In a distant future, the lines between haves and have-nots has become increasingly clear. The haves live within the protective dome of Wiley City, either gainfully employed or taken care of by society. Meanwhile, the have-nots struggle to survive in the unprotected desert surrounding the city, ruled by a brutal emperor/gang-leader who metes out a cruel death to those who dare to contradict his rule.
In the midst of this, Wiley City tech genius Adam Bosch has created a method of traveling between parallel worlds, but with an interesting caveat — the only people who can survive the trip are those who have already died in the other world. This makes the desert-dwellers suddenly VERY valuable to Bosch and his company, and nobody is more valuable than Cara, a woman whose doppelgangers have died on all but 7 of the 380 known other worlds. When a routine trip to gather information from a "new" world (read: one in which Cara's doppelganger just died) goes awry, Cara begins to question her role in Bosch's company and in Wiley City itself.
The imaginative world-building and sharp social commentary of this novel are excellent, and the characters are nuanced — I'm honestly not sure if any of them were particularly likable, though all of their motivations are completely understandable. A great thought-provoking read.
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