THE UNWINDING

A novel sees a woman shunted through
time and space as two universes go to war.

Virginia Sun-Jones, a Korean American
who goes by Gin, is enjoying Christmas with her family in Nags Head, North
Carolina. Unseasonable warmth has allowed Gin; her husband, Alan; their
daughter, Grace; and her son-in-law, Eric, to visit the beach for a picnic.
When Gin catches an antique newspaper blowing in the wind, she notes the
publication date of March 28, 1827. She then proposes a toast, but it’s
interrupted by a thunderstorm, during which she finds herself mysteriously
alone. She eventually meets a woman named Hope and learns that she’s been
transported to 1827. Strangely, Gin still possesses a pearl that she found on
the beach before the picnic. This legendary Cintamani pearl grants her desires
for dry, clean clothes and much more when she asks to leave 1827 in search of
her family. A sentience known as the Quantum Opposable Singularity provides Gin
with a dragon called Hangul to travel further in time. Gin, despite a limited
understanding of the cosmos, has been chosen to combat a disastrous Unwinding
of the universe. Entities like Golaeth, who oversees the cosmic nursery, and
Emperor Calaneris XXIII, who believes the cosmos is a labyrinth to be pruned,
strive to control the chaos as two universes clash. In this sci-fi series
opener, Rew (Erenarch Academy, 2018, etc.) fans her fiery imagination
consistently throughout this time- and dimension-hopping adventure. Lines like
“I have no eyes, but I can see wavelengths pulsing as if I still had an optic
nerve they could travel” challenge readers to keep pace with genuinely alien
tableaux. Strange characters, such as alien physicists Benrus and Ralff, have
brightly sketched backstories that could carry their own novels, contributing
to the tale’s episodic feel. And while “whole areas of space-time are being
deleted,” Gin’s pearl and other MacGuffins that can do virtually anything
lessen the plot’s overall tension. Grounded revelations regarding Alan, Grace,
and Eric provide the emotional signal that cuts through lots of Dr. Who–style
noise.

A sci-fi romp that’s vast in scale
yet thoroughly playful.