Ladyhoppers

by Sarah Thérèse Pelletier, Scott James Taylor

Sometimes to save the world, you've got to punch a few dragons…


When the planet is being eaten by interdimensional parasites who literally tear holes in reality, what do you do? If you're Charlie Chase, you dive headfirst into an interdimensional adventure. Charlie knows her calling is a weighty one, but she trusts her mentor’ s orders: Travel to another dimension, fix the tear, and get home to do it all over again.


But when she gets stuck on an alternate Earth, she has to turn to the most unexpected of allies: a younger, more eccentric, more infamous version of the brilliant mind that sent her on her mission. This version of Vera Baum is as much socialite as scientist, who seems to embrace the notion that curiosity killed the cat, in the way that means she's determined to use up all nine of her lives blasting through a kaleidoscope of genre-bending realities. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, especially when they’ re pursued by reality-eating parasites and a biomechanical hound hellbent on killing Vera.


Ladyhoppers is a genre-hopping, multiverse-spanning, madcap buddy comedy packed full of flaming zeppelins, coffee shop romances, car chases, dragon punching scientists, and more pirates than you can shake a multi-limbed death machine at. Grab your spacesuit, drink an espresso, and hold on tight— it’ s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Genres: Science Fiction

318 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2023

About the author

S.T. Pelletier is a Canadian author of speculative fiction, an ESL educator, and an editor. She grew up in northern Alberta and has lived in Quebec since 2012. Among other adventures, she has been stuck at the summit of a mountain in whiteout conditions with a broken snowmobile, gotten a concussion while studying, made more than one renaissance faire costume, and flown a plane.

(When her flight instructor asked if she wanted to experience what it feels like to stall a plane, she said, “My survival instinct says hell no, but the writer in me says absolutely.”)

Pelletier holds a teaching license and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Education in Secondary English from McGill University. Her passions include history, mucking about in her garden, tiny hippos, The Decemberists, and increasingly niche DIY projects. Her stories are inevitably queer, Canadian, and feature at least one spy.

Under the name J.T. Rogers, she co-wrote In from the Cold.

Reviews

[Chantaal]

My friends! Wrote! A book! IT LOOKS RAD!

They got a Publisher's Weekly starred review! Let's gooooo!!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladyhoppers is a such a fun (and funny) book! Primarily a sci-fi/fantasy book, it also could be put on the action/adventure shelf as well. Our protagonist has been sent on a mission to fix “tears” that have been appearing on her world. Her mission pretty immediately goes awry and she has to use her wits to find her way back home. The action starts from the very first page and really just keeps rolling through the end. Our characters travel through many different worlds, and I could just tell that the authors were having so much fun thinking of what adventures to have happen next. (In this way, it reminds me of my current reading of Brandon Sanderson’s Reckoners series, where I often think just how much fun he must be having writing it.) In what I consider both a pro and a con, this appears to be a standalone novel. (Pro - I do NOT need any more series to be reading! Con - I felt like there was still a significant amount of story that could be told at the end of this.)

This book is female forward and LGBTQ friendly. While this book is not marketed as YA, I’d be comfortable with any of my teens reading it (your mileage may vary on how you feel about swearing). Certainly if you’re looking for a book off the beaten path, and wanting to support small publishing groups, this is a great place to start!

[Jillian Marlowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the concept behind this book and the basis of jumping between different multiverses can be super fun and mind bending. Unfortunately I really struggled with the pacing for most of the book and never felt a really strong connection with the overarching plot. I think a lot of the multiverse worlds ended up feeling unoriginal because they specifically played with extremely recognizable genres and tropes such as a stereotypical fantasy and a dystopia where people get “categorized.” I know that this is exactly the point but it made things feel bland from an overarching perspective. There was also SO MUCH jumping that there was never a chance to feel really present in any one of the worlds and there usually wasn’t a whole lot of unique world building going on. I did really have fun looking back at the book cover and finding Easter eggs for all the different universes and characters so that was entertaining!

I was also sad when we never go to see any alternate versions of Charlie. :( I really thought it was going to be some huge reveal that she played a bigger role but it just ended very anticlimactically for her.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun multiverse-hopping story where Charlie is sent through a portal in desperation, as they are ripping her universe apart. She manages to close the portal, but then has no way home. She ends up teaming up with this universe's version of her mentor, Vera, and they start hopping across universes trying to find the source of the portals, and why that darned biomechanical Hound keeps following them.

This was fun, but a bit too hectic, I think. It barely had time to establish what was going on in one world before they were off again. I wanted to spend a bit more time in the magic world, or the pirate world, or even the dystopian world. Just to build a sense of place and what was at risk. Some things never entirely seemed to make sense (the Hound, for example), and what was the deal with the fact that Charlie never bumped into another Charlie on their hops?

But mostly it's zipping along quickly enough that you don't actually care. You're on a multiversal road trip and get two see two people start to learn to trust and respect each other and it's great fun.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you happen to look at my Goodreads and realize this took me eight million days to read, please know that it isn't a reflection on the book - this was my "read over lunch breaks at work" book, except I'm only in the office a couple of days a week at best and usually don't get a real lunch because someone always wants to stop by and talk to me.

This is a fun world-hopping sci-fi romp that has our main characters bouncing through the multiverse as they try to figure out how to stop the mysterious events that are slowly destroying their own world. It's a bit buddy comedy, a bit odd couple, and very witty the whole way through. At one point, a dragon gets punched. It's a good time. I would have liked to spend more time in some of the worlds, and the ending left me with a bunch of unanswered questions, but things still wrap up mostly satisfactorily.

Full disclosure, I have known the authors for ages thanks to running in some of the same online circles as them, back in the day. Knowing them had no influence my rating.

[Hwango · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun. I enjoyed the writing style, and I liked Charlie. Vera kind of grated on my nerves from the very beginning, and I wish the universe hadn't supported the idea that she's the most important person in existence. I did feel like the story kind of just drifted into random trope universes without particularly advancing the plot sometimes. I realized at some point that I'd actually forgotten if the characters were A) just trying to get home, B) save the universe, or C) determine the reason the universe is imperiled in the first place. I did not love the ending.

I realize that seems like a lot of negatives, but I did still overall think the writing was fun, and I'd certainly check out another book by one or both authors.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladyhoppers is an action packed, race against destruction. Charlie is desperate enough to jump through a tear in reality in the hopes of finding a way to save her world. When she’s successful, she finds it’s not a solid win as she is stuck in this alternate world.

Charlie and her accidental companion Vera must race to stay ahead of disaster to save themselves and possibly solve the mystery of what’s going wrong in all of the worlds. It has a Sliders feel (90s tv show).

[K.D. Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, witty and fast-paced Sci-Fi buddy comedy! Even if you have multiverse fatigue, this clever story with winning protagonists will make you laugh and cheer as a Canadian supersoldier and an impulsive alternate universe version of her boss have to try and make their way across alternate realities full of dragons, pirates and aliens (just to name a few). Definitely a fun, fast read!

[WroteTrips · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, but it is overall a stumbling race through aus with little direction or thought.
Experiences don't seem to further character development.
Reactive rather than proactive, until you're about 3/4 of the way through the book.
Too little; too late.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light romp through multiverses. Fun to read tales about a soldier sent to heal destructive tears or rifts that allow inter universal parasites to destroy universes. Her uniqueness and genius companion make for some fun multiverse speculation and adventure.

[Deanna Bihlmayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF I tried, but it bored me to sleep for 2 weeks straight

[Patricia Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is quite a fun romp through alternate universes!