Have you ever wished you could live your life over again? Or, to put it more succinctly: if you were offered the chance to go back to some point in your past and become your younger self, while still retaining all your accumulated wisdom and memories, would you choose to do so? And if you did, what point would you go back to, and what, if anything, would you change?
This is the question posed to Rix Vaughn by world-renowned particle physicist and spiritual adept, Heyoka Husereau D'Ailleboust, whose melding of quantum mechanics with changes in brain chemistry during Native American rituals has set the stage for a bizarre experiment.
Rix–an aging, drug-ravaged, alcoholic singer/songwriter–must eventually answer that question, though his initial reaction to the proposal is one of extreme skepticism. After being persuaded to join Heyoka at his ranch-style villa in the foothills of the densely-forested Jura Mountains, Rix is secretly fed a drug cocktail that allows him to experience several astonishingly realistic memory flashbacks. Shaken and emotionally confused, he is about to refuse Heyoka’s offer, when he is introduced to the scientist’s assistant, Aurelie, a brilliant mathematician with a knack for explaining complex scientific matters using simple metaphorical examples.
Aurelie eventually convinces Rix to reconsider, and once committed to the program, he relies on her careful guidance to prepare him for an extraordinary journey through the labyrinth of probabilities that lie at the very edge of space and time.
Then Again is a captivating tale that delves into the ethereal aspects of quantum physics and Native American spirituality to set the stage for an examination of the emotional challenges and unpredictable consequences of attempting to rewrite the past. Though scientifically speculative, the novel tells an eminently believable, near-future story that chronicles the multiple lives of singer/songwriter Rix Vaughn as he undergoes a bizarre experiment in parallel-universe manipulation. - Hack Taylor, Editor of Reviews, Bleepthem.com
