In this jaunty blend of mysticism and theoretical physics, Australian grad student August Seebeck, who discovered in Godplayers
(2005) that he was part of a superhuman family battling implacable cyborgs for control of multiple, interlocking realities, feels frustrated and bewildered. None of his alleged siblings will tell him exactly who he is, why the K-machines are their enemies, what the rules of the conflict are and, generally, what the blazes is going on. As the action bounces from one time, character or universe to another, confusion multiplies. And then there's the underlying question of whether anything in any
universe is real or whether everything is part of a super video game. Inspired by Roger Zelazny's Amber series, Broderick keeps the style light, mixing wonderful panoramas with puns and goofy sight gags. Toward the end, August does start putting things together, gathering plenty of momentum to propel readers into the next chunk of this dazzling SF saga. (Apr.)
