Book Review: Be My Enemy by Ian McDonald

Be My Enemy by Ian McDonald

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy

Series: Book 2 of Everness

Publisher: Jo Fletcher

Date of Publication: June 6, 2013 (ed.)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars – “When it comes to delivering excitement and adventure, Ian McDonald knows his stuff; take everything that made Planesrunner great, dial it all up and you get this book”

With its intriguing application of quantum physics and topic of parallel earths, Planesrunner secured its spot as one of the most unique young adult novels I read last year. And of course, who could forget the heart-pounding airship battles? When it comes delivering excitement and adventure, Ian McDonald knows his stuff, and I could not wait to get my hands on the next book. Seeing as the third installment of the Everness series is already on the horizon, I thought it best to get right on that post-haste.

But first, bear in mind that this review may contain spoilers for book one, since Be My Enemy immediately picks up where Planesrunner left off. Last time we saw Everett Singh, he had managed to escape his enemies by transporting himself and his new Airish friends to another parallel earth. His computer device holding the Infundibulum and the key to the multiverse is safe for now, but it’s only a matter of time until their pursuers catch up. Plus, Everett still needs to figure out a way to rescue his father, a seemingly impossible task, seeing as Tejendra Singh is now stranded somewhere on any one of the possible parallel worlds — 10 to the power of 80 of them, to be exact. Yep, it’s a big multiverse.

Everett’s search for answers eventually leads him to E1, the first Earth to develop a way to jump between parallel universes. It’s also the only world amongst the ten known Earths that is sealed off, quarantined, nothing going in and nothing coming out. I won’t deny it, I was thrilled that the characters ended up here. The speculations drove me insane in the first book, leaving me wondering and guessing what could have happened to E1 to make everyone so afraid, and now thanks to this sequel, I finally know why. And the reasons are hair-raising indeed! I doff my hat to you, Mr. McDonald.

But wait, that’s not all. One thing about this book is that it simply does not stop with the surprises, and not least of them is the lengths the bad guys will go to in order to get what they want. Everett’s enemies have some wily tricks up their sleeves, stopping at nothing to gain control of the Infundibulum. All I’ll say is that in time, the perplexing introduction to Be My Enemy, not to mention that curious title, will be explained. I can’t even begin to ponder the future implications of everything that happened here. Take everything that made Planesrunner so great, dial it all up and you get this book:

Action? Check. In fact, this story has it in spades.

Cleverness? Check. No doubt the book fudged a lot of the science, but it’s done for the sake of top-notch storytelling. In spite of that, this book does not patronize the reader, which makes me think this series would appeal to adults and young adults alike.

Interesting characters? Check. This book gave me a more in-depth look into Everett’s personality, in the most unexpected and unique way possible. As for the supporting cast, I feel like I finally have an idea of who they are. I never gave much thought to Sen in the first book, but now I find her to be a delight. I loved the brief glimpses of the story told from her perspective, and couldn’t help but think how awesome an entire novel in her point of view would be. I can dream, can’t I?

And what about the world building, you ask? Big check. Absolutely fantabulosa.

After all, anything can happen when it comes to a story about parallel earths. I was impressed with Ian McDonald’s imagination at work in Planesrunner, the way he brought the Airish culture to life and the incredible way he described the world of E3. True to form, he does not hold back for the sequel either, giving the same creative treatment to settings like E1 or the frozen wasteland at the beginning of the novel, despite these being much bleaker and darker worlds.

You never know where the story might take you, or what amazing things you’ll see next, and that’s one of the main reasons why I’m having so much fun. Bring on the third book, I’m ready!