I Contain Multitudes by Christopher Hawkins
I don’t mean to sound like I know everyone and everything, but it is rare for an author to be a surprise to me at this point. Many times, even debut authors, I have come across short stories or seen their names pop up on social media, so I was surprised when I was offered an arc and I had not heard of Christopher Hawkins, who appears to be active with the Chicago HWA, and published another interesting looking novel in the past. Then I realized that I just read and liked a story of his in the anthology Fragile.
I went into this novel cold, not reading any of the press material, and honestly knowing zero about the plot or concepts. I am not sure that added to the experience, as once we are dropped in Hawkins does a great job of building up the concept. Thanks to a long bus ride I read the first 150 pages in one sitting.
ICM is a readable, quick-moving science fiction novel with elements of horror mixed in throughout. I enjoyed with only one hesitation, on recommendations but I prefer to focus on the positives first.
Our point of view character is Trina, a woman who is a victim of “The Turning.” Every time it happens she shifts across the multiverse to another reality. It is always a horrific reset, where the world changes and no one remembers her. Each world is different, and she has to adjust every time. One of the best aspects of the novel is Trina’s growing despair, it is something as a horror writer myself I enjoyed watching this escalation. This couldn’t work on a reader unless Hawkins had created a connection between Trina and Colin. He is the first person to remember her.
“Her words died in her throat, because as she turned, she saw another Shadow approaching them, a dark nothing in the shape of an old woman. It moved between the bookshelves at the far end of a long aisle, pulling itself forward with its finally arms, arms that seemed too long for its bent and narrow body.”
Hawkins can write the heck out of a good horror scene. One of the aspects I wanted more of was the Shadows that creeped Trina through the story. Tiny details that paint a picture like the curled tiles and bent tubs in this next passage.
“There was a tremble in Sweet's voice as the Shadows approached. The instruments on the cart rattled as he stumbled back into the safety of the electric lights. The Shadows fanned out around him as their passage curled the tiles and bent the tubs aside, Trina could feel their vibrations on the air, like the low rumble of a passing train.”
Doctor Sweet and Colin become interesting parallels for Trina. The two characters become like anchors for her. You PKD’ers out there may be wondering if the novel has any Dickian themes. Hawkins doesn’t come off to me as playing with the pink beam, but I could be wrong. The closest hint came here…
“She remembered again what Doctor Sweet had told her, a new thought emerged, more terrible than the others. What if this place was just some product of her mind, some construct of her imagination? What if there were no answers? What if the light was only here because she had put it there herself?”
I would have enjoyed it if Trina doubted herself a bit more. She had a little too much belief that she it was real, and happening to her. A bit more doubt would have gone a long way for me. That said Colin remembers in way that is like hearing the echo of song, not the actual song. That assured Trina and those moments were fantastic.
“Collin's mouth fell open. He stared at her, his eyes searching, as if there was something about that he could not quite place. He lingered there for a moment, but every time that he seemed on the verge of understanding, his eyes would lose focus. At last, he seemed to come back to himself as recognition spread across his face so did his smile.
“Trina,” he said, though his voice was little more than a croaking whisper. “Trina Bell.”
So what are the negatives? I said I had one issue with the book. There are a billion vampire novels, but the ones who break through do something different with the concept. In 1949 when Fredric Brown released What Mad Universe the multiverse was a revolutionary SF device. Eight years later PKD escalated the concept with alternate realities that were a private cosmos in Eye in the Sky. 75 years later multiverse films have won Best Picture, and Marvel has built a film saga in the multiple dozens of films on it. There have been animated Spiderman series…
This novel is well written, and the story is well told but I kept thinking about Dark Matter which I watched on AppleTV, I know it was based on Blake Couch novel. I felt the stories were similar, and I liked how patiently that story was told. It is not this novel’s fault but I am very over multiverse stories and my bar is pretty high. Two years ago M.R. Carey’s Infinity Gate knocked my doors off with an insanely elaborate multiverse story that rivaled Dune and Star Wars in world-building scope. I think multiverse stories need that at this point to separate themselves.
Thankfully Hawkins is a talented writer who never bored me. This is a well-executed novel, Hawkins is a talented writer and I want to read more but I was hoping for a bit more higher concept. That said this is a recommendation, and the ending did get a smile out of this reader.
