It was such a nice fresh start of a new approach to science fiction. What would happen if every time you fell asleep you were transported to a parallel universe. Great premise and great start. That is until you start to notice the resemblance to Dr. Who. The protagonist drags a companion with him to these alternative places of existence and that companion tends to be switched out for various reasons. The protagonist has to battle an evil force, etc, etc. ( )

I liked this book even though the story has serious problems.

When Zax Delatree wakes from sleep, he finds himself in some other world in the multiverse. Every. Damn. Time. The story picks up on his 1,000 world. Since the most he's ever been able to keep himself awake on any particular world is about 5 days, he's been at this for a few years. Every world is different in the level of technology, the inhabitants, the weather, etc. but at least he only seems to land in places where conditions are right for his life form, which we have to assume is human since we don't get very many clues. He is certainly not from our Earth.

Why this is happening to him is never explained. Something in his blood? When he wakes up he still has his clothes and whatever else he happened to be holding, including other people, and their clothes and stuff. This allows him to build up some supplies, like food and sedatives for the occasional wild world. It also allows him to have traveling companions although in the first 1,000 worlds he's had little success in getting anybody to stick with him long.

Also, he can't really control where he goes, although there is some theory that he is subconsciously controlling his destinations.

The book is composed of entries from his journal, written in a tablet computer like device with inexhaustible memory and charge he picked up along the way. Which he never loses although he loses a lot of other stuff.

The beginning of the book was largely a travelog, surface impressions of wherever he wakes up. He's only ever anywhere for a few days at most so can't learn much about any one place. Sometimes he spends the whole time running for his life looking for a safe place to go to sleep. All of the various worlds he visits are described very entertainingly. His plight (as implausible as it is) is also entertaining.

The serious problems are many. He probably should have been dead long before 1,000 worlds but Zax is a very lucky man (except for the whole waking up in a different universe thing). Someone gives him a virus that enables him to almost instantly understand any language he hears. He eventually finds a traveling companion which is some sort of animal-plant hybrid (who looks like a beautiful girl, more luck) who can mostly heal anything that happens to him. He finds an AI-supercomputer that he makes into a ring. Very handy. Just when he decides to stand against the implacable enemy who's been chasing him (well, he wasn't lucky all the time) he meets a being with a crashed (but sill mostly functional) spaceship full of weapons. All of this implausibility didn't make me stop reading it but it was starting to get to be too much.

At the end, a potential sequel is set up. As much as I liked the story, I don't think I could take anymore. ( )

(This brief review brought to you courtesy of NetGalley. Robbing tomorrow’s bookshelf for today. NetGalley!)

Had no idea what to expect from this book, and it’s just so crazypants inventive. Delightfully unexpected. ( )