High school sophomore Joey Harker is used to getting lost. So when his eccentric Social Studies teacher, Mr. Dimas, drops him and two classmates in an unknown part of town and tells them to find their way home or get an F, Joey knows he’s in trouble. Early on, it becomes obvious the three teens are lost. Joey, trying to save face in front of his crush, rushes ahead of the others to try and find a familiar road. Instead, he runs into a strange mist and comes out in another universe.
Before he knows it, Joey finds himself at the center of a multidimensional war between the forces of science and magic. He discovers that he is a Walker, one of a number of beings (all variations of Joey) who can Walk between universes. He joins up with InterWorld, a corporation charged with keeping the peace between Binary (those who want to rule all universes with science) and HEX (those who would use magic to control the multiverse).
Joey creates trouble almost as soon as he enters the Altiverse. He works hard at Walker training to make up for his mistakes. But when his first training mission turns south, Joey’s future, and the future of the multiverse, looks grim.
As usual, Gaiman uses his unique creativity to craft characters and worlds sure to titillate readers. However, flawed internal logic and characters who act without adequate motivation make this an interesting, but less than stellar read.
DweebMeter: 3/5
Links
Apr 10, 2008 at 7:33 pm
[...] Book Dweeb wrote an interesting post today on InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael ReavesHere’s a quick excerptInterWorld on Wikipedia Neil Gaiman’s Website… [...]
Apr 10, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Ooooo…science AND magic? Where do I sign up?
Team Edward!
Apr 10, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Yeah, it’s similar to the His Dark Materials series in some ways…
A. the combination of science and magic
B. the whole infinite multiple universes thing
C. the ability to travel between universes
Of course, His Dark Materials is a masterpiece (in my opinion). This book was good, but not even close to Pullman’s stuff.
Jun 10, 2008 at 8:14 am
i think this is a nice book… i got to have a copy soon!