Publishers Weekly
08/01/2022
Tavares’s ambitious debut asks how far a man would go to hold onto his soulmate. Filmmaker Hayes Figueiredo is plucked from his remote cabin by a team of scientists led by the awkward but gorgeous Yusuf Hassan. In the depths of the scientists’ top-secret Nevada facility lies a strange machine that, they believe, offers oracular predictions of the future—and which contains hours of video that show Hayes building the machine alongside a different Yusuf in a parallel universe where they are happily married to each other. Hayes doesn’t have the answers the scientists hope for, but as he fudges his way onto the team, he grows closer to both the machine and Yusuf. When a crisis leaves Yusuf’s life hanging in the balance, Hayes uses the machine to bring a different universe’s Yusuf—one who lives—into his own world. But this is a stolen future; now the alternate universe Yusuf is dead, and the alternate-universe Hayes is bent on revenge. Meanwhile, Hayes’s actions doom his world to a deadly parade of disasters. After a slow and murky start, Tavares hits the gas, sending the plot rocketing through dozens of fascinating possible Earths. The epic love story forms an intense emotional core and Hayes’s conversational narration charms. Anyone looking for queer sci-fi should check this out. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
""A very beautiful, tender portrait of a romance, its unremarkable mundanity made precious against the backdrop of so many iterations...It’s a delightful, spiraling, idiosyncratic book that uses the language and techniques of filmmaking to structure a more interesting reading experience." - The New York Times
"A powerful and touching love story."
The Times
"Populated by some of the best sci-fi has to offer ... The multiverse trope offers and easy and entertaining vehicle for very deep philosophical lessons about what it takes to grow up at any age."
The New Scientist
"A delightfully narrated tale of love at any cost, A FRACTURED INFINITY is as fun as it is heartfelt." - Megan O'Keefe, author of Velocity Weapon and more
"With a narrative voice full of charm and punch, gripping from page one, the story unpeels layers of Hayes’s life while painting a hopeful near-future Earth. The cozy pace ramps to a dazzling finale exploring the resilience of entangled time and the malleability of morality when love is on the line and power free at hand. A wonderful debut perfect for fans of ARRIVAL and THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS.” - Essa Hansen, Nophek Gloss, Orbit 2020
“A cinematic rollercoaster ride … but the real beating heart of the novel is the compelling gay love story that I will remember for a long time: brilliant, flawed, multi-layered and beautifully human.”
Emmi Itäranta, author of The Moonday Letters
“Both poignant and thrilling … it's a multifaceted jewel, with humanity's flaws at its heart.”
Stark Holborn, author of Ten Low and Hel’s Eight
“Razor sharp prose, this complex, intelligent novel is ultimately empowering.”
Kaaron Warren, author of Slights and more
"A Fractured Infinity is a heartfelt and haunting journey through the multiverse, with a clever, compelling narrative voice and a love story that shatters the boundaries between realities."
Ren Hutchings, author of Under Fortunate Stars
“Unboxing a puzzle-box crush in an alternate universe … an idiosyncratic take on the ever-expanding multiverse genre.”
Nikhil Singh, author of Club Ded
'Tavares hits the gas, sending the plot rocketing through dozens of fascinating possible Earths. The epic love story forms an intense emotional core and Hayes’s conversational narration charms. Anyone looking for queer sci-fi should check this out.'—Publishers Weekly
"Tavares’s prose is dense, chewy, packed with one idea after another as he deftly builds not just one possible future world but dozens, all without ever losing sight of the most important thread: Hayes’s love for Yusuf."
SFX
"This is a compelling, unconventional debut that is too freaking awesome to be a debut; a book that’s easy to read, but hard to recover from."
Every Book a Doorway
"An engaging and enthralling story filled with interesting characters and ideas that was hard to put down."
Set the Tape
"Fast-paced and thrilling."
Tea Leaf Reads
"A multiversal love-story, a genre savvy sci-fi with a strong emotional core."
Writings of a Doomscribe
"Nathan Tavares is interested chiefly in weaving a powerful and touching love story between two very different, flawed, engaging men. He succeeds handsomely."
The Times
"Tavares’s prose is dense, chewy, packed with one idea after another as he deftly builds not just one possible future world but dozens, all without ever losing sight of the most important thread: Hayes’s love for Yusuf."
SFX
Library Journal
09/01/2022
DEBUT Hayes Figueiredo makes documentaries, but in another universe he created the Envisioner, a machine that predicts the future. After the device is discovered in his universe, Hayes is recruited to study it and falls for fellow researcher Yusuf—who he married in that alternate world. When Hayes is forced to choose between a future with Yusuf and saving the rest of humanity, the two flee into a series of alternate realities. Pursued by the version of himself who built the Envisioner, Hayes will have to decide what he's willing to sacrifice for the man he loves. Hayes's and Yusuf's relationship drives the plot and is well-drawn and compelling. Yusuf's neurodivergence is portrayed sensitively, while Hayes is flawed but sympathetic as the parallel worlds concept allows him to struggle with himself and his choices. His filmmaking background influences his narration, adding an engaging layer of meta commentary to the story. VERDICT Multiverse stories are popular right now, and Tavares's first novel will appeal to fans of the concept, along with readers who enjoy science fiction that digs into characters' relationships in a setting that spans worlds. Recommended.—Erin Niederberger
