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Hello, fellow Earthlings! Let’s talk about the multiverse, which is the idea that there are other universes existing next to our own as we speak. It’s a really fun way to imagine the question “What if?” while providing multiple answers. A lot of science fiction has played with this idea, including This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, V. E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, and most recently, The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu.
Below you will find five more exciting novels about people getting to change up their location. And no matter what method is employed in order to travel to a different universe, these are all fun and thought-provoking reads about escaping our planet, something that might appeal to many readers these days.
Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings
When seven doors mysteriously appear one summer day, people are understandably curious and frightened. But there’s no way to know what lies on the other side if they don’t go through. Ayanna and Olivia are twin sisters in the Midwest, and when one goes missing, it seems to be linked to the doors, and her sister fears she will have to follow.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
This is a favorite of many Rioters! In this novel, multiverse travel is possible, but only if the version of you in another universe is already dead. For some reason, Most of Cara’s alternate selves have died, which means she can go almost anywhere. But when she actually stumbles upon the death of another of her selves, she is thrown into a great conspiracy involving multiverse travel and her own world.
In Universes by Emet North
And this is a queer speculative novel about looking for love in all the ‘verse places. Raffi is a physicist in love with a sculptor named Britt. But in this world, Britt is not interested in them in that way, so Raffi goes looking for the alternate universe in which the two of them are in love. It’s an introspective look at choices, happiness, and possibility.
Swords and Spaceships
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The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
During the COVID-19 pandemic, food delivery driver Jamie runs into an old acquaintance, Tom, who gives him a new job, which he explains as caring for animals. But Jamie soon learns that these animals are not in our world—they exist in a dimension where the planet is devoid of humans. But other worlds have discovered this place, and now their interference may bring about the ruin of these creatures, so Jamie must help to save them.
Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey
And last but not least, I am stretching the idea of the multiverse a bit with this book, but I just love it so much! Instead of traveling to different universes, it’s about repeatedly returning to the same one. Thora and Santi have come back to the same city over and over after they die. They have been husband and wife, doctor and patient, student and teacher, work acquaintances, and more. Each time they come back with a different relationship to one another, and each time with a tiny bit more of a memory of their previous selves.
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the Book Riot podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.