Of All the New Yorks in All the Worlds

by Indrapramit Das

A student of multiversal time travel slips from one version of New York to another, discovering that love may transcend timelines, but so too can heartbreak…

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Romance

32 pages, ebook

First published October 19, 2022

About the author

See also Indra Das.

Indrapramit Das (also known as Indra Das) is an Indian science fiction, fantasy and cross-genre writer, critic and editor from Kolkata. His fiction has appeared in several publications including Clarkesworld, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and Tor.com, and has been widely anthologized in collections including Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction.

His debut novel The Devourers (Penguin Books India, 2015; Del Rey, 2016) won the 29th Annual Lambda Award in LGBT SF/F/Horror category. The Lambda Award celebrates excellence in LGBT literature. The Devourers was shortlisted for 2016 Crawford Award, and included in the 2015 Locus Recommended Reading List. It was also nominated for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and the Tata Live! Literature First Book Award in India.

Das is an Octavia E. Butler Scholar and a graduate of the 2012 Clarion West Writers Workshop. He completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

He is a former consulting editor of speculative fiction for Indian publisher Juggernaut Books.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a deeply saddening read. Not because heartbreak and endings figure into its protagonist's love life...that's the way of it for everyone, every single one of us sooner or later.

It saddens me because the darkness behind the comm job, behind the entire multiversal enterprise, went unexplored and almost entirely unremarked. But this could be a taster for more to come, couldn't it? Shouldn't it be?

I would like some more, please, and going deeper into the whole idea of how and who decided the multiversal enterprise would work.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - I liked this. It's a little rambly, meandering around and musing rather than making big statements or pursuing action, and I thought it suited the author's writing.

Free from Tor here: https://www.tor.com/2022/10/19/of-all...

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super sad love story of a dimension-jumper who passes messages along to different version of the same girl he loves. Sweet and sad and introspective.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a free short story that can be read online here.

Siddharth travels through universes and, in a NYC similar yet different to others he knows, he meets the altself of his ex-girlfriend.

I found this a far more poignant read, penned in a far sweeter tone, than what I had anticipated. The concept of parallel universes is a fascinating one and what initially lured me to this story, but the focus on the emotions of these individuals is what so endeared me towards it. It definitely dwelt inside the science fiction genre but was a gentle story about human emotions, played out in front of a futuristic backdrop.

[Roslyn]

3.5
Comments to come.

[Melanie Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5? Das war ganz nett mit Potential.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trainee message courier travels between universes, passing messages between different versions of the same person. On one such trip, he falls in love with the message receiver. But she breaks off their relationship when he has to return to his own universe. Now the same person from his own universe wishes to meet him.

A tale with minimal SF in it (interdimensional travel), it is more of a story of a person facing heartbreak over a broken relationship in another universe and doesn't quite know how to deal with meeting the same person in his own universe. Together, perhaps they can work out how deeply they should be involved with each other.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. 3, didn’t do much for me, stars.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This started out pretty good with the setup, and then just ... kinda rambles to an ending. Nothing much really happens to be honest.

[Sarabeth Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not often that I feel short stories deserve to be expanded out into a full fledged format, but this is one of those times. The few pages that this story is barely touches the tip of the iceberg and the author writes in a compelling way that wishes I could explore the world he barely touches on in so much more depth. The main focus of the story is Siddharth, a time traveler courier of a multitude of NYCs who ends up meeting the alternate self of his ex-girlfriend. It follows the emotional journey of him reckoning his heartbreak from one universe and existing in another with a different version of someone who once meant so much to him.

[Edward "Gryftkin" Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not normally my type of story, but I know good writing when I see it :) A time-traveling multiverse-jumping courier/student/explorer (it's a complex job description :D ) becomes friends with an alternative version of the girl he fell in love with. While not all happening one day, this story is very much a "day in the life" type story. While definitely sci-fi, this is more a story about two people. Very well done. Check it out for yourself on https://reactormag.com/of-all-the-new... I'm definitely looking forward to reading something else by this author.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of All the New Yorks in All the Worlds by author Indrapramit Das is a short story you can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2022/10/19/of-all...

A student of multiversal time travel slips from one version of New York to another, discovering that love may transcend timelines, but so too can heartbreak…

I liked it!

4 Stars

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sid brings communication to Aditi in an alternate New York, and falls in love with her. Two weeks before he has to go back she dumps him. His plan of a long distance relationship of working NYC5 exclusively are dashed. He returns to his NYC and Aditi there reaches out to him. Novelette. VG.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story on Tor.com: https://www.tor.com/2022/10/19/of-all...

[Grace Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet ending and a good message

[Daniella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story advent utilising tordotcom free fiction 1/25.

Really enjoyed this short story about time travel and heartbreak and friendship.

[joy evangelista · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.tor.com/2022/10/19/of-all...

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting world, but the story is about someone getting over heartbreak. It just didn't appeal to me so much.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more ‘slice of life with science fiction in the background’ and I would have preferred more science fiction. I also didn’t care about the romance and kept thinking that the main character was a woman and was disappointed when reminded that he wasn’t. And when main character’s name was revealed was further disappointed that it didn’t make a better allusion or connection to the characters’ namesakes. Aditi is ‘the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos. She is the goddess of motherhood, consciousness, unconsciousness, the past, the future, and fertility.’ Siddharth is the birth name of the founder of Buddhism. So there are some interesting ideas that could have been built upon, but it feels lacking.

Maybe I’ll reread this keeping their namesakes in mind and perhaps glean something more
https://reactormag.com/of-all-the-new...

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

The MC hops between various New Yorks for work, each from a different timeline, but what happens when he falls in love with someone who’s not from his own timeline?

Though I would’ve loved more of a dive into the tech behind the jumps and this interesting organization he works for, it’s a very thought-provoking read in both the science aspects and the heartbreak.

[Beth N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about what happens when you are a traveller in the multiverse and happen to fall in love with someone you will have to leave a world away - and what happens when you meet another them. Pretty and bittersweet with a solid speculative foundation.