mikerickson reviewed Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares
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5 stars
Historically I have a pretty bad track record with time travel and parallel universes in media; it never lands for me and I never enjoy it. But I guess from this point on there's gonna be a little asterisk at the end of that statement that says, "except for Fractured Infinity, that one did it right."
We have a great protagonist in Hayes Figueiredo, who is kind of a washed-up asshole, but he's trying to be a better person and we actually see those attempts from him. He's also an indie filmmaker, and that background was utilized so perfectly, interwoven into the narrative prose but also the actual content of the plot at certain points. His first-person explanation of events truly benefits from his eye for cinematography in a way that'll make sense if you read this.
Even just the setting (the initial one, before we start jumping around …
Historically I have a pretty bad track record with time travel and parallel universes in media; it never lands for me and I never enjoy it. But I guess from this point on there's gonna be a little asterisk at the end of that statement that says, "except for Fractured Infinity, that one did it right."
We have a great protagonist in Hayes Figueiredo, who is kind of a washed-up asshole, but he's trying to be a better person and we actually see those attempts from him. He's also an indie filmmaker, and that background was utilized so perfectly, interwoven into the narrative prose but also the actual content of the plot at certain points. His first-person explanation of events truly benefits from his eye for cinematography in a way that'll make sense if you read this.
Even just the setting (the initial one, before we start jumping around alternate realities) was compelling to me. Set sometime in the early 2100's, the world has mostly tackled climate change, developed a cure for cancer, has started colonizing the moon, etc., etc. ... but it's clear that things were bad before they got to this point. We're kind of following the first generation to finally breathe a sigh of relief that the troubles of the 21st century are over. It read to me as simultaneously optimistic but also tempered by realism.
The pacing had just the right peaks and valleys, the central romance felt genuine, and the two main antagonists were sympathetic and justified in the actions they took. And it felt important that this was a gay romance; I don't think that if you swapped out the leads for a M/F couple that it would read the same, which I appreciated. For all those reasons and whatever else, this one worked for me.
Also shout out to Tom Picasso (the audiobook narrator) for nailing the pronunciations of all the Portuguese names and quotes that popped up from time to time.