From Publishers Weekly
The possibility of moving a person's consciousness between our world and others comes alive as Hogan (The Immortality Option), a dean of hard SF, parlays a standard SF gambit into an entertaining, imaginative yarn. The near-future Earth envisioned here is both familiar and dystopian. Current problems have festered until resources are scarce, scientific discoveries are governmentally controlled, Western culture is globally despised and the Earth teeters on the brink of violent disaster. The plot focuses on a group of scientists working at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos. There, they are experimenting with QUADAR, a machine that "enhances" mental faculties, allowing for a heightened sense of truth and a knowledge of the possible paths the future may take; these revelations in turn lead the scientist to a method for scientifically exploring alternative worlds. While the plot starts off dryly, emphasizing the possibilities that QUADAR creates, the pace quickens when the protagonists discover an otherworld intellectual utopia, and as they fight to keep that paradise free from violent takeover by evil politicians. Readers awed by explorations of either inner or outer space will want to sign up for this ride. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
As the nations of Earth begin a downward spiral toward global warfare, a group of government-supervised scientists attempts to predict the future by exploring parallel universes. In the tradition of classic sf, the author of Realtime Interrupt (LJ 2/15/95) blends scientific speculation and taut suspense to create a near-future technothriller. Although character development takes a back seat to ideas, Hogan's imaginative vision of the multiverse exerts its own strange attraction. For large sf collections.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The well-worn sf notion of parallel universes receives a computer-driven update in Hogan's latest novel. Berkeley research scientists Hugh Brenner and Theo Jantowitz are just beginning to make startling progress in siphoning information from other universes by means of sophisticated computer technology when their funding disappears. Fortunately but not fortuitously, they are recruited by a secret Defense Department research arm to continue their work under the umbrella of Project Octagon. Joined by a motley team of brilliant minds, including a Buddhist philosopher, the two quickly develop the means to shift their awarenesses to other versions of themselves in the "multiverse" and to preview thereby future outcomes for their home universe. Armed with such knowledge, their team hopes to finally reverse the deterioration of modern civilization. Their military hosts have other ideas, however, which include turning Project Octagon into an immensely powerful surveillance weapon. Hogan's penchant for exploring the implications of his premises to their limits redeems his often textbook-dry prose, making this another winner for him and his readers. Carl Hays

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the early 21st century, the nations of the world have realigned themselves into new power blocs. The centers of new totalitarian empires are China and Japan, both bent on world domination. Unable to learn from the mistakes of the past they are bound to repeat them in a new war that will make all earlier ones seem tame. Nor can the United States and Europe - both of which have become police states in their own right as a result of unending conflict with totalitarians - permit either Japan or China to win an outright victory, because for both sides the ultimate goal is the annihilation of the oppressor races of the West. But in this nightmare world without a future, there may yet be a way out, thanks to quantum mechanics, a secret mechanism that dwells in the heart of human DNA, and a handful of dedicated scientists.... A top-secret U.S. government program is initiated, involving a strange realm of physics uncovered following new insights to the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Those in charge of the project care only for the political power the discovery might bring. But a small maverick group of scientists work secretly on their own in pursuit of a vision they have glimpsed, a vision of a universe staggeringly more vast than anything previously imagined, made up of worlds where history takes every course conceivable, where the wars of the 20th century were fought with curiously different outcomes... And even a world where they never happen at all.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The possibility of moving a person's consciousness between our world and others comes alive as Hogan (The Immortality Option), a dean of hard SF, parlays a standard SF gambit into an entertaining, imaginative yarn. The near-future Earth envisioned here is both familiar and dystopian. Current problems have festered until resources are scarce, scientific discoveries are governmentally controlled, Western culture is globally despised and the Earth teeters on the brink of violent disaster. The plot focuses on a group of scientists working at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos. There, they are experimenting with QUADAR, a machine that "enhances" mental faculties, allowing for a heightened sense of truth and a knowledge of the possible paths the future may take; these revelations in turn lead the scientist to a method for scientifically exploring alternative worlds. While the plot starts off dryly, emphasizing the possibilities that QUADAR creates, the pace quickens when the protagonists discover an otherworld intellectual utopia, and as they fight to keep that paradise free from violent takeover by evil politicians. Readers awed by explorations of either inner or outer space will want to sign up for this ride. (Feb.)

Library Journal