Book Review: Echoes of Another Earth by J. Daniel Layfield

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Book Synopsis:

A scientist in hiding.

An admiral on the brink of treason.

A man who has lived hundreds of versions of his life across the same number of dimensions.

Three paths converge in one dimension. Their actions will affect them all.

Josh hasn’t really felt like himself since the first time he died. It’s funny what you can get used to though. With his next jump into another Josh’s life, he may finally get some answers, but does he want to hear them? Better question: can he trust the scientist being hunted by his past? Whatever Josh chooses, his actions will either aid in saving this dimension from destruction, or add it to a long list of ones destined to end.

Review:

This one had an interesting premise.

The reader meets Josh first, as he’s going through the final days of one of his many lives. But in each life, he’s some version of himself; he’s Josh, he has a friend named Dave, and he always wakes up the same age as he was when he died before. Every Josh keeps a journal, which helps him figure out what sort of Josh he is on each world.

Between Josh chapters, there are those featuring Chelsea, and admiral in the Alliance fleet, and Byron, the captain of a ship she’s “commandeered.” They’re searching for a rogue scientist responsible for dimensional turmoil. Their ship has the ability to cross “the Void,” a space between dimensions, while they hunt for the scientist.

It isn’t immediately clear why they’re looking for him, but he comes into play later.

It’s really hard to describe this book without getting into spoilers. The plot is fairly complex, the story arcs intertwine, and some of the science behind the idea is fascinating. While there were concepts taken from quantum physics presented in the book, it didn’t go into great detail on the science or math behind them (which I was very much okay with.) It’s cool stuff, but would have bogged the story down if it had been included. I think in this case, the way the author chose to present the concepts worked well for the book.

The book is written well too, but I never really connected with any of the characters. This is definitely a plot-driven book.

That being said, there was a point about midway through the story where my interest started to wane, but it got better again toward the end. I liked the conclusion, but felt the epilogue was unnecessary (it was short and humorous, but didn’t really add anything to the main story.)

Echoes of Another Earth was an interesting read with a bit of humor, some high-stakes, and an intriguing premise.

Author’s Twitter: @jdaniellayfield

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