Click on image to enlarge.
|
Merge
by Chris Owen
Category: Erotica/Gay-Lesbian Erotica/Romance
Description: Picking up where Chris Owen's Converge left off, Finn has crossed into Ari's dimension, but now what? He's a man without a past, without papers, and he can't get home. Now that he and Ari are together in body as well as spirit, they can move their relationship forward. But the uncertainty of Finn's status, and Finn's unfamiliarity with Ari's dimension, are definitely standing in their way. On top of that, something strange is going on. People in Ari's dimension are not only disappearing, they're reappearing again days later. Tracking the news and combining it with the information he has about dimensions and Between, Finn begins to suspect that his appearance in Alpha and these strange happenings are connected for sure. As he and Ari work together to help Finn adjust to Ari's life, their quest for a way to restore communication with Alpha begins. Through some clues from Alpha, and an unexpected revelation about Finn's friend Blake, Finn and Ari find someone who might be able to help him. But is the potential cost to them--and to Finn's friends and family back in Alpha--worth the attempt?
eBook Publisher: Torquere Press/Top Shelf, 2008 www.torquerepress.com
eBookwise Release Date: July 2008
 
31 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [226 KB]
Words: 53331
Reading time: 152-213 min.
Kiernan Kelly, author of In Bear Country, writes: "Ari thought he had his life together, working long hours, a steady boyfriend, and a competent administrative assistant who was more friend than employee. Then suddenly, everything in his safely structured world is tossed on its ear--his boyfriend leaves him, and he begins seeing a strange man standing in his doorway?and he finds himself inexplicably attracted to the man. Finn has been watching Ari for years, since they were both children, each living in an alternate dimension. Using the cosmic walkway of Between, Finn has kept a close eye on Ari--and fallen in love with him. When the authorities find out about Finn's illicit activities in Between, he makes a daring move by passing fully into the other dimension and directly into the arms of the man who'd been an obsession to him all his life. Merge picks up where Chris Owen's intensely creative and riveting novel, Converge, leaves off. Owen takes the reader on a wonderful journey of discovery, as Ari and Finn interact on a much more physical level, and as Finn discovers the similarities and differences between the dimensional worlds of Alpha and Beta, as well learning to cope with newfound empathic abilities and his deep-rooted love for Ari. I found the Merge every bit as riveting as its predecessor, and greatly enjoyed Finn adjusting to life in a dimension so much like his own, and yet worlds apart. I highly recommend Merge, and the original novel, Converge for fast-paced science fiction mixed seamlessly with hot and steamy love scenes!"
Science in one dimension of Earth, which its inhabitants refer to as the Alpha dimension, has proven not only that the planet has multiple dimensions, probably an infinite number of them, but also that the link between their own and the one nearest to them is strong. So strong, in fact, that it might cause problems for Alpha in terms of domestic stability if the people of Beta were to act upon that closeness. The connection is strong enough, or the dimensions are close enough, or the realities are similar enough, that the people of Alpha can see, hear, and even feel the emotions of the people in the Beta dimension. The people and their geography appear washed out and gray while the people of Alpha are in full color, but every individual can be seen and heard, and, to some extent, felt as well, depending upon the intensity of their emotions. Of course, the people of Alpha are not permitted to interact with that population. There are very strict laws in place regulating behavior with regard to the residents of Beta, and even stricter ones to deal with the area between the dimensions. A field made up of energy, Between is the no-man's-land that separates the two dimensions. It is accessible to anyone from Alpha in that they have the ability to get there; the area is patrolled, however, by the Department of Security to keep unauthorized watching, spying, interfering, and interacting at the acceptable level of "zero." The authority to actually do any of those things is granted through the government and a few education and scientific research agencies and is heavily regulated. For years, it has been believed, taught, and insisted upon that any attempt to cross from Between into the Beta dimension would result in death, either the physical destruction of the body or, worse, the body and mind being trapped in the energy field, unable to move, unable to exist. But two men are hurrying, rushing through Between in a near panic. They each have bags--one with a backpack, the other with a satchel--and it is the man with the satchel who knows where they're going. They don't feel the energy within Between, used to it as they are. They halt where they need to, used to watching through the barrier to Beta, used to the odd feelings that come with seeing two dimensions of space and time at once. And then the man with the satchel, his face lined with fear and uncertainty, takes a step. He no longer moves within Between. The other man watches for a moment and then nods as he backs away. When he turns to run back the way he came, he can already hear the faint vibrations of people moving in Between. If he hurries, he can avoid being captured. He hopes his friend is all right in Beta. It will be a long time before he can find out.
|
)
