Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Planesrunner (Everness #1)

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 296 ratings · 101 reviews

There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.

When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse—the Infund...more

Hardcover, 274 pages

Published December 6th 2011 by Pyr

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Best British Science Fiction

32nd out of 35 books — 11 voters

The Man in Seat 11B by Andrew James Pritchard

New books to take note of from new authors

11th out of 11 books — 7 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,149)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 24, 2011 Phoebe added it

Shelves: intergalactic-academy-reviews, sci-fi, middle-grade

Full review at The Intergalactic Academy.

On paper, you might think that Planesrunner is a perfect YA sci-fi read. In fact, its admirable qualities must be acknowledged: its hero, Everett Singh, is a non-stereotyped person of color (half-Punjabi Indian, raised in London); the novel has a strong focus on physics and includes extended descriptions of the science and history that underlie its premises; its undeniably well-written, with florid prose that never quite crosses the line into overwritten;...more Full review at The Intergalactic Academy.

On paper, you might think that Planesrunner is a perfect YA sci-fi read. In fact, its admirable qualities must be acknowledged: its hero, Everett Singh, is a non-stereotyped person of color (half-Punjabi Indian, raised in London); the novel has a strong focus on physics and includes extended descriptions of the science and history that underlie its premises; its undeniably well-written, with florid prose that never quite crosses the line into overwritten; it takes place largely in a trendy steampunk setting. I can’t understate that in this way, this story of a young boy who loses his father and must cross over into another universe is precisely what most adult science fiction fans believe is lacking in young adult sci-fi.

Heck, Everett Singh is both a Whovian and a troper. As a huge fan of both, you’d think I’d be a sucker for this novel.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

It took me quite awhile to locate the source of my discomfort with the story. It begins strongly enough, with Everett’s father’s kidnapping and a description of his middle-class home. His parents have recently divorced; his mother is stressed by her former husband’s disappearance and the abrupt appearance of the police on her doorstep. Their household felt fairly real, despite the fantastic nature of Everett’s situation–as he meets a cardboard cut-out villain who has sent his dad into another universe, and as he learns about the technology that his father has left in his computer that will help him travel after to save him.

Unfortunately, I found my interest rapidly flagging. And while it perked up a bit when Everett enters another London, where fossil fuels were never harnessed for industry and instead all technology is coal-electric powered, and as I luxuriated in McDonald’s undeniably strong stylistics, I soon found myself floundering again. I enjoyed the airship (or “Airish”) society that Everett eventually joins; enjoyed, even more Sen, the rakish girl/airship pilot who acts as his guide. But there were considerable pacing problems in Planesrunner. Though many of the scenes were, ostensibly action scenes, they were also fairly trifling–descriptions of airship races or shopping excursions that had little-to-nothing to do with, you know, the plot.

But the more pressing problem was with Everett himself. He never congealed for me into a believable fourteen-year-old boy. First, his emotional responses were all muted. While on the surface, this upper-MG/lower-YA story shares much in common with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, unlike that classic, this novel does not begin or end with the emotional plight of its characters. Everett frequently acts in a way that suggests that he’s just . . . forgotten about his father’s disappearance, and the family he’s left behind. He’s much like a typical hard-science fiction hero, too concerned with describing the science of his world to bother with pesky feelings. While McDonald has stated that he was inspired by Doctor Who, he doesn’t seem to have the same intuitive understanding of childhood that Steven Moffat does. Everett is no Amelia Pond, praying for someone to save her from the crack in her wall that’s eaten up her parents.

Instead, Everett is a superhero. The scope of his abilities and knowledge was frankly unbelievable. Everett is a greater physics genius than his father’s graduate students. He knows the history of his own world in stunning detail; he knows the names for parts of architecture and can understand the obscure slang spoken by the Airish population with nary a blink. Many of these abilities arise when narratively necessary with little foreshadowing. Conveniently, we’re told that Everett can see in four, five, or six dimensions (at exactly the moment when he needs to do so, of course); he’s also suddenly a master chef, just when he needs to be one. He does not have any outward (or come to think of it, inward) flaws–and certainly not the flaws of a normal, real, vital fourteen-year-old boy.

Finally, there were a few lines regarding Everett’s race that caused me to wince, though it was largely well-handled. There’s something vaguely odd about a hero of color whose love interest is described as not just white, but preternaturally white (“Everett had never seen skin so pale, eyes so arctic blue. She looked like she was carved from ice” and, later, “he had never seen a face so white, eyes so ice pale”). But worse than this elevation of very traditional Western beauty ideals is the later pronouncement that “if you met [Everett's] dad, you wouldn’t know right away he’s Punjabi, because he’s not big and noisy and he thinks about things” (emphasis added). I mean, eesh.

But these lapses, and the lack of deeper engagement of character, won’t bother many readers–who just want an immersive action-adventure story in a steampunk universe. Planesrunner will, nevertheless, appeal to them–as well as to adult sci-fi fans of McDonald’s work, who probably don’t want pesky adolescent feelings mucking up their science fiction.(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Jan 21, 2012 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: www-tor-com-review, young-adult, science-fiction, www-fantasyliterature-com-review, far-beyond-reality-review

(Note: this review is now also up at Far Beyond Reality, my new science fiction and fantasy website!)

I’m a pretty big fan of Ian McDonald, so when I learned that a brand new novel by the author was on the way, I got suitably excited. Then, when I found out that the new novel would be the start of a series, and that this series would deal with alternate dimensions and multiverse-type ideas (very different from his last few books), I got really excited. And then, when I discovered that the series...more (Note: this review is now also up at Far Beyond Reality, my new science fiction and fantasy website!)

I’m a pretty big fan of Ian McDonald, so when I learned that a brand new novel by the author was on the way, I got suitably excited. Then, when I found out that the new novel would be the start of a series, and that this series would deal with alternate dimensions and multiverse-type ideas (very different from his last few books), I got really excited. And then, when I discovered that the series would be a young adult series — well, it took me a while to come down from that one.

So, here it is: Planesrunner, book one in Ian McDonald’s brand new EVERNESS series, which — based on this first novel — I hope will be a very long series of YA science fiction novels. Boy, this book was fun.

One night in London, fourteen-year-old Everett Singh is witness to his father’s kidnapping. The man disappears without a trace, and the authorities seem strangely unmotivated to pursue the investigation. Everett’s father, who is a theoretical physicist, left him the Infundibulum, a mysterious app which turns out to be the map of an infinite number of parallel universes. Armed with nothing but the Infundibulum and his wits, Everett sets out on a multi-dimensional quest to find his father....

Everett Singh is a wonderful main character who balances the delicate line between normal and awesome. On the one hand, he’s a fairly average, somewhat geeky British teenager. He’s the goalkeeper for his school’s soccer team. He likes Tottenham Hotspur. His parents are divorced, and he’s clearly still trying to cope with the break-up of his family. On the other hand, his dad is a genius physicist specializing in quantum theory, and it so happens that Everett has inherited his dad’s massive intellect — as well as his love of cooking. (Some of their get-togethers are soccer games, others are science lectures, and all of them are followed by spectacular cook-outs themed around one country’s cuisine. Like some of Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS books, this novel frequently made me really hungry.) Everett is occasionally a bit too perfect to be believable, but reading about his exploits is definitely never boring, and Ian McDonald throws in enough human touches to make Everett believable.

Ian McDonald tones down his usual, elegant prose to a more simple, functional style in Planesrunner, maybe because this is a YA novel. Sometimes the prose is downright chatty and occasionally funny, like when Everett thinks that a female constable looks “like a male comedian playing a female police officer.” Still, McDonald occasionally can’t help himself and throws in gorgeous lines like “She moved like a golden silk scarf falling through water” or “His signature looked like a spider car crash.” Combine this with the fast, fun dialogues that fill this novel and you have a book that practically reads itself.

Planesrunner is one of those novels that grabs hold of you from the very beginning and then just never lets go until the very end. The kidnapping happens on page 2, and it’s full speed ahead from that point on, with Everett trying to discover who is responsible, how the Infundibulum works, and ultimately how to retrieve his father. This will take him through a Heisenberg Gate to an alternate dimension, landing in a steampunk-like London that’s, pardon my fanboy, so insanely cool that it just about blows any other steampunk London clean out of the water. It comes complete with its own supremely entertaining vernacular, the wildest clothing style ever, and the most realistic airships I’ve ever read. (I could read an entire Aubrey-Maturin series of books about Anastasia Sixsmyth and her Merry Men.) And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Planesrunner really only covers one world — two if you count our own — out of the Plenitude of Ten Known Worlds. Can we have ten books, please?

One of the best aspects of this novel is its cast of side characters. As I mentioned above, Everett occasionally got on my nerves a bit with his supreme intellect and his perfect Indian appetizers, but like a movie in which the lead actor is outplayed by the supporting cast, this novel is sometimes completely taken over by the people surrounding Everett. Especially Sen Sixsmyth, the wild, bratty, mysterious navigator of the Everness is an attention grabber, but the rest of the crew of the airship is equally entertaining. Even back on our Earth, Everett’s mother is hilarious, first embarrassed at being caught in her tracksuit over breakfast by the detectives who are investigating her husband’s disappearance, then indignantly declaring that “this is a hi-fibre household” when one of the cops tries to mooch some toast and finds there’s only wholegrain available. These perfect little slice-of-life scenes juxtapose perfectly with the vivid, weird multiverse material and really highlight how solid even the minor characters are. My only complaint would be that the villains are a bit too over-the-top villainy, but really, in a novel that features a teenager crossing dimensions to rescue his kidnapped quantum physicist dad, you’d expect the contrast to be turned up a bit.

To top it all off, if this YA novel finds its way into the hands of the adults who are impatiently hovering in the periphery of its target audience, they’ll discover several fun little side-jokes and references that may not make sense (yet) to people born in the last few decades, and that’s not even mentioning some of the subtleties and recurring themes that fans of the author will recognize. This is a YA novel that definitely has a lot to offer to not-so-YA readers.

It’s rare when a book is more or less exactly what you hoped it would be, but Planesrunner is just that. I had a blast with this novel, and I can’t wait for the next book in the EVERNESS series. As Sen Sixsmyth would say, this book was utterly bonaroo.

(This review was also published at www.tor.com on 12/7/2011 and www.fantasyliterature.com on 12/14/2011.)(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2011 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of "Ship Breaker," "Leviathan"

Recommended to Tatiana by: Kirkus

Shelves: 2011, sci-fi, ya, ala-ya-2013

Planesrunner is a first class teen SF novel, but I worry about this book's ability to reach its potential readers, especially if the ARC is any indicator of how the novel will look in its final version. The cover is weird and the text inside is so small, it hurt my eyes. Great covers and packaging of

and

were able to seduce a fair number of female readers who otherwise wouldn't really give a chance to those essentially boy-oriented books. I wish the same was done for Planesrunner too. I want...more Planesrunner is a first class teen SF novel, but I worry about this book's ability to reach its potential readers, especially if the ARC is any indicator of how the novel will look in its final version. The cover is weird and the text inside is so small, it hurt my eyes. Great covers and packaging of

and

were able to seduce a fair number of female readers who otherwise wouldn't really give a chance to those essentially boy-oriented books. I wish the same was done for Planesrunner too. I want this book to find its audience.

Everett Singh's divorced father is a scientist whose area of expertise is the multiverse theory. According to his research, there are multiple parallel universes, running along each other and branching every time a smallest thing happens (think Sliders). When Everett's father is kidnapped and a strange program containing a map of all parallel universes appears on his iPad, the boy embarks on a parallel-universe-jumping quest to save his dad.

There is hardly anything about Planesrunner that I disliked. Quite the opposite, a lot to complement this novel on:

First of all, the science. I was instantly excited by the whole idea of parallel universes and I thought Ian McDonald did a fantastic job coming up with alternate versions of Earth's future - the one where Britain was conquered by Middle East rather than Roman Empire, or the one where oil never became a viable energy source.

Second, the main character of color and with ethnic background. Everett is half Punjabi Indian. This allowed the author to enrich his story with tastes, smells and customs of a foreign country, and he managed to do it without fetishizing it. Double success!

Third, the teen romance has a great dynamic. Both participants are strong and resourceful young people, with a lot of respect for each other.

The only negative thing I can think of to say is my usual gripe with YA books written by male authors - their characters often appear to be younger than the characters of the same age in female-written novels, they hold back on romance and are not very good at writing love stories. I always look for more maturity of relationships in male-written YA books, but rarely find it (maybe it has something to do with the fact that in real life girls mature earlier than boys?). In the case of Planesrunner, I couldn't help but want Everett and Sen (his love interest) to be or act a couple of years older, to steam things up a bit. I think I will check out Ian McDonald's adult books to see if I can find this missing bit there.(less)

21 likes · like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just couldn't. You'd think a concept like this would be super interesting, but this just didn't do it for me.

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 09, 2013 Alexa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, series

You'll have to forgive me, but I don't think I've ever gone from Adult to YA with an author before and its a fascinating transition. I’m not sure how many people who enjoy YA would also like Ian McDonald’s adult books. There's an added value though in being aware of his earlier stuff when reading Planesrunner. I kept noticing things like how the nanoblade was reminiscent of the Q-blades of Brasyl, the street brawl that smelled faintly like a scene in River of Gods. Then there’s the overall geeki...more You'll have to forgive me, but I don't think I've ever gone from Adult to YA with an author before and its a fascinating transition. I’m not sure how many people who enjoy YA would also like Ian McDonald’s adult books. There's an added value though in being aware of his earlier stuff when reading Planesrunner. I kept noticing things like how the nanoblade was reminiscent of the Q-blades of Brasyl, the street brawl that smelled faintly like a scene in River of Gods. Then there’s the overall geekiness, the use of foreign slang, creating a whole new pop culture (the effort he puts into describing how the cool kids would dress in another universe is adorable to me), and of course use of multiple universes. McDonald has his go-to tropes, and somehow they never get old.

There’s also a lot of fresh stuff, like the steampunk aspects (or electropunk as Everett Singh mused, which reminded of when McDonald remarked in an interview that we’ve kind of gone overboard with the whole “-punk” thing), and the light-hearted youthful atmosphere. This is very much an action-adventure. It’s quick, it’s fun, and Everett’s fast brain doesn’t dwell too much on melancholic thoughts. He's the type of character that's alive with possibility. When he figures out what his father has asked him to do - venture alone into an alien universe, carrying an impossibly valuable piece of technology while being chased by a conspiratorial order lead by a blonde-haired demon in a pencil skirt, all to rescue him and protect the multiverse - I don't think it every occurs to him that he can't do it. He's a boy genius, an ace goalie and a damn good cook too. Why shouldn't he be able to save the world?

In his adult works, McDonald doesn’t waste time on exposition, and generally leaves his readers to their own devices in trying to figure out the futuristic slang, politics and cultural cues. Here, he takes a bit more time. For Everett, this is a whole new adventure, the same way it is for us as readers, so everything feels fresh and shiny, and you get to see Everett working at understanding this new world. You feel how exhilarated he is, and also how overwhelmed. McDonald's paints this new, zeppelin filled world with a patient and thorough brush, and the results are utterly engrossing.

McDonald also lets Everett go on about his Punjabi roots, and I loved seeing that side of him, how important his heritage is. Diversity is always a big part of McDonald's books, and he doesn't take it for granted. He's not afraid to discuss how this new Earth that Everett lands on is divided racially, how Everett feels when he's kicked out of a restaurant because he looks Airish. It provides the texture of the setting, the reality and stakes, as well as giving the main character roots and depth.

The prose is rich, but fast, and if you’re not paying attention you’ll miss some technical details. Perhaps it’s because I don’t think in three dimensions like Sen and the crew of the Everness, but I had a hard time picturing the inside of the airship that becomes Everett’s home away from home. That only became a big deal towards the end when a lot of the action involved the ship and how it functioned, but I was able to keep up and still found it exciting, so I can’t complain too much.

What I think makes this stand out against other YA works is along with its fast pace and action, its also ridiculously well researched. It doesn't feel like swallowing a bag of marshmallows - tasty, but ultimately hollow, like a lot YA I read is - it's got substance and solid ground to stand on. More meat, less fat. Win, win.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 13, 2012 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Friendly neighbors

Recommended to Alan by: io9, or maybe bOINGbOING, though belatedly in either case

How the heck did I miss this one? Ian McDonald, one of my favorite SF authors, writes about one of my favorite sfnal topics, the multiverse (parallel universes, alternate dimensions, multiple timelines, the Wheels of If, the Panoply of Worlds... whatever you may call it—there are almost as many names for the concept as there are universes to explore). How on all the many Earths did I miss this novel when it came out in 2011, to find out about it only when io9 (or was it bOINGbOING?) reviewed its...more

like · see review

Sep 05, 2012 Dawn Vanniman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I feel that you've all gotten to know me since you've been reading my reviews. However, there might be a few things you don't know yet. One is that I'm an absolute geek for parallel universes or a multi-verse. The use of quantum physics just makes me so happy! Then, when the author tosses in words like 'infundibulum', I'm fifty kinds of excited! (An infundibulum, basically, means it's bigger on the inside. For example - the...more

like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Chayse Sundt rated it 4 of 5 stars

The cover for me was an interesting one. I was hesitant but excited at the same time to dive into this book and see what its words and pages will present to me. My friend told me that this book reminded her of Tron the movie and I knew I was going to love it, if it was anything like Tron.

The plot for me was one of fast-paced throughout the beginning, however, as soon as the pages left of the book started to dwindle down, the book for me started to drag. I started to lose my connection with the c...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Beverly rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 13-15 year olds

Recommended to Beverly by: indie next list/indiebound.org

Shelves: good-reads-for-reluctant-readers

Planesrunner is a perfect beach read - tons of action, supporting characters who are more interesting than the protagonist, no serious themes and no real surprises. It reminds me of a futuristic space age cross between Zorro and Star Trek. Young London teen, Everett, witnesses his brilliant scientist father being kidnapped. Everett's father discovered that there actually many parallel earths, and he engineered a way to travel to them. One of those earths sent a goon squad to kidnap Everett's fat...more

like · see review

Feb 15, 2012 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can't remember reading anything by Ian McDdonald before, and I enjoyed this one enough that I will seek out some of his earlier titles and look forward to the next instalment in the Everness series.

What I liked:
- the private language of the Airish (the glossary at the back includes an interesting introduction)
- Sen and her "mother"
- the multiverse and how well McDonald describes the different stages of technological development in the known worlds
- the fact that the universe Everett transports...more

like · see review

Dec 13, 2011 Chris King Elfland's 2nd Cousin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Ian McDonald's adult fiction and fans of YA SF like Kat Falls Dark Life

NOTE: This review originally appeared at The King of Elfland's 2nd Cousin on December 13th, 2011. If you enjoy it, please come check us out!

As I've mentioned before, I am a huge fan of Ian McDonald's adult science fiction. His complex, multi-layered plots and penchant for near-future science fiction set in non-western cultures (Africa, India, Brazil, Turkey, etc.) have always struck me as interesting, engaging, ambitious, and structurally complex. So when I heard that Pyr was going to be releas...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 04, 2013 Stephanie Saulter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

There is not just one you, there are many yous. We're part of a multiplicity of universes in parallel dimensions - and Everett Singh's dad has found a way in.

So begins the jacket copy for Planesrunner, Ian McDonald's first novel aimed at a YA audience. In truth it's also a great first novel for anyone unfamiliar with McDonald's work, or leery about novels full of heavy-duty science. McDonald builds Everett's story around his favourite themes of quantum physics and the possibility of an infinite

...more

like · see review

Jul 15, 2012 Clay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

Ian McDonald’s “Planesrunner” (Pyr, $16.95, 268 pages) is more traditional, and more young adult than “The Emperor’s Knife” (which actually has some erotic moments), but it too comes to a conclusion at the end of the first book of the Everness series.

But McDonald has plenty of options, as the premise is that there are essentially an infinite number of earths, even though only 10 have been explored, and our adolescent heroes are going to be fighting off the powerful villains wherever they might g...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Joan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: hard core science fiction lovers

Shelves: female-characters, sci-fi, ya-books, fiction

I hope this is the start of a new trend. It has been ages since I've seen any decent science fiction as opposed to fantasy come out for youth. We desperately need to interest our youth in science and one way is good science fiction. This is good to excellent science fiction. I'd have given it 3.5 stars if I could. I may still come back and change the rating to 4 stars later. Everett Singh is going to meet his dad when his dad is kidnapped right in front of him. He realizes that his father has le...more

like · see review

Dec 25, 2011 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random-comments-review

...The language and structure of the story may be a bit simpler than what he uses in his adult novels, there is certainly no shortage of science, technology or cultural oddities. In terms of ideas and the scope of his universe, McDonald challenges the young reader to embrace it in all its diversity. I guess that is what I like most about this novel. It takes the reader seriously, doesn't dumb things down or omits 'unsuitable' topics. I understand there will be at least two more books in the Ever...more

like · see review

Dec 13, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-or-review-copy, fantasy, contemporary, read-in-2011, pyr

Planesrunner is action packed from cover to cover. Fast action coupled with McDonald’s stunning world building, character development, as well as flowing writing will appeal to a younger audience and will make Planesrunner an instant hit with youth and adults alike. While the ideas might sound weighty, McDonald handles them with incredible finesse and manages to not only make these ideas interesting and accessible, but will strike wonder in almost anyone.

That’s probably what is the most amazing...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 13, 2012 Pat rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is a bit of a hybrid, which I like, and a bit of a departure from my usual literary haunts, which I also like... I just wish I liked the book a bit more. The basics: boy has scientist father, scientist father Discovers Something Momentous, scientist father gets kidnapped. That's all in about the first three pages or so. Everett Singh, the boy, is a likable enough protagonist, his actions and reactions are believable for a boy of his age (I don't recall if it's ever stated but he's in his la...more This is a bit of a hybrid, which I like, and a bit of a departure from my usual literary haunts, which I also like... I just wish I liked the book a bit more. The basics: boy has scientist father, scientist father Discovers Something Momentous, scientist father gets kidnapped. That's all in about the first three pages or so. Everett Singh, the boy, is a likable enough protagonist, his actions and reactions are believable for a boy of his age (I don't recall if it's ever stated but he's in his late teens), and it's Ian McDonald who has an excellent command of the language so the writing is fine, but there was something about this book that didn't excite me as much as the other one I've read by him, "River of Gods". Perhaps it's the Young Adult part of the book-- I find I don't generally enjoy PG or G or even most PG-13 movies because of the limits placed upon their content and language, and I find the same holds true for most books as well. There are some books for kids that I adore (the Harry Potter series, for one, or just about anything by Roald Dahl, also the Great Brain series by (not that) Fitzgerald, um, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's "Black and Blue Magic", to name a few) but mostly I find them flat, uninspiring, oddly truncated. I had the same reaction to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson book 1, "The Lightning Thief"-- it wasn't a bad book but I'm not a kid and I need my escapist worlds to be more real and more grownup than the genre will allow. Which is a bit of a problem for a writer who has at least one YA book slotted into his Giant Epic Fantasy Series and may be the reason that particular book has been stalled-out at about page 130 for the past few years. I'm not kid-friendly, and it's a tremendous strain to attempt to tell a tale in a grim and gritty world that doesn't end up being as grownup as the rest of the books in the series. Perhaps Ian McDonald ran into the same problem here? "River of Gods" was brilliant (albeit a bit slow in the beginning) and this book feels.. merely adequate. Midway through it gets more interesting, as Everett's pursuit of his father throws him into a world of airships and steampunk-esque hijinks, and the remainder of the book is a fun string of action sequences in airship land. i'm not an expert on steampunk (i've been avoiding most of it because a lot of steampunk has Victorian influences and I can't stand the damned Victorians) so perhaps the airship parts of this novel are fairly standard steampunk stuff, i wouldn't know. I am now curious to read Cherie Priest's book "Dreadnaut" (or however it's spelled) because that one's been recommended as a good example of steampunk done right, so that's a good thing, but all in all except for the last thirty pages I found myself wanting to just be done reading it so that I could get onto something else (like maybe another Paul Auster or some of the fantasy on my to-read list). I don't know whether I'd pick up book 2 when it comes out. I think it'll depend on what else i'm reading at the time and whether i still have the same feelings of "meh." I do like McDonald, and will at some point get around to another of his grownup books, "The Dervish House", but I might just be too old and crotchety to enjoy YA fiction anymore...(less)

like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-book-club

Planesrunner is a rollicking adventure. While Everett clearly isn’t a normal child, he makes for a great main character. Both his intelligence and his sense of humor come to the fore as he tells his story. The supporting cast is equally well developed with even the minor characters being interesting and fleshed out. The world is also fascinating with universes that have only a minor change or two from Everett’s own to those that are completely different. The whole concept of multiple universes a...more

like · see review

Apr 30, 2012 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, teen-fiction, steampunk, website

Everett Singh sees his father get kidnapped; he reports it to the police but they seem to cover it up. Then he gets a mysterious computer program called the Infundibulum from his father. This is a map of all the parallel worlds that exist. Everett's father discovered the map and a group of people want it. They kidnapped his father and now they are after him. Everett uses the map to jump to another world (there are 10 known worlds) and finds an airship crew who agrees to help him rescue his dad....more

like · see review

Dec 11, 2011 Steven Wilber rated it 5 of 5 stars

When Everett Singh's father is kidnapped off the streets of London, Everett's world is turned upside down. He learsn that there is not one Earth, but many parallel worlds. The Infundibulum is the key, a map to all the parallel Earths and the shadowy Charlotte Villiers wants it. Everett embarks on an adventure to find and rescue his father, all the while trying to keep the Infundibilum away from Villiers and those working with her.

Planesrunner, the first book in the Everness series by Ian McDonal...more

like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk, sciene-fiction, ya

You know him for his Science Fiction like THE DERVISH HOUSE and others, but now Ian McDonald invades YA territory with PLANESRUNNER and a world where the Earth exists in almost limitless parallel universes.

Our PoV character is teenage Everett Singh, soccer goalie, science smarty-pants, and son of the brilliant Tejendra Singh, who created the infundibulum--a sort of map to the parallel universes, or "planes". Before now only the ten Earths that have been able to create gateways can visit each oth...more You know him for his Science Fiction like THE DERVISH HOUSE and others, but now Ian McDonald invades YA territory with PLANESRUNNER and a world where the Earth exists in almost limitless parallel universes.

Our PoV character is teenage Everett Singh, soccer goalie, science smarty-pants, and son of the brilliant Tejendra Singh, who created the infundibulum--a sort of map to the parallel universes, or "planes". Before now only the ten Earths that have been able to create gateways can visit each other, but with Tejendra's invention any earth can be jumped to. But agents from the E2 plane will do anything to get the infundibulum, even kidnap Tejendra from under Everett's very nose. Little do they know that it's Everett who his dad left it to for safekeeping, and he'll do anything to rescue his dad.

The majority of the book is spent in E2, where electricity was discovered in the 1789, and as a result oil-related technology was never developed...including plastic. In this Steampunk-like world Everett befriends the eclectic Sen, the teenage pilot of the cargo airship Everness, and via her a new family among the airship's small crew.

PLANESRUNNER was fun to read, with a creative mix of Steampunk and SF, and after visiting E2, I expect Everett will jump to other planes, so I'm looking forward to reading about those--he leaves hints for what the other earths would be like. The science is interesting and explained without feeling like it's over my head. And following Everett's adventures felt realistic, although he seemed a little too smart for a teenage boy.

Everett is a well-drawn character, but my favorite is Sen, the snarky bohemian orphan, who finds Everett fascinating, and is quickly drawn into his predicament. The other characters add eclectic flair: Captain Sixsmyth, the young captain of the Everness and her sense of honor; Mr. Sharkey, the American "gentleman" who spews bible verse; Mchynlyth, the Scottish engineer; and Charlotte Villiers, the E2 agent with the killer shoes and fascinators who is determined to get the infundibulum.

The storytelling itself is almost stream-of-consciousness as Everett goes off on tangents in the middle of the action--which is stylistically reminiscent of McKinley's DRAGONHAVEN. I like it, but it may frustrate some readers as it slows the story's pace. McDonald also has the habit of stringing scenes one after another, making the pacing lumpy and disconnected feeling, although by the end it makes sense. One other problem is Sen's frequent use of slang. While it adds "authenticity" it can get confusing; fortunately the book contains a dictionary of slang terms.

Despite the jumble of events, they lead up to an exciting ending, where Everett is backed into a corner with no obvious solution. And while there's no clear "win", and McDonald leaves the ending open for the following books in the series, it is a fun ride.

Recommended Age: 13+, more for comprehension than content
Language: None
Violence: Some fisticuffs and peril, but no blood and gore
Sex: Teenage hormones, but no direct references or innuendo

***This review was posted on Elitist Book Reviews. Check out this review and others at our blog.***(less)

like · see review

Jul 29, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-sf-fantasy, ya

Ian McDonald typically writes very challenging, literary science fiction. This, his first book for young adults, is more accessible than his other novels, but it's still wonderful. It delves pretty heavily into quantum physics, particularly the theory of the multiverse, but you don't have to have a super scientific mind to understand the story, which is fun and exciting and filled with believable, interesting, well-drawn characters. Other than the fact that the main character is 14 years old (an...more

like · see review

Jan 08, 2012 Malissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book starting with the cover art. I can't decide if I like it or not and I've stared at it for a long time trying to answer that question. It seems that there is just something off about it. I think in the problem I have with the cover is the same problem I have with the book; there is just a lot going on.

I enjoyed the concept of the book and while I struggled to grasp the science concepts and to follow the language I think the overall story is really good. I wi...more

like · see review

Nov 09, 2012 Maureen E rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi, young-adult

I’m always happy to get proper YA scifi, which this is. It started out extremely strong–the story begins with Everett’s scientist father kidnapped before his eyes, and of course the police don’t believe him. I thought that the middle section was a little bloated–I got bogged down in the early time of Everett’s stay in the new plane, which lost the urgency of his search for his father. But I can see that McDonald essentially had to do all of his worldbuilding and character introduction at that po...more

like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Katherine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Jumps right off with a kidnapping on the first two pages. It is very action packed but for me it fizzled a little toward the middle and never really picked back up.

It's the story of Everett Singh, whose father is kidnapped. His father leaves him the map to the multiverse, or panoply of universes, and Everett has to figure out how to use the map. But the Plenitude of Known Worlds is after him, because the map is the key to domination of every world, known and unknown.

Then the story sidles into ai...more

like · see review

Mar 27, 2013 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

The book delivers a clear and appealing mix of diverse & unique-yet-familiar characters; fantastic settings; the value of traditions, honor and cozy day-to-day routines; and and the wonders of physics. Yes, physics!

While some segments involve more telling than showing, this level of explanation is actually quite nice. How else would the average non-physicist YA reader fully grasp the 10 to the 80+ universes that Everett Singh is mapping? The swashbuckling action rescue scenes are pretty cool...more

like · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Jennavier rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well..... The book was great. It was well plotted, held my attention, had more interesting side characters then I'd read about in a LONG time, and just made me want to know more. But (and this is a really big but) the author chose to write a good chunk of the dialogue in something he calls Pilari, which is actually an underground language in Europe. Put on top of the fact that the writer is British and the words aren't 'translated' and this book was almost illegible. That got more then a little...more

like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, action-adventure, fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

Everett's scientist father is kidnapped in front of his very eyes - and just 10 days before Christmas! When he goes to the police, his story is discounted and then his photos are altered as well. Everett is convinced he has the means to rescue his dad through the mysterious app his dad left on his computer. It allows him to travel throughout the multiverse - but everyone wants to get their hands on this thing so he has to be fast and clever.

First in a series. Interesting characters and the multi...more

like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Woodge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, steampunk, sf, young-adult

Planesrunner is a tale set amongst several parallel universes. Our hero is a London teenager named Everett Singh who witnesses his father's kidnapping and then comes into possession of some tech his father had been developing that is wanted by people with bad intent. Eventually he finds himself in an alternate London where airships are very common and he becomes entangled with the airship crew of the Everness. This is a zippy tale and Everett is an interesting character. This is also another exa...more

like · see review

Aug 31, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, 2012

Planesrunner really surprised me. I knew it was science fiction (that’s why I wanted to read it) but it turned out to contain some pretty awesome concepts. Mainly, the Many World Theory. The action starts off right away when Everett Singh’s father is abducted in front of his very eyes. After going to the police and not getting anywhere, Everett receives a file on his tablet which turns out to be the very thing his dad was kidnapped for: the map of all the universes, called the Infundibular. This...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 38 39 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (5)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction

51 users

Young Adult

33 users

Science Fiction > Steampunk

20 users

Fantasy

11 users

Action

6 users

Adventure

6 users

Young Adult > Teen

3 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

2 users

Young Adult > Young Adult Science Fiction

2 users

Contemporary

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Ian McDonald

Ian Neil McDonald (1960-) is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.

McDonald was born in 1960, in Manchester, to a Scottish father and Irish mother, but moved to Belfast when he was five, and has lived there ever since. He therefore lived throu...more

More about Ian McDonald...

Books by Ian McDonald

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Planesrunner

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Planesrunner

“Family is what works.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Planesrunner
avg rating	preview: Planesrunner Goodreads rating: 3.64 (296 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11291920-planesrunner?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316895705l/11291920.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11291920-planesrunner?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Planesrunner by Ian McDonald[/url]

Planesrunner (Everness #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website