The Space Between Worlds, by Micaiah Johnson

Like so many science fiction dystopias, The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson opens on a world where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is an insurmountable ocean. The haves live in a heavily-protected city of hi-tech luxury. The have-nots eke out an existence in barely habitable territory where they look on the shining city with anger and envy. It’s little wonder that when Cara sees an opportunity to jump from a short life of misery to one of ease. What she doesn’t know is that the price is not just keeping a big secret. It cost might be worse crimes.

Cara was recruited from Ashtown to work for Eldredge, the company that developed the technology to travel between worlds. Eldredge uses this technology to mine the other earths for minerals and information, but there’s a catch. The catch is that a traverser can’t travel to a world where an alternate self is living. Because travel is only possible to similar earths, the well-brought up scientists of Eldredge can’t use their own technology. Thus, they have to recruit from wastelands like Ashtown and even active war zones to find people who survived in this world but have died in others. Cara has died on hundreds of other earths, making her a valuable employee for Eldredge. Except, Cara isn’t who everyone thinks she is. The Cara we know wasn’t born on Eldredge’s earth. She found the “original” Cara dying in the desert and, on hearing the urgent transmissions from Cara’s handle, seized the opportunity to leave her bad situation behind.

The Space Between is full of secrets and betrayals and twists. The more Cara learns, the more she realizes how deep the rot goes in Eldredge, the shining Wiley City, and Ashtown. Nothing goes the way Cara—or we—predict. Perhaps the biggest lesson we learn is that beautiful and bountiful doesn’t always mean that somethings is good. All her life, Cara has looked at Wiley City as a place of law and order and health and plenty. Like so many others, she never stopped to notice that the beauty, etc., are just a veneer over the top of a lot of dirty dealing. Can it be true that the only honest people are the ones who wear their villainy openly?

Johnson is a deft hand at building up a world (well, many worlds), the characters, and the complicated rules of traveling between worlds. There was never a slow or a dull moment. The Space Between Worlds is one of the most original pieces of science fiction I’ve read in a while.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.