Patchwerk

Dran Florrian is trying to escape the authorities with his reality-bending machine, called Palimpsest, which he had hoped would be a great boon to humanity; among other things, he planned to clean up his polluted world by importing “copies” of pieces of a cleaner alternate dimension. The greatest danger to him is from Harlan Dorric, another scientist who wants Palimpsest and also happens to be Florrian’s ex-wife’s lover. A firefight with Dorric and his thugs damages Palimpsest, sending all of them on a roller-coaster through different realities, but they’re not even aware that reality is constantly shifting. The spiraling changes threaten to tear the whole multiverse apart. Only Florrian can fix the machine—if he can survive Dorric’s attacks and remember who he was at the beginning of the whole mess. Tallerman (the Tales of Easie Damasco comic fantasy series) deftly pulls his characters through multiple quick changes in identity, location, and possible futures, always keeping the plot and action unbroken so the dizzying shifts never become confusing. He throws open a surreal and suspenseful hall of science fiction mirrors, and readers will enjoy watching Florrian smash through them all. (Jan.)