Picoverse [Paperback]

Robert A. Metzger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2003

In the early 21st century, scientists have found a way to create a brand new universe...one million-millionth the size of our own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fast-paced romp through multiple manmade universes from Metzger (Quad World) will appeal to hard SF fans who like their science served straight up. In 2007, a team of physicists working on fusion power stumble onto a way to create new, smaller universes picoverses which replicate everything in our universe but smaller. After a disastrous test of the Sonomak machine, the mysterious Alexandra takes over the project. She has her own priorities, which include escaping her bosses into one of the picoverses, and she needs researchers Katie, Horst and Jack to execute her plan. Naturally, things go awry, and Katie and company find themselves exiled to a picoverse that duplicates Earth in the 1920s. The Sonomak is a reality there, too though made with vacuum tubes and run by researchers who include Werner Heisenberg and Albert Einstein. This is just the start of a race through a number of picoverses, as our heroes attempt to get home and defeat the nonhuman Alexandra. Alternate realities collide, with the very fate of Earth and the universe at stake. The preponderance of characters with superhuman powers gets old, as does the author's holding back crucial information about events and then springing it on us just in time to save the day. But the book hangs together thematically turns out saving the universe is not about manipulating the fabric of space-time, but about manipulating someone who can manipulate the fabric of space-time and the happy ending satisfies. Agent, Richard Curtis. (Mar. 5)Forecast: Supportive blurbs from the likes of Gregory Benford, F. Paul Wilson and Charles Sheffield should help, but some readers may be put off by the author's over-reliance on deus ex machina.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Physicists Katie McGuire and Horst Wittkowski believe in their latest development in plasma physics, an energy process known as Sonomak. The government also has an interest in Sonomak's capabilities, but its agenda strays far from the path of pure science. The author of Quad World has produced a scintillating foray into hard sf and speculative science that masquerades as a fast-paced technothriller complete with government heroes and villains, dedicated scientists, and a child-genius whose mind bridges the space between worlds. For most sf collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace; Reprint edition (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044101030X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441010301
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,596,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Picoverse seemed very random, October 14, 2005

By 

Michael Artman (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picoverse (Paperback)

This book had a great premise, and I picked it off the shelf ready to read something by someone new. I may not pick up Metzger again.

It started off fine, but quickly began taking twists and turns that I couldn't believe were planned. I felt like the author just started typing to see where it would take him. He got three quarters of the way through the book and figured out he needed to wrap it up, and tried feebly to tie all the pieces together.

Here's an overview: Your main cast of characters have developed a technology that can create smaller universes. Two of them were formerly married and have a child that is autistic. Two others are pretty meaningless tech types. A fifth is a government person, and the final primary character is a being from the universe that created ours. Her mission, originally, was to prevent us from doing the same thing. But then she got it in her head that she wanted to break away from her bosses and encouraged the project.

Well, she, and the team succeeds. And then the book, which was already getting thin, went straight downhill. Those twists and turns I mentioned came fast and furious. I couldn't not finish it, because I'm like that. I will say that one cool and interesting idea comes out of this disaster of a book. It involves the extinction of the dinosaurs, and I won't say what it is in the event that one of you readers wants to take a chance on this book.

The plot was thin, the ending was hasty and yet somehow still dragged on forever, and the characters/dialogue was terrible. I have to give it some star rating, but I'm okay with the one star for the dinosaur bit.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a Blast! Like Bear in his prime., May 20, 2005

By 

Edward Barnett (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Picoverse (Paperback)

As you will have noted by the bimodal distribution of other reviews, you will either love or hate this book. Personally, I loved it. The pace and scope of the book are exhilarating -- the book starts fast with plenty of hard sci fi, and from there it accelerates and expands with a vengance. I'll offer a simple test: If you enjoyed books like Blood Music or Eon (i.e., books where you think you know where the story is going, only to discover that the story spins wildly beyond what you imagined), then I believe you'll like Picoverse. I am sympathetic to those who have given poor ratings to this book: You must suspend disbelief and be willing to enjoy the ride with a book like this. A lot of key plot developments are simply popped on the reader, without warning, which can be frustrating to those looking for consistent and structured plot development. And the ending relies too heavily on the deux ex machina (although much, much less so than some sci fi, such as Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn series). Having said that, I personally enjoyed this book very much. It was a romp of a read, blending the wild action and plot lines of vintage sci fi serials (in fact, at times, it reminded me of old Flash Gordon reels, with the characters fighting their way through ever wilder and more impossible situations) with the best of modern hard sci fi. If you're looking for a fun, wild book for a long flight or a rainy weekend, pick up this novel and let yourself go with the story.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ye Gods!, August 7, 2006

By 

GoodRead65 (Southern California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Picoverse (Paperback)

This was one of those books that kept me going long enough to become vested in reading to the end even though I was desperate to put the book down.

Initially, I was able to overlook some very weak storytelling and characterizations because the premise was intriguing. But as the story went on the main characters seemed to alternate between having God-like powers to being helpless kittens then totally changing into some kind of super Neanderthal...I was unsure who I was really following. And towards the end, as the characters jumped from one incomprehensible locale to another, I got the feeling that the author was simply trying to meet a deadline.

And, as another reviewer stated, some of the "main" characters were incredibly annoying. Katie's "he's just a boy" mantra was enough to make me grind my teeth to powder. Jack's alternating obliviousness to his situation was equally frustrating. And I never figured out how it was that Anthony was somehow so central to everything that was going on.

I was relieved to finish the book and the weak and unsatisfying ending was not in the least surprising.