Jason’s adventures take him to many alternate realities, some dangerous and deadly, some pleasant and futuristic.

Dark Matter does manage to use the concept of the multiverse to tell a unique and engaging story of the road not traveled. The multiverse is a strange and exciting if well-worn concept used to great effect in many science fiction stories. Because of this, things go wrong for our Jason, who chose a different path in life away from becoming this renowned physicist, very quickly. This, in turn, allows the person in the cube, with the right drugs, to choose between other realities. A version of Jason somewhere in the multiverse has created a giant cube with the ability to put a person in a state of simultaneously observing all possible realities at once. The physics behind the premise is also very digestible. The novel is extremely bare bones, which makes it an easy read.

There is very little flare, no lyrical prose or flowery descriptions. Jason, the narrator and main character, speaks to us in first person present tense, which adds urgency to the story. If you’re looking for a light science fiction adventure, Dark Matter will scratch that itch. And that’s exactly what Dark Matter is, fun. I say “our Jason” because this is a tale of the multiverse, a concept from science fiction and theoretical physicists where every decision we make, every possibility that could ever exist, does exist in its own universe - a fun place for authors of science fiction and fantasy to play, for sure. We as readers know that what begins as a normal evening having dinner with the family is not going to end well for our Jason. All good thrillers begin this way, and Dark Matter is no exception. From the very start of Blake Crouch’s novel, Dark Matter, our narrator builds tension and a deepening sense of unease.

Dark matter by blake crouch