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Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse
Math whiz and bumbling pragmatist Oliver Bell never planned on ending existence as we know it.
Fine-tuning his PhD thesis requires nothing more than peace, order, and tranquility.
The universe, it seems, has other plans.
During a late-night problem-solving session at the university library, chaos erupts when a campus protest turns violent. Fleeing, Oliver stumbles into a cosmic showdown between the powers of good and evil, and he must learn to navigate a reality infinitely more complex than the one he thought he knew.
Oliver’s world is one of kidnappers-cum-demon-hunters, sentient, non-verbal dogs, a cardiologist who moonlights as Death, a tiki bar in the underworld, a fishing pier in heaven with really good coffee, and a three-foot-tall immortal beast who seeks to return all existence to nothingness.
The multiverse, it turns out, is real, and to Oliver’s horror and disappointment he is at the center of it. Equal parts Douglas Adams and H.P. Lovecraft, Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse is an endlessly inventive, hilarious, hair-raising adventure for those who would boldly go where only a half dozen strawberry daiquiris can take them
343 pages / ISBN 978-1-998122-134
Fine-tuning his PhD thesis requires nothing more than peace, order, and tranquility.
The universe, it seems, has other plans.
During a late-night problem-solving session at the university library, chaos erupts when a campus protest turns violent. Fleeing, Oliver stumbles into a cosmic showdown between the powers of good and evil, and he must learn to navigate a reality infinitely more complex than the one he thought he knew.
Oliver’s world is one of kidnappers-cum-demon-hunters, sentient, non-verbal dogs, a cardiologist who moonlights as Death, a tiki bar in the underworld, a fishing pier in heaven with really good coffee, and a three-foot-tall immortal beast who seeks to return all existence to nothingness.
The multiverse, it turns out, is real, and to Oliver’s horror and disappointment he is at the center of it. Equal parts Douglas Adams and H.P. Lovecraft, Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse is an endlessly inventive, hilarious, hair-raising adventure for those who would boldly go where only a half dozen strawberry daiquiris can take them
343 pages / ISBN 978-1-998122-134
343 pages, Paperback
Published March 10, 2025
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 18, 2025
Sometimes you come across a story at the right time, and I think those are the ones that affect you the most. Whether it be a perfect story for your mood, or pulling you out of an emotional funk, or opening your eyes to a new point of view.
This book however, for me, was a reminder that books are meant to be fun, and that in being fun, you can also be reading an intellectually influenced novel. Fun doesn't need to mean a bad plot, or dumb characters. Oliver and the crew are smart in their own ways. Oliver is a mathematical genius, Bert a retired cardiologist etc. They all had their humourous flaws and that made them so much more than a name on a page for me.
The great depth in characters, the unique sci-fiesque plotline, some profound moments, the humour throughout, the nods to pop culture and some very heartfelt moments created a mixed bag that felt right for me, and reminded me that reading is fun.
The plot of the story (very vaguely) is a group jumping through a multiverse and trying to save the world. My one and only (almost) complaint in this story is that at points in the book, I was reading and based on the situation, I was expecting to get a bit of preachiness about religion. I have the utmost respect for everyone's beliefs, but I don't necessarily believe that I need to read about it in books I choose. On the bright side though, when this happened, it never actually got to a point where I felt I was preached to so if that is my biggest complaint, I can't justify this being anything but a 5 star read.
This will be on top of my recommendation list for some time, because everyone should read this book.
"You have to be one hundred percent with whatever cause was at the forefront or else you were considered to be one hundred percent against it. It was stupid. It left no room for nuance, or for the grey areas where bridges could be built. Such polarization would never lead to anything productive. And yet, it was all the rage."
This book however, for me, was a reminder that books are meant to be fun, and that in being fun, you can also be reading an intellectually influenced novel. Fun doesn't need to mean a bad plot, or dumb characters. Oliver and the crew are smart in their own ways. Oliver is a mathematical genius, Bert a retired cardiologist etc. They all had their humourous flaws and that made them so much more than a name on a page for me.
The great depth in characters, the unique sci-fiesque plotline, some profound moments, the humour throughout, the nods to pop culture and some very heartfelt moments created a mixed bag that felt right for me, and reminded me that reading is fun.
The plot of the story (very vaguely) is a group jumping through a multiverse and trying to save the world. My one and only (almost) complaint in this story is that at points in the book, I was reading and based on the situation, I was expecting to get a bit of preachiness about religion. I have the utmost respect for everyone's beliefs, but I don't necessarily believe that I need to read about it in books I choose. On the bright side though, when this happened, it never actually got to a point where I felt I was preached to so if that is my biggest complaint, I can't justify this being anything but a 5 star read.
This will be on top of my recommendation list for some time, because everyone should read this book.
"You have to be one hundred percent with whatever cause was at the forefront or else you were considered to be one hundred percent against it. It was stupid. It left no room for nuance, or for the grey areas where bridges could be built. Such polarization would never lead to anything productive. And yet, it was all the rage."
January 26, 2026
What a wild and zany ride this group read was! I love finding a good adventure story especially during the bleak, boring winter weeks. This book was sort of a diamond OUT of the rough for me and had a wonderful cast of characters supporting the genius albeit “a work-in-progress” protagonist, Oliver Bell. No spoilers! If you’re interested please look into reading, supporting and purchasing indie and small press books- they’re special and reading them feels like being part of a small secret society of ninja knowledge warriors 😎
October 2, 2025
It takes a special kind of imaginative superpower to create an entirely original universe, populate it with quirky, one-of-a-kind characters who seem to belong naturally to that world, and to do so both persuasively and entertainingly. Jake Swan accomplishes this feat in his madcap romp of a novel, Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse, a book that presents the surreal tale of mild-mannered mathematician Oliver Bell’s quest to save existence as we know it from forces of supreme evil bent on destroying everything.
Oliver’s adventure begins in, of all places, Halifax, Nova Scotia, during a late-night study session in Dalhousie University’s Killam Library. A protest taking place in the city turns violent, and Oliver finds himself under attack. Oliver is working to complete his thesis in computer coding, but the crisis set in motion by rapidly spreading chaos and seemingly indiscriminate destruction places him and his work under threat. Swan’s tale gathers further momentum once Oliver discovers his apartment building has been reduced to a pile of smouldering rubble, meaning he’s lost everything he owns, including the backup copy of his thesis. But his despair is short-lived as he is soon kidnapped by Teddy and Emma, a pair of demon hunters, who sedate him, and in his unconscious state whisk him off to Florida under the suspicion that he’s possessed by an evil entity.
In Florida, Teddy and Emma consult with Bert (a retired cardiologist who also goes by the name “Death”) and Carmella, elderly Jews with special powers, one of which is Bert’s ability to sense that Oliver is not in fact possessed by a demon but rather has become “host” to a supernatural being, called Mayhem, that takes the physical form of a puppy.
Yes, a puppy.
Eventually, we learn why all of this is happening. Teddy and Emma are hunting the all-powerful fiend Amon, who has learned of Oliver’s computer code, which—though Oliver’s goal was always innocent: to enhance the experience of gamers—in the wrong hands could be used to annihilate the universe. Amon wants the code, and since the only physical copies were destroyed during the protest in Halifax, Amon plans to force Oliver to provide it from memory. From this point, the story zigs and zags as the characters plunge through various levels of the multiverse, in search of Amon and in attempts to save each other from a variety of grisly fates, all while life on Earth—or “the secular plain,” as it’s called—grows ever more unstable in response to Amon’s meddling.
Oliver’s story is complex. The rules governing transference between the layers of the multiverse are intricate. Crucially, however, the story’s inner logic remains consistent throughout. The violence is frequent and often depicted in graphic, bloody, and sometimes hilarious detail. Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse is a fast-moving entertainment that over 300+ pages retains the suspenseful but blithely irreverent qualities that Swan establishes at the outset. Absurdities abound. The banter among Oliver’s gang of do-gooders never fails to amuse. Oliver’s initial disbelief in his new situation, his blundering confusion as he learns more, and his gradual realization and acceptance that the plain of reality he inhabits is multifaceted beyond his wildest imaginings, draw us to him in sympathy.
In a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer at the beginning of the novel, the author urges the reader to resist taking the book “too seriously,” because it was “written by an idiot.” If this is meant to lower expectations, the reader needn’t worry. Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse represents a clear triumph of the imagination. Jake Swan has written a novel that provides shocks, surprises and laughs on every page. The book is emphatically not for all readers, but anyone with a finely tuned sense of satire and an appreciation of the absurd will find plenty to enjoy.
Oliver’s adventure begins in, of all places, Halifax, Nova Scotia, during a late-night study session in Dalhousie University’s Killam Library. A protest taking place in the city turns violent, and Oliver finds himself under attack. Oliver is working to complete his thesis in computer coding, but the crisis set in motion by rapidly spreading chaos and seemingly indiscriminate destruction places him and his work under threat. Swan’s tale gathers further momentum once Oliver discovers his apartment building has been reduced to a pile of smouldering rubble, meaning he’s lost everything he owns, including the backup copy of his thesis. But his despair is short-lived as he is soon kidnapped by Teddy and Emma, a pair of demon hunters, who sedate him, and in his unconscious state whisk him off to Florida under the suspicion that he’s possessed by an evil entity.
In Florida, Teddy and Emma consult with Bert (a retired cardiologist who also goes by the name “Death”) and Carmella, elderly Jews with special powers, one of which is Bert’s ability to sense that Oliver is not in fact possessed by a demon but rather has become “host” to a supernatural being, called Mayhem, that takes the physical form of a puppy.
Yes, a puppy.
Eventually, we learn why all of this is happening. Teddy and Emma are hunting the all-powerful fiend Amon, who has learned of Oliver’s computer code, which—though Oliver’s goal was always innocent: to enhance the experience of gamers—in the wrong hands could be used to annihilate the universe. Amon wants the code, and since the only physical copies were destroyed during the protest in Halifax, Amon plans to force Oliver to provide it from memory. From this point, the story zigs and zags as the characters plunge through various levels of the multiverse, in search of Amon and in attempts to save each other from a variety of grisly fates, all while life on Earth—or “the secular plain,” as it’s called—grows ever more unstable in response to Amon’s meddling.
Oliver’s story is complex. The rules governing transference between the layers of the multiverse are intricate. Crucially, however, the story’s inner logic remains consistent throughout. The violence is frequent and often depicted in graphic, bloody, and sometimes hilarious detail. Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse is a fast-moving entertainment that over 300+ pages retains the suspenseful but blithely irreverent qualities that Swan establishes at the outset. Absurdities abound. The banter among Oliver’s gang of do-gooders never fails to amuse. Oliver’s initial disbelief in his new situation, his blundering confusion as he learns more, and his gradual realization and acceptance that the plain of reality he inhabits is multifaceted beyond his wildest imaginings, draw us to him in sympathy.
In a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer at the beginning of the novel, the author urges the reader to resist taking the book “too seriously,” because it was “written by an idiot.” If this is meant to lower expectations, the reader needn’t worry. Oliver Bell and the Infinite Multiverse represents a clear triumph of the imagination. Jake Swan has written a novel that provides shocks, surprises and laughs on every page. The book is emphatically not for all readers, but anyone with a finely tuned sense of satire and an appreciation of the absurd will find plenty to enjoy.
November 6, 2025
A truly unique story told in quirky style by a unique writer. The story opens with a studious Oliver Bell, a mathematician who is working towards his PhD, and finds himself, quite bewildered, in the middle of a fire and a chaotic demonstration on a university campus in Halifax. Oliver was attempting to create a "quasi-intelligent, deep-learning program that could mathematically predict exactly how to turn any set of instructions into accurate code in any computer language, past, present, or future." Little did he know that such a genius pursuit would bring about a cosmic showdown between good and evil. To me, this book is partly reminiscent of Douglas Adams, who has been described as "absurdly serious," and Neil Gaiman, especially in his book, American Gods. The clash between the worldly and the otherworldly is similar. Fun, funny, weird, part social commentary, ooh...and very violent.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews