David Rubenstein's Reviews > When Earth Shall Be No More

I bought this book at Awesomecon, where I met the co-authors Paul Awad and Kathryn O'Sullivan. They are a very interesting couple. In the past, they collaborated on a number of films. While Ms. O'Sullivan has several published books to her name, this is their first book collaboration.

This book is definitely a page-turner. I finished it in a couple of days, because I just couldn't put it down. What I really look for in science fiction books is a set of new ideas. While there are no truly new ideas or technology concepts in this story, the story-telling approach is brand new to me. The story follows a set of characters as they act in parallel, in two completely different universes. In one universe, humankind has destroyed the Earth. An alien group of "Curators" is taking the remnants of humanity to a new, habitable planet. At least, that's what they promised.

In the other universe, a single mother looks for information about her parents, who disappeared (or died) under mysterious circumstances. The characters have different relationships with each other in the two universes, but their appearances are identical, and their personalities are the same.

I have two small quibbles with the book. The short, alternating chapters almost gave me whiplash; they were just too short to gain a sense of "being there". Also, while a suspension of disbelief is necessary in just about any science fiction novel, I just cannot believe that a mother would allow her young son to leave ... regardless of the justification. (I am trying to avoid spoilers here ....)

The authors plan on writing two sequels to this book. They have left plenty of room for expansion!