Science Fiction is an area I dip into occasionally, and Gary Gibson was a new author to me, but when I was offered a copy of Extinction Game to review, something caught my attention, and so I agreed. I wasn’t sure how quickly I’d get to it, but I took a quick peek, and was soon hooked.
The story begins with Jerry Beche, who has managed to survive a deadly world-wide viral attack, and as far as he knows, he’s the only survivor on Earth. Until one day when he’s ‘rescued’, and taken to an island where there are others who have also survived the end of their own alternative Earth. He learns that there an infinite number of alternative Earths, and many of them have had their own apocalyptic event. A small group of survivors have been brought together and trained, and their role is to enter these Earths and rescue data, records, technology etc.
There’s a lot going on from this point – each world the teams visit has it’s own ending or strange future, and Gibson describes each one vividly, including the events leading up to the end of Jerry’s Earth. This was fascinating enough in itself, but we also explore the relationships within the team members, during their visits and in between. They’re an interesting group, with some handling events far better than others.
As well as this, they have to deal with the Authority, the organisation who brought them all together. Who exactly are they, and why do they need the data and technology? Also, where exactly did the ability to enter these other timelines come from?
The mix within this book was just right for me, and I read it within a couple of days. I wanted to find out as much as I could about the alternative worlds, and how it was possible to visit them, but I also found myself invested in the individuals involved, including Jerry. The balance is good, the SF aspect is there, but never weighs down the overall story, and it’s good to see characters being just as important as plot.
I’m going to recommend this one, but maybe especially to those, like me, may be a little wary of Science Fiction. I’m definitely putting some of his other books on my wishlist, and will wait rather impatiently for the sequel.
Visit Tor UK’s blog for some words from Gary, and a free extract.
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