Damn! I completely forgot to publish this book review I wrote up ages ago. I read Dark Matter for Halloween, queued it up for publishing among the other books I read for RIP XVII, and somehow it completely slipped off the tracks.
Since it’s all written up anyway, it’s just a simple matter of posting it, and here it is.
About Dark Matter
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening before the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.
Are you happy with your life?
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens, to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
A man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, Welcome back, my friend.
In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life isn’t the one he knows. His wife isn’t his wife. His son was never born. And Jason isn’t an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?
And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly return to the family he loves?
~ Synopsis from goodreads
My Review
Have you seen the Avengers movie – Multiverse of Madness? It’s a movie that explores the concepts of identity, reality, and the multiverse theory (which suggests that there are multiple parallel universes, each with its own version of reality). And Dark Matter is kind of the bookish equivalent of this.
Jason is a happy family man, but if he hadn’t accidentally impregnated his girlfriend and settled down to domesticity, he could have been a brilliant scientist. And he is, in another reality.
When the two realities clash, that’s when the trouble starts.
The book overall was fast-paced and easy to read. The multiverse theory is exciting but is very subtle and barely there. The focus was more on Jason’s alternate realities and the struggles he goes through to return to his wife and kid. I would have preferred if the book had less action and was more cerebral.
Still, overall, it’s an excellent science thriller and made a pleasant change of pace from the books I usually read.
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