Echo of Worlds (Pandominion #2), by M.R. Carey
23 Jul 2024The Book
Synopsis:
Following the critically acclaimed Infinity Gate comes the second and final novel in the Pandominion by international bestselling M.R. Carey. A thrilling adventure set in the multiverse, it tells of humanity's expansion across millions of dimensions, and the AI technology that might see it all come to an end . . .
Two mighty empires are at war - and both will lose, with thousands of planets falling to the extinction event called the Scour. At least that's what the artificial intelligence known as Rupshe believes.
But somewhere in the multiverse there exists a force - the Mother Mass - that could end the war in an instant, and Rupshe has assembled a team to find it. Essien Nkanika, a soldier trying desperately to atone for past sins; the cat-woman Moon, a conscienceless killer; the digitally recorded mind of physicist Hadiz Tambuwal; Paz, an idealistic child and the renegade robot spy Dulcimer Coronal.
Their mission will take them from the hellish prison world of Tsakom to the poisoned remains of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and finally bring them face to face with the Mother Mass itself. But can they persuade it to end eons of neutrality and help them? And is it too late to make a difference?
Because the Pandominion's doomsday machines are about to be unleashed - and not even their builders know how to control them.
Discover the conclusion to the spectacular Pandominion duology - an exhilarating science fiction series from the author of the million-copy bestseller The Girl With All the Gifts. Perfect for fans of The Space Between Worlds, The Long Earth and Children of Time.
My Review
Echo of Worlds is the second and final book in the science fiction duology Pandominion, written by M.R. Carey and published by Orbit Books. An explosive conclusion, with two superpowers threatening to destroy the other, the Pandominion and the Ansurrection, with a third force, the Mother Mass, that might be necessary if our group wants to stop the annihilation from both sides.
With all the previous build-in work done on Infinity Gate (and probably at this point, I might recommend doing a re-read before diving into Echo of Worlds), Carey sends us into a journey against the clock with our unlikely band; while the first book could be said it's more focused on the individuals and how they reunite, this one plays more with the collective idea, not discarding the elements, but using them in a different way.
An agile pacing that plays into the idea of the urgency makes the perfect complement to that unknown narrator that eventually gets revealed; each single element that was put in the tabletop is used, sort of fulfilling the Chekov's Gun principle. While the first book might have promised a longer series, I feel quite satisfied with how Carey decides to keep it as a duology with the potential of returning to this world that is quite similar to the Long Earth.
Echo of Worlds is a quite smart way to conclude the Pandomonion series, a perfect read for all the SF readers, especially those that love space opera and a more military approach at times. Carey shows why he's a master of the genre, and hopefully, I will continue reading his books in the future.
The Author/s
M. R. Carey
Mike Carey is the acclaimed writer of Lucifer and Hellblazer (now filmed as Constantine). He has recently completed a comics adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is the current writer on Marvel's X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. He has also written the screenplay for a movie, Frost Flowers, which is soon to be produced by Hadaly Films and Bluestar Pictures.