Herman Steuernagel (2024)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
It would be faint praise to say that this is the best book that I've read in a while. However, I really enjoyed this book. I don't remember how I heard of this book, but once I heard the title, I looked it up. The cover didn't sell me on the book, but it did help.
To be honest, I was curious because one of my writing prompt responses does have a bar between worlds. But it isn't an actual story. It's more of a behinning of something that needs a lot more. It could be a setting for a related set of short stories.
Thankfully, this book was nothing like mine.
First of all, the main character Emma isn't a bartender. She's a Hunter of people touched by magic, until she realizes that she's touched by magic. Then she tries to escape her life and wants to be a bartender because her magic affects alcohol. And she doesn't become a bartender "between" worlds but across different dimensions. Also, dimension hopping happens through portals, so there isn't any "between", no etheral plane, as well. That's not a criticism, just an explanation.
The story takes place across a handful of worlds that are all recognizeable but wildly different. Still, the counterparts of the main characters can, and do, inhabit these new Earths.
The original Earth starts generic fantasy English although there is mention of railroads. Emma encounters a fairy and a wizard. The wizard is a professor from another world who is trapped here because his device no longer works. I thought he was going to be steampunk, but he's actually from a 21st century world like our own without any magic. This proves difficult for the magic users, so they leave again to do more research on dimension hopping.
It was a quick read and under 300 pages, both of which I appreciated after a couple of books that I slogged through.
I enjoyed this book. I would consider reading a sequel.
If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.
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