Media Lion

Wow. Part two blew me out of the water- this was when I figured out I really was going to like this book. Part two had multiple climaxes, or maybe one continuous high-octane climax. Moss visits the future in hopes of gleaning some information about the Mursult case, and the larger plot unfolds. In chapter three, she is found out by the men who she suspects killed Mursult and his family- the frantic scramble to escape, to be rescued by the FBI, only to be held hostage by her saviors, then rescued again by Brock, ultimately leading to his suicide.. Tense, brutal, fast paced- I loved it.

One of my favorite concepts in this book is how Sweterlitsch handles time travel- traveling to an If from terra firma and discovering that the If will ‘blink’ when the traveler leaves, ceasing to exist. The way the person who traveled simply disappears from the original timeline, which makes them not be present in the could-be timeline, and the concept of a ‘butterfly in a bell jar’ were all very interesting to me.

Part three was my favorite of the book- Moss’s return to terra firma, her frantic search for Marian, tearing through Miss Ashleigh’s house, the shootout with the river rats culmination in her discovering a slew of bodies that Hyldekrugger and company had been experimenting with chemical and bio weapons on- I felt frantic, the pacing was immaculate in this part, and I felt exhausted after finishing. Marian describing her experience with the Vardogger tree was gripping, and watered the seed that maybe the original Moss wasn’t rescued in the beginning.

Towards the end of this part when Brock and Moss are checking out Torgersen’s house (RIP Brock), and the scope of what Hyldekrugger and the river rats are doing is revealed was phenomenal- kidnapping echoes from different timelines with high security clearance and coercing them to commit acts of terror was a surprise, and a great end to part three that left me itching to get started on the next.

The penultimate part. A solid follow up to parts two and three, I especially enjoyed Moss traveling through the thin space at the Vardogger, seeing the Libra, and the weird time loop/paradox that is occurring there. Moss’ realization that she was an echo was a nice tie up to the prologue, along with Nicole coming back to get her out of the brig gave some clarity to Nicole’s comments back in chapter two about having met Moss before. I also liked Hyldekrugger’s motive for all the murders being revealed- he was trying to break the chain that eventually would cause the Terminus to reach Earth was a nice counter part to NCIS and the other government agencies hoping to escape the Terminus rather than stop it, and poses the age old question ‘Does the end justify the means?‘ Hyldekrugger’s efforts are (somewhat) understandable, he was trying to stop the end of the world after all, and I enjoyed the moral dilemma that weighed on Moss- should she save the lawyer? For her, the answer is yes.

“No,” I said. “I protect the innocent.”

Page 303

I loved Hyldekrugger’s character- a classic villain- righteous in his beliefs, and brutal in his methodology of achieving his goal. He knows he is right, and he’s just doing what he must to save humanity. Part four comes in third for me, a good follow-up to the previous two parts, but not as hard hitting and intense as them.

I thought this book ended alright- I think it is difficult to wrap up a book like this- for the most part it is either tied up nicely with no ambiguity and an HEA, or the terrible event comes to pass and humanity is wiped out. The highlight of this part for me was once again Moss’ venture into the Vardogger, and the depictions of the effects of the Terminus. I also enjoyed Moss reconciling with the fact that maybe she should have let the lawyer die, as she directly caused the Terminus to arrive. Moss’ realization that the whole world we’ve been a part of (what they believed to be terra firma) was just another If fell a little short for me- it felt expected and was not that hard hitting after her prior realization that she was an echo.

The epilogue shows Moss returning to 1985- her friend Courtney survived the attack that saw her dead in the If we were a part of for the rest of the book, and Moss was pregnant. Endings like this don’t feel very good to me- it feels like all the character development, events, and happenings were ultimately pointless, as everything has been ‘reset’ at the end. I would definitely reread this book at some point- the general story is compelling and interesting, and I love the setting- but it is not high up on my list for right now.