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Side Life
Dazzling, paranoid literary sci-fi for fans of Blake Crouch and Philip K. Dick
Vin, a down-on-his-luck young tech entrepreneur forced out of the software company he started, takes a job house-sitting an ultra-modern Seattle mansion whose owner has gone missing. There he discovers a secret basement lab with an array of computers and three large, smooth caskets. Inside one he finds a woman in a state of suspended animation. There is also a dog-eared notebook filled with circuit diagrams, beautiful and intricate drawings of body parts, and pages of code.
When Vin decides to climb into one of the caskets to see what happens, his reality begins to unravel, and he finds himself on a terrifying journey that asks fundamental questions about reality, free will, and the meaning of a human life.
Vin, a down-on-his-luck young tech entrepreneur forced out of the software company he started, takes a job house-sitting an ultra-modern Seattle mansion whose owner has gone missing. There he discovers a secret basement lab with an array of computers and three large, smooth caskets. Inside one he finds a woman in a state of suspended animation. There is also a dog-eared notebook filled with circuit diagrams, beautiful and intricate drawings of body parts, and pages of code.
When Vin decides to climb into one of the caskets to see what happens, his reality begins to unravel, and he finds himself on a terrifying journey that asks fundamental questions about reality, free will, and the meaning of a human life.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2018
38 people are currently reading
553 people want to read
About the author
Steve Toutonghi
2 books68 followersA native of Seattle, Steve Toutonghi studied fiction and poetry while completing a BA in Anthropology at Stanford. After various professional forays, he began a career in technology that led him from Silicon Valley back to Seattle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
December 21, 2018
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
I want to tell you everything about the story because I can't imagine you'll pass up the book if I do. The problem is that the Spoiler Stasi will come drag me away, never to be seen or heard from again. So here:
That's the basic building block of the entire imaginarium that Author Toutonghi creates. The story of Vin, a tech startup failure, is predicated on the principle that he will know what machinery is when he sees it. Of course, the story's existence means that there is no way he will.
What's a tech bro to do when he fails to make his wad of cash from creating a new, wild Thing That'll Change The World? Vin decides to house-sit for fabulously rich but vanished Nerdean. Her house is an amazeballs mansion on Queen Anne Hill, the beating heart of Seattle's too-rich too-young $10-coffee-drinking yuppies (as my generation sneeringly called them). Author Toutonghi, a lifelong Seattleite, made me feel the city was a character in short, deft strokes. No long paean to place, this, rather a grounded in particularity poem. I like the latter just as much as the former. My lip-curling snark at the expense of Vin's generational cohort comes with being old and poor, so YMMV as always.
Vin's obsessive nature, in fact the Asperger's he seems never to have had diagnosed, leads him to disassemble the interior of this beautiful piece of architecture. He's searching for the one-name owner, convinced she's invisibly there somewhere although not likely to be either safe or, in fact, necessarily even alive. Vin keeps going, ignoring his only friend and the remnants of his family, not heaving his less and less clean body into sunshine or showers, until he finds what he most wants: Escape.
What are these crèches in the sub-basement hideaway? There are three...why? Can Vin, who recklessly and quite necessarily climbs into one, rely on coming home from wherever it is he's about to go? Hell, who cares, what the guy's leaving behind just ain't that great so off we go! I'd do precisely the same thing. See that weird device that can't be explained in any framework I possess? Notice the craptastic life I've got? Tally-ho! Let's see what happens.
And here is where I got that half-star thump. Author Toutonghi wrote Join, which I gave a good solid review in 2016. I liked that book a great deal as well. I didn't like the major missed opportunity I saw in it, and complained a bit about in my review. That's my issue here: Major missed opportunity again. If someone comes onto the stage I want them to be somehow explained and/or justified. Not necessarily even all that thoroughly, although I'd like that better as a reader, just tied in to the subtle and complex framework of this inner-space novel. Several pieces of the puzzle of Vin's multiveral travels and lives weren't given enough shape to assume real meaning in the story. NOTABLY included here is the cruel tease of introducing the fascinating scientification of the art of cliodynamics, utterly dropped...which means not explicitly tied into the story.
Now, the story itself: It's not a rollicking sci-fi thriller, as the publisher's comparisons to Philip K. Dick and Blake Crouch imply. Instead it's a well-built and deeply affecting interior novel, an exploration of Vin in all his multivarious selves, and in that sense a very French sort of récit. We're always a step away from the action due to the nature of our trip down the rabbit hole with disintegrating Vin. He's lost everything, he's throwing the dregs away with both ungrateful hands, and now he's found an out. Well, well, Vin, how shocking that you'd choose to duck out, so not like a guy like you. *snort*
But that character trait (I damn near typed "flaw" but had a stern talk with myself) makes possible a thoroughly fascinating self-autopsy. Vin's travels through the multiverse are all about working through a dreadfully wasted life, assigning blame and meaning, and all without consequences...except death, insanity, and Armageddon. Y'know, little bagatelles like that.
In the end, we get to this exact moment in identity discovery, this basic building-block of reality:
Hm.
I want to tell you everything about the story because I can't imagine you'll pass up the book if I do. The problem is that the Spoiler Stasi will come drag me away, never to be seen or heard from again. So here:
“The machines of the mind are more difficult to recognize than machines of iron and steam.”
That's the basic building block of the entire imaginarium that Author Toutonghi creates. The story of Vin, a tech startup failure, is predicated on the principle that he will know what machinery is when he sees it. Of course, the story's existence means that there is no way he will.
What's a tech bro to do when he fails to make his wad of cash from creating a new, wild Thing That'll Change The World? Vin decides to house-sit for fabulously rich but vanished Nerdean. Her house is an amazeballs mansion on Queen Anne Hill, the beating heart of Seattle's too-rich too-young $10-coffee-drinking yuppies (as my generation sneeringly called them). Author Toutonghi, a lifelong Seattleite, made me feel the city was a character in short, deft strokes. No long paean to place, this, rather a grounded in particularity poem. I like the latter just as much as the former. My lip-curling snark at the expense of Vin's generational cohort comes with being old and poor, so YMMV as always.
Vin's obsessive nature, in fact the Asperger's he seems never to have had diagnosed, leads him to disassemble the interior of this beautiful piece of architecture. He's searching for the one-name owner, convinced she's invisibly there somewhere although not likely to be either safe or, in fact, necessarily even alive. Vin keeps going, ignoring his only friend and the remnants of his family, not heaving his less and less clean body into sunshine or showers, until he finds what he most wants: Escape.
What are these crèches in the sub-basement hideaway? There are three...why? Can Vin, who recklessly and quite necessarily climbs into one, rely on coming home from wherever it is he's about to go? Hell, who cares, what the guy's leaving behind just ain't that great so off we go! I'd do precisely the same thing. See that weird device that can't be explained in any framework I possess? Notice the craptastic life I've got? Tally-ho! Let's see what happens.
And here is where I got that half-star thump. Author Toutonghi wrote Join, which I gave a good solid review in 2016. I liked that book a great deal as well. I didn't like the major missed opportunity I saw in it, and complained a bit about in my review. That's my issue here: Major missed opportunity again. If someone comes onto the stage I want them to be somehow explained and/or justified. Not necessarily even all that thoroughly, although I'd like that better as a reader, just tied in to the subtle and complex framework of this inner-space novel. Several pieces of the puzzle of Vin's multiveral travels and lives weren't given enough shape to assume real meaning in the story. NOTABLY included here is the cruel tease of introducing the fascinating scientification of the art of cliodynamics, utterly dropped...which means not explicitly tied into the story.
Now, the story itself: It's not a rollicking sci-fi thriller, as the publisher's comparisons to Philip K. Dick and Blake Crouch imply. Instead it's a well-built and deeply affecting interior novel, an exploration of Vin in all his multivarious selves, and in that sense a very French sort of récit. We're always a step away from the action due to the nature of our trip down the rabbit hole with disintegrating Vin. He's lost everything, he's throwing the dregs away with both ungrateful hands, and now he's found an out. Well, well, Vin, how shocking that you'd choose to duck out, so not like a guy like you. *snort*
But that character trait (I damn near typed "flaw" but had a stern talk with myself) makes possible a thoroughly fascinating self-autopsy. Vin's travels through the multiverse are all about working through a dreadfully wasted life, assigning blame and meaning, and all without consequences...except death, insanity, and Armageddon. Y'know, little bagatelles like that.
In the end, we get to this exact moment in identity discovery, this basic building-block of reality:
"But think about this, maybe even though there are infinite versions of you, maybe every single one of them is an asshole."
Hm.
June 25, 2018
Some parts intrigued me and some parts were just meh. I loved the concept but my expectations were too high and I wasn’t satisfied with how the story played out. I was just bored half the time tbh and I was hoping the ending might save it but nope. 2.5 stars
January 28, 2018
This book had amazing potential but instead left the readers high and dry. The concept is thought provoking and intensely interesting however.
Vin is a tech guy that is ultimately ousted from his company that he built. In his time of despair his dad introduces him to a man named Joaquin who later presents him with the opportunity to “house sit” a woman named Nerdean’s beautiful home. While staying there he discovers a secret lab that contains a crèche and takes the leap to try it out. On his first submersion he believes that he is only having a lucid dream, except he has no control over the body he’s inhabiting which happens to be Winston Churchill. Upon exiting his first 24 hour experience (the minimum amount of time in the crèche) he becomes aware that things have changed in the world he left behind. Each time he submerges after that things change more drastically and he realizes eventually that the crèche is not at all what he thought it was. As he continues his journey trying to fix what was lost in previous “shots” things get more mixed up and terrifying for Vin as more information and horrendous experiences are revealed.
I truly enjoyed the premise of the book but felt almost abandoned at the end. Nothing truly comes together and I was left with several questions. I figured at the end of this type of book there would be questions (contemplation of multi verses, the meaning of life, etc.) but the ones I’m referring to are more like gaping holes in character stories and connections (Joaquin and Mona, Kim and Laughlin, the guy across the street who came to their BBQ... WHY did he come searching for Vin, Nerdean’s complete non existence , I really could continue this list on for awhile actually.) that aren’t really explained but should have been in order for it to actually make sense. The opening scene with the man on the bridge also never tied into the story later which leaves me wondering why it was pointlessly included in the first place. To set the tone I suppose? Also, in my opinion a true loving father as Vin was seemingly written to be would have never settled for the ending that he did.
So, all in all I’d say wonderful idea, less than wonderful writing!
Vin is a tech guy that is ultimately ousted from his company that he built. In his time of despair his dad introduces him to a man named Joaquin who later presents him with the opportunity to “house sit” a woman named Nerdean’s beautiful home. While staying there he discovers a secret lab that contains a crèche and takes the leap to try it out. On his first submersion he believes that he is only having a lucid dream, except he has no control over the body he’s inhabiting which happens to be Winston Churchill. Upon exiting his first 24 hour experience (the minimum amount of time in the crèche) he becomes aware that things have changed in the world he left behind. Each time he submerges after that things change more drastically and he realizes eventually that the crèche is not at all what he thought it was. As he continues his journey trying to fix what was lost in previous “shots” things get more mixed up and terrifying for Vin as more information and horrendous experiences are revealed.
I truly enjoyed the premise of the book but felt almost abandoned at the end. Nothing truly comes together and I was left with several questions. I figured at the end of this type of book there would be questions (contemplation of multi verses, the meaning of life, etc.) but the ones I’m referring to are more like gaping holes in character stories and connections (Joaquin and Mona, Kim and Laughlin, the guy across the street who came to their BBQ... WHY did he come searching for Vin, Nerdean’s complete non existence , I really could continue this list on for awhile actually.) that aren’t really explained but should have been in order for it to actually make sense. The opening scene with the man on the bridge also never tied into the story later which leaves me wondering why it was pointlessly included in the first place. To set the tone I suppose? Also, in my opinion a true loving father as Vin was seemingly written to be would have never settled for the ending that he did.
So, all in all I’d say wonderful idea, less than wonderful writing!
June 20, 2018
Middle class straight guys fucks up his life forever because he's not happy with how everything is basically fine.
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March 3, 2022Any attempt to encapsulate Side Life in a small review will ultimately do it an injustice. It is a book of facets, and each reflects a theme as varied as the realities explored within its pages. It is on the surface a poignant sci-fi thriller that delves into the speculative theories of parallel universes and time-travel. Had it stopped there it would have been an entertaining little adventure, but Side Life isn't satisfied with entertainment alone. Instead, it chooses to become something more. It’s a study on love, loss, and family. It is an introspection on humanity, reality, and self-identity. It is also an inward look at a broken man struggling to understand his existence and exorcise his personal, and often dark, demons. For many authors, juggling these internal realities would be difficult, but Steve Toutonghi does it with aplomb. Side Life is fast-paced, sharply witted, entertaining, and occasionally disturbing—it serves as a reflection on how messy our reality and humanity can be and how each little decision we make can have a profound impact on our personal truth and contentment. It is both utterly tragic and yet ultimately hopeful. Long after I closed the cover, Side Life has stuck with me. A thoroughly wonderful book.
March 23, 2022
Unfortunately the audiobook did not work for me, couldn't get invested in it.
March 15, 2018
I had real mixed feelings about this book. I liked the beginning a lot. At one point I couldn't put it down but round about the half way part I thought it was a mess. 2/3 of the way through, it was readable again. Towards the end I thought it had one of the most unlikable endings.
Spoiler: The book is about a man who finds sideways traveling machines in the basement of a house he's house sitting. Once he gets in, he finds he's traveling in parallel universes. Parallel universes where sometimes his friends are alive and sometimes dead. He also meets up with fellow travelers who use the same house.
End spoiler.
I thought the idea and the beginning were great. But I also thought the author lost it and couldn't make the idea run. Some of it was just uninteresting, silly, made no sense, depressing, lacked focus, etc. The ending was bad. If I had lost the book before getting to the middle, I would have given it 5 stars. Now I split the difference.
I got this book as a free ARC.
Spoiler: The book is about a man who finds sideways traveling machines in the basement of a house he's house sitting. Once he gets in, he finds he's traveling in parallel universes. Parallel universes where sometimes his friends are alive and sometimes dead. He also meets up with fellow travelers who use the same house.
End spoiler.
I thought the idea and the beginning were great. But I also thought the author lost it and couldn't make the idea run. Some of it was just uninteresting, silly, made no sense, depressing, lacked focus, etc. The ending was bad. If I had lost the book before getting to the middle, I would have given it 5 stars. Now I split the difference.
I got this book as a free ARC.
January 31, 2018
This is a brilliant and complicated portrayal of the kind of idea that doesn't work well in our rational brains -- where everything needs meaning and explanation and "outcome." At its heart, this beautiful and carefully crafted novel is a kind of exploration of the idea of storytelling, itself. What can we say has happened? What is the nature of reality?
It's also an adventure novel. Its sci-fi skin is certainly enough to snare anyone who reads in speculative fiction. But really this is a novel of ideas, and you will be propelled forward by your curiosity about the mystery at its core: What has happened to Nerdean? What is the device that she has built? How might the universe of these characters unravel? Knit together? Really a fun and challenging book.
It's also an adventure novel. Its sci-fi skin is certainly enough to snare anyone who reads in speculative fiction. But really this is a novel of ideas, and you will be propelled forward by your curiosity about the mystery at its core: What has happened to Nerdean? What is the device that she has built? How might the universe of these characters unravel? Knit together? Really a fun and challenging book.
March 31, 2022
Thank you Daniel for the recommendation.
For lovers of Blake Crouch, this one is in that vein. I would call it an extended family member of Recursion. Where I felt Recursion was a masterwork of the style, a true professional, I would consider Side Life the rec-team version. A bit all over the place, but still a worthy read.
For lovers of Blake Crouch, this one is in that vein. I would call it an extended family member of Recursion. Where I felt Recursion was a masterwork of the style, a true professional, I would consider Side Life the rec-team version. A bit all over the place, but still a worthy read.
June 13, 2018
This book engrossed me start to finish. And I dreamed about it, too, which seemed apropos.
I don't agree that Toutonghi's analogue is PKD though... maybe more Michael Crichton (compelling speculative science narrative with open endings) meets Theodore Sturgeon (cognitive sci fi) for this one.
Side Life explores ideas of transhumanism across quantum realities with a rich character-driven narrative that reminds us how few small adjustments or circumstances we all are from being our worse or better selves. And it begins with an exciting hook: a big mostly empty house with a mysterious electrical load and a very specific legal contract as relates to its house sitting.
The book brings up big questions about cognitive function, memory, perception of reality and some really old ideas of mind-body-spirit made new. Absolutely loved it, and as a Seattleite it was extra fun to be wandering around a lot of my regular haunts inside of a book.
Side Life ends with so many open questions for our imaginations to keep chewing on, including some illustrations that have really captured my imagination: could Nerdian be Sophie, for instance?
Also, there's a cat. Sometimes.
I don't agree that Toutonghi's analogue is PKD though... maybe more Michael Crichton (compelling speculative science narrative with open endings) meets Theodore Sturgeon (cognitive sci fi) for this one.
Side Life explores ideas of transhumanism across quantum realities with a rich character-driven narrative that reminds us how few small adjustments or circumstances we all are from being our worse or better selves. And it begins with an exciting hook: a big mostly empty house with a mysterious electrical load and a very specific legal contract as relates to its house sitting.
The book brings up big questions about cognitive function, memory, perception of reality and some really old ideas of mind-body-spirit made new. Absolutely loved it, and as a Seattleite it was extra fun to be wandering around a lot of my regular haunts inside of a book.
Side Life ends with so many open questions for our imaginations to keep chewing on, including some illustrations that have really captured my imagination: could Nerdian be Sophie, for instance?
Also, there's a cat. Sometimes.
September 18, 2018
"But think about this, maybe even though there are infinite versions of you, maybe every single one of them is an asshole."Steve Toutonghi's sophomore novel Side Life begins with Vin Walsh (who is—no spoiler here—the asshole in the quote above). As the book begins, Vin has just experienced an unusual career change: from the CEO of Sigmoto, the tech company he founded, to an otherwise unemployed house-sitter.
—p.226
The house that Vin agrees to take care of is unusual, too—a huge custom-built mansion "armored in broad rectilinear panels of aluminum and teak" (p.10), nestled into a hillside in Seattle's historic Queen Anne neighborhood. (One thing I liked immediately about Side Life was the vivid bits of local color.) The house contains almost no furniture, other than a gigantic, multiplatform home electronics system in the master bedroom. Its owner, who has the one-word name Nerdean, is... elsewhere. Vin's negotiations to occupy the house take place through an intermediary named Joaquin, who is contractually bound not to disclose anything about the situation that isn't strictly necessary.
The house, and Nerdean's whereabouts, present a mystery that Vin, fresh out of other puzzles to occupy his rather compulsive attention, becomes determined to solve.
"Why create a machine to render a virtual reality when each of us has one already?"I have wondered this myself—our minds are very good at coming up with complex imagery given very little input, after all. I called my version "inferential graphics," in "chapter 1 of an unwritten sf novel"—but the technology Vin finds in what Side Life's dust jacket copy calls Nerdean's "secret basement lab" turns out to be something else, not really VR at all. The way Vin journeys without moving is more of a mechanism for exploring the contingent nature of our experience of reality... and if that seems a bit nebulous, well, things aren't much clearer for Vin...
—handwritten note, p.59
*
Side Life wouldn't be a 21st-century book without at least a few homophone errors and awkward word choices, things that a spell-checker wouldn't catch—"LED lights" is redundant; the ubiquitous "alright" rears its ugly head several times; and Toutonghi uses "discretely" once where he meant "discreetly"—but nothing too serious interrupted the flow.
Side Life does ebb as well as flow, though—sometimes its momentum is almost overwhelming (and in fact I finished reading this novel within 24 hours of starting it, which doesn't happen often these days), and sometimes it languishes. The story takes awhile to cohere—it doesn't even try to make much sense, at first. But it gets clearer, and there's always some revelation to keep things moving.
The internal illustrations, including the handwritten note quoted above, are a welcome addition and well worth perusal as you encounter them, by the way. They're credited to one Dasha Bertrand, who is... hard to find online, at least under that name. With any luck, though, this won't be the last we see of this artist's work.
*
All in all, I found myself pleasantly surprised by my chance encounter with Side Life—in this branch of the multiverse, anyway. Perhaps the version of you reading this will be as well.
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February 18, 2020QABC What If? April 2020
May 24, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. A lot. I'd give it a 4.5 if the option was available, but I rounded up for sheer creativity.
But, like some other reviewers, I had a bit of a problem with the ending. That said, the blurb compares Toutonghi with Dick (never a good idea, IMHO, but there it is...) It's been a while since I've read Dick, but I do recall his endings left me unsettled. So I suppose Toutonghi is like him in that regard.
This book has a FASCINATING premise and I really got drawn into the story right from the first page. I think writing time-travel books comes with some pretty difficult to solve paradox issues. I'm not sure Toutonghi solves them any better or worse than most other writers in the genre.
I enjoyed his fast-paced, pithy style and I'd read him again--what better rec is there than that?
But, like some other reviewers, I had a bit of a problem with the ending. That said, the blurb compares Toutonghi with Dick (never a good idea, IMHO, but there it is...) It's been a while since I've read Dick, but I do recall his endings left me unsettled. So I suppose Toutonghi is like him in that regard.
This book has a FASCINATING premise and I really got drawn into the story right from the first page. I think writing time-travel books comes with some pretty difficult to solve paradox issues. I'm not sure Toutonghi solves them any better or worse than most other writers in the genre.
I enjoyed his fast-paced, pithy style and I'd read him again--what better rec is there than that?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2018
Weird, interesting but unfortunately ultimately unfulfilling.
November 19, 2018
This book stumbled over itself more times than any other book I’ve read. But I kept going, thinking “maybe it’ll play out nicely” but nahhh, y’all, nahhh
March 19, 2020
I really enjoyed the premise of this book, and the writing was unique and inquisitive enough to make you feel the surreality that the main character, Vin, was experiencing throughout the novel. The author has a way of drawing you in and keeping you fixated, I would be enraptured reading 80 pages at a time--a rare feat for me.
Without divulging any spoilers, the ending was satisfactory as well. I feel like this is a book that does a good job of questioning your perception of time, reality, and the human experience. So if you're in the mood for a good read with interesting time-space continuum theories, I highly suggest this book :).
Without divulging any spoilers, the ending was satisfactory as well. I feel like this is a book that does a good job of questioning your perception of time, reality, and the human experience. So if you're in the mood for a good read with interesting time-space continuum theories, I highly suggest this book :).
April 2, 2024
The concept of this book was intriguing and moments of it reminded me of a few recent books/short series I’ve enjoyed.
Conceptually reminiscent of Blake Crouch’s “Dark Matter” mixed with “Recursion” and a sprinkling of Sequoia Nagamatsu’s “How High We Go In The Dark”
A story with unknown possibilities - isn’t that somewhat parallel to life?
Conceptually reminiscent of Blake Crouch’s “Dark Matter” mixed with “Recursion” and a sprinkling of Sequoia Nagamatsu’s “How High We Go In The Dark”
A story with unknown possibilities - isn’t that somewhat parallel to life?
December 17, 2025
interesting concept, mid execution with a bad main character
July 22, 2021
A frickin' hell of a lot of fun.
Besides being fun to read, what I really admired about this book was how Toutonghi used realistic dialogue to reveal what CHARACTERS thought was happening. This trait, which I think is part of being a superb writer, I call "show don't tell". Toutonghi doesn't describe everything as the omniscient narrator. We see what is happening in the (metaphorical) eyes and reactions and speech of the characters, who incite, at times, heart-breaking empathy and sympathy from us. I will go so far as to say some of the dialogue is absolutely brilliant, if not genius. It's almost unbelievable a lesser-known author could write dialogue this well.
Now forget what I've written and just go enjoy the book!
Besides being fun to read, what I really admired about this book was how Toutonghi used realistic dialogue to reveal what CHARACTERS thought was happening. This trait, which I think is part of being a superb writer, I call "show don't tell". Toutonghi doesn't describe everything as the omniscient narrator. We see what is happening in the (metaphorical) eyes and reactions and speech of the characters, who incite, at times, heart-breaking empathy and sympathy from us. I will go so far as to say some of the dialogue is absolutely brilliant, if not genius. It's almost unbelievable a lesser-known author could write dialogue this well.
Now forget what I've written and just go enjoy the book!
July 14, 2018
I found this intriguing, from the initial mystery, to the concept and questioning of what is Self? Much like Claire North, this examines the psyche as separate and distinct from the body. Who are you if you can experience, truly experience, a “mile in someone else’s shoes?” What if you can influence them? What if they are influencing you at times? How do those perceptions and experiences change you? And how does that reflect, lieterally in this case, your own life and perceptions of it?
May 20, 2018
A twisting tale of multiple universes, and how accessing them effects the reality we inhabit. Vin is a failed tech startup ceo in Seattle, who begins housesitting for a disappeared scientific genius when he finds a hidden basement lab, equipped with a strange creche. The device transports the consciousness into different vessels across the spacetime continuum. Propulsive read through the first two thirds, and then it slows down, like someone who didn't pace themselves on a five k. Quite good overall.
May 17, 2018
Of the billions of people in billions of bodies that do exist and have existed, sometimes it feel very unfair that I only get to be the one person in the one body. (I felt this way reading "Join" too.) Concept and world building make up for faults in pacing or plot. Side Life offers a pretty compelling universe (well, multiverse).
January 14, 2018
Great concept regarding multiverse application. But like many stories in this genre, they don't work throughout. Fun read though.
January 18, 2023
The caliber of the book does not meet my usual 5-star criteria, but I give it five stars nonetheless because I absolutely loved it! It's a fresh idea, a brain bender, and a creative literary exercise. Sure, the loose ends, unanswered questions, unexplored possibilities, and odd character choices leave something to be desired. But in a multiverse of infinite possibilities, nothing should resolve cleanly, so we'll give the author a pass. And for me, having to close a book mid-chapter so my mind can catch up with the narrative is a win.
From a writing standpoint, I was at first disappointed with the bro-tech vibe. But then the story rather seamlessly launches into Winston Churchill's interior monologue, and it works! With each small "shot" vignette - i.e. when Vin invades someone else's consciousness - Toutonghi plays creative with the narrative style. It's not quite a collection of short stories, but it has the payoff of exploring multiple story settings, time periods, and personalities. I find these narrative devices were used expertly, as they fit with the overall story arc but also could be used to disorient the reader for appropriate affect. And in the end, the bro-tech grew on me; I was impressed how much relevant jargon was used to make the story seem realistically plausible.
Essentially, the story explores the question: "If your life isn't going well, is it better to escape it or claim the mess?" It explores all the consequences of such decisions, and the forking possibility tree of infinite universes. Along with this are other fun mind twists: the problem of identity and whether identity spans these universes, the dismal idea that love might be an illusion in time, and the hopeful idea that life is more than survival.
I wish the book better explained the near/far switch, why the Armageddon space was so violent, and who the heck was Nerdean. It was also strange that the first shot goes to a historical figure, but all the others go to volatile nobodies. Little reason is given for who and where someone might be hosted. On the other hand, it was refreshing to read a book where the main character is significantly flawed but a good dad. Also, any book with a cat is automatically a better book than the same book without a cat.
From a writing standpoint, I was at first disappointed with the bro-tech vibe. But then the story rather seamlessly launches into Winston Churchill's interior monologue, and it works! With each small "shot" vignette - i.e. when Vin invades someone else's consciousness - Toutonghi plays creative with the narrative style. It's not quite a collection of short stories, but it has the payoff of exploring multiple story settings, time periods, and personalities. I find these narrative devices were used expertly, as they fit with the overall story arc but also could be used to disorient the reader for appropriate affect. And in the end, the bro-tech grew on me; I was impressed how much relevant jargon was used to make the story seem realistically plausible.
Essentially, the story explores the question: "If your life isn't going well, is it better to escape it or claim the mess?" It explores all the consequences of such decisions, and the forking possibility tree of infinite universes. Along with this are other fun mind twists: the problem of identity and whether identity spans these universes, the dismal idea that love might be an illusion in time, and the hopeful idea that life is more than survival.
I wish the book better explained the near/far switch, why the Armageddon space was so violent, and who the heck was Nerdean. It was also strange that the first shot goes to a historical figure, but all the others go to volatile nobodies. Little reason is given for who and where someone might be hosted. On the other hand, it was refreshing to read a book where the main character is significantly flawed but a good dad. Also, any book with a cat is automatically a better book than the same book without a cat.
April 29, 2019
There seem to be a number of books lately that use the multiverse as the McGuffin to move the plot. The mechanism in this one is a secret lab that a housesitter discovers under the basement. The lab has pods that project a person's consciousness into another person's mind in another time and place, and then when the housesitter returns, his reality has changed; some people are alive, and others are dead.
The story advances as the housesitter learns more about how to manipulate the device, and he keeps trying to return to a different reality in order to put everything back together.
I could understand the housesitter's motivation to achieve a 'perfect' reality, but had trouble with his interactions with others he encountered and his inability to understand the ramifications of his choices, if indeed he could be said to be making choices in a multiverse where every choice has supposedly been made, and every iteration of him exists, as well as the other people he misses.
There is also a scene which reads a little too much like a video game to be believable.
A nice touch was a cat that appears and disappears in the protagonist's reality. Too bad the cat isn't named Schrodinger.
All in all, a worthy effort, but I've read multiverse stories that were more carefully thought through, with protagonists that a reader could care about more deeply.
The story advances as the housesitter learns more about how to manipulate the device, and he keeps trying to return to a different reality in order to put everything back together.
I could understand the housesitter's motivation to achieve a 'perfect' reality, but had trouble with his interactions with others he encountered and his inability to understand the ramifications of his choices, if indeed he could be said to be making choices in a multiverse where every choice has supposedly been made, and every iteration of him exists, as well as the other people he misses.
There is also a scene which reads a little too much like a video game to be believable.
A nice touch was a cat that appears and disappears in the protagonist's reality. Too bad the cat isn't named Schrodinger.
All in all, a worthy effort, but I've read multiverse stories that were more carefully thought through, with protagonists that a reader could care about more deeply.
February 18, 2025
Vin is miserable after the software company that he helped create fired him, and his father realizes he might be the best person for an opportunity that has come up. Vin takes on the job of house-sitting a very modern mansion whose owner has gone missing, and who may or may not return. At first, it seems too good to be true, but after some time spent pondering he becomes obsessed with the house and its mysteries. That is when he discovers a secret room beneath the basement that has 3 body sized pods; and one is currently occupied. When Vin finally decides to enter a pod himself - after extensively reading a detailed notebook written by the very person that was supposed to be missing - he finds his reality shifting and wonders if he’ll ever get back.
This book had so much potential, but I just think there was a lot to be desired after finishing. A lot was left unanswered, which is totally fine for a book to do, but I wish there had been at least some sort of conclusion. Loved the premise and how it made you think about how some sort of multi-universe is possible, but the book could’ve been so much better. I picked this up randomly at the library and I’m still glad I read it, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend as there are better mind-bendy books I’ve read.
“Possibility was the stuff of the universe; difference the material of time.” - page 214
This book had so much potential, but I just think there was a lot to be desired after finishing. A lot was left unanswered, which is totally fine for a book to do, but I wish there had been at least some sort of conclusion. Loved the premise and how it made you think about how some sort of multi-universe is possible, but the book could’ve been so much better. I picked this up randomly at the library and I’m still glad I read it, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend as there are better mind-bendy books I’ve read.
“Possibility was the stuff of the universe; difference the material of time.” - page 214
October 20, 2018
This review seems spoily - actually, my advice is to not read reviews or summaries - just read the book. If you must know, it's about inter-dimensional travel. Or, if you want to know more specifically, read on...
This was nuts. What to say? A five star book with a lackluster ending. But how does one end a story like this? I suppose figuring that out is what would make it amazing enough for five stars.
But still - infinite dimensions is attempted here, again, and fearlessly brought to new levels of consideration. For example: consider infinity. Really. I'm not talking about a world where you went to one college verses worlds where you chose to go to different colleges. I'm talking about a world in which one leaf on one tree at one moment in time - say a million years ago, to the second, fell, verses another world where it fell at a different moment - say a million years and a second ago, and every iteration of that for every leaf on that tree, and every tree that's ever been on Earth ever, PLUS every combination of those iterations possible - and that's just the leaves on trees! I'm talking a world where a dog wags his tail seven times when he sees you when you came home yesterday, verses one where he wags eight times, or six times, for every time you've ever came home, for every dog that's ever greeted a person coming home, every number more or fewer wags of every dogs' tail, PLUS every tadpole more or fewer that survived in every pond in the history of the Earth; every minute more or fewer of sleep that every creature could have had every night they ever slept in all of time; every second sooner or later you could have stepped on your brake pedal for every single time you and/or anyone else ever braked; and any other combination of mundane differences that could technically make one time different from another. If you think about it, even one single day has infinite different ways it could happen, even if it always started from exactly the same point. So as Vin discovers, there are infinite possibilities that you will end up in a different timeline from the one you started from.
But then there's Mona - I love her! She's got the most worn down, defeated attitude; it's amazing. And yet she can still f-up Vin's whole highly-educated understanding of infinite universes by suggesting that in each one, he still turns out to be an asshole, no matter what. Which could totally be true, too. In the span of one human's life, some things will just never happen: you will never conceive a child and give birth to a tree, for example. Maybe Vin just can't not have a temper? Nature/nurture? Free will?
But wait, there's more. There's possession or occupation of another individual's mind, the source of voices in one's head, novel ideas, and levels of conscious and unconscious thought. The separation of physical body and one's conscious self. The ethics of how you treat your "other selves" or the worlds/bodies they live in.
The future in this story is depicted as some surprising and unexpected solutions - they are amazing. Best though is the relativity of it all. Vin enters the creche - or the machine that transports his conscious mind first to the mind of another individual - often in a desperate situation - in another time/world, and then back to his body in a mostly similar but not quite the same present. And things get more and more wack until eventually, he looses something and thinks that if he goes through the cycle, eventually, he could come to a world like he originally had. It's the ultimate time/dimension-traveler's goal: to return to their original world/time (think Sliders). But his scale of "messed up reality" is so unbalanced. It's crazy! But then Mona once again has the slap of reality for him - doesn't it make sense that if there was an ideal world for Vin, but the book just ends.
Something I got as I was reading this is Vin, all the versions of him, actually has way way way more crazy trips that what is covered in this book, but we only follow one, consistent version of him. Somehow, this short book could have been wayyyyy longer - I'm not sure if it should have or not. Quite ambitious as it is; I'm not sure many could have taken it much further than it is taken here. So big chunks of it you have to sort of improvise in your head - that's part of the fun of it, though. I'd recommend to some - but not all. Some of the thoughts this provoked in me actually were quite hard to swallow - I almost started crying while reading in the waiting room at the dentist. But if your mind doesn't wander to heavy dark concepts, I'm not sure you'd get as much out of this one. Go read Dark Matter.
This was nuts. What to say? A five star book with a lackluster ending. But how does one end a story like this? I suppose figuring that out is what would make it amazing enough for five stars.
But still - infinite dimensions is attempted here, again, and fearlessly brought to new levels of consideration. For example: consider infinity. Really. I'm not talking about a world where you went to one college verses worlds where you chose to go to different colleges. I'm talking about a world in which one leaf on one tree at one moment in time - say a million years ago, to the second, fell, verses another world where it fell at a different moment - say a million years and a second ago, and every iteration of that for every leaf on that tree, and every tree that's ever been on Earth ever, PLUS every combination of those iterations possible - and that's just the leaves on trees! I'm talking a world where a dog wags his tail seven times when he sees you when you came home yesterday, verses one where he wags eight times, or six times, for every time you've ever came home, for every dog that's ever greeted a person coming home, every number more or fewer wags of every dogs' tail, PLUS every tadpole more or fewer that survived in every pond in the history of the Earth; every minute more or fewer of sleep that every creature could have had every night they ever slept in all of time; every second sooner or later you could have stepped on your brake pedal for every single time you and/or anyone else ever braked; and any other combination of mundane differences that could technically make one time different from another. If you think about it, even one single day has infinite different ways it could happen, even if it always started from exactly the same point. So as Vin discovers, there are infinite possibilities that you will end up in a different timeline from the one you started from.
But then there's Mona - I love her! She's got the most worn down, defeated attitude; it's amazing. And yet she can still f-up Vin's whole highly-educated understanding of infinite universes by suggesting that in each one, he still turns out to be an asshole, no matter what. Which could totally be true, too. In the span of one human's life, some things will just never happen: you will never conceive a child and give birth to a tree, for example. Maybe Vin just can't not have a temper? Nature/nurture? Free will?
But wait, there's more. There's possession or occupation of another individual's mind, the source of voices in one's head, novel ideas, and levels of conscious and unconscious thought. The separation of physical body and one's conscious self. The ethics of how you treat your "other selves" or the worlds/bodies they live in.
The future in this story is depicted as some surprising and unexpected solutions - they are amazing. Best though is the relativity of it all. Vin enters the creche - or the machine that transports his conscious mind first to the mind of another individual - often in a desperate situation - in another time/world, and then back to his body in a mostly similar but not quite the same present. And things get more and more wack until eventually, he looses something and thinks that if he goes through the cycle, eventually, he could come to a world like he originally had. It's the ultimate time/dimension-traveler's goal: to return to their original world/time (think Sliders). But his scale of "messed up reality" is so unbalanced. It's crazy! But then Mona once again has the slap of reality for him - doesn't it make sense that if there was an ideal world for Vin, but the book just ends.
Something I got as I was reading this is Vin, all the versions of him, actually has way way way more crazy trips that what is covered in this book, but we only follow one, consistent version of him. Somehow, this short book could have been wayyyyy longer - I'm not sure if it should have or not. Quite ambitious as it is; I'm not sure many could have taken it much further than it is taken here. So big chunks of it you have to sort of improvise in your head - that's part of the fun of it, though. I'd recommend to some - but not all. Some of the thoughts this provoked in me actually were quite hard to swallow - I almost started crying while reading in the waiting room at the dentist. But if your mind doesn't wander to heavy dark concepts, I'm not sure you'd get as much out of this one. Go read Dark Matter.
July 3, 2018
Steve Toutonghi's second novel of speculative fiction (following the outstanding Join, explores the theory of alternate realities. When Vin agrees to housesit for mysterious benefactress who he has never met, he takes things in stride, needed a job after being separate from his work as a Project Lead in a tech firm. He soon becomes convinced that this benefactress is somewhere in the house, and begins tearing apart the home electronic systems in an effort to find her. What he does discover expands his consciousness in ways he can scarcely believe, and turns his life... or perhaps, lives upside down and inside out.
Toutonghi does a remarkable job dealing with science fiction technology an alternate realities with detail, yet in a way that is understandable to the reader. The lead characters' motivations are always clear even if we don't agree with them. It's a quick read, and one that makes for a great summer, sci fic jaunt.
Toutonghi does a remarkable job dealing with science fiction technology an alternate realities with detail, yet in a way that is understandable to the reader. The lead characters' motivations are always clear even if we don't agree with them. It's a quick read, and one that makes for a great summer, sci fic jaunt.
November 3, 2019
Excellently thoughtful, and the protagonist's journey from unlikeable tech twat to zen-like self-awareness is perfectly believable in a way that's genuinely hard to achieve.
The tech feels believable in an unbelievable way and the stakes are truly terrifying.
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is, well, the ending is very literary... we are left with lots and lots of questions... the few that are answered are answered rather roughly. (The bit with M. and J. near the end I say to avoid spoilers. Touch rushed.)
I mean... the whole point is that the hero has to give up his "drug of choice" -- the need to know answers. But to a spec fic fan in particular that's hard to accept. Which is kind of brilliant, but sorry I'm still taking your last star. My review and I am a capricious god. :D
The tech feels believable in an unbelievable way and the stakes are truly terrifying.
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is, well, the ending is very literary... we are left with lots and lots of questions... the few that are answered are answered rather roughly. (The bit with M. and J. near the end I say to avoid spoilers. Touch rushed.)
I mean... the whole point is that the hero has to give up his "drug of choice" -- the need to know answers. But to a spec fic fan in particular that's hard to accept. Which is kind of brilliant, but sorry I'm still taking your last star. My review and I am a capricious god. :D
March 10, 2019
The idea here was very intriguing and it seemed like there was so much potential....but it just never got to the point where I was super onboard with it all. I definitely wanted to see how the book ended, but I was a little disappointed in the resolution.
Vin gets a house-sitting gig after he loses his tech company. It's a weird house. With people-sized cases in the basement, as well as a computer, and one case has a woman in it. So, of course Vin reads through all the manuals and decides to get in one of the other empty cases and run a cycle. Inside he has a lucid dream that he's Winston Churchill. Or maybe it's not a dream. But when the cycle is over and he gets out of the case, he has a cat. Each time he goes in and 'dreams' things in reality change...See? Intriguing. But...
Vin gets a house-sitting gig after he loses his tech company. It's a weird house. With people-sized cases in the basement, as well as a computer, and one case has a woman in it. So, of course Vin reads through all the manuals and decides to get in one of the other empty cases and run a cycle. Inside he has a lucid dream that he's Winston Churchill. Or maybe it's not a dream. But when the cycle is over and he gets out of the case, he has a cat. Each time he goes in and 'dreams' things in reality change...See? Intriguing. But...
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