Heart transplant recipient Arthur Feldman serves as a frame narrator, sharing an otherworldly story he believes was experienced by his organ donor, Rodwell Richards. The story begins with Rodwell’s untimely murder, then shifts to a surreal alternate reality as Rodwell’s consciousness leaves his body. Instead of going to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell, Rodwell finds himself in a strange world—reborn, as it were, into a new life in a universe enigmatically connected to Earth. His experiences are interrupted by intermittent breaks back into "reality" in the form of nightmares--visions and sensations of being in a hospital room, barely clinging to life, the voice of his wife desperately trying to come to terms with his comatose condition. Over time, Rodwell becomes increasingly involved and connected with this new world, until the new life replaces the old, suggesting that there is no afterlife, but rather jumps from one universe to the next.
Another Space in Time is a refreshing and provocative look at our world and the world beyond, speculating existence, purpose, and God in thoughtful and meaningful ways. At times, Bunning’s style seemed similar to that of Olaf Stapledon, one of my favorite speculative fiction authors. I recommend this book to fans of ‘50s pulp sci-fi and readers who enjoy a literary edge to their science fiction.
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