it would have made a better epilogue than prologue.

There is also a lot of foreshadowing throughout the story – and again, I didn’t feel that was necessary. It’s almost as though Carey didn’t quite trust that his story is capable of bringing the reader along without those extra assists, which is a bit annoying, because it clearly does. For example, one of the main protagonists has an unexpected transformation. At least – it would be unexpected, but for the fact that we’re told well in advance what has happened to her. This was irritating on two levels. For starters, I would quite like to have experienced the plot twist alongside the other characters involved, who were clearly upset and shocked. The other consequence is that because I already knew the important part of her fate – and therefore was able to put together exactly what has actually happened to her – I was ahead of the characters involved with her for quite a large part of the book. And that never helps with the pacing, because it meant that until they caught up with me, I felt that aspect was a bit draggy, even though all sorts of exciting things were going on.

That said, I’m aware that I’m in a minority as a number of my book blogging buddies have read this one and absolutely loved it. I wanted to – and indeed, there’s much in the story that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love the world and the premise, which is clearly highly relevant and Carey’s take on the parallel world theory is interesting and rich. The settings are vividly portrayed with economy and power – vital when there are a variety of places and part of the wonder is the sheer scale and difference. And Carey’s ability to produce nuanced and difficult characters that we nevertheless can care about – I’m looking at you, Essien Nkanik – is impressive. And I hasten to add that this isn’t a bad book by any means. If it had been written by another author, I’d probably be singing its praises – but I wasn’t expecting such technical glitches to interfere with my enjoyment in a story by M.R. Carey. While I obtained an arc of Infinity Gate from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
7/10

M. R. Carey’s THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS was one of my favourite novels of the last several years, a fresh take on the zombie apocalypse theme, and his recent KOLI trilogy was an equally original variation on post-apocalyptic society, so it comes as no surprise that INFINITY GATE is an equally thrilling twist on a familiar trope. In his new novel we get Carey’s version of the multiverse.

Hadiz Tambuwal is a scientist striving for a solution to her world’s impending ecological disaster who accidentally stumbles upon Step technology, a way of travelling to an alternate earth. With the, initially unwelcome, help of an opinionated AI, Hadiz begins to use drones to collect data from other Earths, at least in the vicinity of her base in Lagos and, when she ultimately fails in her quest to prevent her planet’s environmental implosion, she makes a home on the reality most resembling her own.

Essien Nkanika lives by his wits on the streets of Lagos and does whatever it takes to live - working jobs others would avoid, stealing, working cons, prostitution. Initially using Essien for sex, possibly for company, Hadiz eventually takes him into her confidence, sharing with him her discovery of the multiverse. And, of course, even though he has no idea how it works, Essien decides to steal the technology for his own profit. And the Pandominion is watching.

The Pandominion controls commerce and facilitates movement across a federation of multiverse worlds. They force order through the Cielo, the largest military organisation in history. And they do not take kindly to unauthorised Step Technology…

INFINITY GATE is a fantastically exciting Sci-Fi novel which pays homage to Carey’s influences but does not imitate them. There are echoes of THE FOREVER WAR and STARSHIP TROOPERS in the depiction of the Cielo but, at least to me, Carey’s characters are more relatable, more human (even, maybe especially, in the case of Paz), than Haldeman’s or, particularly, Heinlein’s, and I love those novels. INFINITY GATE can stand alongside them.

Carey keeps the reader guessing, as to where the story will go next, but also in how we feel about the characters. The idea of infinite realities could be overwhelming but Carey writes in deceptively simple prose which draws the reader into an immersive narrative so that we always understand what is going on, even when we don’t know what’s going on. I loved it and I cannot wait to find out what happens next.

Los universos múltiples quizá sean uno de los tropos más utilizados de la ciencia ficción, principalmente porque dan muchísimo juego a la imaginación desbordada de un autor. Cualquier cosa que puedas imaginar está a solo salto de página. M.R. Carey aprovecha esta circunstancia para presentarnos una novela muy entretenida, escrita con mucho oficio que si bien no llega para revolucionar el mundo de la ciencia ficción si que cumple de manera excelente su labor como introducción a una nueva serie, dejándonos con ganas de más.


En Infinity Gate la científica Hadiz Tambuwal descubre casi sin querer la que podría ser solución para la crisis ambiental y de recursos que sufre su planeta, al descubrir nuevas tierras vírgenes que se podrían explotar. Por desgracia, su revelación llega un poco tarde y se verá obligada a hacer uso de su invento para poder seguir viviendo, no para salvar el planeta.

Lo que Hadiz no sabe es que ya hay un régimen establecido en las múltiples tierras que resultan de interés, el Pandominion, que domina con férrea mano la posibilidad de viajar entre mundos, pero un error burocrático la salva de una terrible persecución en primera instancia.

Sin entrar en demasiada profundidad en la trama del libro, para evitar destripes y para que el futuro lector lo descubra todo por sí mismo, bastará con decir que la explicación que Carey se saca de la manga para los multiversos es mezcla de tecnojerga y suspensión de la incredulidad, pero aceptando esta premisa, nos veremos embarcados en una aventura muy atractiva con una marcada crítica al militarismo y la colonización. Carey a veces se enreda demasiado, como cuando explica algo innecesario como la diferencia entre magnitudes escalares y vectoriales, pero por lo general va directo al grano.

También resulta de especial interés la presencia de una inteligencia artificial que se va desarrollando con la ayuda de Hadiz y que colabora estrechamente con ella a lo largo del libro. Como estamos ante la primera entrega de una serie que nos permite conocer el universo y los personajes con los que el autor nos narrará lo que tiene en mente, es fácil suponer que su presencia irá cobrando importancia en las siguientes entregas. El escritor maneja a los tres personajes principales con buena mano y equilibrio para mantener el interés, aunque hay que reconocer que las “actuaciones” de algunos personajes secundarios también resultan memorables.

En resumen, Infinity Gate me ha parecido una estupenda puerta de entrada (guiño, guiño, codazo, codazo) a una nueva serie que espero que dé mucho de sí. Estoy deseando leer la siguiente entrega.

It feels a long time since the last new book by MR Carey, but Infinity Gate was certainly worth waiting for. Set across multiple Earths, and mainly in various instances of Lagos, the book delves into the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics - that every time something can go two ways, it goes both, splitting the universe into a structure with countless branches. The twist here is that on some of those worlds at least, that reality is understood, and travel between universes - or at least Earths - is regular.

In contrast, we're introduced to Hadiz Tambuwal, a scientist on our Earth (or at least one very like our own) where climate change, pollution, and warfare are close to destroying civilisation. Working at a research institue which has brought together the best minds on the planet to find a solution, she stumbles on something that may well help - but is it too late?

I loved this book's bold, very classically SF approach to the possibility of other Earths, other worlds, first hitting us with a Big Idea then dismantling it by showing the consequences. The stars themselves may be massively out of rich - but given the prospect of boundless resources less than an atom's breadth away, surely all our problem are solved? If the problem is shortage of stuff, rather than its distribution and management, everything will be alright, won't it?

No it won't, is the answer that Infinity Gate provides. Behind the veil of the many worlds, we see a society plagued by the same problems as our own - in particular, a colonialist, grasping perspective that sees anything strange as Other and to be overcome. The Pandominion, a network of parallel Earths that have discovered one another and more or less federated, miscalculates spectacularly when it meets a society that is very Other indeed. That is a special irony when its "humanity" is composed of multiple species, from multiple worlds, many of them with a different evolutionary history than H. Sapiens. The Pando thinks of itself as the ideal, most evolved society there can be but it still relies on a massive armed force to secure its ends, it fights endless wars, and oh, when you have a big hammer, what does every problem look like?

We are led from Hadiz's very particular, very personal difficulties to a wider perspective. She is first presented as a sort of Robinson Crusoe figure, left marooned on a dying world, albeit provided with an abundance of resources (abundance and scarcity are central concepts in this book) and with an inkling of how to build a life-raft. As a somewhat introverted scientist who's already more or less cut herself off from friends and family, she doesn't have too much problem with being solitary, but then, as one can see coming, she will also have to cope with the multiverse being less solitary than she expects.

How she copes with that is one strand in this book but Carey follows other characters too - there's also Essien, a rogue (so-called here) who grew up in the harsh Lagos slums and bears their scars, and Topaz, a schoolgirl from a planet populated by rabbit descendents. Much of this story shows how the chain of events that Hadiz sets going influences all three. It's a story of intelligence and adaptability set against crushing forces, of cross and double-cross, of desperate combat and last-moment escapes. On the way we see the brutality of the military, grinding poverty, and bureaucratic cruelty as well as courage and solidarity.

I particularly enjoyed how the story juxtaposes "big" themes - politics and the futures of worlds - and petty, self-serving ones. Also, human frailty and stupidity.

It is a gripping and imaginatively bold novel, a magnificent start to a series and I hope I can read the next part soon!

It took me a while to get into this book and settle in. But, I’m glad I did because this is defintiely the authors finest work.

It speaks of Infinite possibilities, machine construct armies, evolution, and more through the eyes of a wise cast of characters from different worlds. You know it did it’s job well because I feel the urge to go back and read up on mathematical concepts of finity and infinity.

This has cemented M R Carey as one of the most versatile readers I’ve ever read, and I can’t wait for book two. Detailed review to come.

There is a reason that you should avoid tackling the multiverse in a story as the very nature of them means that the possibilities are infinite. Every decision ever made split off to make two different pathways and so on. A story that spans multiple Earths will have to pick which ones to visit. Do you go for Earths that have been claimed by the decedents of apes, or ones from rabbits, bears, or another animal? M R Carey’s Infinity Gate decides to use them all and throw in some multiverse armies and AIs that threaten to wipe them all out to make for an expansive story.

It starts on an Earth likes our, it could be this Earth, or one remarkably similar. Hadiz Tambuwal is a scientist holed up in one of the last remaining alcoves searching for a way to cure the planets ills. Hadiz finds the solution in the form of a gate that can transport people to a parallel universe, but it is too late for this Earth. Hadiz’s discovery will have far reaching consequences when it causes ripples in The Pandominion, a league of a million worlds. It will also affect individuals such as a small-time hustler, a bureaucrat in the wrong place and a rabbit-based entity whose only mistake is to make the wrong friend.

Multiple universes are a vast concept to tackle, and Carey has decided to go down the interesting route of exploring lots of them. Not all are visited by the characters, but the mention of The Pandominion and a machine based rival covers millions of worlds. The truth is that even with this vast number that we know about, there are infinitely more out there. Therefore, for the story to work it is going to have to follow individuals.

Gate leaps around from one character to another and even goes as far as to introduce new main characters far into the book. This gives the story a different feel than most. Different characters on different Earths who do not always meet one another. In places it feels like a series of short stories held together by the multiple universe concept. I was reminded of The Martian Chronicles as a concept is explored from various angles, but they are not always linked.

As the story progresses, these disparate elements do starts to be drawn together, and the story starts to feel more conventional. I enjoyed both styles in the books. The explorative style of drifting in and out of a character’s life led to some interesting asides. The main plot also works well as you have come to know the characters. It is strange that some of them are given a starring role for 50 pages and then disappear for half a book. It is nice to see them return, but your loyalties are split. Thankfully, Carey can balance all the strings and throw in some twists.

Gate is character driven and entertaining science fiction that you do not know what direction will go in next. Carey makes full use of the infinite paths available to write a story that twists one way and then the next. Learning about the different Earths is interesting enough, but there is also a central story that comes together at the end to make the journey clearer.

Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey is a complex, dense book with a quite original idea of a story. When I saw this new book being advertised, written by an author of who also wrote “The girl with all the gifts”, I jumped aboard dimensions travel right away. However, I got a bit disappointed.

At the beginning we follow this female scientist who discovers she can jump dimensions with her unusual AI assistant. Her world is at the brink of devastation. Humans entirely destroyed and so our scientist decides to leave her world and jump into another.

I got captured right away by turn of events and was captivated to keep turning the page. But soon, afterwords I slowly started to loose interest in this book. I didn’t got as engaged with other characters, worlds felt too big for me and I couldn’t keep up with everything. I really was hoping to find another page turner, but this book just wasn’t for me. I’ll still be on a radar for other M. R. Carey work.

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 mid-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 uninhabitable. She’s a scientist who has invented something but isn’t sure what…

Paz lives on an Earth in the Pandominium; a collective of different Earths. The residents of these Earths vary as different events shape their development meaning that apes didn’t become the main sentient being - leading to human. It’s really interesting! Paz and Moon’s ancestors were not apes. I won’t spoil…

Then we have A.I. - should these be classed as sentient?

My audiobook, Long Earth, threw a spanner in the works as that was also about visiting different Earths but they weren’t populated. Despite both using ‘stepping’ they were quite different.

This is the first book in a series, by author of The Girl with all the Gifts and Lucifer, so we do have that ‘setting the scene’ but it’s not laborious. I will read book 2.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown, Orbit for an E-arc. All opinions are my own.

Infinity Gate is the first part of a new series called the Pandominion. The story is divided into three sections. The first section is about a physicist Hadiz Tambuwal from our Earth. Hadiz, discovers the technology that enables the jump between multiverses. Although by the time it is invented, it is far too late to prevent humanity from tearing itself apart in a resource wars. The second part we are introduced to Essien Nkanika who grew up in the slums of a parallel Lagos in Nigeria, one that is remarkably like our own world. The third character introduces Topaz Tourmaline FiveHills from the Pandominion who gets caught up in the fear and paranoia of the war with the machines. We learn about the Pandominion and the Ansurrection that are at war. It soon becomes clear to the reader that this story is steering us towards bringing the three main characters together to fight those two organisations, or to escape from them.

The characters converge in the most unexpected ways, as Carey’s story builds to a good climax. Talking of character, they are all well realised, each with a rich background. You get a sense of how they are, think and act, supported by what they experience. The story is quite involved and there is a lot going on, but Carey gives enough of the story for it to become easy to understand. The world-building is well done without massive infodumps. The writing is easy to read and the story is framed by short chapters from a mysterious narrator. The last hundred pages are full of tense action, chase scenes, dangerous escapes and more as the characters come together for a final confrontation. The ending leaves the reader with a few tantalising, unanswered questions.

My thanks to both Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for a free e-arc. All opinions are my own.