In Any Lifetime: A Novel

Wow wow wow. This is like a time travel romance, sci fi, thriller… all wrapped into one. I could not put this down, but also didn’t want it to ever end. This will definitely make my top reads of the year. This had me swooning, gave me heart palpitations, crying, ALL THE FEELS. It has a lot of not great reviews, but my oh my, it was absolutely incredible in my opinion. This might be one that “altered my brain chemistry”.

If you are a sci fi fan, this book is for you! I enjoyed an old TV Series called "The Sliders" in which the characters travelled to Earths in parallel universes in search of their "home" Earth. This entertaining book does the same, as a Nobel Prize Winner who studied the possibility of travelling among parallel universes, desperately sought a world where his beloved wife had not died in a car crash. Each universe he found fascinated me. There was one in which the Germans had won World War II. New York was known as New Berlin. In some worlds, the man himself was deceased. In other worlds, his wife was dead from other causes. In two worlds, he met the same woman who almost became a love interest. To complicate matters more, there was a jealous and dangerous former colleague who found a way to track the protagonist's location and who was intent on following him for the purpose of killing him and/or his wife. Guggenheim did a magnificent job of exploring nuances of the different worlds that were in some ways the same, but different in so many others. Differences in technology were very entertaining. Each reader can discover for himself if the two lovers were ever reunited.

I loved this book and devoured it within days. Wasn't sure what to expect, but this was a fun and twisted story, not quite predictable and with many twists and turns. Great story and plot ... something we all probably think about from time to time: what would happen if there actually are infinite "parallel worlds" which branch off every time we make a decision? What if we could go between them? This was a superb story and a fun read. Definitely recommend this book for something new and different!!

I really wasn't expecting anything awesome, because, to be honest, I don't believe in a multiverse. I don't WANT to believe in a multiverse.

But Mr. Guggenheim has managed to make it sound at least plausible, and his characterizations of Jonas, Amanda, Victor, and Eva are done very well.

I did notice that he tied things up nicely in a bow at the end, but I'm still pretty saddened by how poorly Eva was treated overall.

But, then again, it's a multiverse...it's going to be even more unfair than a singular reality.

I DO take exception to one thing, which is why I only gave it four stars. The author, through Victor, keeps insisting that the Universe does not want Jason and Amanda together. Why not? Isn't the multiverse big enough for a singular happy ending? Or are all of the opposing machinations a factor of Victor's countermanipulation? And, in all of the multiverses, wouldn't there be one where Jonas and Victor worked together?

But it was a good yarn. The ending is satisfactory. There's nothing wrong with "happily ever after".

Stories about time travel and parallel worlds are having their moment right now. I confess I love the unlimited possibilities these concepts offer. I dove into the Apple TV series Dark Matter but found it raised more questions than it answered and in some ways it was downright silly. In Any Lifetime addressed the same concepts but presented them in a more logical and entertaining manner. Like the tv series, this is a story about a man trying to get back to his wife, the love of his life, after traveling through the multiverse. , In the series the story is fragmented among many variations of the main character and the most sympathetic version is rather passive. His nemesis is anctually one of the other versions of himself. In this book Jonas Cullen is a Nobel Laureate who uses his knowledge of parallel worlds to actively try to set right the tragedy of his wife’s death. The villain in this story is a rival scientist who accuses him of stealing his work. Did I understand the science underpinning the plot? Since this is all theoretical, you might say, I understood enough to go along for the ride. Having text rather than visuals to refer to made the story easier to follow and having a clearly defined enemy made a more enjoyable conflict. So if you are into the intriguing idea of other worlds, I recommend this. I just wouldn’t worry about the science behind the story.

BAD: The methodology of traveling between realities doesn't make sense even in the realm of quantum physics - and so is purposely vague. There is no evidence or theory that the multiverse is limited in any manner. It is infinite and therefore there are infinite possibilities. For the author to wish it differently just to drive the plot in a certain way is a cop out. There are way too many convenient coincidences in the story - again, a contrived approach to the plot.

GOOD: The love story is interesting, as is the nemesis of Victor.