This was so good! While reading I felt like the first time I picked up a Discworld book. There is clever wordplay and witty insights, great banter, and really fun characters. Highly recommended if you're into either Discworld or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (or both).

Star Rating: 4.5* Rounded Up

I loved this book. I laughed out loud several times to the annoyance of hubby, who also had to listen to me quoting bits of it. If I had to pitch this book I'd probably say:

"Imagine a cross-universe version of Quantum Leap but with added "anthropomorphic personifications" of the Custodians known as Death, Marriage and Birth, all trying to escape from various personal prisons and find each other half way across the known Universe (whether or not they actually knew they were supposed to be looking)".

Unfortunately, Felix, our inconsequential hero, finds it quite difficult to actually stay in one epoch long enough to draw breath, let alone make any plans with his quantum AI companion Alfred who has weird fashion sense and an inexplicable shoe festish. Also, irrespective of the Avatars they eventually adopt, not even the universe can stop the true natures of the three Custodians from shining through.

The only reason I've deducted a half-star is because the timeline is a little weird and hard to follow. I am not sure whether this is a deliberate choice in order to keep the reader as disconnected in time as Felix and Alfred, but there are chapters where things are accepted as the case and, just as you are saying to yourself "what, who, how, eh?", the next chapter then retrospectively explains it. Very disconcerting at the beginning, where at least one "Several thousand years later...." type comment would have really helped.

I will end with a couple of quotes to whet your appetites and then just say thanks to the author for the Classical Music scene - IYKYK - I nearly cried with laughter! Keep an eye out for it!

"...at present, under strict interpretation of the law, being a criminal was considered illegal".

"That would mean Goliath was the hero...
...and David was the villain because he brought a gun to a knife fight"

If you have any level of Geek in you and you have a sense of humour you will love this book!

Sequel please Mr Stride.

Full Disclosure:
I recently joined NetGalley and this was on open readership and looking interesting, so I am reviewing a pre-publication version. I also deployed my kindle app's note making functionality, and not just to highlight all the tense, pronoun and general grammatical errors, (especially but not exclusively in Chapters 5-8 (the past tense of Broadcast is Broadcast btw)), which I hope the proof-readers will notice before this book is launched because I don't want them to detract other readers from a fantastic story, but also to keep a record of some brilliant quotes and one liners. I have a handy list of both, Adrian! 😊

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. It manages to explore enormous philosophical and scientific questions while still telling an engaging, character-driven story. Rather than feeling overly academic, it uses its characters and plot to examine ideas about existence, purpose, and our place in the universe.

The balance between humor, curiosity, and emotional depth made the story incredibly enjoyable. I found myself pausing several times simply to think about the ideas the author introduced.

This is exactly the kind of speculative fiction I enjoy, one that entertains while also leaving me with questions to ponder long after I've finished reading.