Mr. Universe

by Arthur Slade

Seventeen-year-old Michael goes to visit his eccentric mad-scientist uncle who, busy working on yet another time-travel experiment in his cluttered lab, barely notices him. He keeps muttering things like "quantum multiverse transporter" and Michael has to entertain himself. Which is how Michael accidentally ends up in an alternate universe. Everything looks remarkably similar to his own world but with a few key differences, like lizard men dressed in gray suits and three-wheeled vehicles. And then there's Emily, a sassy, confident girl who needs Michael's help before he can find his way back to his own dimension.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Canada

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2021

About the author

Arthur Slade was raised in the Cypress Hills of southwest Saskatchewan and began writing at an early age. He is the author of the bestselling The Hunchback Assignments series of books, Dust (which won the Governor General's award), Tribes and Jolted. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada (which really is a real place). Join his creative & somewhat clever newsletter at: what a zany newsletter!

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing read. I have read it four times and and already thinking about reading it again. I read it twice and my son read it to me back to back twice as well. So hope there will be more adventures in this multiverse. Full review below.
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I have been a big fan of Arthur Slade’s works for years. This is one of two that are due out in January 2021. It is very different then anything else of his. And I have read all his published novels. Some of his books I have read many times over. And I have got to say I absolutely loved this one! I have now read it 3 times. Well actually, I read it once, I used text to speech to listen to it once, and my son read it to me for his reading challenge time.

My son is a very reluctant reader. He reads below grade level, and he struggles. However, he loves books. He loves being read to in person or using adaptive technology and listening to books while following the text. He could not put this book down. His reading goal is 20 minutes at least 5 days a week. The first day he read this to be he read for just over an hour, and only stopped because of family movie night. And as soon as the movie was over he wanted to read more. He has already asked for more books from Slade to read and next up is, Death by Airship. I too struggled with reading when younger and have a dual form of dyslexia, and I also love Slade’s books. I have read all of them at least once. And I loved this one. I was raving about this book after my second read through, and my son asked if we could skip to it, and am I ever glad I let him put the book he was reading on hold for this volume. The description of this book is:

“Seventeen-year-old Michael goes to visit his eccentric mad-scientist uncle who, busy working on yet another time-travel experiment in his cluttered lab, barely notices him. He keeps muttering things like “quantum multiverse transporter” and Michael has to entertain himself. Which is how Michael accidentally ends up in an alternate universe. Everything looks remarkably similar to his own world but with a few key differences, like lizard men dressed in gray suits and three-wheeled vehicles. And then there's Emily, a sassy, confident girl who needs Michael's help before he can find his way back to his own dimension.”

The characters are awesome. You will instantly love Michael and Emily. And his Aunt\Uncle Henry (depending on which version of earth you are on. And the pace is nonstop breakneck action. The whole story takes place during a single day. A little quantum theory, a strange new earth. Finding some differences and that somethings are the same. And of course, the best turkey sandwich ever. When a scientist only trusts two Doctors, Pepper and Who, you know you are in for some fun.

I got to be honest and state I kind of hope that this books is like C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew, in that it is the beginning of a whole series of adventures involving Henry(s), Michael and Emily. This story was so much fun. Even after reading it three times I keep thinking about it and smiling. And am even debating going back for a fourth serving.

Another amazing read from the masterful pen of Arthur Slade. And what I truly hope is the beginning of a new series.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Arthur Slade. As well as author profile and interview with Art.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Mr. Universe in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for anything and everything multi-universe theory and Mr. Universe did not disappoint. Comedic from beginning to end, Mr. Universe is a brief but unique novel about high schooler Michael who accidentally ends up in another universe and his attempts to try and save his hopefully-girlfriend from getting erased from existence by gray lizard people. Slade writes all of his characters in this with with and charm and it was really easy to get into the story which is super important while working with such a low page count.

Mr. Universe is part of Orca Sounding's line of high-interest, teen targeted books meant to be consumable by readers who for whatever reason, struggle with reading. I've read quite a few of these now and this is definitely the best I've seen it done. Slade avoids using ultra-complex words or phrasing while also never once talking down to the reader and I can see this being really enjoyable with a wide audience.

[Mahtab Narsimhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast and fun read! Slade does a great job of keeping the plot moving and does it with style and humour. Highly recommended for all but especially for reluctant readers since this is part of Orca's hi-lo series.

[Barbara McVeigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. I’d say the book is for middle grade students interested in science, but there’s a love interest.

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading quite a few hi-lo books lately, and this one is genuinely solid. It hits a lot of great plot points, and feels like an actual book, not just something written to satisfy a quota, which I appreciate. Michael is a decently developed protagonist, and I loved Emily, this is a pretty high rating for something so short that would normally not have a ton of substance, but it felt whole as a book and was a very quick read, enough to make me want a sequel.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: It was just my luck that my girlfriend lived in another universe. And, to make matters worse, mysterious gray men were trying to erase her. My name is Michael, and I’m the last guy you’d think would end up jumping from one world to another.

Premise/plot: Michael, our protagonist, goes to visit his Uncle Harry, a scientist, and accidentally ends up in another universe. The good news? He meets a girl, Emily, and they definitely like like each other. The bad news? Well, there are lizard-men in grey suits after them--and only them???--can these two escape? Will Michael find a way back to his own universe? Can he find a way to bring Emily with him?

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about multiverses or alternate realities. It has a little romance as a sub-plot, but it's more science fiction than romance. What I enjoyed most was how quick a read it was. I really like to be able to sit down and read a book in one sitting.

[Julian Krull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally I think that Micheal was my favorite character. Mainly cause of his approach situations in the book being kinda goofy playing off the second main character Emily. I really enjoy the writing style cause its short and get to the point. The pacing is odd at points feeling fast in some parts that could have been fleshed out more. my favorite part is end where Michael is trying to cover up Emily's existence. Over all I enjoyed the book not having really lengthy dialog made is easy to get hooked in to the story.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story by Mr. Slade is not like his "normal" strange stories. I enjoyed it after I get in a few chapters. I would say it may be geared more to the younger generatiion but adults can appreciate it also. Mr. Slade does have quite an imagination & I especially love his Dragon Assassin series (mainly because I love dragon stories!). I received an ebook copy from him. This is my unbiased voluntary review.

[WKPL Children's/YA Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Lori read this book in under an hour and enjoyed every minute! This is a quick read about a young boy who accidentally jumps dimensions while in his uncle's lab. He and his wanna-be girlfriend are chased by gray lizard men and the kids try to find a way "home". Fun read. Great characters. Interesting story.

Great read for 7th grade and up (and really only that age because of some of the vocabulary being somewhat scientific).

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book didn't really have that much detail. It was not that good and it was pretty basic. The book just wanted to keep updates on peoples lives and then soon you know it, they were together. In my opinion I don't like these types of books because it's just bland and boring. No one want's a bland and boring book.

[K.A. Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast-paced and fun hi-lo with a classic sci-fi premise. The story and characters are absorbing and the writing never feels stilted—hard to pull of in hi-lo, and rare to see great speculative fiction in the category. Highly recommend.

[Kat M · Rating 4 out of 5]

i had a lot of fun reading this, I loved the premise of the nephew getting transported to an alternate universe, it has always fascinated me. The storyline was well done and I enjoyed the characters.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with some interesting scientific ideas. I love the ‘bad’ guys, they are so well described. Beautiful descriptive writing, very creative, makes for a very exciting read. Highly recommended

[Savana_Nana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.