Quantum Coin

Excellent sequel

So, Quantum Coin picks up the story a year later. Ephraim, Jena, Nathan, Mary and Shelley are attending their prom when something peculiar happens. As Jena returns from the powder room Ephraim has a huge shock when he realises it’s not Jena but Zoe. Jena appears behind her with Mary and Shelley. As the friends wonder what is happening Nathan is being Nathan and recording the events on his camera…and he captures something truly bizarre.

Ephraim thought he had finished with shifting through parallel universes when he and Zoe agreed to destroy the controller. It seems a normal life wasn’t to be, the controller hadn’t been destroyed and Ephraim’s problems were beginning all over again. Nathaniel needs Ephraim’s help and Zoe has come to take him back. So Ephraim and Zoe, along with Jena this time, are thrust into another multi universal adventure.

Ephraim, Jena, Nathan and Zoe have grown and developed into more likeable, rounded characters. Ephraim’s romantic dilemma between Jena and Zoe is quite understated but never the less intriguing because the girls are different aspects of the same personality.

The friends find themselves in a pretty desperate situation with the universes merging and disappearing along with the people who inhabit them. Ephraim, Jena, Zoe and Nathaniel and their analogues are doing their utmost to sort out the unimaginable problems and it seems like it’s on their shoulders to decide which universe(s) survive. How can they condemn multiple universes and all the people who inhabit them to oblivion.

Performance

One of MacLeod Andrews’ strengths is narrating young adult fiction, which he does with sensitivity and credibility, always invested in the story and portraying the characters precisely and with feeling making the listener care about them.

Thoughts

This book is much faster paced with lots more going on than than Fair Coin and the scientific aspect much deeper and a lot more complex.

The Quantum physics and the ins and outs of multiverses left me far behind, racing to catch up and knowing I can never run fast enough. Not that this detracts from the story at all, the characters are engrossing and the story compelling and what an ending!