Max and the Multiverse is a 2017 science fiction novel by Zachry Wheeler. It's the first book in the series of the same name. It was published by Mayhematic Press in January 2017.
It's spring break and Max is stuck at home all by himself. Just the way he likes it. He games online, feasts on junk, and wonders why his cat can suddenly talk. Thanks to a bizarre mishap, Max has started shifting between parallel universes whenever he falls asleep. A curious affliction, and one that steadily erodes his sanity. Day after day, he awakes to a strange new reality and struggles to make sense of his surroundings. But then one day he awakes to a hyper-advanced version of Earth where humans have colonized space. Determined to fulfill a lifelong dream, Max and his cyborg cat venture into the black, only to entangle themselves in an intergalactic conflict.
I enjoyed the plot of this novel overall. This novel takes a bit of time to get started, but after the inciting incident, the plot unfolds like any other sci-fi adventure. There are fun, action-packed fight scenes, as well as some twists and turns as Max's journey collides with Zoey and Perra's, and their fates become intertwined. The narrative did a good job of raising the tension as the story progressed, while balancing things out with some humor. Some twists didn't have a deep impact, as probably intended, because of the way in which they were revealed. The revelations are told to the reader, as opposed to shown, which lessened the impact, combined with little foreshadowing. It's a fun story, and one that doesn't require a lot of thinking, though.
I thought the characters in this novel were fine. Each of the main four characters added their own kind of humor to the story. Ross, the cat, was my favorite character. He was written exactly how I'd picture a cat suddenly being able to talk would speak and act. Max, as a protagonist, took some time for me to like. He's rather cynical and misanthropic, and for the beginning of the book at least, I found him hard to relate to. As the story progresses, however, he started to grow on me. Some readers might not connect with his character, because of how his personality is written. Zoey and Perra were fine as characters. They played off each other really well, with Zoey's pessimism and straightforwardness being balanced out by Perra's personality. I was a bit turned off by the way the narrative kept sexualizing Zoey and Perra's relationship. They are in a lesbian relationship, but it kept coming up in situations where it wasn't needed and at one point, it was oversexualized for no reason at all.
The writing in this novel really shows who influenced the author. The prose takes inspiration from a number of authors, but Douglas Adam's is the most obvious. This novel's writing pays homage to the way Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is written, with asides and comments to the reader. In most instances, this writing style works very well, and helps to make the world-building feel fresh without relying too heavily on info-dumping conversations. Some of the dialogue felt a bit clunky, however, due to characters, mostly Max, making pop culture references. In some scenes, the references feel natural, as Max is trying to contextualize things, but in other instances, they felt like references just for the sake of making a reference. The author also got repetitive with certain descriptions while being sparse on others. Max is never described in detail, for instance, but Perra and Zoey's skin color (orange) is mentioned multiple times.
Max and the Multiverse was a fun, exciting sci-fi adventure overall. The plot was action-packed, with the right amount of humor. The characters were funny, though they might not be to every reader's tastes. The writing was good, albeit prone to making pop culture references. Certain writing choices didn't sit well with me, but others might not notice or feel upset by them. All in all, it was an entertaining and engaging book. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a fun sci-fi adventure.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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