544 pages
English language
Published Dec. 20, 2023 by Orbit.
"The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds. Except that they're really just one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an A.I. threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they'll eradicate it by whatever means necessary. 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, a secret that could save everyone on her dying planet. It leads her into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of. And she needs to choose a side before every reality pays the price."--Provided by publisher.
"The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds. Except that they're really just one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an A.I. threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they'll eradicate it by whatever means necessary. 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, a secret that could save everyone on her dying planet. It leads her into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of. And she needs to choose a side before every reality pays the price."--Provided by publisher.
I found this book moderately enjoyable and interesting, but not enough to make me read the next one.
The premise of the book: if the multiverse exists, and a new reality arises every time there's a choice to be made, that means there are infinite branching realities. And if one could easily breach the dimensional barrier, then one could have access to infinite worlds much like one's own, or very different from one's own--with infinite gradations of similarity and difference. When scientist Hadiz Tumbawal discovers a means to hop dimensions, that's her first thought, since her own Earth is dying. But the multiverse is already inhabited by the Pandominion, an alliance of Earths inhabited by bipeds of various lineages, and it turns out that even infinite resources don't obviate the tendency towards conflict.
As he often does, M. R. Carey explores the nature of machine consciousness vs organic consciousness, even suggesting that machine consciousness could evolve without being first created by an organic consciousness. In which case, …
The premise of the book: if the multiverse exists, and a new reality arises every time there's a choice to be made, that means there are infinite branching realities. And if one could easily breach the dimensional barrier, then one could have access to infinite worlds much like one's own, or very different from one's own--with infinite gradations of similarity and difference. When scientist Hadiz Tumbawal discovers a means to hop dimensions, that's her first thought, since her own Earth is dying. But the multiverse is already inhabited by the Pandominion, an alliance of Earths inhabited by bipeds of various lineages, and it turns out that even infinite resources don't obviate the tendency towards conflict.
As he often does, M. R. Carey explores the nature of machine consciousness vs organic consciousness, even suggesting that machine consciousness could evolve without being first created by an organic consciousness. In which case, what even is "organic"?
Personally I don't care much whether Carey gets the science of multiple dimensions or evolution correct--the result here is that you have multiple characters who are, essentially, human-animal hybrids. There's an intimidating cat-woman soldier, a gruff bear-man convict, and a brave bunny-girl student, in addition to the tradition ape-derived human species. It's fun, and I can't wait to read the second book to find out whether Carey does indeed create a universe(s) where machines arise from the muck of primordial life on Earth just as organic life once did in our reality.
Really enjoyable sci-fi/space opera
