Interworld: A review

Okay, let us talk about parallel universes.

Interworld is one of the most exciting young adult science fiction novels to have come out in the last five years. The moment I learned that Neil Gaiman was one of the writers, I was determined to get the book. The other co-author is Michael Reaves. Together they have created one of the most fascinating stories you can come across. Like all good children's books it is not written for children. It is written for adults but it's a book that children can also read.

Altiverse is the the chunk of the multiverse where you have all the Earth like planets lined up parallel to each other. Parallel Earths, parallel realities: similar manifestation of people replicated over and over again, each existing in their separate four dimensions. Each world completely oblivious to the existence of the others.

Bi-polarity seems to be inbuilt into human evolution. Among these worlds exist two centers of power: one is based on science and is called Binary. The other is based on magic and is called Hex.

So what happens if you get a group of people who can walk between the worlds? How do they fit into the struggle of supremacy between Binary and Hex?

Enter Joey Harker, an average high school student living in the town of Greenville. He often gets lost, sometimes even in his own house. When his Social Studies teacher does an experiment where all students are left at random parts of the town and they have to make their way back to school, Joey gets hopelessly lost. In his confusion, he walks right into another world.

Although parallel, Earths in different worlds can be subtly different. It takes a while for Joey to spot the difference. He goes to his social studies teacher for help but is taken prisoner by a snatch team from Hex.

Those who can walk between worlds are valued highly by the two powers: they provide the energy that allows them to power their warships to travel to different worlds. Joey finds to his consternation that both centers of power inflict unbearable suffering on a walker in order to gain access to his or her abilities. His will being suspended by a magic spell, Joey seemed destined to a long and painful death through torture.

Fortunately for Joey, another walker named Jay shows up and rescues Joey. Jay tells Joey that the walkers are all the same personality from Earth: your average Joseph Harker from Greenville. Jay is from another world and is called Jay Harker. There is an organized group of walkers who form the Interworld: a dedicated group of people who want to maintain a balance of power between Hex and Binary. Their mission is to thwart both from gaining the upper hand.

During their escape, Joey rescues a Multi Dimensional Life Form(MDLF) otherwise known as mudluffs. However in the process, Jay gets killed and Joey is forced to bring his body back to Interworld. Jay's death had created a vacancy among the Interworld operatives and Joey is asked to step into his shoes.

Undergoing a rigorous academic and physical training process (homework problems would make Einstein and Stephen Hawking cry), Joey becomes familiar with the other prototype Joseph Harkers from other worlds. Interworld is run by a person called the Old Man Joe who sends Joey and five of his friends on a regular trial mission.

Something goes horribly wrong and all six of them are taken prisoner by Hex operatives. With the help of the mudluff he had rescued, Joey makes his way back to HQ. Because he had been the cause of death of Jay and now five others have been taken prisoner because of him, the Old Man banishes him back to his own world, his memory of Interworld erased.

Joey settles down in his old life, somewhat changed because of all the training he had received. But the mudluff, Hue, makes his way to Joey's Earth and finds him. Joey remembers everything and now he must set out to rescue his friends.

Can he do it? Can he single handedly take on the might of the Hex and get back all his friends? Since the alternative is for them to die slowly under inhuman torture, he really has no choice but to succeed in his rescue attempt and restore his place in the Interworld.

This is one of the most compelling tales where you cannot put the book down. You have to read until the end and believe me, the tension and the plot continues to the very last page if not the last line. The characters are all very well constructed and three dimensional.

My particular favorite is of course Joey's relationship with his family. His relationship with his young toddler brother develops from indifference to affection. It was rather cute, the way he brought back Hue to Joey.

Mr Dimas, the social science teacher, comes off as the teacher that we would all want as our favorite source of inspiration in high school. He does provide Joey with the most important thing: help him make his own decision. A figure of authority who believes that learning must be a continuous process: often through unconventional means, he was the perfect person for Joey to place his trust in.

Joey's farewell to his mother is probably one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have read in along time. It will bring tears in your eyes. It reminds us that after all is said and done about the heroics pulled by him, Joey is still a young boy who needs his mother, a mother who loves him with all her heart.

If you are looking for a science fiction book to read, I would say that this book is the perfect starting point for you. It is exciting and scary: a tight plot line that forces you to hold your breath till the very end. And yet, it is full of rich characters as well, making it a candidate for high literature.

I strongly encourage everyone to read this book.