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In That Other Dimension
Parallel dimensions are actually quite squiggly in nature.
This is one of many lessons which Carlos Ernesto Amadeus von Schnaart will learn during his accidental journey into the unknown. Finding the way home and explaining his tequila fuelled disappearance to his fiancee will become minor worries when he he finds himself kidnapped by the evil scientist Dr Funk.
Follow Carlos's adventures through the parallel universe and find out what happens to him when he gets lost "In That Other Dimension..."
Warning: Contains traces of ducks, cake dragons, jelly babies and the infamous Unicorn Mountain. May induce laughter.
"Matty Millard has a way of making you feel you're sitting there with him as you read: he's telling you a story but he's also beside you, pointing out bits, telling you extra things, it's like having the writer with you and making you smile." – William Gallagher
This is one of many lessons which Carlos Ernesto Amadeus von Schnaart will learn during his accidental journey into the unknown. Finding the way home and explaining his tequila fuelled disappearance to his fiancee will become minor worries when he he finds himself kidnapped by the evil scientist Dr Funk.
Follow Carlos's adventures through the parallel universe and find out what happens to him when he gets lost "In That Other Dimension..."
Warning: Contains traces of ducks, cake dragons, jelly babies and the infamous Unicorn Mountain. May induce laughter.
"Matty Millard has a way of making you feel you're sitting there with him as you read: he's telling you a story but he's also beside you, pointing out bits, telling you extra things, it's like having the writer with you and making you smile." – William Gallagher
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 27, 2014
5 people are currently reading
589 people want to read
About the author
Matty Millard
3 books8 followersMatty Millard is an off-the-wall fantasy author from Wolverhampton in England.
A rocker, football fan, mathemagician and lover of cake, Matty almost gets away with being a normal human being, but unfortunately his words defy him.
Writing merges grown-up humour with childish themes, quirky characters, unique plot-twists and general fun times. It should not be taken seriously.
His first novel "In That Other Dimension" was published in January 2014.
His short story "Weapons of Mass Destruction" won the GKBC International Short Story Competition in March 2014 and is due to be published in the anthology shortly. The story can be read here http://gkbcinc.com/gkbc-international...
A rocker, football fan, mathemagician and lover of cake, Matty almost gets away with being a normal human being, but unfortunately his words defy him.
Writing merges grown-up humour with childish themes, quirky characters, unique plot-twists and general fun times. It should not be taken seriously.
His first novel "In That Other Dimension" was published in January 2014.
His short story "Weapons of Mass Destruction" won the GKBC International Short Story Competition in March 2014 and is due to be published in the anthology shortly. The story can be read here http://gkbcinc.com/gkbc-international...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 8, 2014
In woke from an unpleasant dream where he was being unpacked, and discovered that it was all true. If you're wondering, I should say that In was a paperback novel, and his full name was In That Other Dimension. But his friends liked to call him In.
"Where am I?" he asked. "Is this another dimension?"
"Don't be silly!" replied a female voice. "You are in Switzerland. And I am Not."
"Are we that close to the border?" asked In, feeling even more confused.
"No," said the voice, now plainly irritated. "I am not not in Switzerland, I am Not. With a capital N."
"I see," said In, though he didn't.
"And," continued Not, in an even more irritated tone, "you are missing a comma on page 1. Now I'm going to make a cup of tea." She departed, leaving In trying to look at his own text, but that's harder than you might imagine for the average paperback¹.
"Wait a minute!" said another voice. "This is no way to treat a guest. I'm Manny. Let me introduce you to the rest of the gang."
"Do they come from other dimensions?" asked In faintly. "Those dimensions. They're squiggly things."
"What do you say, Hermann?" replied Manny.
"I zink," said someone with a pronounced German accent, "zat our friend has the wrong end of the stick grasped. In an affine space, ze dimension is ze cardinality of ze largest linearly independent set of vectors. It is is an invariant of ze space. It is not 'squiggly'."
"Could you add a footnote or two?" asked In². "I lost you at 'affine'. And it's rude to swear."
"Do we have to listen to this rubbish?" said a new voice. "I was just talking with Marcel--"
There was a general chorus of assent.
"Come on, Vladimir!" someone whispered loudly. "Give him his stars and let's move on!"
This didn't sound good to In. "Help me, Éclair!" he shouted.
In a moment, his trusty cake dragon friend had appeared. With a single blast of her squirty cream breath, she left the supercilious books gasping and speechless.
"Thanks!" said In. "I think we're getting one star, but we don't care, do we?"
And they departed for another, squigglier dimension.
______________________________________
¹ Hardbacks generally do better, because they can lie down flat. Except the really big chunky ones.
² This book has a lot of footnotes.
"Where am I?" he asked. "Is this another dimension?"
"Don't be silly!" replied a female voice. "You are in Switzerland. And I am Not."
"Are we that close to the border?" asked In, feeling even more confused.
"No," said the voice, now plainly irritated. "I am not not in Switzerland, I am Not. With a capital N."
"I see," said In, though he didn't.
"And," continued Not, in an even more irritated tone, "you are missing a comma on page 1. Now I'm going to make a cup of tea." She departed, leaving In trying to look at his own text, but that's harder than you might imagine for the average paperback¹.
"Wait a minute!" said another voice. "This is no way to treat a guest. I'm Manny. Let me introduce you to the rest of the gang."
"Do they come from other dimensions?" asked In faintly. "Those dimensions. They're squiggly things."
"What do you say, Hermann?" replied Manny.
"I zink," said someone with a pronounced German accent, "zat our friend has the wrong end of the stick grasped. In an affine space, ze dimension is ze cardinality of ze largest linearly independent set of vectors. It is is an invariant of ze space. It is not 'squiggly'."
"Could you add a footnote or two?" asked In². "I lost you at 'affine'. And it's rude to swear."
"Do we have to listen to this rubbish?" said a new voice. "I was just talking with Marcel--"
There was a general chorus of assent.
"Come on, Vladimir!" someone whispered loudly. "Give him his stars and let's move on!"
This didn't sound good to In. "Help me, Éclair!" he shouted.
In a moment, his trusty cake dragon friend had appeared. With a single blast of her squirty cream breath, she left the supercilious books gasping and speechless.
"Thanks!" said In. "I think we're getting one star, but we don't care, do we?"
And they departed for another, squigglier dimension.
______________________________________
¹ Hardbacks generally do better, because they can lie down flat. Except the really big chunky ones.
² This book has a lot of footnotes.
March 23, 2015
3.75 Stars
This book is different from stories I usually read, and the author did warn me. But I was still surprised, both by the tale itself, and by how much I enjoyed the journey of these odd but fascinating characters!
I took so many notes and I'm not sure where to begin... The story went in a lot of unexpected directions, and it didn't really start to come together until about a quarter of the way through. But it was a well thought out tale, and one that held my interest! We learn that every red telephone box in England contains a portal to a parallel dimension, and once our travelers embark on a journey all sorts of strange events unfold. From the villages made of cake and candy, to the giant unicorn mountain, each world is intriguing, and rich with detail. And the obstacles they face on their journey are filled with humor, terror, and adventure!
Carlos and Maria, who were well acquainted in England, reunite in another dimension, and -- along with a hyena, a turtle, a baby cake dragon, and others -- attempt to defeat the evil scientist, Dr. Funk, who is out to destroy one of the dimensions along the way. But the hurdles are great, and the manner in which they must go about saving the land is as unconventional as the rest of the story. An adventurous fantasy that would appeal to anyone who enjoys a story that is truly an escape from reality!
This book is different from stories I usually read, and the author did warn me. But I was still surprised, both by the tale itself, and by how much I enjoyed the journey of these odd but fascinating characters!
I took so many notes and I'm not sure where to begin... The story went in a lot of unexpected directions, and it didn't really start to come together until about a quarter of the way through. But it was a well thought out tale, and one that held my interest! We learn that every red telephone box in England contains a portal to a parallel dimension, and once our travelers embark on a journey all sorts of strange events unfold. From the villages made of cake and candy, to the giant unicorn mountain, each world is intriguing, and rich with detail. And the obstacles they face on their journey are filled with humor, terror, and adventure!
Carlos and Maria, who were well acquainted in England, reunite in another dimension, and -- along with a hyena, a turtle, a baby cake dragon, and others -- attempt to defeat the evil scientist, Dr. Funk, who is out to destroy one of the dimensions along the way. But the hurdles are great, and the manner in which they must go about saving the land is as unconventional as the rest of the story. An adventurous fantasy that would appeal to anyone who enjoys a story that is truly an escape from reality!
March 24, 2014
A very funny and entertaining journey through other dimensions, evil inventor's laboratories and jelly baby towns. The main protagonist Carlos accidentally gets transported to another dimension where he meets a depressed turtle, a hyperactive hyena on springs, his girlfriend and a cake dragon all whilst trying to find a way back home. Reminiscent of both Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams in humour and intelligent plot deviations, I expect big things from this author!
Read
November 4, 2016In That Other Dimension is a novel with which the author obviously set out to have fun, and the influence of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, credited at the end of the book, are quite obvious right from the start. As an occasional reader of both influences, I was drawn to this story of a man discovering parallel dimensions in a phonebox when I first found it in the Litreactor workshop around 18 months ago. The rest of the novel wasn’t quite the tale I had expected, but there was still enough fun to be had to get me to the end.
Matty Millard has obviously worked hard on refining the manuscript and the result is an economically written tale that gets to the point quickly. The editing is solid, and certainly a good example of how independent self-published authors can produce a work as professional as anything that comes out of a publishing house.
What I liked
• The introductory descriptions of characters, in particular Carlos: ‘He was almost exactly the stereotype usually associated with an average mexican male. Tall, olive skinned, black hair heavily gelled to one side. Smooth talking, definitely a ladies man. Likes a drink. Scottish.’
• The pacing: quick chapters and the right length overall for a comedy story
• The occasional use of an unknown first person narrator (this is difficult to pull off, if only because it’s hard to see why it’s needed, but it emulates the Hitchhikers Guide style pretty well here)
• This is the sort of story where the occasional info-breaks make it tempting for an author to use footnotes. Matty Millard did this in the original version but made the right choice to blend them in to the rest of the text for the final cut - it flows a lot better this way. (NB: this review is for the ebook version - the print copy still has some footnotes.)
• The silliness of the setting was mostly amusing to me. This is the kind of book for anyone who wants to switch off and not use their brain too much and wants a change from their usual serious reading, perhaps as bedtime reading.
What I didn’t like
• What started as a story with a fair blend of the bizarre with an adult humour edge turned into a story that felt like it was more aimed at children around a 3rd of the way through. Cake dragons and hyenas with springs on their feet are all quite amusing, but it made me wonder why the cover and synopsis appeared to pitch this book at adults. There could be a great market for this title if aimed at 9-10 upwards. The author does cite Enid Blighton as an influence, but I would have liked this story to have carried on down the Doug Adams side of things, as it started out
• The ending. It’s hard to do this without spoilers, but lets just say it seemed a bit too feelgood and convenient to me. Again, it was an ending more reminiscent of a story for kids.
• The word ‘random’ being spelled with the words in an odd order. The narrator says ‘for no other reason than I like it’ to explain this, but this never satisfies me. That sort of gimmick is better saved for hidden meanings, if they’re needed. In this book they aren't.
• Carlos’s character development turns him into too much of a nice guy. I would have liked more admirable rogue / rule breaker. He starts out this way, but falls too in love with his (literally) sugar coated surroundings.
Buy this book if:
• You have (or are) a younger reader who like vividly imagined but outrageous creations and settings
• You enjoyed Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, or are generally amused by slapstick humour involving food and giant animals
• You like seeing the Dr Who travelling phone-box idea made colossal fun of (which personally I did; I’m always bored by Dr Who.)
Matty Millard has obviously worked hard on refining the manuscript and the result is an economically written tale that gets to the point quickly. The editing is solid, and certainly a good example of how independent self-published authors can produce a work as professional as anything that comes out of a publishing house.
What I liked
• The introductory descriptions of characters, in particular Carlos: ‘He was almost exactly the stereotype usually associated with an average mexican male. Tall, olive skinned, black hair heavily gelled to one side. Smooth talking, definitely a ladies man. Likes a drink. Scottish.’
• The pacing: quick chapters and the right length overall for a comedy story
• The occasional use of an unknown first person narrator (this is difficult to pull off, if only because it’s hard to see why it’s needed, but it emulates the Hitchhikers Guide style pretty well here)
• This is the sort of story where the occasional info-breaks make it tempting for an author to use footnotes. Matty Millard did this in the original version but made the right choice to blend them in to the rest of the text for the final cut - it flows a lot better this way. (NB: this review is for the ebook version - the print copy still has some footnotes.)
• The silliness of the setting was mostly amusing to me. This is the kind of book for anyone who wants to switch off and not use their brain too much and wants a change from their usual serious reading, perhaps as bedtime reading.
What I didn’t like
• What started as a story with a fair blend of the bizarre with an adult humour edge turned into a story that felt like it was more aimed at children around a 3rd of the way through. Cake dragons and hyenas with springs on their feet are all quite amusing, but it made me wonder why the cover and synopsis appeared to pitch this book at adults. There could be a great market for this title if aimed at 9-10 upwards. The author does cite Enid Blighton as an influence, but I would have liked this story to have carried on down the Doug Adams side of things, as it started out
• The ending. It’s hard to do this without spoilers, but lets just say it seemed a bit too feelgood and convenient to me. Again, it was an ending more reminiscent of a story for kids.
• The word ‘random’ being spelled with the words in an odd order. The narrator says ‘for no other reason than I like it’ to explain this, but this never satisfies me. That sort of gimmick is better saved for hidden meanings, if they’re needed. In this book they aren't.
• Carlos’s character development turns him into too much of a nice guy. I would have liked more admirable rogue / rule breaker. He starts out this way, but falls too in love with his (literally) sugar coated surroundings.
Buy this book if:
• You have (or are) a younger reader who like vividly imagined but outrageous creations and settings
• You enjoyed Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, or are generally amused by slapstick humour involving food and giant animals
• You like seeing the Dr Who travelling phone-box idea made colossal fun of (which personally I did; I’m always bored by Dr Who.)
July 6, 2014
This is the very funny debut novel of author Matty Millard, a comic talent with lots of potential.
In That Other Dimension is top science-fiction comedy, with larger-than-life characters and no small amount of ambition. Millard has a good grasp of how to deliver comic literature, specifically to always keep one foot on the pedal, steering the novel from chaotic set-piece to chaotic set-piece.
Comparisons to Douglas Adams are obvious and deserved. This is a great opportunity to hitch-hike across the the multiverse and, with Millard in the driving seat, you will be glad that you rode shotgun.
In That Other Dimension is top science-fiction comedy, with larger-than-life characters and no small amount of ambition. Millard has a good grasp of how to deliver comic literature, specifically to always keep one foot on the pedal, steering the novel from chaotic set-piece to chaotic set-piece.
Comparisons to Douglas Adams are obvious and deserved. This is a great opportunity to hitch-hike across the the multiverse and, with Millard in the driving seat, you will be glad that you rode shotgun.
August 1, 2015
I'm not normally a fan of sci-fi (if this novel can be classified as such), but I was enticed to read it by the fact that the author sits two desks away from me at work! I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is definitely quirky but an enjoyable read with a well flowing storyline and enough characters that everyone will have a favourite. Mine is probably the pink hyena. :)
March 13, 2014
An entertaining romp through parallel dimensions that put this reader in mind of early Terry Pratchett. Eclair the cake dragon stood out as an endearing, well realised character. The author obviously has a very fertile imagination and I look forward to reading more of his work.
September 7, 2014
I won this on a goodread giveaway .I thought the chapters were a bit dis jointed and random but fell in love with the baby cake dragon and totally got your sense of humour . Good first effort many thanks
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews