An award winning book by author Blake Couch
Science fiction comes in all shapes and sizes, and some of it is often not set in the Horus Heresy or the 41st millenium. Dark Matter is one of those books – received for Christmas following good reviews I wanted to see whether the hype was justified.
It’s also been made into a show by Apple-TV… but no review of that here as I don’t have access to that particular streaming service.
From the Book
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.
“Are you happy with your life?”
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?
And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
Review
The set-up here is wonderful. It is multi-dimensions done well (at the beginning), and asks that most haunting of questions ‘Are you happy with your life?’. Jason Dessen isn’t sure and keeps thinking about what might have been for he and his wife. Of paths not taken, science not discovered and achievement missed.
But he is about to have the opportunity to see an alternative … and lose his current life. For Dessen is not the only Jason Dessen in a universe of multiple dimensions, and one of his fellow travellers wants to take what he has.
What would you do? If your life were taken away, but you were left in a life that could have been yours? Would you want to go back? Could you settle in to the new reality without others thinking that something was wrong. And if you wanted to get back… how would you even start?
And it’s great… the running through dimensions, searching for the ‘correct’ one with time against him. Jason Dessen is a protogonist deserving of our sympathy… and our support as we hope he can make it home. But what if does? And what will he find there?
And after all this set-up, is the payoff worth it… well … nearly! The temptation with multiple universes is to use lots of them. This is where I dislike where Marvel went (except the Spiderverse, but that was different). Here Blake Crouch almost brings it home, but then he remembers that there must be lots of universes, lots of Jason’s and lots of Jason’s wife… and the wheels rapidly come off.
It’s not a bad ending by any means, the set-up just deserved more.
Verdict
Blake Crouch does a good job here – which is frustrating because the first two thirds of the book he does a fantastic job. I was thinking it was a clear 5 star review… but it all gets a bit over the top and confusing. Almost as if he showed it to a Hollywood producer who suggested a big, bold and mad ending.
Still a worthwhile read, and if you like the Marvel multi-verse you’ll definitely like this more than I did.
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— Declan & Eeyore
