HOLLOWGIRL

The conclusion of the teleportation-based science-fiction Twinmaker trilogy.

Starting immediately where Crashland (2014) left off, this novel tosses readers right into the complicated, character-dense plot with little in the way of recap. Following the d-mat attack that obliterated all d-mat–replicated material as well as nearly everyone who traveled through it, Clair and Q have successfully uploaded themselves into the Yard, which is the backup server of villainous Ant Wallace. The Yard is a virtual world mimicking the real one and populated by people whose patterns Wallace has used (such as dupes) or people he deems important (such as powerful politicians or people he’s used as leverage against his enemies). Clair immediately encounters new versions of herself and friends, replicated from the very beginning of Twinmaker (2013). But having two Clairs destabilizes the Yard, causing glitches—and the glitches are exploitable by the heroes as they flee from Wallace and other enemies. Meanwhile, outside of the Yard, the devastated Earth has some survivors—mainly, Abstainers and the few who were in protected locations, among them Clair and Q (in a borrowed body). Both in and outside of the Yard, unlikely alliances form for the battle over what humanity does next. At times the pacing is repetitive, but the characters charm. The final act is packed with surprises that make perfect sense in retrospect.

A philosophical marathon.