Rating: 3 out of 5
Nothing special. I found the premise interesting to begin with, but the book dwindled into a rather uninteresting development beyond that point. It was the last few chapters which re-captured my interest when the authors revealed that all of this story-building was possibly for something. Yet, this something seemed to be an unknown until being finally revealed.
I have to give Mr’s Baxter and Pratchett some credit for thinking of a new kind of villain (I will let the reader make their way through to that part). Yet, it doesn’t quite save the book though it makes for an interesting turn of events towards the end. The mechanics of the fiction are also interesting — a device, or ability, by which people can step into parallel universes.
There is some prospect for the later books to turn rather interesting, but all-in-all I think I will give this series a pass. It is definitely rather easy to find a better book to read! I am not sure it is the presence of Mr Baxter in the element, but I do remember a similar not-all-it-could-be from the Baxter & Clarke collaborations (where of course the “collaboration” is more that a famous name and an unknown one are put together for the sales aspect).
