Opening Wonders

This fun but overstuffed space opera from Vajra (Dr. Alien) kicks off when history professor David Goldberg is drafted by UN Security to be the first human to travel to the interdimensional Commonworld, a “trans-cosmic intersection permeable to the physics of all non-parallel realities.” His mission: to investigate the disappearance of an alien species called the Scome. Once there, David navigates interspecies politics, warped laws of physics, and attempts on his life, all while amusing his hosts and concealing from them his true purpose. Learning alien secrets leads to discoveries about his own heritage, which is not as Earthbound as he thought, and even meeting some long-lost family members. Vajra puts together a dizzying display of ultra-aliens and interdimensional gods (with particular attention paid to the ancient Egyptian pantheon). The result is that the family dynamic at the story’s core is nearly buried under all the worldbuilding exposition. Still, for readers who have the patience to repeatedly flip back to the glossary, this offers plenty of entertainment. (May)