this book was really a 4, but i can't list it with the other books i've rated as a 4 because, despite a couple frank references to sex, it's basically a juvenile. juvenile as in Heinlein's juveniles (good, by a good author), but also limited in scope. ( )

Calling the Walls of the Universe Science-Fiction is only a technical truth, in reality the books science-fiction element are few and widely separated by most of the book. The premise for Wall of the Universe is a that a boy,john, is given a device that permits the travel between alternate universes. This concept is largely tWotU's only Sci-Fi element, still its a wonderful idea that promises many interesting worlds colored with humor and peril. What the author gives us instead boils down to three of four of the same conversation, in sundry alternate existences, and a sequence of flash journeys where he just tells you the protagonist jumped through world; albeit these jumps take place in a despairing flight, but still. That is the majority of tWotU's Sci-fi, there's a little more universe jumping at the climax, which treads toward spoiler territory, and some exposition concerning the state of all universes as a whole.
After this wee bit of Sci-fi, tWotU devolves into a book about the building of a life, with john trying to find a place in his new universe, the teleporting device being broken, and struggling through a patent war over pinball, which he confiscated from his original universe. Meanwhile his double, who original gave john the device, proceeds to make himself at home in John's original universe. What follows is another life story, involving teen pregnancies and failed patents, that is only briefly enlivened by an act of manslaughter, and i mean briefly. The manslaughter story arch consumes about three chapters and then fades away without actual resolution. This is the extent, and vast majority, of tWotU's story.
As for the characters, they are basic, predictable, uninteresting, and quite often asinine. While there are characters you like, mostly because there is a lack of unappealing traits, there are none you enjoy to read about, explore, or take the journey through tWotU with.
Finally we have the prose. The prose is weak, possibly analogous in quality to tWotU's Sci-fi, and relies heavily on telling. The dialogue is comparable to the characters, and adds no life to them; there is nothing in any sequence of dialogue for any character the differentiates that character from any other.
simply said, there are much better Science-Fiction novels, and life stories/literature, out there than tWotU; I suggest you go read those instead. ( )

While the story is well written and the premise is an interesting one, I had real difficulty relating with the protagonists, as I found a number of their decisions and actions to be rather abhorrent. I can appreciate the literary skill of the author, but I don't know that I will read anything else by him. ( )

One John was a complete dickhead at the beginning and ended up maturing into a better man.

Another John was a naive farmboy who grew into a very smart and capable man.

Both stories are a side of a multisided coin and it is quite the coin! ( )

The world-building premise of this book (multiple iterations of the universe as a result of following different paths at various decision points throughout history) is one I find fascinating, and I found the book to be well written. I wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I found the protagonists to be rather unlikable and one-dimensional, and that made it incredibly difficult to get invested in the story. ( )

I picked this book up from the library after it was mentioned in an io9.com article about great sci-fi stories (and that also mentioned the movie rights to this book had recently been sold). Anyway, this book tells the story of a young man in Ohio who is visited one day by a version of himself from another universe. The story is set along the lines of a many worlds theory about universes wherein there are infinite (rather, not infinite but who knows how many) universes coexisting at the same time and some people have transfer devices to travel between them. John, the main character, is visited by John Prime and the plot runs at a fast pace from that point.

This novel started out as an award-winning shorter version of itself and, regrettably, I could tell. I was four star enjoying it for most of the ride and then I completely lost interest during the CLIMAX. When the hell does that happen? I felt like the last 30 or so pages of the book were rushed and the Visigoths and Corrundrum were not as well developed as they could've been.

I also thought the one sex scene between John (Farm Boy) and Casey was ridiculous. It was like two sentences long and completely unnecessary to any part of the story or character development. And, frankly, I couldn't see any real reason why the Johns wanted to be with the Caseys so badly anyway. I know this is sci-fi and not romance, but I've read sci-fi that had better relationship development and this book lacked a little in that area.

I'm giving this book 4 stars because it definitely kept me interested. I thought the author did a great job of creating universes that had slight differences and altogether different options. My favorite part was when John Farm Boy was traveling through the universes one at a time. However, I feel that the book is somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me. ( )

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Book Description: John Rayburn thought all of his problems were the mundane ones of an Ohio farm boy in his last year in high school. Then his doppelgänger appeared, tempted him with a device that let him travel across worlds, and stole his life from him. John soon finds himself caroming through universes, unable to return home—the device is broken. John settles in a new universe to unravel its secrets and fix it.

Meanwhile, his doppelgänger tries to exploit the commercial technology he’s stolen from other Earths: the Rubik’s Cube! John’s attempts to lie low in his new universe backfire when he inadvertently introduces pinball. It becomes a huge success. Both actions draw the notice of other, more dangerous travelers, who are exploiting worlds for ominous purposes. Fast-paced and exciting, this is SF adventure at its best from a rising star.

My Review: Well, THAT was fun! I have a fondness for multiverse stories, and this one's as much fun as H. Beam Piper's Paratime series. It made me think of the Star Trek: TNG episode “Lower Decks,” which shows us for the first time what the actions of the Big Boys look like from the ordinary crewmember's PoV. And like the recent success story Redshirts by John Scalzi, the hero has to figure out what's happening and how to fix it without knowing the big picture.

Why I had to knock a quarter star off the top grade the book could ever reasonably have gotten was the mega-dumb love story part...both John Wilson, the dupe, and John Rayburn or John Prime as he's called in the description above, are world-class bunglers in love. It points up the small inelegance in the book: The characters, while I liked them and invested myself in their antics, didn't always make sense as they rocketed from idea to idea. Things that should've been second nature to any reasonable semi-adult just passed right by them and caused avoidable problems for the author. It would have given him more room to flesh out the other small inelegances, like a messy sense of elapsed in-story time and a few logical gaps (like when John Wilson drags a woman and child into another universe and conveniently forgets this while trying to determine the radius his device works in) that exist.

But heck! What's a little dent and scrape among friends? I can't wait to get the next one in the series! ( )

When John Rayburn meets his twin he is offered a chance to swap places and explore the universe. The tangled ways his life unfolds gets more complicated when the folks who made the device he's using start chasing him. He has to stay alive long enough to stop possible plans to destroy worlds.

I enjoyed the read, found it quite interesting ( )

A very fun read of a very fast paced book. Some of the writing was sophomoric, but enjoyed reading a SF book that takes place in my home state of Ohio and even mentions Columbus on a few occasions. ( )

The Walls of the Universe is a enjoyable book in the spirit of Heinlein's everyday boy hero, but at the same time seem to drag a bit due to the parallel nature of the storyline. ( )

High school senior John Rayburn is reasonably happy living on his parents' farm, until one day his duplicate from an alternate universe shows up, tricks him into embarking on a one-way trip through the multiverse, and steals his life. It's a nifty premise, but what Melko does with isn't really quite what I would have hoped for. Less universe-hopping adventure or interesting compare-and-contrast examinations of two near-identical people leading different lives, more details about going into business "inventing" technology from other universes, lukewarm teenage romance, and familiar-feeling action movie stuff.

Really, the only word to describe this book this book is "okay." It's readable enough -- in fact, it's a pretty quick read -- and not unpleasant, but I guarantee you, a month from now I'm not going to remember a thing about it. ( )

This was an extremely well written, upsetting and quite moving science fiction novel. At it's heart, it's about who we (as in people in general) are. But at the same time, it's also about who we aren't. The premise is that people can travel between universes, but it comes with a rather sinister price. Melko's writing is top notch, his characters are strong and the only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because it was at times realistically painful to read. Highly recommended, especially to be people who like to push the line between straight fiction and science fiction. ( )

This story has all the elements that lead to a captivating read: a quest, good guys and bad guys (and sometimes you don't know who is who), secrets, and mysteries. John Rayburn is tricked into leaving his universe by John Prime - a parallel-universe, travel-weary version of himself. The story follows both characters as John tries to get "home" and John Prime makes his current universe his home. Throughout I wondered... Will John Rayburn make it back to his universe? And if he does, would he want to be there after what John Prime did as him? ( )

I’ve always loved the notion of parallel universes. Maybe ten universes from here there’s a Terry who went to grad school in English instead of law school, earned tenure at a good university, and met her sweetheart ten or twenty years earlier than in this universe and lived happily ever after. Maybe fifty universes away is a Terry who never broke up with the guy she dated through most of college, married him right after graduation, had a bunch of kids, and was thoroughly miserable. And maybe 100 universes in the other direction is the Terry who went to law school, loved every minute of practicing law, became a famous trial lawyer, and is single, rich and happily arguing in front of a jury right this minute. I can conjure up all the possibilities in my imagination with great pleasure.

Even more fun, though, is reading a book like Paul Melko’s The Walls of the Universe, which plays out the consequences of being able to jump between universes. Melko starts with two versions of John Rayburn. One is a high school senior who lives on a farm and is getting ready to go to college – not at Case Institute of Technology, where he really wants to go to study physics, but at the University of Toledo, which is affordable with a year or two of farm work. He’s in a bit of trouble at the moment, having beaten up his classmate, Ted Carson, but for the most part he’s a good kid with a solid head on his shoulders.

One fall morning shortly before Halloween, though, a boy comes out of the woods to greet him with a familiar face – his own. This is John Prime, a John Rayburn from another universe who has been jumping from universe to universe and is now hungry and tired and – though he doesn’t dare say so to John Rayburn – looking for a place to settle down and call home, earn a few bucks, get it on with Casey Nicholson, who is the girl for him in every universe. John Prime tricks John Rayburn into using the device that will take him into another universe, not telling Rayburn that it works in only one direction.

The book splits into two at this point, following each John in his separate universe(s). John Prime, who never did seem like such a great guy and who solidifies that impression when he tricks John Rayburn into using the device, has a pretty difficult time of it, despite the fact that he undertakes plans to market Rubick’s Cube, which was never invented in John Rayburn’s universe. John Rayburn manages to stay a pretty straightforward sort of guy. His anger when he finds that he has no way back to his own universe nearly gets the better of him, but after a close call or two he settles down into work and college. Despite himself, he finds that he has invented pinball, something never seen in the universe he lands in.

Both Johns, however, draw the attention of forces who believe themselves to be from the original and only universe, the one of which all others are copies. These individuals have been stranded in subsidiary universes, where they despise everyone and make a cushy living putting out artworks (like the rest of Beethoven’s symphonies – didn’t he write only three in his lifetime?) and devices that were never invented in the universes in which they are exiled. These people aren’t amused when someone else treads on their new invention turf, and they are especially not amused when they learn that John Rayburn has a universe-skipping device.

The book grows darker the longer one reads, and the pace never lets up. Seeing how John Prime and John Rayburn resolve their respective problems is exciting, interesting and just plain fun. The Walls of the Universe is a great use of an old trope. ( )

This fast-paced science fiction novel has the intriguing premise that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of worlds parallel to our own, Some are very similar; others not so much. John is doing chores on his parents farm, when he is amazed to see his double walk up. John Prime has a wonderful gadget that allows him to transport from one world to another. He offers it to John who is enticed into trying it--he lands in another world, only to discover that the machine is broken, and will not return him to his own world, it will only move him forward to others. Will John--and John Prime--get back to their home worlds? Will they decide to stay in their new homes? Can they repair the machine so return is possible? Read it to find out! ( )

Review by Christine Tursky Gordon:
The Walls of the Universe is based on a classic science fiction trope: what if there were parallel worlds, and we could travel from one to the other? Paul Melko takes the idea a step further, and asks what would happen if the travel were in one direction only, and you couldn’t go back. The main character, John Rayburn, meets his counterpart from a parallel universe, and is tricked into trying out the universe-hopping device. His counterpart settles in and slots himself into the original Rayburn’s life without anyone realising. The ‘real’ John is left desperate and unprepared, traveling from one universe to the next but never letting go of the hope that he will find some way home.
Both versions of John Rayburn manage to draw some unwelcome attention to themselves. They are not the only ones out there traveling between universes, and the book takes a surprising new turn.
The Walls of the Universe is a well plotted and suspenseful adventure, but it also deals with personal choices, loyalty, and the paths that we do and don’t take in life. Faced with similar choices, how do different versions of the same person respond? Which choices are better? Which ones seem inevitable? Not all the answers are the ones that we might like–something that adds depth to Melko’s book.

The first part of this novel was published as a Hugo-nominated novella in 2006 (far superior IMHO to that year's winner). The second part continues the story of John Rayburn's journey through the "walls" separating parallel universes, as he seeks to return to the "home" timeline from which one of his other selves dispossessed him.

The novella didn't try, beyond an invocation of "quantum cosmology", to rationalize trans-cosmic transport. Its virtue was the delineation of character or, rather, of the way in which one person has the potential to embody contrasting personalities. The naive, shy, good-hearted hero seems vastly different from the cynical, brash, selfish "John Prime", but one sees how both grew from the same roots.

The novel gradually abandons this interesting aperçu for a more conventional super-science adventure. John settles down in a promising universe where his counterpart apparently died young or wasn't born, gets involved with the girl he was too timid to approach in his original home (where she has gotten less fortunately involved with John Prime), works on reverse engineering his timeline-hopping device (as plausible, I'm afraid, as a medieval philosopher reconstructing a nuclear power plant - the one place where the author cheats), and runs into a crew of villainous exiles who aim to rebuild a vanished cosmos-spanning empire. The story comes to a definite conclusion, but room is left for a sequel in which we'll see the next stage of the conflict.

While I would have preferred a somewhat different book, the one that the author actually wrote is a fine variation on the parallel worlds theme. I'll be pleased and unsurprised if it garners a Hugo nomination and won't mind if we see more of John Rayburn in the future. ( )

I like Paul Melko's writing, He has a lot of unique ideas and can also make interesting changes in some of the old ideas. He also manages to take his shorter fiction and lengthen it without destroying the charm of the short story or padding a novel with adjectives.

This book is about a young man who gets a device to travel between worlds in the Multiverse. We have seen this before, but rarely with the well thought out consequences that Melko brings to this story. We see not only different worlds, but different versions of our protagonist. Of course there are villains to keep the story rolling. There is also a broader picture of the Multiverse that we only see in glimpses, but that would be a good basis for a further stories in this series.

My only complaint with this book is the hasty ending. Yes, we have probably seen all of this story that we need to, but I am getting tired of people remarkably saved from torture without any of the consequences of that on the savior or the victim. I understand that authors need to leave a little on the table for the next volume, but I would really like to see a well rounded ending and not just a dropped black curtain over the ongoing story. ( )