SOLVED. YA Sci-Fi/ Fantasy short story collection involving the discovery of a parallel universe spanning from the near future to the far distant future. Spoilers below. [s]

[Gigi]

I think I must have read this between 2015 and 2018. It was definitely recently published at the time I read it. It was a YA short story collection where each story takes place sometime in the future after a parallel universe is discovered. This discovery happens in the first story and it is made by a teenage boy who as I recall meets some kind of beautiful girl from the other world. In the subsequent stories this boy becomes mythologized as the one who discovered this world. His name was something really basic like Daniel.

Each subsequent story features a teen protagonist dealing with the world after this parallel world is discovered. In one story a boy is living in a city turned virtual game board (I even remember something akin to this exact phrasing being used). (SPOILERS BELOW!)


The story about the boy playing the AR game in the future ends with what is implied to be an atomic bomb detonation and a subsequent nuclear war. The final story takes place in the distant future where the technology that made this AR game possible has become indistinguishable with the magical and supernatural to the few humans who remain. The protagonist of this final story ends up causing the world to finally end, as she is met by a resident of the parallel world who tells her that their worlds are colliding and so only one world can survive.

I just can't shake the feeling that this book is right on the tip of my tongue! Thanks for the help in advance!

[Rainbowheart]

Anything on this list?

YA Science Fiction Anthologies

[Ann]

Probably Where Futures End.

My library's summary is: "Five teens, five futures. Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world. Brixney must escape a debtor colony by finding a way to increase the number of hits on her social media feed so she'll attract corporate sponsorship. Epony goes "High Concept" and poses as an otherworldly being to recapture her boyfriend's attention. Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard. And Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

These are stories about a world that is destroying itself, and about the alternate world that might be its savior. Unless it's just the opposite."

[Gigi]

Ann wrote: "Probably Where Futures End.

My library's summary is: "Five teens, five futures. Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world. Brixney must escape a debtor..."

Yeah I think that's it!! Thank you so much!