Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

I’m very glad I had the chance to read Chris and Carl’s thoughts on this book before reading it myself. This allowed me to readjust my expectations, and thus enjoy the book for what it is. If I had been expecting a typical Neil Gaiman book I’m sure I’d have been disappointed.

This, of course, raises the question of what is a “typical Neil Gaiman book”. He is a versatile author and that’s one of the things I love about him, but after a while, and regardless of how diverse his work is, you learn to detect a certain Neilness in his books that was mostly absent here. Every once in a while a Neil sentence would jump at me, but that was it. I think one of the main differences in Interworld was in the writing itself. I normally love Neil’s writing, but I can’t say I did in this book. Not that it was bad – it was simple and effective and it got the story told, and that’s the most important thing of all.

Interworld is the story of Joey Harker – or should I say, of several Joey Harkers. In what begins as a mostly normal day (except for a very unusual Social Studies exam), Joey discovers that he has the ability to Walk between worlds. This discovery is just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out that, for every important decision made, two alternate universes are created, and in each of them one of the paths is followed. This means that there are billions of Earths out there, and in each, a different Joey (or Jay or Jo or Josephine) Harker. What makes the Harkers special is exactly the ability to walk between worlds. Joey becomes familiar with the concept of the Altiverse (not to the confused with the Multiverse) which is, simply put, the collection of all the different Earths that exist. And the Altiverse is in danger. Two organizations want to dominate it, one using magic and the other using science, and what it takes to stop them and keep the balance is an army of Harkers.

I normally like stories based on the concept of alternate realities/universes. And while reading this one, I started thinking – the several Harkers we meet in the book are very different, and despite this, Joey knows that at some level they all are him. One of them is a half-wolf girl, another is part robot. Some come from worlds in which humans are not exactly what we normally think of as human. Now, in worlds so completely different from ours, what are the chances of Joey’s parents still meeting and of him (or a version of him) still being born? But of course, even thought there are billions of worlds in which that did not happen, there is bond to be one in which it did. This brings me to the author’s note, which put a smile on my face:

This is a work of fiction. Still, given an infinite number of possible worlds, it must be true in one of them. And if a story set in an infinite number of possible universes is true in one of them, then it must be true in all of them. So maybe it’s not as fictional as we think.

This story, as you must have gathered, is much more science-fiction than anything else by Neil I’d read before. If I were to pair it with anything, it would be with his Books of Magic, perhaps, which isn’t necessarily to say that they are smilar.

This book is very fast-paced and action-packed, and it’s a very quick read. That is yet another big difference – Neil’s books, even the ones in which a lot of things happen, like Stardust or Neverwhere, are generally more introspective. At the core of the action there are people figuring themselves out, and people connecting with one another. That is another one of the reasons why he is my favourite author. But one must keep in mind that Interworld was originally meant to be a TV series, and in a way it reads like one. I think it will make a very good action/adventure movie.

This was an enjoyable book, even if it is my least favourite Neil Gaiman. It’s not something I’d have picked up if it wasn’t for his name attached, but I’m glad I did, because reading it was fun. It is also not something I’d ever recommend as an introduction to Neil Gaiman, but it is a book I’d think of instantly if I had, say, a younger cousin whose taste for reading I wanted to stimulate. Which isn’t to say, of course, that this story can’t be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Other Blog Reviews:
Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
Estella's Revenge (Carl)
Twisted Kingdom (Kailana)
Melody's Reading Corner
Becky's Book Reviews
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