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The Cognate Coefficient #1
More Than Utopia
The aliens came to uplift humanity—and brought with them quantum computation that allows chosen humans, called cognates, to travel between parallel universes.
Jirayu’s wife Yvette disappeared when the aliens arrived. When Yvette returns, she’s an artifact of the future, a soldier from another timeline . . . and she carries with her the answer to why Jirayu is targeted by killers who have snuffed out every other version of Jirayu.
Yvette lost her wife Jirayu once before, and she’s determined to keep this version alive at any cost. But as she learns more and more of the aliens’ plans, she realizes she has a choice to make. She can continue being their weapon, or escape with her wife to a world where there is no war, no aliens, and where both of them can set the terms of their fate—forever.
Jirayu’s wife Yvette disappeared when the aliens arrived. When Yvette returns, she’s an artifact of the future, a soldier from another timeline . . . and she carries with her the answer to why Jirayu is targeted by killers who have snuffed out every other version of Jirayu.
Yvette lost her wife Jirayu once before, and she’s determined to keep this version alive at any cost. But as she learns more and more of the aliens’ plans, she realizes she has a choice to make. She can continue being their weapon, or escape with her wife to a world where there is no war, no aliens, and where both of them can set the terms of their fate—forever.
175 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2022
30 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Benjanun Sriduangkaew
83 books404 followersScience fiction, fantasy, and others in the between. Cute kissing ladies? I write those. Ruthless genocidal commanders? Got that covered too! 2014 finalist for Campbell Award for Best New Writer, 2015 BSFA finalist for Best Short Fiction (SCALE-BRIGHT). I like beautiful bugs and strange cities.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 12, 2023
Cyborgs fighting as pawns in an alien war in which people from multiple worlds collide in alternate timelines;
Parallel Earth's gone bleakly to the way of climate change and war and some well done queer romance thrown into the mix too.
Unfortunately, that kinda sounds a bit more interesting that it actually is but it was an okay read, excellent writing too if a bit dense. The sequel is out so I'm hoping it's gonna be an improvement, fingers crossed...
Parallel Earth's gone bleakly to the way of climate change and war and some well done queer romance thrown into the mix too.
Unfortunately, that kinda sounds a bit more interesting that it actually is but it was an okay read, excellent writing too if a bit dense. The sequel is out so I'm hoping it's gonna be an improvement, fingers crossed...
September 24, 2023
Two women are separated by a timeline shift. As an alien war rages around them, they'll reunite at any cost.
- This is How You Lose the Time War vibes
- quantum travel fueled by tragedy
- icy femme/collared butch
- so much blood
and with excellent writing!
- This is How You Lose the Time War vibes
- quantum travel fueled by tragedy
- icy femme/collared butch
- so much blood
and with excellent writing!
January 27, 2023
Brilliant work
The world of this book is li imaginable; it might not be that far off from now, even. This isn't really a book of science fiction alone. The characters are richly imbued, with multiple layers and ambiguities that make them more than real,true, and people i would love to know.
The world of this book is li imaginable; it might not be that far off from now, even. This isn't really a book of science fiction alone. The characters are richly imbued, with multiple layers and ambiguities that make them more than real,true, and people i would love to know.
July 5, 2023
Creative in a way I always enjoy from this author. Complex and alien and truly weird, but also a love story.
August 28, 2023
Moderately enjoyable with a lot of good ideas, but feels like the author was pulling a lot of punches:
+ I was REALLY excited by a lot of the things being set up about Jirayu. There's a fascinating through line about her being a ruthless, cold hearted gunrunner with a strong hypocritical streak (her comments about donating to charities while still gladly participating in the capitalist machine, her security in helping indigenous revolutions while also selling to their enemies, the fact she and Tatiana both are described as being stony and inorganic, and having the same love of red and black), but it all seems set up and never paid off. She doesn't even float about being the better monster when she finally does Tatiana in. To the point I begin to suspect if this even WAS the intent. Either way, whether the author set all this up on purpose or whether they did so by accident by trying to make Jirayu the Most Ethical Gun Runner In The World, the end result is it feels like a punch has been pulled
+ Jirayu and Yvette really needed to discuss the fact that they aren't from the same timeline and are therefore different people. It's brought up several times in passing but always vaguely and immediately handwaved away. It was a really good potential for juicy conflict, but it's just. Never TRULY addressed, which is a pity. It means the sudden polyamory ending ends up coming off as either hokey or sinister depending on your read, and I'm also not sure which was the intended read.
+The aliens really needed to be more omnipresent. Besides making Jirayu miserable with a boring job, we don't really get a glimpse of how, exactly, they intersect with the day to say. There's something very threatening and malicious about their appearance and their presence, but they never seem more than just a personal grudge for the gang, so their threat is undercut.
All that being said:
+ The prose was good. A little flowery, but some good combinations of words in here
+Sex good. Won't ruin it for any future readers, but Nice.
+Plot solid. Despite my complaints about the lack of pop and sizzle, you won't be frustrated reading, at the least, and if you're reading for mindless fun, you'll have a great time.
All in all, it was fine.
+ I was REALLY excited by a lot of the things being set up about Jirayu. There's a fascinating through line about her being a ruthless, cold hearted gunrunner with a strong hypocritical streak (her comments about donating to charities while still gladly participating in the capitalist machine, her security in helping indigenous revolutions while also selling to their enemies, the fact she and Tatiana both are described as being stony and inorganic, and having the same love of red and black), but it all seems set up and never paid off. She doesn't even float about being the better monster when she finally does Tatiana in. To the point I begin to suspect if this even WAS the intent. Either way, whether the author set all this up on purpose or whether they did so by accident by trying to make Jirayu the Most Ethical Gun Runner In The World, the end result is it feels like a punch has been pulled
+ Jirayu and Yvette really needed to discuss the fact that they aren't from the same timeline and are therefore different people. It's brought up several times in passing but always vaguely and immediately handwaved away. It was a really good potential for juicy conflict, but it's just. Never TRULY addressed, which is a pity. It means the sudden polyamory ending ends up coming off as either hokey or sinister depending on your read, and I'm also not sure which was the intended read.
+The aliens really needed to be more omnipresent. Besides making Jirayu miserable with a boring job, we don't really get a glimpse of how, exactly, they intersect with the day to say. There's something very threatening and malicious about their appearance and their presence, but they never seem more than just a personal grudge for the gang, so their threat is undercut.
All that being said:
+ The prose was good. A little flowery, but some good combinations of words in here
+Sex good. Won't ruin it for any future readers, but Nice.
+Plot solid. Despite my complaints about the lack of pop and sizzle, you won't be frustrated reading, at the least, and if you're reading for mindless fun, you'll have a great time.
All in all, it was fine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2025
This is classic Benjanun, complete with a butch who'll do anything for her femme--including traveling across timelines to find her over and over. The sci-fi plot has a neat twist on time travel and aliens, which I won't spoil. Let's say I'm not typically a fan of either but this book was great.
Of note is the extremely tender romance, which should come as no surprise; despite the vicious world they inhabit, her lovers always end up on top. Of each other. But seriously it's sweet as hell, deliciously so, considering that the characters are mass murderers. But like, benevolent ones.
Anyway, if you're like me and you've read all the other Benjanun series and the Maria Yings etc, this one will not disappoint.
Of note is the extremely tender romance, which should come as no surprise; despite the vicious world they inhabit, her lovers always end up on top. Of each other. But seriously it's sweet as hell, deliciously so, considering that the characters are mass murderers. But like, benevolent ones.
Anyway, if you're like me and you've read all the other Benjanun series and the Maria Yings etc, this one will not disappoint.
July 23, 2024
5/5
More Than Utopia is the story of two lesbians who are so unhealthily obsessed with each other that they’ll literally break the universe(s) just to find each other again—and I love it.
As Yvette herself puts it, “I like being the only thing [Jiaryu] cares about, the only possession she regards with any depth or affection, and which she wants to keep with her forever. But it’s as Noor says—you aren’t supposed to confess your dysfunctions, these petty crimes of psychological unwellness.”
More Than Utopia is the story of two lesbians who are so unhealthily obsessed with each other that they’ll literally break the universe(s) just to find each other again—and I love it.
As Yvette herself puts it, “I like being the only thing [Jiaryu] cares about, the only possession she regards with any depth or affection, and which she wants to keep with her forever. But it’s as Noor says—you aren’t supposed to confess your dysfunctions, these petty crimes of psychological unwellness.”
December 19, 2022
The characters in this book were complicated and sexy and loving and funny. The action scenes were really heart-pounding, and the world-building in this new series is fantastic! The relationships between the wives were so incredibly heart-touching and made me cry several times. I highly recommend this book!
August 24, 2023
Great story.
June 6, 2025
Tbh the central romance dynamic hit too close to home for me to say anything coherent about this book, just love Benjanun's writing so damn much
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews