A Fractured Infinity

Despite glowing reviews in Publishers Weekly and The New York Times, I wonder if A Fractured Infinity will find much of an audience. It's marketed as a sci-fi novel, but the entire plot is hinges on its queer love story. It might appeal to romance readers, but its cover doesn't have cute cartoon illustrations so I doubt they'd pick it up (that's a slam on the publishers, not the readers). Despite these challenges, I hope readers of both genres will take a chance on this strong debut novel. Hayes is a snarky, broke, cynical documentary filmmaker who is shocked to learn that a) there are an infinite number of universes and b) in one of them, he is a brilliant scientist who has created a machine capable of predicting the future. As he tries to determine the nature of his relationship to his other self and the “Envisioner,” he also falls in love with Yusuf, a physicist who has been surreptitiously calculating how this unique technology could affect our world. But when the the Envisioner predicts that Yusuf must die in order to avoid a catastrophic, civilization-destroying pandemic (The Trolley Problem plus the Butterfly Effect), Hayes uses his new skills to hop to another multiverse, with Yusuf in tow. The beginning of the story is a little slow, but once the lovers become fugitives, the excitement ramps up. Because Hayes is a filmmaker, he can't help pulling back and describing some of the scenes with his Storyteller voice, complete with script pages and scene previews. These idiosyncrasies make the novel more interesting, although they allow Hayes to keep an emotional distance from the events, until the decisions he's made catch up with him. The love story between Hayes and Yusuf is understated but heartfelt. Hayes is one of those “I don't do relationships” guys and Yusuf is coded as autistic, unable to make flowery declarations of love but clearly head over heels for Hayes. Seeing their relationship play out in a variety of metaverses helps them better appreciate their own bond, and makes Hayes' decision even more agonizing, as he starts to realize that he can't run from the future forever.No spoilers, except to say that as a romance reader I was very satisfied with the ending. Hey [a:Nathan Tavares 21645853 Nathan Tavares https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1661466048p2/21645853.jpg], have you considered giving this book a cute title and a new cover, and then marketing directly to the romance community?