A review of "Planesrunner" by Ian McDonald

Taking a small break from my Batman odyssey, I read Ian McDonald's Planesrunner. It's about a nerdy Londoner named Everett Singh who comes into possession of a computer program that allows him to travel between parallel earths. He ends up getting stranded on one of these earths, and comedic hi-jinks and action scenes involving  large airships ensue.  I was genuinely impressed by the cosmic creativity of this work, but was also astounded by how down to earth the author kept it. Everett keeps it grounded the entire time, providing his own what-the-heck-is-going-on, fish out of water perspective on the event.

Everett's experiences in the story and his perspective on them is a little like if Marcus, from Little Brother was dropped into a Phillip Reeve novel, which is quite entertaining to read. The beginning is slow, though and the dialogue is clunky at times. Some things, like his possession of Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle-esque "god sight" that allows him to weave together a map of the parallel earths seems a little contrived, and the editor could have done a better job localizing the exclusively British references.The flashes of brilliance in this book  are stunning, though, and they occur more often than not. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes Doctor Who, or well characterized science fiction.

Grade: B+