Book Review of INFINITY GATE by M.R. Carey

INFINITY GATE by M.R. Carey (Orbit Books, March 2023) Paperback, 544 pages. The Pandominion, Book 1 of 2

ISBN # 978-3126504386  

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

From the author of the bestselling The Girl With All the Gifts comes a brilliant new genre-defying story of humanity's expansion across millions of dimensions, and the AI technology that might see it all come to an end. Perfect for readers of The Space Between Worlds and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The Pandominion is a political and trading alliance consisting of roughly a million worlds.

But they’re really all the same world – Earth – in many different dimensions. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they’ll eradicate it by whatever means necessary—no matter the cost to human life.

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

I don't read as much science-fiction as I used to, having burned out on the genre in the mid-1990's. For that reason, I'm pretty selective about what I pick up, more than other genres that I read on a frequent basis. However, I've never read anything from Mike Carey/M.R. Carey that I didn't like so I was very curious to see how he would approach this, more hard science-fiction than he has attempted before.

There are some complex subjects here but I don't consider this a dense, hard-to-read novel. Carey tackles quantum physics, alternate versions of Earth (the multi-verse), the transportation devices to these alternate versions, and artificial intelligence. His descriptions and explanations of the technology are done well enough for non-scientists/non-engineers to understand and accept the concepts. 

It's the characters and how they deal with their various ethical and moral challenges that make up the crux of the novel, and for me are the strongest elements that make this such an engaging read. I read this in large chunks because what happened in an individual chapter compelled me to read the next chapter until I could find a decent break-off point until the next reading. There are many interesting characters throughout, but it's the three primary characters that drive the story and are fascinating in their own ways. 

The last quarter of the novel reads like space opera/military science-fiction/adventure and is very hard to put down. While it does reach a resolution, there's more to come and the final chapters serve as set-up for the next book. This is a two-part story and the final volume won't be released until June 2024. That makes it tough, but I'll probably check out his Kali trilogy while I'm waiting.