Vangie's Ghosts

by Paul Di Filippo

Paul Di Filippo delivers a thrilling and thought provoking adventure through the multiverse in Vangie's Ghosts , a compelling science fiction novel about one girl with extraordinary powers. Three-year-old Vangie is mute and unresponsive. She shows no interest in the people or world around her, much to the frustration of her callous foster parents. Little do they know, Vangie is otherwise occupied observing "ghosts" -- an infinite number of versions of herself, in an infinite number of parallel universes. When a tornado hits their trailer and Vangie is severely injured, she makes a desperate leap into another timeline where she survives the tornado, but her foster parents do not. So begins a life of shuttling through various foster homes, cultivating her abilities to seek out alternate timelines, and making jumps calculated to better her circumstances in order to avoid the exploitation of adults who seek to harness her powers for their own means. Vangie never communicates with her avatars, until one day the "Council" -- a group of Vangies -- appear to her and warn her of an ominous, growing threat in the a man they call the Massive. And thus begins an epic conflict, spanning millennia and worlds, in a brutal effort to control the fate of the multiverse. Vangie's Ghosts is Paul Di Filippo at the height of his imagination and versatility, filled with compelling characters who play captivating roles in a story where the stakes are nothing less than existence itself.

Genres: Science Fiction

326 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2024

About the author

Paul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).

The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.

Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.

Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Roberta R. (Offbeat YA) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mini blurb: A little girl who can see her alternate selves in a myriad of parallel timelines cultivates the ability to leap from one another of them, until, as an adult, she's thrust into a war that could end the very multiverse.

***

Rated 2.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley and Edelweiss, and got approved on both sites. Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

The premise of this book is fabulous, and the author put a wild, imaginative spin (or more like, a series of them) on the multiverse trope. Too bad the writing style didn't work for me, and the story itself lost me along the way (technically, I did finish the book, but skimmed the whole last section, because I couldn't muster the energy to care about that version of the main characters and the particular world they were living in). I tend to get excited when a book provides the random unusual, neglected word, but a whole novel filled with terms like "internecine", "certitude", "recumbent", "expenditure" and the likes, and written in an often cumbersome prose, is wont to to kill my reading mojo. I didn't have a problem with (most of) the far-off science stuff, but I found it hard to suspend disbelief for scenes - or scenarios - that read more like a spy-thriller parody than like honest storytelling (down to the required awkward sex scene). Most of the events (and the characters themselves) came across as over-the-top, and again, I'm not talking about the sci-fi bits per se (for instance, I especially found it jarring that the protagonist's inner monologue as a young kid was above and beyond her age and level of knowledge/understanding). Ultimately, I could see that Vangie's Ghosts had terrific potential, but the execution didn't do it justice.

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).

[Graisi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you Paul Di Filippo, Netgalley, and Blackstone Publishing for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

I wasn't able the finish the book, as I couldn't connect with the main character or any of the others. That's unfortunate, as it seemed like an interesting story.

[Mark Barsotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if an autistic, seemingly helpless toddler is potentially one of the powerful beings in the multiverse? That’s the hooky, intriguing premise of Vangie’s Ghosts, the latest page-turning science fiction novel from the always entertaining Paul Di Filippo. The titular tyke discovers the power to almost unconsciously will herself into an alt-reality after she and her trailer-dwelling adoptive parents lose a run-in with a tornado. Vangie survives; the parents do not. A new foster family gives Vangie her first taste of real familial affection for a couple years but then her quasi-father, a dime store self-empowerment guru, learns of her ability and she becomes his ticket to the Big Time. Growing fame and riches follow before quasi-dad hooks up with a power-mad pol who wants to be in the White House. And he doesn’t mind saber-rattling a nuke or two…

Help understanding and controlling her power has come from a collection of alt-Vangies of various ages and temperaments––her “ghosts.” She masters the art of mentally combing through first hundreds, then an unlimited number of alt-realities simultaneously, before jumping (either alone or taking others with her) to the one that best suits her current needs. Our heroine also discovers that each jump has rather unfortunate consequences…

To say more would jump US into spoiler country.

Two men play important roles as Vangie becomes an adult, constantly reshaping and refining the reality around her. Garvil, a Romanian orphan, appears as her stepbrother/protector in early incarnations, a trusted advisor, lover, catspaw and warrior in later ones. Vivek Kocchar, a “Professor of Consciousness Studies,” offers a deep and intuitive source of quantum knowledge while becoming her loving, emotional connected “father.” He’s also Vangie’s moral guidepost, even as she blows past every caution sign on her path to near omnipotence.

There’s a lot a humor here, as in most of Di Filippo’s work, but the novel is also a serious meditation of the corrupting allure of power. The only other being in all of creation who threatens Vangie’s quest to shape literally everything to her liking is known as the Massive.

And they are, inexorably, on a collision course. One that may well endanger ALL realities.

[Emma-Leigh Weiker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I have a belief that Paul Di Filippo has the potential to create some great books. However, the way he forms words into his novels is confusing to me. Vangie's Ghosts is a great book other than the fact I didn't understand what was happening half of the time. Hence my three star review. I don't mean to be that kind of person who is super harsh on their books but this is just a difficult book for younger readers such as myself. I usually tend to read more difficult books from my current reading level to add more of a challenge. This book had a great plot but was hard to follow at some spots of the book.
From what I could understand this is my summary:
Evangeline (Vangie) is a girl who has been in and out of foster care ever since her adoptive parents were killed. Vangie has a strange ability to change universes by transferring her conciseness and others to the avatars of themselves on different worlds. Vangie follows a council of herself at different ages she called her "ghosts". Vangie jumps from world to world to avoid people who want to use her powers against her will for their own benefit while avoiding the interest of Durant Le Massif (The Massive) who wants to make a world primarily compromised of just himself. In all of the different worlds she jumps to, she uses the help of a man named Gavril who was her older foster brother in a previous world. No specific quotes stuck out to me in the book. I would like to see more books like this where I can actually connect with the character more than I was able to.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vangie at 3 is an orphan being raised by adoptive parents. She is mute and unresponsive but leads a rich internal life that turns out to open her to a multiverse of alternative realities. When the family is about to be destroyed she finds that she can switch to different realities in the multiverse. This ability becomes a tool for her to use to find lives more amenable to her. The book turns into a journey through multiple universes, with a growing coterie of friends. As the book goes, there are many complications to the multiverse with huge ramifications. This could all get a bit confusing, but Di Filippo juggles the universes and changing worlds very well, and keeps you engaged. A very enjoyable read.

[Harish Namboothiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vangie's Ghosts is a science fiction fantasy novel by Paul Di Filippo that deals with the idea of infinite multiverses, parallel universes, in each of which life goes on like ours but in an altered form, where the events or time are slightly staggered. It explores the possibilities if they are accessible for us, manipulating which we can perform what we may call magic and even experience something close to immortality. The idea has a lot of scope, which the writer gleefully exploits and exhibits to us, taking us through the nooks and corners of his multiverse saga.

Read my detailed review here

[Hector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a galley that I picked up at New York Comic Con--a speculative fiction story with a lot of surprising turns that posits interesting ideas on how jumping through alternate realities could work. Kinda reminded me of the stories that used to run in mags like Analog--got a slight pulpy feel to it.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good. Beginning is slow but the ending makes up for it. Reminiscent of Asimov in that it approaches sci-fi as a thought experiment (in contrast to lowbrows with a stiffie for Star Wars.) My only complaint is that the author used the entire theasurus, including having it come out of the mouths of 12 year old children.

Morally grey protag, very nicely balanced.

[Nikki C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. I enjoyed the beginning and the end, and I adored the concept, but it was hard to stay engaged with the story and characters. I ended up confused a lot of the time. That being said, this was a book I got for free and wouldn't have picked up otherwise, so I did not expect to like it much. I don't think I'm the right audience for this one.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable - from the satiric to the tragic and back again. Read it for the quirkiness, the many references, the extreme creativeness. If you don’t get the jokes, it may make little or no sense.

[John Michael Stroh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant concept! I'd like to see more of this.

[James Standlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

learned something newon every page

Never enjoyed looking up every foreign term on every new page of this book, very intriguing and strangely satisfying.

Thanks

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is decent story from an experienced author. I don't most of his stories are mainstream, but they are generally pretty good. I didn't get in to this one as much as i thought I might. Nonetheless this is good overall.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

[Rob]

A lot of fun. Best Science Fiction book I have read that was published after 1999.