The Space Between Worlds

The Space Between Worlds (2020) is the debut science fiction novel by Micaiah Johnson. An example of Afrofuturism, the dystopian narrative draws on Johnson’s academic background in critical race theory and her upbringing in California’s Mojave Desert to build its world of walled cities and surrounding wastelands. The novel was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. The story follows Cara, an impoverished woman who travels between parallel universes on behalf of a powerful, exploitative corporation. While navigating the stresses and dangers of multiple worlds, she uncovers a conspiracy that forces her to confront her past and challenge the power structures of her world. The novel explores themes of Identity as Both Static and Fluid, The Systemic Exploitation of Marginalized Groups, and The Search for Home and Belonging.

This guide is based on the 2021 Del Rey Trade Paperback Edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of addiction, graphic violence, physical abuse, pregnancy loss, sexual content, suicidal ideation, anti-gay bias, violent death, racism, and substance abuse.

Plot Summary

Cara works for the Eldridge Institute as a “traverser”; her job is to travel to parallel universes in order to collect data on behalf of “Earth Zero,” the world in which she makes her home. However, a traverser can only survive a jump to a world in which their parallel-world counterpart, or doppelgänger, is already dead. In this futuristic dystopia, most of the war-torn world lies in toxic ruins; the poor are forced to live in the perilous wastelands of Ashtown, while the privileged, wealthy members of society live in the insular, high-tech Wiley City. Both of these contrasting societies exist on 382 known Earths, and because of Cara’s harsh upbringing in Ashtown in all of these various worlds, versions of her have died in 372 of them. As a result, Cara—who is called Caramenta on Earth Zero—is an exceptionally valuable employee for Eldridge, as she has access to many different worlds.

One day, when Cara is on a mission, her handler, Dell Ikari, informs her that another of her counterparts has died, granting her access to a new world: Earth 175. Back at Eldridge headquarters in the wealthy, walled-off Wiley City, Cara’s mentor, Jean Sanogo (a celebrated former traverser), is secretly helping her to study to become an analyst. He fears that new technology developed by Eldridge’s founder, Adam Bosch, will soon make traversers obsolete, causing Cara to be evicted from Wiley City and cast back into the wastelands of her youth. As time goes on, other traversers are fired one by one.

Cara travels to her family’s home in the Rurals, a religious district of Ashtown, for a church dedication. She feels alienated from her mother, Mel, her stepfather, Daniel, and her twin step-siblings, Esther and Michael, because she is not of this world.

The narrative reveals that this version of Cara is an impostor on Earth Zero. Six years ago, on her home world of Earth 22, she was known as Caralee. Raised by a mother who struggled with addiction and was a sex worker for the House (Ashtown’s influential brothel), Caralee became the abused favorite of the city’s violent emperor, Nik Nik, in a bid to escape her hopeless life. However, his ruthless attentions brought her nothing but abuse as he ruled Ashtown with the assistance of his “runners,” or enforcers. After surviving a brutal beating at Nik Nik’s hands, Caralee discovered the broken body of Caramenta. (Caramenta, a new Eldridge recruit, had just died from the effects of a failed traverse to Earth 22, due to Caralee’s presence there). Desperate to escape Nik Nik, Caralee stole Caramenta’s identity and was recalled to Earth Zero by Caramenta’s “watcher” and handler, Dell. Once there, she secretly took up Caramenta’s traversing duties, unbeknownst to anyone at Eldridge.

In the present, on Earth Zero, Cara encounters Nik Nik at the dedication and is traumatized by his presence, recalling her experiences of his doppelgänger’s abuse on Earth 22. She also learns that Caramenta’s rebellious stepbrother on Earth Zero, Michael, idolizes this Nik Nik’s runners and longs to join them.

At Eldridge, Jean warns Cara that her counterpart on Earth 175, Nelline, was murdered. Fearing that the killer is Nik Nik, Cara reads the file and recognizes his signature method of killing.

Cara’s traverse to Earth 175 goes wrong, and when the in-between space of traversing violently rejects her and maims her body, Cara realizes that Nelline must still be alive. Cara lands with catastrophic injuries but manages to crawl to a road before passing out. She awakens in a healing pod in the emperor’s palace, cared for by a gentle version of Nik Nik. She learns that on this Earth, Nik Nik’s father died when his older brother, Adranik, was six, making Adranik the emperor. It was Adranik who abused Nelline, and Cara soon learns that he is the doppelgänger of Adam Bosch, her boss on Earth Zero. Cara is shocked to realize that Adam Bosch must also be the brother of Nik Nik on that world as well. When Cara’s facial disguise fails, Nik Nik recognizes her as Nelline. Adranik’s runners abduct Cara and bring her before the emperor, who sentences her to death. In the dungeon, she is rescued by the real Nelline, who then betrays her for money.

Cara is taken to the Rurals, where she discovers that in this world, Esther is Adranik’s abused wife. Esther, Nik Nik, and a runner named Mr. Cheeks are plotting a coup. Cara uses her data from other worlds to prove that Adranik is a disastrous ruler who has secretly been manufacturing guns and would be better supplanted by Nik Nik. Suddenly, the meeting is attacked by Adranik’s forces, and Cara confronts Adranik and tricks him into traversing with her. As Dell initiates the recall, Nelline leaps into the radius of the traverse-in-progress. In the space between worlds, both she and Adranik are killed by the backlash because their counterparts on Earth 0 are alive.

A dead Nelline and a live Cara land back on Earth 0. Later, during a debriefing, Dell lies to protect Cara, claiming that Cara’s traversing collar was broken. After recovering from her injuries, Cara buries Nelline in Ashtown with Esther’s help. During the ceremony, Esther privately reveals she has always known that Cara is an impostor, but she is grateful for Cara’s presence because her real sister, Caramenta, was cruel. She also indicates that Caramenta did not like Dell and lodged a complaint against her.

Adam Bosch summons Cara to a private meeting and reveals his knowledge that she caused the death of his doppelgänger on Earth 175. He thanks her for doing him a favor, as he sees the existence of his multiverse counterparts as a threat to his monopoly on traversing and has been systematically killing them off. He offers Cara a job as an assassin in his “Maintenance” department, which is really a kill squad. Cara is shocked but pretends to acquiesce in order to ensure her own survival.

Soon after this, Adam Bosch announces that Eldridge has developed an “inoculation” against the notorious doppelgänger backlash; he plans to offer commercial traversing trips. Realizing that the inoculation is a lie and that commercial trips can only take place if Adam murders the bidders’ doppelgängers, Cara breaks into a restricted R&D floor and discovers it is empty. Dell rescues her from an electrified security net. Later, Dell confronts Cara, revealing that the original Caramenta had cruelly rejected her after a romantic encounter; this fact explains Dell’s six years of coldness towards Caralee. Although this revelation strains their relationship, Dell eventually resumes her duties as Cara’s watcher.

Wanting to expose Adam’s crimes, Cara sends an anonymous report to law enforcement. Adam wrongly concludes that Jean is the whistleblower and has murdered him, framing Ashtown runners for the crime. At Jean’s funeral, Adam reveals that he orchestrated Caramenta’s death in order to recruit the more ruthless Cara.

Devastated, Cara plans her revenge. She acquires a rare gun from Earth 175 and offers it to the Earth Zero Nik Nik, along with the knowledge of his brother’s survival. Enraged by Adam’s subsequent insults, Nik Nik agrees to help Cara destroy the traversing hatch. The night before the attack, this proximity leads to a final, honest conversation in which Cara and Dell confess their feelings for each other. The next day, Cara helps Nik Nik’s runners, disguised as Maintenance workers, infiltrate the Eldridge building. She is taken to Adam’s office, where he reveals that he tried to buy Nik Nik’s loyalty but fatally misjudged him.

As the runners destroy the traversing hatch, Nik Nik also destroys Adam’s mansion. Cara reveals that she has replaced Adam’s eyedrops with a solution containing a parasite from another world that will slowly kill him. As Adam’s men move to kill her, Dell arrives with immigration enforcement. Having reported Cara for policy violations, Dell saves her life by getting her deported from Wiley City. Before Cara is taken away, Adam reveals that he has been experimenting on her with a modified serum that may threaten her long-term survival.

Exiled to Ashtown, Cara builds a new life as a writer and intermediary between Wiley City and the Ashtown locals. A month later, Dell, who has left Eldridge, finds her. The novel ends as they begin a new life together, embracing the single possibility for happiness together despite an infinity of universes.