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In Any Lifetime
A devoted husband defies fate and risks everything to find the one universe where his beloved wife is still alive in this bold and thought-provoking novel. Dr. Jonas Cullen has spent his career as a groundbreaking physicist defying the odds. But on the best night of his life―the night his wife, Amanda, tells him they’re finally having a baby―everything is taken away when a tragic car accident claims the lives of Amanda and their unborn child. Gutted by pain, Jonas sets out to find a way to bring back Amanda―or rather, find a parallel universe in which she’s still alive. But that’s easier said than done. As Jonas comes to understand all too well, the universe favors certain outcomes…and Amanda’s death is one of them. Guggenheim’s novel takes readers on a suspenseful journey, intercutting scenes of Jonas’s frantic, present-day search across multiple realities with glimpses from the past of his unfolding romance and eventual marriage. Will Jonas and Amanda reunite in some other world, or will fate succeed in taking her from him forever?
347 pages, Paperback
First published July 16, 2024
4889 people are currently reading
10839 people want to read
About the author
Marc Guggenheim
941 books173 followersMarc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.
Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.
His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.
Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.
Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.
Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.
His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.
Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.
Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 591 reviews
July 14, 2024
Read. This. Book.
I started this book last night around 6pm, and finished it this afternoon. I cannot tell you how enraptured I was with the story. It ended beautifully in a way that didn’t make me ache for more, but instead gave me a thorough ending leaving me grateful for the journey I just went on with Jonas. A beautiful book. Incredibly written. And so entertaining to read!
I started this book last night around 6pm, and finished it this afternoon. I cannot tell you how enraptured I was with the story. It ended beautifully in a way that didn’t make me ache for more, but instead gave me a thorough ending leaving me grateful for the journey I just went on with Jonas. A beautiful book. Incredibly written. And so entertaining to read!
July 10, 2024
Stories about time travel and parallel worlds are having their moment right now. I confess I love the unlimited possibilities these concepts offer. I dove into the Apple TV series Dark Matter but found it raised more questions than it answered and in some ways it was downright silly.
In Any Lifetime addressed the same concepts but presented them in a more logical and entertaining manner. Like the tv series, this is a story about a man trying to get back to his wife, the love of his life, after traveling through the multiverse. In the series the story is fragmented among many variations of the main character and the most sympathetic version is rather passive. His nemesis is actually one of the other versions of himself. In this book Jonas Cullen is a Nobel Laureate who uses his knowledge of parallel worlds to actively try to set right the tragedy of his wife’s death. The villain in this story is a rival scientist who accuses him of stealing his work.
Did I understand the science underpinning the plot? Since this is all theoretical, you might say, I understood enough to go along for the ride. Having text rather than visuals to refer to made the story easier to follow and having a clearly defined enemy made a more enjoyable conflict.
So if you are into the intriguing idea of other worlds, I recommend this. I just wouldn’t worry about the science behind the story.
In Any Lifetime addressed the same concepts but presented them in a more logical and entertaining manner. Like the tv series, this is a story about a man trying to get back to his wife, the love of his life, after traveling through the multiverse. In the series the story is fragmented among many variations of the main character and the most sympathetic version is rather passive. His nemesis is actually one of the other versions of himself. In this book Jonas Cullen is a Nobel Laureate who uses his knowledge of parallel worlds to actively try to set right the tragedy of his wife’s death. The villain in this story is a rival scientist who accuses him of stealing his work.
Did I understand the science underpinning the plot? Since this is all theoretical, you might say, I understood enough to go along for the ride. Having text rather than visuals to refer to made the story easier to follow and having a clearly defined enemy made a more enjoyable conflict.
So if you are into the intriguing idea of other worlds, I recommend this. I just wouldn’t worry about the science behind the story.
August 2, 2024
Wow. This is by far one of the best written Amazon First reads. It’s brilliant. And right up my alley of course, I live for parallel universe and time travel and other similar stories.
I had a few issues with the book, preventing a five start rating, but still.. wow.
I had a few issues with the book, preventing a five start rating, but still.. wow.
July 3, 2024
Jonas Cullen is a scientist by passion and a bit of a shy nerd. Five years ago he met Amanda, an artist and the woman of his dreams. He knew right away that he wanted to ‘look at her for the rest of his life’. They get married and this should be their happily ever after. Especially when, three years later, Jonas wins the Nobel Prize for his Many Worlds Theory achievements, and the couple travels to Sweden to attend the ceremony. Tragedy hits when newly pregnant Amanda dies in a car accident afterwards. Jonas is devastated and-prepared to risk his own life- frantically works to find Amanda alive in another, parallel universe.
The story is told in three alternating timelines which I liked a lot: five years ago (when Jonas and Amanda met), two years ago (when the accident happened) and the present. Especially in the beginning, there is quite a bit of scientific language which - I admit - went completely over my head, and I had to re-read many passages. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and admired Jonas’ determination and devotion to Amanda. Unfortunately, it got a bit repetitive after a while, and I nearly lost interest. However, I found the idea of a multiverse fascinating enough and kept rooting for Jonas to the end - eagerly awaiting a happy ending for him and Amanda.
A solid 4* reading for me. I thank Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
The story is told in three alternating timelines which I liked a lot: five years ago (when Jonas and Amanda met), two years ago (when the accident happened) and the present. Especially in the beginning, there is quite a bit of scientific language which - I admit - went completely over my head, and I had to re-read many passages. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and admired Jonas’ determination and devotion to Amanda. Unfortunately, it got a bit repetitive after a while, and I nearly lost interest. However, I found the idea of a multiverse fascinating enough and kept rooting for Jonas to the end - eagerly awaiting a happy ending for him and Amanda.
A solid 4* reading for me. I thank Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
April 22, 2024
I have mixed feelings about this novel. It was not a very enjoyable read and yet I felt compelled to keep reading to discover the ending.
Jonas Cullen is a brilliant physicist who won a Nobel prize for his proof of the Many Worlds theory of the existence of parallel universes. His professional success is eclipsed by his wife’s announcement that she is pregnant despite medical opinions that said it was nearly impossible. Then tragedy strikes in the form of a car accident that takes the lives of his beloved Amanda and their unborn child. For the next two years, Jonas perfects his proof by developing a practical application – one that will allow him to travel to another dimension where Amanda still exists.
The storyline shifts back and forth between the present and the five previous years when they met, fell in love, and married. Several things proved challenging in this book. First, it tries to be too many things – a thriller, a romance, and a sci-fi fantasy without successfully balancing the genre. The thriller part involves Jonas’ pursuit by a malignant narcissist (even sociopath) resulting in way too much violence. (I went back to read the promotional summary to see if I missed something in choosing this selection. I did not. There is not a hint of the tone this story takes.) Second, the scientific jargon begs for at least a passing familiarity with quantum theory to grasp the significance of Jonas’ work. Lastly, Jonas’ “devotion” to Amanda borders on obsession rather than a healthy love.
My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Jonas Cullen is a brilliant physicist who won a Nobel prize for his proof of the Many Worlds theory of the existence of parallel universes. His professional success is eclipsed by his wife’s announcement that she is pregnant despite medical opinions that said it was nearly impossible. Then tragedy strikes in the form of a car accident that takes the lives of his beloved Amanda and their unborn child. For the next two years, Jonas perfects his proof by developing a practical application – one that will allow him to travel to another dimension where Amanda still exists.
The storyline shifts back and forth between the present and the five previous years when they met, fell in love, and married. Several things proved challenging in this book. First, it tries to be too many things – a thriller, a romance, and a sci-fi fantasy without successfully balancing the genre. The thriller part involves Jonas’ pursuit by a malignant narcissist (even sociopath) resulting in way too much violence. (I went back to read the promotional summary to see if I missed something in choosing this selection. I did not. There is not a hint of the tone this story takes.) Second, the scientific jargon begs for at least a passing familiarity with quantum theory to grasp the significance of Jonas’ work. Lastly, Jonas’ “devotion” to Amanda borders on obsession rather than a healthy love.
My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
July 7, 2024
Finished reading: July 6th 2024
"Jonas learned that sometimes the hardest thing to do in life was just to live."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
REVIEW
WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!
October 2, 2024
In how many universes would I hate this book? All of them.
1. There appears to be no real scientific basis for anything in this book other than the general idea of the multiverse theory. In no way is this grounded in reality, which would be fine if it wasn’t pretending to be.
2. The author needs a better editor. This man must have put hundreds of thousands miles on his thesaurus.
3. Jonas is the most selfish protagonist I have ever read (and he ignored it when other characters pointed that out!!!). He was willing to kill one Amanda and force three other versions of her to relive his devastating death (in a more devastating way than she had previously) just so he could get over his grief. Just get a therapist!
4. In no universe is it possible to fall from the tallest residential tower in Manhattan and survive. Having another person cushion your fall would not help. And if this author consulted physics, he would know that.
5. Don’t even get me started on the overdone revenge plot!!! A little academic jealousy causes Victor to travel multiple universes and murder dozens of innocent people??? Get over yourself.
1. There appears to be no real scientific basis for anything in this book other than the general idea of the multiverse theory. In no way is this grounded in reality, which would be fine if it wasn’t pretending to be.
2. The author needs a better editor. This man must have put hundreds of thousands miles on his thesaurus.
3. Jonas is the most selfish protagonist I have ever read (and he ignored it when other characters pointed that out!!!). He was willing to kill one Amanda and force three other versions of her to relive his devastating death (in a more devastating way than she had previously) just so he could get over his grief. Just get a therapist!
4. In no universe is it possible to fall from the tallest residential tower in Manhattan and survive. Having another person cushion your fall would not help. And if this author consulted physics, he would know that.
5. Don’t even get me started on the overdone revenge plot!!! A little academic jealousy causes Victor to travel multiple universes and murder dozens of innocent people??? Get over yourself.
July 13, 2024
Have mercy, I hated this novel. In fairness, I admittedly hate all time travel novels, but I keep giving them a try. I’m officially done.
If there is one good thing to say about it, the author uses some nice vocabulary and has at least some theoretical knowledge of physics.
That being said, UGH. To start, I hated Jonas. The book started off great; nice little speech with the Nobel Laureate, sweet scene with Amanda, and good flashback to how he arrives there. The next 315 pages were terrible.
Jonas is a man obsessed with finding his wife. If he knows (somehow— this was never explained) that the universe doesn’t want them together, then why not leave her in peace? The silly argument that he was compelled to find her as a scientist doesn’t hold weight. That’s like saying a scientist invented a bomb and is therefore compelled to drop it on a city just to see if it works. The man, if he really loved his wife, should just have let her go. But no. His obsession makes him so unlikeable. And good lord— he is always crying in every chapter!
Amanda is very meh. That’s the major problem with the two of them. The way the story was written chronologically made us see a man driven to find his wife, but we know nothing of their love story. They meet, somehow he finds her after he gets hit with a frisbee (that was almost impossible and never explained) and then they meet and have sex in a planetarium on their second date. And then we are supposed to believe they’re soulmates on a different level (literally) across all multiverses, but you never feel their passion. It’s all just… described. I could not read one more “love you too much” but “I love you more” before rolling my eyes. This saccharine love fest was based on nothing! Neither Jonas nor Amanda are particularly funny or endearing or heroic in their real lives. Jonas did kinda steal Viktor’s ideas and Amanda likes painting portraits. And???? They are such a yawn fest that I can’t even root for them because I didn’t care.
Their reunion at the end of the novel also makes no sense. So, the universe (or infinite multiverses) care so much about having Amanda die. Um… why? Stephen King, when he did the whole time travel thing in 11/22/63 at least did it well. You can just understand the consequences if Kennedy did or didn’t die. But a random woman… with no impact on anything… just why is she so important? Follow the logic: the universe somehow created storms, earthquakes, tires blowing out, several deaths, etc. to stop Jonas from reuniting with Amanda. So why are they able to get together in the end? No explanation is ever given.
Also, to that effect, this dude chases his wife across multiverses, only to realize in like 2 minutes that he could love Eva, and probably does, but he rejects her. And that poor lady dies a few times, and then is forgotten. There’s some sort of weird promise on her lips that they will be together in one universe, but nope. At least she’s reunited with her husband in the last chapter. What happens to that figure 8 thing she had to make for Jonas? You’d think that would be important, but no- forgot about that, too.
And I could not read one more scene with doppelgängers. It hurt my brain. It’s such a deus ex machina way to write out of a plot hole, and it killed any verisimilitude the novel MIGHT have been able to pull off. The novel “jumped the shark” when Jonas found his twin’s dead body, and then came into the room only to be attacked by a third twin (triplet? I don’t even know). I can’t.
And I have one burning question that I can’t let go of: it was causally dropped in at the start of the novel that Amanda died. Ok. But then Jonas reveals that apparently in that first universe HE also died in the accident. So I’d imagine reading that correctly, how on earth did he even start this process of finding the multiverse if he is dead?! Can someone explain this to me?
Viktor was a really bad guy. But goodness— he snapped in an epic way because he thought Jonas plagiarized his work. Although Jonas did go “on the shoulder of giants” as the book quotes, and probably did take “inspiration” from Viktor, Viktor literally walked away from Jonas and mocked him for wanting to develop his ideas and work with him. So Viktor should be kicking his own butt, not going after Jonas. I mean, all this is for an award! It’s not like Jonas killed anyone or stole Viktor’s wife or something insidious. Little thought, though: at one point, Jonas says he never even saw Viktor’s work. In another, he admits that he looked at Viktor’s ideas over the years. Which is it?
The whole plot was so egregious. It was some weird mashup of science fiction, fantasy, and romance that had me rolling my eyes. Again, the author is pretty smart as evidenced by his vocab usage, but so many sentences were so forced they made me wince:
“The idea is so big he couldn’t embrace it even if his arms were the diameter of the world.”
“He’s marooned in a desert and just refused an oasis.”
Sigh. The dopey machine Viktor uses is called the “Cray.” I mean, come on now. And I think the author used the word “deadpanned” more times than I rolled my eyes.
Anyway, this was a rough one for me.
If there is one good thing to say about it, the author uses some nice vocabulary and has at least some theoretical knowledge of physics.
That being said, UGH. To start, I hated Jonas. The book started off great; nice little speech with the Nobel Laureate, sweet scene with Amanda, and good flashback to how he arrives there. The next 315 pages were terrible.
Jonas is a man obsessed with finding his wife. If he knows (somehow— this was never explained) that the universe doesn’t want them together, then why not leave her in peace? The silly argument that he was compelled to find her as a scientist doesn’t hold weight. That’s like saying a scientist invented a bomb and is therefore compelled to drop it on a city just to see if it works. The man, if he really loved his wife, should just have let her go. But no. His obsession makes him so unlikeable. And good lord— he is always crying in every chapter!
Amanda is very meh. That’s the major problem with the two of them. The way the story was written chronologically made us see a man driven to find his wife, but we know nothing of their love story. They meet, somehow he finds her after he gets hit with a frisbee (that was almost impossible and never explained) and then they meet and have sex in a planetarium on their second date. And then we are supposed to believe they’re soulmates on a different level (literally) across all multiverses, but you never feel their passion. It’s all just… described. I could not read one more “love you too much” but “I love you more” before rolling my eyes. This saccharine love fest was based on nothing! Neither Jonas nor Amanda are particularly funny or endearing or heroic in their real lives. Jonas did kinda steal Viktor’s ideas and Amanda likes painting portraits. And???? They are such a yawn fest that I can’t even root for them because I didn’t care.
Their reunion at the end of the novel also makes no sense. So, the universe (or infinite multiverses) care so much about having Amanda die. Um… why? Stephen King, when he did the whole time travel thing in 11/22/63 at least did it well. You can just understand the consequences if Kennedy did or didn’t die. But a random woman… with no impact on anything… just why is she so important? Follow the logic: the universe somehow created storms, earthquakes, tires blowing out, several deaths, etc. to stop Jonas from reuniting with Amanda. So why are they able to get together in the end? No explanation is ever given.
Also, to that effect, this dude chases his wife across multiverses, only to realize in like 2 minutes that he could love Eva, and probably does, but he rejects her. And that poor lady dies a few times, and then is forgotten. There’s some sort of weird promise on her lips that they will be together in one universe, but nope. At least she’s reunited with her husband in the last chapter. What happens to that figure 8 thing she had to make for Jonas? You’d think that would be important, but no- forgot about that, too.
And I could not read one more scene with doppelgängers. It hurt my brain. It’s such a deus ex machina way to write out of a plot hole, and it killed any verisimilitude the novel MIGHT have been able to pull off. The novel “jumped the shark” when Jonas found his twin’s dead body, and then came into the room only to be attacked by a third twin (triplet? I don’t even know). I can’t.
And I have one burning question that I can’t let go of: it was causally dropped in at the start of the novel that Amanda died. Ok. But then Jonas reveals that apparently in that first universe HE also died in the accident. So I’d imagine reading that correctly, how on earth did he even start this process of finding the multiverse if he is dead?! Can someone explain this to me?
Viktor was a really bad guy. But goodness— he snapped in an epic way because he thought Jonas plagiarized his work. Although Jonas did go “on the shoulder of giants” as the book quotes, and probably did take “inspiration” from Viktor, Viktor literally walked away from Jonas and mocked him for wanting to develop his ideas and work with him. So Viktor should be kicking his own butt, not going after Jonas. I mean, all this is for an award! It’s not like Jonas killed anyone or stole Viktor’s wife or something insidious. Little thought, though: at one point, Jonas says he never even saw Viktor’s work. In another, he admits that he looked at Viktor’s ideas over the years. Which is it?
The whole plot was so egregious. It was some weird mashup of science fiction, fantasy, and romance that had me rolling my eyes. Again, the author is pretty smart as evidenced by his vocab usage, but so many sentences were so forced they made me wince:
“The idea is so big he couldn’t embrace it even if his arms were the diameter of the world.”
“He’s marooned in a desert and just refused an oasis.”
Sigh. The dopey machine Viktor uses is called the “Cray.” I mean, come on now. And I think the author used the word “deadpanned” more times than I rolled my eyes.
Anyway, this was a rough one for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2024
I liked the premise of the book and the first half, but it just got so ridiculous, that the hero could survive so many falls and broken bones and beatings and yet keep bouncing back at full strength, only to once again feel more pain than he could imagine, that I started hoping the Multiverse would win over his attempts to defy fate. Of course, I knew he would win, this being a book written in the 21st century.
At a deeper level, I'm bothered that the reader is supposed to consider him a hero, when his actions just lead to many unnecessary deaths, of security guards, of the (second) woman who loved him, and who knows how many people were killed in the Japanese earthquake. The universe offered him someone to love if he would just stop, but he chose to endanger still more people. The fact that in one universe, Eva and her husband lived happily doesn't change the fact that in two others, she was devastated and ultimately killed by his monomania.
While I'm at it, the desire for vengeance of his nemesis is also pretty unbelievable.
At a deeper level, I'm bothered that the reader is supposed to consider him a hero, when his actions just lead to many unnecessary deaths, of security guards, of the (second) woman who loved him, and who knows how many people were killed in the Japanese earthquake. The universe offered him someone to love if he would just stop, but he chose to endanger still more people. The fact that in one universe, Eva and her husband lived happily doesn't change the fact that in two others, she was devastated and ultimately killed by his monomania.
While I'm at it, the desire for vengeance of his nemesis is also pretty unbelievable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2024
2.5. In Any Lifetime is a dual timeline story about a physicist who is trying to find the lifetime in which his wife is alive after she is tragically killed in a car accident.
Jonas is jumping timelines to find Amanda when she’s alive and well. Sometimes the universe works in a certain way that will carry out the same fate no matter which timeline you’re in. We get glimpses of the past when Amanda was alive and follow Jonas through his journey to find her. This book started off with numerous exaggerated metaphors and dramatic writing but when the action began, that style of writing ended and we were thrown into the story. I love a dual timeline but on the timeline where Jonas was jumping timelines, it felt very clunky and had an overall theme of telling not showing. The other relationships were confusing and I was never invested in the characters. It was a neat concept that unfortunately fell flat for me but I can see why others would enjoy it!
Thank you so much to Netgalley, Marc Guggenheim, and Lake Union Publishing for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This publishes on August 1st.
Jonas is jumping timelines to find Amanda when she’s alive and well. Sometimes the universe works in a certain way that will carry out the same fate no matter which timeline you’re in. We get glimpses of the past when Amanda was alive and follow Jonas through his journey to find her. This book started off with numerous exaggerated metaphors and dramatic writing but when the action began, that style of writing ended and we were thrown into the story. I love a dual timeline but on the timeline where Jonas was jumping timelines, it felt very clunky and had an overall theme of telling not showing. The other relationships were confusing and I was never invested in the characters. It was a neat concept that unfortunately fell flat for me but I can see why others would enjoy it!
Thank you so much to Netgalley, Marc Guggenheim, and Lake Union Publishing for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This publishes on August 1st.
July 13, 2024
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions below are my own.
This is basically Dark Matter with a little more romance. I was entertained but it didn’t feel that original.
This is basically Dark Matter with a little more romance. I was entertained but it didn’t feel that original.
July 28, 2024
This book was so bad. Only reason I considering giving it two stars was because the protagonist got married in Montauk and the author has a daughter named Lily.
I liked the idea of the book, and it’s something that’s right up my alley but I couldn’t recommend it to anyone based on how poorly written it was.
What was with all the action scenes? Why was Jonas somehow the Terminator??
Jonas love for Amanda was so silly too. It felt like a high school love but really more like an obsession. And the other love?? WTF. Made no sense
Character development in this book was so flawed, especially the women. Amanda was so poorly written. Eva was written worse.
The vocabulary throughout the book was as if the author was trying to use “advanced” words and he would use a word once and then again like five pages later. So weird.
To go from two Stephen King books to this is like going from a a Michelin star restaurant to 4 am gas station food.
I liked the idea of the book, and it’s something that’s right up my alley but I couldn’t recommend it to anyone based on how poorly written it was.
What was with all the action scenes? Why was Jonas somehow the Terminator??
Jonas love for Amanda was so silly too. It felt like a high school love but really more like an obsession. And the other love?? WTF. Made no sense
Character development in this book was so flawed, especially the women. Amanda was so poorly written. Eva was written worse.
The vocabulary throughout the book was as if the author was trying to use “advanced” words and he would use a word once and then again like five pages later. So weird.
To go from two Stephen King books to this is like going from a a Michelin star restaurant to 4 am gas station food.
July 15, 2024
A compelling story that reads like a Sci fi movie. At times, the single mindedness of Jonas is off putting. The barriers thrown up by the universe are, at times, ridiculous and distracting. The love story seems a bit superficial despite the time devoted to it. Victor's obsessive hate, in turn, just seems too intense. Nonetheless, the premise is interesting. I read it quickly because I really needed to know what happened in the end. The movie, if there is one, should be great.
September 11, 2024
I was delighted to find In Any Lifetime as an Amazon first read; I don’t always grab those each month, but this sounded like great sci-fi fun. And I did enjoy it ... although not quite as much as I expected to. Let me explain: I was too willing to compare this to Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, the last book I read featuring parallel universes, in spite of knowing full well it’s never a good or fair thing to do. Alas, that’s me! Consequently, In Any Lifetime wasn’t quite as good, for me—and that’s because Mr. Crouch’s Dark Matter and Recursion are, I maintain, top quality adventure sci-fi, especially the latter book. Marc Guggenheim, I understand, works primarily (and very successfully) in TV, games, and comic books. And that shows in terms of styles of scene structure, pacing, plot developments, and depth of characters. If you like the pace and progression of great TV series, you’ll likely really enjoy In Any Lifetime.
I give this 4 stars because of the idea, the flowing prose, and much of the story. Not 5 stars because I’d personally would have liked a little more depth of events, of characters, and of inter-character dynamics. Those are all there, but in TV series depth, rather than the depth and thus a more investible level of interest that prose authors have the opportunity of taking and developing. Sometimes it’s a choice of pace vs. depth; if you a super pace and progression is what you really enjoy, take a plunge here and you’re sure to get plenty from In Any Lifetime and enjoy it.
I give this 4 stars because of the idea, the flowing prose, and much of the story. Not 5 stars because I’d personally would have liked a little more depth of events, of characters, and of inter-character dynamics. Those are all there, but in TV series depth, rather than the depth and thus a more investible level of interest that prose authors have the opportunity of taking and developing. Sometimes it’s a choice of pace vs. depth; if you a super pace and progression is what you really enjoy, take a plunge here and you’re sure to get plenty from In Any Lifetime and enjoy it.
July 6, 2024
an excellent story of obsession
This is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. The story was well written and a pleasure to read. But it also left me thinking. The main characters were obsessed: one with a ‘good’ reason, and one with a ‘bad’ reason. But is obsession ever good?
This is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. The story was well written and a pleasure to read. But it also left me thinking. The main characters were obsessed: one with a ‘good’ reason, and one with a ‘bad’ reason. But is obsession ever good?
July 19, 2024
Good premise, but the story is a bit repetitive. Would probably work better as film than a book tbh. Enjoyed it though
August 18, 2024
4 stars
I'm not sure how to categorize this book. It seems like it's too many genres in one. Books can be more than one genre for sure, but I feel like this one is just one too many. It's a thriller, a romance, a sci-fi, a fantasy? I feel like stories with multiple genres normally pick one to be the main genre and this one doesn't seem to do that. Bouncing between all of them and never quite cementing the underlying purpose of the story.
The back and forth of the timelines were a little confusing at first since there's like 3 (5 years ago, 2ish years ago, and now) even once the alternate dimension stuff started, but as I got more into the book it got easier and easier to follow. There's a lot of science talk in this book. A LOT and while I have a basic understanding (like basic basic) of everything that was discussed and most of it went over my head, it didn't really take away from the story. I was still able to follow the plot and just trust that what he said is truth.
My immediate reaction after finishing this audiobook was 5 stars! Then I sat and thought about my review for a day or two and realized while I still really enjoyed this book, I don't quite feel that same "omg" about it the next day and dropped it down to 4 stars. We know so much about Jonas. Everything really. Him and Amanda had a cute meet cute and start to the story and we know about one of their marriage troubles, but we know basically nothing else about Amanda. I felt no real connection to her or why he felt compelled (even going against what the universe "wants") to get back to her. The Romance reader in me wanted a little bit more to make his obsessive mission of getting back to her everything/one be damned seem worth it. I thought him and the other woman Eva would've had a perfectly wonderful life if he'd stayed with her. I felt a bigger connection with her than I did with Amanda.
On to Viktor. I get his hatred of Jonas, but I feel like he's a little over the top and the level at which this plays out seems out of nowhere. Maybe that's the point. They start out collogues and friends and then he thinks Jonas steals his work and then sets out to ruin his life not only in this universe but in all universes? When Victor comes back as the crazy man trying to kill Jonas I honestly forgot who he originally was, but it was easy to remember after going back a bit to figure it out. Also, like how did Viktor know Jonas was looking for Amanda in the multi-verse? In all the time Jonas was bettering the technology to use it to randomly hop into multiverses to check them out, how did Viktor make it even better to not only be able to jump into specific multi-verses but also follow Jonas everywhere he went with his rando (yet the same every time) assassins to kill him? Like originally Viktor was working on this for 14 years before he hit a wall and gave up. Jonas told him he thought he figured out Viktor's block and could get it to work and Viktor wrote him off. But now he's able to build on Jonas' work and then some in such a quick amount of time? I don't know. Again, I'm not sciency. Maybe this is the issue with not being sciency and reading a sciency book. maybe everything I said above has a great explanation and I just don't understand it because I don't science.
There are some other issues I had with the book, but I feel like I'm nit picking at this point. Ramón de Ocampo did a great job narrating this book and I feel like if I had to read it with my eyes I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. Ramón is the true hero in my eyes here.
All in all, I really did still like this book minus all the critiques above. I mean, if you're going to suspend reality enough to follow a man through the multiverse to find his wife who died in his timeline, then you can suspend it enough to get over the stuff above. I honestly think this would make a wonderful TV show or movie. It really has the potential to be everything that people want now a days. The multi-verse and time travel is pretty hot right now. I do think though that Romance/Thriller readers might need to pass on this. Unless you're semi-interested in Sci-Fi you may not like this at all, but, hey, I'm not a sci-fi person and I enjoyed it still, so who knows!
Thank you, NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing/Brilliance Audio for the ALC of this book.
I'm not sure how to categorize this book. It seems like it's too many genres in one. Books can be more than one genre for sure, but I feel like this one is just one too many. It's a thriller, a romance, a sci-fi, a fantasy? I feel like stories with multiple genres normally pick one to be the main genre and this one doesn't seem to do that. Bouncing between all of them and never quite cementing the underlying purpose of the story.
The back and forth of the timelines were a little confusing at first since there's like 3 (5 years ago, 2ish years ago, and now) even once the alternate dimension stuff started, but as I got more into the book it got easier and easier to follow. There's a lot of science talk in this book. A LOT and while I have a basic understanding (like basic basic) of everything that was discussed and most of it went over my head, it didn't really take away from the story. I was still able to follow the plot and just trust that what he said is truth.
My immediate reaction after finishing this audiobook was 5 stars! Then I sat and thought about my review for a day or two and realized while I still really enjoyed this book, I don't quite feel that same "omg" about it the next day and dropped it down to 4 stars. We know so much about Jonas. Everything really. Him and Amanda had a cute meet cute and start to the story and we know about one of their marriage troubles, but we know basically nothing else about Amanda. I felt no real connection to her or why he felt compelled (even going against what the universe "wants") to get back to her. The Romance reader in me wanted a little bit more to make his obsessive mission of getting back to her everything/one be damned seem worth it. I thought him and the other woman Eva would've had a perfectly wonderful life if he'd stayed with her. I felt a bigger connection with her than I did with Amanda.
On to Viktor. I get his hatred of Jonas, but I feel like he's a little over the top and the level at which this plays out seems out of nowhere. Maybe that's the point. They start out collogues and friends and then he thinks Jonas steals his work and then sets out to ruin his life not only in this universe but in all universes? When Victor comes back as the crazy man trying to kill Jonas I honestly forgot who he originally was, but it was easy to remember after going back a bit to figure it out. Also, like how did Viktor know Jonas was looking for Amanda in the multi-verse? In all the time Jonas was bettering the technology to use it to randomly hop into multiverses to check them out, how did Viktor make it even better to not only be able to jump into specific multi-verses but also follow Jonas everywhere he went with his rando (yet the same every time) assassins to kill him? Like originally Viktor was working on this for 14 years before he hit a wall and gave up. Jonas told him he thought he figured out Viktor's block and could get it to work and Viktor wrote him off. But now he's able to build on Jonas' work and then some in such a quick amount of time? I don't know. Again, I'm not sciency. Maybe this is the issue with not being sciency and reading a sciency book. maybe everything I said above has a great explanation and I just don't understand it because I don't science.
There are some other issues I had with the book, but I feel like I'm nit picking at this point. Ramón de Ocampo did a great job narrating this book and I feel like if I had to read it with my eyes I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. Ramón is the true hero in my eyes here.
All in all, I really did still like this book minus all the critiques above. I mean, if you're going to suspend reality enough to follow a man through the multiverse to find his wife who died in his timeline, then you can suspend it enough to get over the stuff above. I honestly think this would make a wonderful TV show or movie. It really has the potential to be everything that people want now a days. The multi-verse and time travel is pretty hot right now. I do think though that Romance/Thriller readers might need to pass on this. Unless you're semi-interested in Sci-Fi you may not like this at all, but, hey, I'm not a sci-fi person and I enjoyed it still, so who knows!
Thank you, NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing/Brilliance Audio for the ALC of this book.
December 30, 2024
It took me a while to warm up to this sci-fi/ romance novel, which felt like a crossover between The Man in the High Castle and The Time Traveller's Wife.
The story begins with Nobel prize-winning physicist Jonas Cullen and his wife Amanda, who we see briefly interacting before their car is involved in a crash that leaves Amanda dead. The rest of the novel is split into Then and Now timelines.
The Now timeline follows Jonas as he uses his Nobel prize-winning research regarding the multiverse to travel to parallel worlds in an obsessive search for a world in which Amanda is still alive.
The Then timeline works from when Jonas and Amanda first met, up to their wedding day, and builds a picture of their romance.
I enjoyed reading this novel, but felt like it was trying too hard to be both romance and sci-fi, without excelling at either. There was a lot of techy scientific jargon about travelling between worlds that went right over my head. I felt that the alternation between Then and Now slowed the momentum of the action building up in the Now, but at the same time that there weren't enough Then chapters to make Jonas and Amanda's relationship so believable that you are really rooting for them. Instead, I found myself agreeing with the character Eva that he should give up his obsession and move on with his life.
I could imagine this working really well as a film, where the faster pace allows for better momentum and less questioning of the concepts, but as a book, it was OK- fairly enjoyable to read, but not something I would recommend.
The story begins with Nobel prize-winning physicist Jonas Cullen and his wife Amanda, who we see briefly interacting before their car is involved in a crash that leaves Amanda dead. The rest of the novel is split into Then and Now timelines.
The Now timeline follows Jonas as he uses his Nobel prize-winning research regarding the multiverse to travel to parallel worlds in an obsessive search for a world in which Amanda is still alive.
The Then timeline works from when Jonas and Amanda first met, up to their wedding day, and builds a picture of their romance.
I enjoyed reading this novel, but felt like it was trying too hard to be both romance and sci-fi, without excelling at either. There was a lot of techy scientific jargon about travelling between worlds that went right over my head. I felt that the alternation between Then and Now slowed the momentum of the action building up in the Now, but at the same time that there weren't enough Then chapters to make Jonas and Amanda's relationship so believable that you are really rooting for them. Instead, I found myself agreeing with the character Eva that he should give up his obsession and move on with his life.
I could imagine this working really well as a film, where the faster pace allows for better momentum and less questioning of the concepts, but as a book, it was OK- fairly enjoyable to read, but not something I would recommend.
July 1, 2024
In Any Lifetime is a very imaginative, very clever book. The story centres on Jonas' search for his wife through multiple parallel universes. It therefore contains a fair bit of technical and scientific language around the quantum physics necessary for this which went straight over my head. However I didn't find this detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I did find it got a little tedious in parts due to what amounted to the repetition of the same story in various multiverses. I think it was very obvious throughout the book that Mr Guggenheim writes for TV and film.
Thank you to NetGalley and the
publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the
publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.
October 3, 2024
Barely 3 stars, I did think more than once about not finishing. Some reasonable ideas but mixed with lazy plotting and ridiculous characterisation. Definitely written with an action movie screenplay in mind.
October 9, 2024
I do like the idea of multiple universes which drew me into this book. Nobel Prize Winner, Jonas wants to meet up with his deceased wife again in an alternate reality.
Sometimes he does but the universe fights back and he his dumped back to square one again, but he is dogged and keeps going. So does his nemesis, another scientist who morphs into a James Bond Villain,
In fact some of the action scenes felt I was reading a James Bond screenplay.
As for characters, Jonas was okay but I didn't care much for his wife, Amanda who seemed to nothing but continually die.
In the end this was a satisfactory read without too many questions asked to make you think. Stephen King's book 11-22-63 does a much better job with alternate universes and character development.
Sometimes he does but the universe fights back and he his dumped back to square one again, but he is dogged and keeps going. So does his nemesis, another scientist who morphs into a James Bond Villain,
In fact some of the action scenes felt I was reading a James Bond screenplay.
As for characters, Jonas was okay but I didn't care much for his wife, Amanda who seemed to nothing but continually die.
In the end this was a satisfactory read without too many questions asked to make you think. Stephen King's book 11-22-63 does a much better job with alternate universes and character development.
August 21, 2024
The first half of this book felt like a retread of Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. A science professor travels through parallel universes to get back to his wife, an artist. Along the way he encounters an intriguing psychologist who he has chemistry with, making him question whether he should continue with his quest or accept his losses and try building a new life. The origins of Jason's troubles are different, and his journey is much more ruminative than action packed. If I'd never read Dark Matter this would probably be three stars, but unfortunately it suffers due to the comparison.
September 23, 2024
Free First Reads | Do you know how bad the writing quality of a book has to be for me to DNF before page 25?! I have finished 500 page books that I didn't particularly like from the beginning, but I will not waste another moment of my time on whatever this is. I normally try to be gentle if I can be, with my negative reviews, but I need people to not waste their money. Nothing is described the way human beings would describe them, if the synopsis didn't say that she tells him she's pregnant I would have a very hard time figuring out that the two pieces of crossed plastic with a cobalt cross was supposed to be a pregnancy test. Has the author seen a pregnancy test in life? From the opening scene I'm not getting "true love", I'm getting "oh, god, Amanda, make an escape plan and get away from this deeply creepy man". The marketing on this is terrible, giving a Time Traveler's Wife feel, when a few pages in the wife's dead body is compared to that of a slaughtered deer (again, not accurate, have to assume he's also never been hunting). Nothing makes sense. He can hire a team of mercenaries, weaponry, and a helicopter, but had to build his device out of hobby shop supplies because he had to travel on commercial aircraft for some reason and couldn't get it through security? You know, the airport security that lets you check baggage? Including weapons? He couldn't just check his components and assemble on arrival? This Nobel Prize winner? He spent two weeks doing daily intensive weapons training with a mercenary, who somehow then felt comfortable telling him to stick a handgun in a known-to-be-unsafe spot on the body, despite his inability to put on Kevlar, which, by the way, would interfere with his ability to draw his weapon from the idiotic place it was stashed? A tattoo artist laughed and thought his request was a prank? Not real conversant with the types of things people get as tattoos, I guess. This is a trainwreck, and thank god I can look away.
July 4, 2024
It was a good book! I enjoyed it and it was a nice ending. However the "villian" in the book really annoyed me because I felt that it was a bad reason for his evilness.
March 27, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of In Any Lifetime.
"The universe always favours an outcome"
This book was really enjoyable. It took a little bit to get into it. The book does use quite a lot of scientific jargon and is quite a heavy sci-fi romance novel. The book does jump between multiple timelines so It can be a little confusing at times if you aren't used to it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, the characters, the relationships, the detail between the universes. 4/5 as I felt it was a bit too scientific for me and again too much jumping back and fourth, but overall the story was great!
"The universe always favours an outcome"
This book was really enjoyable. It took a little bit to get into it. The book does use quite a lot of scientific jargon and is quite a heavy sci-fi romance novel. The book does jump between multiple timelines so It can be a little confusing at times if you aren't used to it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, the characters, the relationships, the detail between the universes. 4/5 as I felt it was a bit too scientific for me and again too much jumping back and fourth, but overall the story was great!
August 14, 2024
My favorite part of this book was when a character says "This is what the universe wants!" And then another character pulled out a gun and said "No, this is." Anyway this book was trash but it wasn't without its moments!
(However while reading it I was like "damn this is like a Morbius-level writing version of "Dark Matter". So I was very amused when the author immediately went *I HAVE PROOF I WAS WRITING THIS IN 2013* in the author's notes like...is the author imagining himself as the main character? Or as Victor the evil dude obsessed with getting revenge against someone he's convinced plagiarized his work? Should Blake Crouch be worried? Ha)
(However while reading it I was like "damn this is like a Morbius-level writing version of "Dark Matter". So I was very amused when the author immediately went *I HAVE PROOF I WAS WRITING THIS IN 2013* in the author's notes like...is the author imagining himself as the main character? Or as Victor the evil dude obsessed with getting revenge against someone he's convinced plagiarized his work? Should Blake Crouch be worried? Ha)
July 23, 2024
I really really wanted to love this one. I'm slightly obsessed with the idea of different universes where we could all exist, even with just a little tweak. I got about half way through and decided that I needed to finish. It felt kind of messy and rushed to get to the ending. Some things felt too repeated. Almost like two separate books put together. But man, now I can't stop thinking about the love story. Trying to find your person over and over and over again.
July 24, 2025
Interesting premise. But the writing style was more like having a movie described to me, maybe because the author is a screenwriter. Stylistic issues aside, the story is supposed to be a love story, but the main character is really just an asshole. He's willing to sacrifice the lives of other people in multiple universes to get to the one universe where his dead wife is still alive. Not really a romantic flex and why would we care if someone so morally bankrupt gets what he wants?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 29, 2024DNF @ 50 pages - wanted to love (the cover is beautiful & I am a sucker for time travel, but struggling to get into - may return).
Thank you to the publisher for the #gifted copy
Thank you to the publisher for the #gifted copy
February 9, 2026
“In Any Lifetime” (IAL) is by American author Marc Guggenheim.
Renowned physicist Dr Jonas Cullen has furthered the study of the “Many Worlds” theory - establishing the actual existence on a multiverse. When tragedy strikes Cullen his devotion and love drives him to find and travel to a parallel world where his wife is still alive. Throw in a rival scientist hell bent on stopping Cullen achieve his goal and you have a fast paced story where you hope love conquers all.
While the main storyline deals with travelling across the multiverse IAL is at its heart a love story (no pun intended). It’s the story of what one man will do, what catastrophic risks he will take, what fates he will tempt, to reunite with his soulmate. Guggenheim has delivered this part of the book very well. The reader can almost feel Cullen’s emotions and single mindedness to find his wife whatever the cost allowing all reasonable judgements to be overridden by love.
However the science fiction side of the story seems to be a mere setting for this age old tale and, in my mind, could have been explored more. There were tastes such as:
* that different worlds in the multiverse were essentially the same with some subtle, and some not so, variations to “Earth Prime” (such as WW2 never happening but fascism eventually becoming the world’s leading ideology, or New York with more Japanese architecture and an asian President)
* The the universe “favoured certain outcomes” (similar to the fixed point in time concept) where the same circumstance existed (almost) everywhere
* The ability to travel across the multiverse had the ability to change history in those alternate worlds
By delving into these elements more, while not a huge detractor from the book by not doing so, would have added more flavour and made the book more thought provoking. Additionally it would have brought the moral and ethical questions of Cullen’s actions into play and added another layer to the overall story.
Guggenheim’s writing background in comics and television certainly showed through with IAL’s pacing and storyline highs and lows used very effectively throughout.
With overall themes of love, loss, jealousy, reunion, and parallel worlds IAL is a story that will warm the cockles but also missed some other intriguing storyline opportunities.
IAL gets 3 Nobel Prizes for quantum physics out of 5.
Renowned physicist Dr Jonas Cullen has furthered the study of the “Many Worlds” theory - establishing the actual existence on a multiverse. When tragedy strikes Cullen his devotion and love drives him to find and travel to a parallel world where his wife is still alive. Throw in a rival scientist hell bent on stopping Cullen achieve his goal and you have a fast paced story where you hope love conquers all.
While the main storyline deals with travelling across the multiverse IAL is at its heart a love story (no pun intended). It’s the story of what one man will do, what catastrophic risks he will take, what fates he will tempt, to reunite with his soulmate. Guggenheim has delivered this part of the book very well. The reader can almost feel Cullen’s emotions and single mindedness to find his wife whatever the cost allowing all reasonable judgements to be overridden by love.
However the science fiction side of the story seems to be a mere setting for this age old tale and, in my mind, could have been explored more. There were tastes such as:
* that different worlds in the multiverse were essentially the same with some subtle, and some not so, variations to “Earth Prime” (such as WW2 never happening but fascism eventually becoming the world’s leading ideology, or New York with more Japanese architecture and an asian President)
* The the universe “favoured certain outcomes” (similar to the fixed point in time concept) where the same circumstance existed (almost) everywhere
* The ability to travel across the multiverse had the ability to change history in those alternate worlds
By delving into these elements more, while not a huge detractor from the book by not doing so, would have added more flavour and made the book more thought provoking. Additionally it would have brought the moral and ethical questions of Cullen’s actions into play and added another layer to the overall story.
Guggenheim’s writing background in comics and television certainly showed through with IAL’s pacing and storyline highs and lows used very effectively throughout.
With overall themes of love, loss, jealousy, reunion, and parallel worlds IAL is a story that will warm the cockles but also missed some other intriguing storyline opportunities.
IAL gets 3 Nobel Prizes for quantum physics out of 5.
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