Comments on: A scifi book about kids who traveled to an alternative universe?

Question: A scifi book about kids who traveled to an alternative universe?

who squared — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:39:05 -0800

I'm looking for a sci-fi book about young people who traveled to an alternative universe on multiple occasions. There was something about a power station and the story may also have mentioned a triangular symbol. It turns out that their switching between universes was limited for some reason.

The book would have been written at least 25 yrs ago. There weren't a lot of travelers and I think in the end, they had to make a decision about which world they'd stay in for good. Also, I think the power station was located near a beach or at least a body of water.

This is definitely not anything by Madeline L'Engle but it was written around that period, I think.

By: riotnrrd

riotnrrd — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:47:13 -0800

This sounds like the "His Dark Materials" series by Philip Pullman, although it doesn't meet your "25 years ago" criteria. The later books include the elements you discuss, although I don't recall a power station being prominent. Do you recall if the child characters had magical "pets" of a sort (trying to be spoiler free here)? If so, it's almost certainly this series.

By: deathpanels

deathpanels — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:55:24 -0800

Long shot, but my best guess: Are you talking about Diadem?

By: Narrative Priorities

Narrative Priorities — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:21:50 -0800

Longshot: possibly The Homeward Bounders?

By: Patbon

Patbon — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:41:58 -0800

Nthing his dark materials/golden compass. Everything but the power station is spot on, to the point where if this isn't the series you're taking about, it sounds like a copycat/plagarism

By: ausdemfenster

ausdemfenster — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:03:20 -0800

Could it be The Talisman? I don't think there's a power station, but there is switching between worlds and the beginning/ending takes place at the beach.

By: skywhite

skywhite — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:50:10 -0800

Was it definitely alternative universes, or possibly just portals to and from Earth?

By: pont

pont — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:58:48 -0800

Patbon: where does the triangle come into His Dark Materials? It's a while since I read it but I don't recall any significant triangles. And the question appears to concern a single alternative universe, rather than the multifarious universes of HDM. And if the date's correct, HDM and plagiarism thereof are impossible, by a 15ish-year margin.

Unfortunately I don't have any good suggestions as to what the mystery book actually could be...

By: feets

feets — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:26:50 -0800

How about Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars? The kids meet a Venusian motorcyclist at the Bermuda Triangle Chili Parlor and learn how to travel to alternate dimensions. They don't travel from a power plant, though, they travel from Hergeschleimer's Oriental Gardens.

By: signsofrain

signsofrain — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:22:53 -0800

The power station bit makes me think of Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. The story doesn't exactly fit your other criteria, though there are sort of 2 "worlds" and the protagonist does, ultimately have to choose one.

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:58:35 -0800

Sounds a bit like Alan Garner's "Elidor," although in that novel it's a ruined church rather than a power station that's the portal between worlds.

By: Margalo Epps

Margalo Epps — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:19:19 -0800

Could you perhaps be remembering two Diana Wynne Jones books? Archer's Goon has a power station, but only minimal universe switching (it's mostly time manipulation), but Homeward Bounders has the universe picking down. They were both published in the early '80's.

By: who squared

who squared — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:34:10 -0800

Not Diana Wynne Jones or Philip Pullman or any of the other suggestions. If you're familiar with the TV show, Otherworld, it was something very similar.

By: who squared

who squared — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:36:29 -0800

skywhite, it was definitely a different time and place for the protagonists but on Earth and no aliens that I recall.