Genre: Fantasy, although the author claims science
fiction
Description:
Twelve-year-old Zoe Stanton’s
happy home turns into a morose and lonely place when her mother is killed by a
drunk driver. Her father sinks into depression, and she assumes the burden of
trying to restore some cheer to the household. She fails, and her father goes
missing. Zoe and her friend, Joshie, who has also lost his parents, go in
search of her father in a “venture deep into the weird world of quantum
theory.”
Author:
“Born in the City of Angels.
Raised in The Last Frontier. Lived in the City of Roses and can remember when
Portlandia was just a statue. Turned up MIA in the Big Apple and have seen the
Moon Over Parma firsthand. Currently residing in the Biggest Little City in the
World. I name my kids after outlaws, scientists and troubadours in the hopes
that their future will be forever more interesting than my dreams.”
Appraisal:
I picked up Infinite Zoe
for review because I’m a fan of science fiction, the sample text on Amazon
revealed a pleasantly clean writing style and the author promised an adventure
in string theory and quantum physics.
I also became engaged enough
to want to know what happens to the main characters, Zoe and her pal Joshie,
and I was curious to see how Kingfisher used quantum physics, string theory and
a multiverse in a kids story.
It turns out that he doesn’t,
although he does sprinkle jargon “superposition, decoherence,” and such,
throughout the story. The author applies the physics of the very small to
people-sized objects with little regard for science. String theory gets only a
name mention and a multiverse is described as a place where “theoretically
anything is possible,” including pony-sized seahorses that can fly, in abeyance
of quantum or any other extant physics theory.
The author then tries to
explain the oddity by noting that scientists are actually studying the
breakdown of physical laws. Well sort of, such study primarily involves
mutations in numerical constants in some physics equations over long periods.
It might have been better to echo Einstein and just say quantum physics
suggests “spooky” events and be done with it. In the spirit of, “radioactive
spider bites Peter Parker--Pete gets superhuman powers.” Not science, but cool,
let’s get on with the adventure.
While dropping science terms,
Kingfisher evokes Chronicles of Narnia. Through a closet in the father’s
basement, Zoe and Joshie enter an infinite tunnel of doors opening into
ephemeral worlds that the author describes as existing momentarily in the way
quantum bonds between electrons exist before decoherence sets in. However, the
heroes are able to explore the quickly vanishing worlds because for them time
stops. There is no explanation of why events are able to unfold in the worlds
with time at a standstill.
Michio Kaku suggests, I assume
whimsically, that déjà vu might result from brief interactions between
universes when string vibrations are in phase. Something like that might have
been better exploited than a basement closet that’s a portal to the infinite.
The author plays as loosely
with the story’s internal logic as he does with science. In one world, Zoe
meets “copies” of her parents who recognize her. She and Joshie have dinner
with them. One wonders what happened to Zoe’s “copy,” which must exist. Why
wasn’t she also home for dinner? He uses the phrases: “all things are possible”
and “anything that can happen will happen” to explain the impossible. He seems
to use them interchangeably even though their meanings are quite different.
For all my irritations at the
author’s faux science and lack of discipline in maintaining logic and focus on
a target audience (I assume young people), I wanted to know the fate of Zoe and
Joshie. The bitter-sweet ending does not disappoint.
Format/Typo
Issues:
None worth noting
Rating: *** Three
Stars
Reviewed by: Sam Waite
Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words
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