I will start by iterating that I love Gaiman. So I am a little biased toward expecting this to be a good book; and it was a good book. The concepts were amazing, the plot packed full and fast-paced. The writing was not as amazing as it could have been though. I expect some level of elegance in a Gaiman book and this elegance was intermittent in this book.
Joey is wandering town for a school project when he ends up somewhere else. He knows the people but they don't recognize him and somehow all of the people are a bit different from how they should be. Then a man in a silver mask shows up to rescue Joey from this other place, that is until Joey is taken captive by an evil Sorceress. Soon Joey finds out he a Walker and can Walk between different versions of Earth. He finds himself in the organization of Interworld; and organization dedicated to keeping balance between the Hex (magic world) and the Binary (science world).
This book is a very creative concept. I loved the idea of Science Fiction and Fantasy lying on opposite ends of the spectrum and the idea of a multitude of Earth's being at different points of the spectrum. There were a lot of great ideas in here and great characters. Unfortunately the novel is very short, and while an amazing amount of plot is efficiently covered in this small space, not enough time was given to some of Joey's more interesting counterparts.
I agree with other reviewers that this book was not in the typical Gaiman style of writing. There is a lot of techno-babble thrown in the book, and while some of the quantum theory explanations are interesting, mostly they seem contrived and they take away from the elegance of the story. Gaiman is a top-notch story teller and while his creativity was present in this book, his polish was not.
Still I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more about these characters and about Joey's adventures Walking between alternate realities.
Joey is wandering town for a school project when he ends up somewhere else. He knows the people but they don't recognize him and somehow all of the people are a bit different from how they should be. Then a man in a silver mask shows up to rescue Joey from this other place, that is until Joey is taken captive by an evil Sorceress. Soon Joey finds out he a Walker and can Walk between different versions of Earth. He finds himself in the organization of Interworld; and organization dedicated to keeping balance between the Hex (magic world) and the Binary (science world).
This book is a very creative concept. I loved the idea of Science Fiction and Fantasy lying on opposite ends of the spectrum and the idea of a multitude of Earth's being at different points of the spectrum. There were a lot of great ideas in here and great characters. Unfortunately the novel is very short, and while an amazing amount of plot is efficiently covered in this small space, not enough time was given to some of Joey's more interesting counterparts.
I agree with other reviewers that this book was not in the typical Gaiman style of writing. There is a lot of techno-babble thrown in the book, and while some of the quantum theory explanations are interesting, mostly they seem contrived and they take away from the elegance of the story. Gaiman is a top-notch story teller and while his creativity was present in this book, his polish was not.
Still I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more about these characters and about Joey's adventures Walking between alternate realities.
Ever wish you could travel on different planes? And I'm not talking about airplanes.
Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves make multi-dimensional plane-traveling possible for one boy named Joey Harker, a kid that's gotten lost in his own parents' home at one (or several) point(s). Not a comforting thought that this kid may have to save a few million worlds or so. What if he can't find them?
In the midst of a social studies project involving finding his way through his town of Greenville, Joey Walks (capital intended) into another dimension that looks just like Earth. The differences? His home isn't his home (though the people residing there look an awful lot like him) and a silver-coated guy named Jay rips a hole in the plane and finds him. Not your common-day town-dwelling stuff.
His far-out adventure ensues with the discovery of Hue (a big, colorful soap bubble), a whole new school curriculum (quantam differentiation, gnosis explication, other stuff that would make my skin crawl), and otherworld Walkers all with names that start with J (Jai, J/O, Jo, and a favorite of mine, J'r'ohoho, are just a few). But it's no fun and games floating in varying levels of gravity - a division called HEX is out for Walker souls to power their ship fleets, and they'll stop at nothing to Walk off with Joey.
A series of twists and turns leads Joey back to Earth with (temporary) amnesia, back to the In-Between (where Hue was discovered), and on crazy, dangerous missions that can sometimes strain one's imagination...but in a good way. Despite the strange plot, the reader catches on to the complex terms and settings rather quickly, forming vivid and strange ideas about what the In-Between might look like. Joey's story is inspirational in a comic-book way, and his separation from his parents shows a bravery not often found in homesick youngsters.
Want to see what it's like on other worlds? Pick up InterWorld and Walk with Joey's gang. And while you're there, find out what Hue is made of. Surely, it can't be Mr. Bubbles bubble bath.
Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves make multi-dimensional plane-traveling possible for one boy named Joey Harker, a kid that's gotten lost in his own parents' home at one (or several) point(s). Not a comforting thought that this kid may have to save a few million worlds or so. What if he can't find them?
In the midst of a social studies project involving finding his way through his town of Greenville, Joey Walks (capital intended) into another dimension that looks just like Earth. The differences? His home isn't his home (though the people residing there look an awful lot like him) and a silver-coated guy named Jay rips a hole in the plane and finds him. Not your common-day town-dwelling stuff.
His far-out adventure ensues with the discovery of Hue (a big, colorful soap bubble), a whole new school curriculum (quantam differentiation, gnosis explication, other stuff that would make my skin crawl), and otherworld Walkers all with names that start with J (Jai, J/O, Jo, and a favorite of mine, J'r'ohoho, are just a few). But it's no fun and games floating in varying levels of gravity - a division called HEX is out for Walker souls to power their ship fleets, and they'll stop at nothing to Walk off with Joey.
A series of twists and turns leads Joey back to Earth with (temporary) amnesia, back to the In-Between (where Hue was discovered), and on crazy, dangerous missions that can sometimes strain one's imagination...but in a good way. Despite the strange plot, the reader catches on to the complex terms and settings rather quickly, forming vivid and strange ideas about what the In-Between might look like. Joey's story is inspirational in a comic-book way, and his separation from his parents shows a bravery not often found in homesick youngsters.
Want to see what it's like on other worlds? Pick up InterWorld and Walk with Joey's gang. And while you're there, find out what Hue is made of. Surely, it can't be Mr. Bubbles bubble bath.
