Krishna
A very interesting book that goes into Quantum Theory, albeit inadequately, in my opinion. For one thing, they seem to think that Dark Matter (the title) has something to do with the quantum uncertainties – I may be wrong, but they have nothing to do with each other. One is an unknown mass that makes up the universe and the other is the basic property of matter at a sub microscopic scale. The book uses one of the theories of the universe – a Multiverse where the universe splits every time a person – each person or presumably and animal too – makes a choice. (This theory is real and if you want more details, read In Search Of The Multiverse )
The narrator, Jason, has a normal life one day – with his son Charlie and wife Daniela – before everything goes topsy turvy. She forces him to go to a party given by his friend and asks him to come back in about an hour. He goes to meet Ryan Holder, his friend, in a pub. Ryan is a well known scientist and he is angry with Jason because Jason, who is far brighter, threw it all away to just teach kids.
Jason, in turn is agitated and walks home in a roundabout way. On the way back, he is kidnapped at knife point by a stranger who claims that he is ‘not after your money’. He is forced into the car to remove all his clothes and then taken to an abandoned or dilapidated building. When he is asked to disrobe, Jason concludes that he is going to die there, but is given new clothes. He grovels pathetically initially but plucks up the courage to attack but is thwarted almost with effortless ease by the kidnapper.
When he wakes up, he realizes that he has been ‘invited’ for a purpose. He sees them injecting something into him and loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he manages to escape, takes a cab and goes back home but sees that his entire home has changed. Daniela and Jason do not seem to be there but his captors come over to get him. He locks himself up in the bathroom and is totally confused. What is going on?
In another angle, Jason does come home, a bit late and a bit more drunk than Daniela is used to. He is bursting with lust for her, which strikes her as odd.
When “our” Jason checks himself to the hospital, the doctor who attends also wants to send him for a psychiatric evaluation. Jason escapes, checks himself into a cheap motel and finally finds Daniela’s name under her maiden name. He realizes that there is an art show of hers the same night and goes there. She is with another friend of his, Ryan Holder. Jason tells them both what happened to him. The friend leaves and he discovers that though they both dated, Daniela never married him because he chose his career over the relationship (opposite of what happened) and then she asks him to stay with him. Then the man Leighton comes and kills Daniela right in front of Jason.
Jason is captured and taken to the secret facility. He realizes that there is something far wrong. He sees a machine that can keep things in quantum superposition that in ‘his’ universe he was trying to create but gave up but which he seems to have completed in this universe. He realizes that he has stumbled into another of those multiverses where he chose a different path.
Leighton gives him his notes of everything he had done, to jog his memory. He reads into the night and then sleeps. A psychiatrist called Amanda Lucas comes to measure his mental stability.
When his friend Ryan Holder confesses Jason’s revelations to Leighton, the latter realizes that this Jason is not who he thought he was. He takes bbb away and kills him. Amanda Lucas is revolted and in the nick of time is able to take Jason and herself into the superpositioning chamber.
Jason finally realizes that the person who abducted him earlier was himself from this alternate universe! He realizes that the other Jason has stolen the life he had, and kidnapped him into his other world.
Amanda and Jason escape into the machine and go from multiverse to multiverse, trying to find a safe place. They come across worlds which are burnt to ashes, wild surroundings with wolves wandering and complete void in one case. These are other histories – at the same place and the same timeline!
I know I know. The science sucks. It hurts to read the misconceptions. First of all, the quantum superposition is to show the quantum ‘uncertainty’ not an object in multiple positions. Second, the multiverse somehow does not become accessible just because you are in the superimposed state. Third, famous as it may have been, Schrodinger’s Cat was a thought experiment originally conceived to show the ‘stupidity’ of quantum uncertainty. Also, quantum superposition and multiverse are two completely different things and the superposition does not let you travel to other universes. I am not done yet. The thought of anything else (like the cat) being in superpositioned state except a quantum particle is ridiculous whereas here two people and their equipment (drugs, food, etc) go into the ‘box’. The people simply take a drug to help them be superpositioned (wait, what?) but even if you ‘swallow’ the idea, how did their equipment and bags make it there?
But then, you realize that it is a James Bond kind of book and you stop questioning. Then you enjoy themselves. On with the story.
Through some disastrous forays into a Chicago that is buried under mountains of snow (and where everyone seems to have starved to death), they discover that though there are infinite ‘options’ they can influence where they end up. They ‘choose’ a universe which is futuristic and struggle to understand the technology. Then he wants to ‘go home’ but is taken to a dystopian Chicago where his entire family (and he himself) had died or are dying in an epidemic.
The story takes off brilliantly. Amanda and Jason realize they have different aims and go their own ways, each with half the number of ampules left. Jason is mugged, loses everything except the ampules and doggedly goes on. With the last ampule, he manages to find and confirm that he is back on his world.
You would think that all he needs to do is take revenge on the other version of himself. But the story takes a bizarre turn with several Jasons trying to do the same that ‘our’ Jason does and what’s more, it is fully explainable if you agree to the deviations above. Brilliant. In addition, each Jason realizes that he has to kill ‘all the other Jasons if he is to realize the dream’ of getting Daniela back and many of them are ready to do all it takes. Blake takes this premise as far as it would go and it is hair raising and thought provoking at the same time. This is the hallmark of good story telling.
At this point, you cannot turn the pages fast enough because you want to find out how the hell this all is going to end!
It goes into a climax and the ending is appropriate – the only possible outcome. There is a huge flaw in the story in terms of what the ‘other’ Jason who kidnapped him could have done but we will let it go for the sake of a great action thriller that is unique in its plot and never lets up.
Nice.
8/10
– – Krishna (January 2020)