Reality Alternatives
Kindle
$4.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$19.99
Paperback
$13.99
Audible Logo Your audiobook is waiting!
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00
  • Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $24.95
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

Reality Alternatives Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Lesley L. Smith (Author, Publisher), Susan J Iannucci (Narrator)
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
See all formats and editions

What would you do if you found your perfect life?

When lonely physicist Chloe Carsen discovers a parallel world, she becomes addicted to her life there with a perfect family and a perfect career. She doesn't even care that her physical body in the real world is wasting away. But, then, in the alternative world, her ideal life begins to fall apart. Her anti-gravity experiment unleashes a government manhunt for her and her family; they'll do anything to get their hands on her tech. The lives of Chloe's alternative-world husband and sons are endangered.

Chloe is torn away from them as her real-world brother finds her on the verge of death and destroys her equipment. Heartbroken and torn between two worlds, Chloe pushes her scientific expertise to the limit to find a way to reconcile her two lives. Can the husband and sons be saved? Can she build a life for herself in the real world?

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 53 minutes
  2. Author
    Lesley L. Smith
  3. Narrator
    Susan J Iannucci
  4. Audible release date
    October 26, 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Lesley L. Smith
  7. ASIN
    B01MCXNALF
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you buy the Kindle book.

Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 53 minutes
Author Lesley L. Smith
Narrator Susan J Iannucci
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date October 26, 2016
Publisher Lesley L. Smith
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01MCXNALF
Best Sellers Rank #607,111 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2,042 in Hard Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#15,709 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
15 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rebecca L.
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Book
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is another solid book by Leslie Smith about a college professor who’s dabbling with scientific theories that turn out to be true. The storyline gets going when the protagonist Chole gets sucked into an alternate reality by a device that she created. The trouble with her alternate reality is that she seems to like it much better than her current one. Chloe, a workaholic professor in real life, now has a cute husband and two reasonably well-behaved sons. She and her kids can also do magic. But the alternate reality is problematic for her brother Colton, whose alter ego is handicapped, and not very exciting for her grad student Emily, who has the same life albeit with better dating opportunities. I also simply can’t understand why Chloe wouldn’t go looking for real-life Aidan immediately after she realizes that he exists in real life instead of letting herself get sucked into alternate universe (AU). It’s definitely what I would have done in her shoes.

And I’m with Chloe’s mom on the subject of instant mashed potatoes. They are an abomination that should not be eaten ever, much less served to your extended family as part of a holiday meal. I also think AU Chloe needs to check herself when it comes to her brother because she comes off as ambivalent and almost mean towards Colton in that reality. The same could be said of Aidan when he seems to be pouting because he didn’t end up with superpowers and starts criticizing Chloe for being irresponsible. I liked their lawyer’s schemes, which might have worked to keep them out of trouble if the kids (being kids) didn’t decide to see what they could do. I additionally appreciated the fact that the science involved is explained in some detail in the text and in the back of the book, even though it may still go over the reader’s head.

The plot that follows the family’s discovery of their magic (anti-matter) abilities reminds me heavily of the television show Gifted. In both stories the US government decides to take people with superpowers and their families into custody and imprison them, citing the Patriot Act as an excuse. It’s a terrifying prospect. But the whole wanting-to-surrender to the government gets me every time someone tries to play that card. Is Chloe nuts? She’d have a much better chance sneaking over either border than trying to negotiate. I also felt that her brother could have offered to pay for the equipment he broke twice over the course of the book. He’s a medical doctor with no family of his own, so he’d be able to afford a replacement much better than college professor whose salary supports her, two kids, and her husband.

But aside from a few issues I had with some of the characters, it was interesting and well worth a read.
Helpful
 Report
Chris H.
2.0 out of 5 stars and what happens when you like your alternate reality better
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
Reality Alternatives explores alternate realities, and what happens when you like your alternate reality better. While the idea is interesting, the story itself falls flat. I was a little disappointed because the author’s book Temporal Dreams was such a great read, but in trying to develop two different worlds for the main character, Chloe, neither draws the reader in.
Helpful
 Report
Kat Kennedy
4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining read about Alternative Reality
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
Lonely physics professor, Chloe Carson, and her graduate student assistant, Emily, are working on an experiment to prove the existence of alternative realities. Chloe is transported to an alternative reality, but unfortunately, it is one in which is finds herself in a much happier existence. Not only that, but when in the other reality, she remembers nothing of her “real” world. Alternative Chloe is nothing like the lonely professor participating in an experiment in a VR helmet. She discovers she has a loving husband and two sons. Her life is happy and fulfilling. When she is pulled back to reality after her experiment times out, she finds she remembers her alternate life. Chloe quickly becomes obsessed with returning to her alternate reality and her family, so much so that she goes to extremes to enter into the trance that takes her to this other life. She pushes the limits of endurance to stay with her new found family, but how long can she hold out? And why are such odd things happening in this other world? How can Chloe ever rectify her two existences?
Lesley L. Smith has written an interesting book about alternate worlds using the theory of dark matter as an impetus. I found this book to be very entertaining. I enjoy reading about string theory and such, so I’ve enjoyed the two Smith books I’ve read. I found myself relating somewhat with Chloe. What would you do if you discovered a different world in which you had a family after living a lonely life? It’s an intriguing hypothesis to think of the ramifications of alternate realities. I think Smith has done a good job with this novel in creating a dual world. I did wonder about Chloe’s “real” world though. She becomes so engrossed in her separate reality that the book’s plot is mostly in the “other” world. I think my only critique would be that I wanted to know more about Chloe Carsen of the “real” world. For anyone looking for a different and entertaining read, I recommend Reality Alternatives.
Helpful
 Report
jswaters
3.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced sci-fi adventure
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
Reality Alternatives is ostensibly the story of two Chloes: one a single, somewhat reclusive and anti-social physics professor studying the possibility of parallel universes, the other a physics professor with a loving family, a full social life, and a research project involving dark matter and dark energy, and an unexpected "superpower" -- the result of dark matter experimentation. However, so much of the story is spent with Chloe number two that Chloe number one seems very extraneous and underdeveloped and didn't add anything to the book overall. I do think this is the start to a series, so the set up may pay off later. The book was delightfully fast-paced, suspenseful, and had some great funny one-liners. My main complaint with the book is the characterization was fairly underdeveloped, and relied a lot on telling not showing (also...the 10 and 13-year old boys in the book really didn't ring true to their ages, unless the 10 year old was supposed to be a remarkably whiny and babyish 10 year old). Bottom line: not fantastic, but a fun and promising start to a sci-fi adventure series that may make you want to be a scientist.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Kate
4.0 out of 5 stars Two stories crammed into one
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
“Reality Alternatives” is an engaging novel that blends the sci-fi genre with touches of family and romance. An experiment by physicist Chloe Carson gives her access to an immersive alternate reality where all the things she lacks in real life are different. In this other life, Chloe is still a physicist but her subject area is different. More importantly, however, is the fact she has a loving family and a life outside her work. She isn't lonely any more. And she wants it to stay that way.

I have now read a number of novels by this author and I must say that “Reality Alternatives” is by far the best I've seen so far. It is still pacey, like many of the others, but it doesn't have the same lull in the middle where the narrative feels lost. Instead, the novel powers on throughout without feeling like it's treading water while the author works out where it's going. The story arc is, for the most part, nicely rounded and I feel like it shows some of the author's writing strengths.

While the construction of the novel is a vast improvement when compared to some of the author's other stories, there is a noticeable issue with the plot structure of “Reality Alternatives”. From the novel description, “Reality Alternatives” feels like it will be a pretty even split between the two halves of Chloe's life and that much of the conflict will be down to this divide. In reality, however, a huge majority of the novel is devoted to the other reality and the bulk of the conflict comes from some sci-fi elements that take place there rather than issues created through the parallel realities. This doesn't really detract from the enjoyment of the narrative but it does make it feel a bit unbalanced. As a reader, you half forget about the “real” life but also keep wondering when the two worlds will filter together and waiting for the pay-off. It feels rather like the author started with one story idea but got distracted constructing another one – they could have been successful novel concepts in their own right.

The characters in “Reality Alternatives” are reasonably well-constructed and engage the reader well. I liked Chloe and appreciated that she was pretty selfish and impulsive whilst also trying to be a good person. Unlike in other novels by this author, there wasn't just one rounded character surrounded by stereotypical placeholders and instead most of them did feel like they had their own stories outside of the protagonist's world. This built up the world and made everything much more engaging.

Overall, an engaging novel but definitely two distinct stories crammed together.
Report
Katherine
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
'Torn between two worlds' may be an old trope that has been well covered in the sci-fi world over past decades, but as long as authors keep inventing twists on it like Lesley L. Smith has, it's one that will continue to spark interest, and with good reason. When Smith's protagonist, a physicist, becomes obsessed with a different reality in which she has everything she could dream of, she becomes torn between the life she has built for herself, and the life she has discovered. This is brilliantly, inventively written. The characters are well-developed and Chloe's dilemma is carefully thought out in ways that I think most readers could relate to, in one way or another - whether in sympathy with her alternate reality family, with her anxious 'real-life' brother, or with Chloe herself.

Underneath it all, Smith laces the story with a moral question aimed at the reader - would you choose to have it all, even if it is not a life you built yourself? Or would you forsake your dreams for reality? This has kept me pondering long after I put the book down, and sparked some fun conversations since - Reality Alternatives would make great reading for a book club! Or perhaps just for those of who enjoy philosophical problems such as this one.

Although the science is secondary in this novel, it is nevertheless well-written into the story, and the entire system of alternate reality is explored creatively. I absolutely commend the author for finding a new and thrilling way to do this.
Report