A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

A Million Worlds With You is the the third and final book of the Firebird trilogy. I got hooked on this series a couple years ago and I finally got around to finishing the trilogy. Quite honestly, I was a little disappointed in the conclusion but the actual story was still gripping and exciting. I love the idea of corporate conspiracy through different dimensions and Claudia Gray delivers an intense man hunt through different worlds. She also delivers a touching love story that spans through different universes, uniting Marguerite and Paul time and time again.

Marguerite is chasing after another version of herself, a broken and angry Marguerite that is willing to destroy other worlds to achieve the ultimate goal of saving her sister. But the main Marguerite, the narrator of the book, can't justify destroying other worlds, killing billions of people to save the life of only one person. The only way Marguerite can save these other worlds is by travelling to these different dimensions, save her other selves, and neutralize the plan threatening those dimensions. Marguerite not only travels to different dimensions, but she also finds herself in different places like a futuristic London, a primitive Roman civilization, an antiquated Egypt, a space station, a soviet Russia and many other. Honestly, I love reading about all these different worlds. It's almost like reading short stories, mini adventures that fit into a much larger one.

What I love the most about the book is Marguerite and Paul. Their lives seem intertwined in all the universes they visit, which proves to Marguerite that there's a force uniting them time and time again. Their love literally span dimensions, however, her version of Paul isn't convinced that they're meant to be together. His soul was actually fractured into many pieces, and although Marguerite was able to put him back together, he still feels broken and unfit for Marguerite's love. Their relationship might be complicated, but it's also a captivating one. I love the small intimate moments they have together and you can't help but hope for the best for these two.

The main issue I've had with this series is the use of the Firebird, the device that lets the holder travel through dimensions. The author sort of explains the idea behind dimension jumping but doesn't fully describe the actual device. She doesn't say if it has buttons or a digital display to let you know which world you might have entered. It seems that Marguerite takes a chance every time she jumps dimensions that she'll end up in the right one and we don't really know how she manipulates the Firebird to accomplish the jump. I'm a very visual person so I always enjoy descriptions. It seems the author took the easy way out and chose the least scientific character and made her the narrator. Everyone one else seem to be science geniuses but Marguerite blanks whenever they try to explain anything "too complicated for her artistic brain." I'm sure if she took the time to learn she would understand, but I guess for the sake of fiction, Marguerite ignore the math and the science bits.

I highly recommend this series to anyone that enjoys a thrilling science fiction story. However, a fair warning: the novels can't be read on their own. They really need to be read one after the other. Because each novel spills into the next one, I would actually recommend reading them one after the other. Nothing better than binge reading a great series!

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Posted by Tynga at 01:34

 Claudia Gray, dimensions, Firebird, Harper Collins, HarperTeen, Review, Science-Fiction  Leave your mark

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

The second book in the Firebird series by Claudia Gray, Ten Thousand Skies Above You is as confusing and as thrilling as the first book. It's not just a book about travelling and exploring different dimensions but it's also a love story and a mystery-thriller all at once. The first book of the series caught my attention because of it's amazing world-building and great story. This second one has me hooked because of all the new details added to dimension traveling and to the to the characters.

Often, book lovers tend to be disappointed with sequels because the first books always seem to be better. Everything is always so new, and fresh in the first book, that we can't help but be disappointed  with the sequel because the new factor isn't there anymore. In Ten Thousand Skies Above You, because we're constantly travelling in different worlds, and meeting new versions of the same people, things are always new and thrilling. I can't speak for everyone, but I love reading scenes where two characters meet for the first time. In this sequel, there are countless "new" meetings, and even if it makes things a little bit confusing, it's still very engaging.

This book follows Marguerite Caine through seven different multiverses (including her home world) where she takes "possession" of different version of her own body. Her main goal is to locate Paul Markov in four of these worlds since her "original" Paul Markov's soul was splintered into four different parts. This splintering was done purposely so that one of her enemies could blackmail her into doing  some of his dirty work. Because she loves Paul, Marguerite would do just about anything in order to save her version of him. By travelling in different multiverses, she discovers darker versions of her boyfriend, which leads her to guess some of Paul's dark secrets that he never talks about.

Despite very few scenes between Marguerite and her own version of Paul, I would definitely classify this book as a romance. Travelling through different worlds in order to save your boyfriend is pretty daring and courageous. Marguerite encounters many different problems, such as a medieval world, a war-torn America, Russian mobsters in New York and a dog-eat-dog futuristic world. However, the worse verse is probably the safest one where Marguerite's family hates Paul for what he's done to her. Despite the difficulties in each world, Marguerite is even more determined to make her relationship with Paul world. In every world, fate always seems to bring her and Paul together, and Marguerite is sure that this means they're destined to be together.

Despite Marguerite and Paul's relationship, Marguerite spends the whole book travelling with Theo, Paul's best friend and fellow PhD candidate. He also happens to be in love with Marguerite too, but would do anything to bring back Paul. However, his travelling with Marguerite isn't entirely selfless since he is also trying to gain access to a cure from from his condition that was caused by a drug called the Nightthief. That drug is used to help the multiverse traveller stay in charge of the host body, instead of having the original consciousness take over.

I love how the author created this world as if it's completely possible. The scientists that created the Firebirds, the devices that allow to travel between worlds, are very realistic. These scientists just happen to be Marguerite's parents. They're not your cold, heartless scientists, but wonderful and caring parents. They might not be the ideal role models with their eccentric parenting methods and ideas but they have a strong presence in Marguerite's life. It's nice to read a book where there's no angst between teens and parents. It's actually quite refreshing.

Overall, this sequel was wonderful and well written. Sure, it might be a young adult novel with a dreaded love triangle, but honestly you really can't make assumptions based on those two things. The storytelling is great, and obviously, with the seven multiverses in this book alone, the author has spent a great deal thinking and detailing her worlds. Any geek interested in alternate realities or fans of science fiction will enjoy this series. Incidentally, I'm not a big fan of the cliffhanger at the end of the book, but I can look passed that little annoyance...

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Posted by Tynga at 01:36

 Claudia Gray, Firebird, Harper Collins, Harper Teen, HarperTeen, Multi-dimension, Purchased, Review, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction, young adult  3 People left their mark

PHE - A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray Book Review + Giveaway

Today we're so excited to bring you a review and giveaway of Claudia Gray's newest novel, A Thousand Pieces of You!  Claudia is not new to writing, with her very popular Spellcaster and Evernight series, and her new Firebird series (of which A Thousand Pieces of You is the first book) promises to be just as fantastic.

  What follows is our take on the book (Marie and Stéphanie). How excited are you to read A Thousand Pieces of You? Don't forget to check out the giveaway.

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Marie's Thoughts

A Thousand Pieces of You is really multiple stories all in one:  Marguerite’s coming of age; space travel between dimensions in a multiverse; a love story.  And yet, somehow, the book manages to never feel unwieldy or overreaching.  Amazing.

The main character, Marguerite, is a pretty awesome young woman.  As the only artist in a family full of scientists, she isn’t afraid to independently chase her dreams.  And although her physicist parents may not fully understand her tendency toward the liberal arts, they are always supportive of her.  So often in YA, parents are missing, or completely unimportant to the plot, or even “bad guys.”  It’s so refreshing to find books like this one, where the parents are not only present and awesome, but they play an integral part to the plot.  Because of their support, Marguerite is able to truly shine.

When Marguerite’s beloved father is killed, she and Theo (a grad student who had been working closely with her parents, and who cared about her father like his own) embark on a journey across multiple dimensions in pursuit of his suspected murderer.  This aspect of the novel was so exciting!  The author does a fantastic job in having another character explain the multiverse theory to Marguerite early on so that the reader understands the “rules” of interdimensional travel.  After that point, I had no trouble figuring out what was happening whenever they jumped dimensions.  While the traveling characters were able to move between dimensions, they were not able to move through time, which added a little stability to the storyline.  However, different decisions made in the past greatly influenced the “present” in any given dimension, so sometimes the characters were in America… and sometimes not!  Sometimes they traveled dimensions and found themselves only a few miles apart; sometimes they were half a world apart.  I didn’t find any passages where any major questions were left lingering as to how a character was able to do something or why something happened to a character.

Speaking of things happening to characters…. A Thousand Pieces of You is also a love story.  A love triangle, in fact.  As Marguerite and Theo travel through multiple dimensions together, the questions are asked: amid infinite possibilities, can one love endure?  Does love for one person in one dimension translate to love for that person in another dimension?  I won’t tell you where, but there is a rather steamy moment in one of the dimensions!  What’s more romantic than a love that spans dimensions?  I swooned, I’ll tell you.

Overall, A Thousand Pieces of You was an exciting journey through multiple dimensions to bring a killer to justice.  Along the way, Marguerite also comes into her own strengths and finds love.  I understand that this is the first book in a projected trilogy, and I’m already looking forward to Book 2!

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Stéphanie's Thoughts

This book is amazing on so many levels. I love how many layers and details Claudia Gray was able to include in this novel, without making it too confusing. You can never go wrong when you combine a love story with muti-dimension travelling and action/adventure. I find it really hard to put my thoughts into words and I think Marie nailed it perfectly with her review.

At first, the book was a little bit confusing because you get thrown into the action right away, with very little information. The first time you meet Marguerite, the main character, is when she arrives in a different body after jumping into a different dimension. The information about how she gets there and why she has traveled this far comes later, little by little in the way of flashbacks. Honestly, I'm not too fond of flashbacks because in most novels I find they deter from the actual story. However, in this case, Claudia Gray does it seamlessly and they tie in perfectly into the plot.

Marguerite is desperate, to say the least. She will do almost anything to bring justice to her father's killer. She would even travel into a different dimension in order to follow the most likely suspect, Paul Markov, even if that means using untested technology her genius parents designed. The firebird, is a dimension jumping device that has been created by her brilliant mother. She and Theo, a grad student studying under her parents, follow Paul Markov another grad student, in another dimension that is very similar to ours, yet so different at the same time. As Paul jumps from dimension to dimension, Marguerite and Theo follow him. With them, we travel from California to London, Russia and even a water world! I'm really glad Theo is Marguerite's travelling partner, because as her grad student in physics, he is able to explain the intricacies of dimension jumping to Marguerite so that we, the readers, can better understand the details. The author doesn't really go into details on how the firebird device works, and I think she relies on our imagination to fill in the blanks.

I guess you can say this story is a love triangle, but it's a little more complicated than that. Marguerite has always had an eye out for flirty Theo, but Paul's wise and soulful presence has the ability to draw her in. What if you have feelings for a person in one dimension, and then start falling in love with that "same" but totally different person from another dimension? As many lives from many different dimensions converge, we're left with one of the most existential questions out there: can love survive time and space?

This is definitely a YA book because the main character is still of high school age, but since the other leading characters are grad students, I think it's also aimed for an older youth audience. Like Marie pointed out, many YA books tend to ignore the existence of parents, but in this case, parents and adults are very present. For all those close-minded people that believe YA books are only for children and teenagers, this book may just change your mind. It deals with real life problems that aren't about high school or vampires. I loved the fact that the author assumes her audience is intelligent enough to follow her detailed space/dimension travelling theory. Her concept on multiverses is not only original but very rational. It's obvious she put a lot of thought into it because any dilemma or problem you may have with multiverses are explained and make sense, from a fictional point of view.

The Doctor Who fan in me loved visiting new worlds through Marguerite's eyes, however, like the characters in the book often mention, they are only travelling in space and dimension, not time. The story is also being compared to the amazing TV show, Orphan Black. If you didn't know, the show is about clones, so I guess the comparison is being made because we see different lives through the "same" actor. Both also have seedy scientific corporations that play major roles in the plots. Whether you're a fan of these two TV shows or not, you don't want to miss A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU! Already, I don't know what I'll do if I don't read the next book soon!

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About the author

Claudia Gray is a pseudonym. I would like to say that I chose another name so that no one would ever learn the links between my shadowy, dramatic past and the explosive secrets revealed through my characters. This would be a lie. In truth, I took a pseudonym simply because I thought it would be fun to choose my own name. (And it is.)

I write novels full-time, absolutely love it, and hope to be able to do this forever. My home is in New Orleans, is more than 100 years old, and is painted purple. In my free time I read, travel, hike, cook and listen to music.

Connect with Claudia:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr 

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HarperCollins is giving away one copy of A Thousand Pieces of You to one lucky winner!

Giveaway end on November 7, 2014. Open to USA and Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted by Tynga at 03:31

 Claudia Gray, Firebird, giveaway, Harper Collins, HarperTeen, Multi-dimension, Paranorm'All Hallows Eve, PHE, Publisher, Review, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction, young adult  35 People left their mark