Pardon Me, My Curmudgeon is Showing

Arghhh. If this book hadn’t been on my I-pad, I would have thrown it across the room as I read the last line. I know that I’ve said this before, but I’m really getting tired of YA books that simply stop mid-storyline—to be continued. It feels alternately like a money grab (instead of giving you one longer book, we’re going to split this puppy into three parts—otherwise known as The Hobbit effect) or simply lazy storytelling. I want to simply say, “Go watch the first few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Each season is its own self-contained unit even as it sets up the next season (and leaves plenty unresolved). Mystery series return again and again to the same character (sets of characters) but each book also stands alone.

Well, now that I’ve got that out of my system, here’s a less snarky response to The Corridor. This is an ARC of a book that I got through Netgalley (in exchange for a fair and unbiased review) and while the story has some potential, it didn’t fully work for me.   Estele Alaster lives in the Corridor Facility, a community built around a portal between two versions of Earth. Estele lives in First Earth. When Estele was just a baby, a group of scientists from Second Earth created the portal, setting off a chain reaction that damaged their world irreparably. (Yes, I thought about Fringe often as I read this book). Now, First Earth occupies, in the military sense, Second Earth and works to control what little population remains—including Mods—genetically modified humans.

Estele’s father is the head of Corridor Facility and as the novel opens, Estele is trying to come up with a research topic for an advanced study project so that she can apply to the Multiversal Physics Institute. However, a freak accident involving the Corridor throws Estele’s life into chaos. Not only is her father demoted from his position because of the accident but Estele’s develops the power to create small portals between Earths and she soon realizes there are more than two.

I’m as geekily interested in the multiverse as the next gal, but The Corridor began in a way that felt both rushed and slow at the same time. The first chapter jumps right into the explosion that changes everything, but the second chapter picks up six months later. That same pacing problem continues throughout the story—a lot of things come too quickly–Estele’s friendship with a Mod girl named Ana and a boy, Cohl, from another version of Earth, for example. However, I sometimes found myself skimming sections where the details slowed the action down. I know it’s tough to set up a series but I wanted A.N. Willis to just slow down a bit and build the characters and their relationships. The whole relationship between Cohl and Estele felt forced to develop too quickly. This is all the more frustrating because there are some strong plot pieces here—family relationships, betrayal, scientists’ urges to push the boundaries, as well as the mind-dizzying concept of multiple realities.

Though this book may work better for others*, I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series. I’d much rather watch reruns of Fringe.

*After looking at the Amazon reviews, most of them glowing, I guess I’m just a curmudgeon.