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Summary and Reviews of Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes

Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes

Archive of Unknown Universes

A Novel

by Ruben Reyes
  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • First Published:
  • Jul 1, 2025, 288 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

From the author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war—a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.

Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis's relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.

Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.

Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds—one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It's both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.

Prologue

R,

I woke up thinking about Cuba. Do you remember the things we did as shadows danced on our shoulders?

That was only a year ago and already it feels like a lifetime has passed. Our cause, which started as musings and theory and theology, seems more important every day. It terrifies me that a war is around the corner, but I see no way of avoiding it.

Amid it all, the intensity of our relationship still rattles me. Being with you, I know I mislabeled my feelings in the past. Love is what I have for you. And I'm sorry for the moments I've failed to express it. You said once that love is a spring that wells inside you until you want to scream about it, and that your only regret is that the world doesn't want to hear it from men like us.

You're right that the world begs for our silence, pushing us into the shadows. I've shared their desires, beliefs I still cling to some lonely mornings. I know that makes you unhappy, and I'm sorry. At least I'm able to ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

BookPage
Excellent.

BookRiot
This is a genre-blender exploring displacement and loss, but also belonging and love, and one that asks big questions about what could have been.

Boston Globe
A remarkably self-assured and thrilling debut novel...The book starts with a Cambridge couple whose relationship is on the rocks, until one of them decides to explore all the alternate storylines her own ancestors could have lived, bouncing from Cuba to El Salvador to the US. War, revolution, forbidden loves, and complications abound, and the result is a deliriously fun read.

Debutiful
A deliciously written novel with rich history, memorable characters, and heart.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Pitch-perfect dialogue, propulsive prose, fast-paced flashbacks, and epistolary interludes...A gripping family history with a fresh speculative edge and timely resonances with the currently unfolding timeline.

Library Journal (starred review)
Reyes mixes historical fiction and sci-fi, arguing that the choices we make in this life are the ones that matter and that love can cross generations and time. Recommended for those interested in left-wing revolutions, alternate history, and family dramas and for readers of Gina María Balibrera and Colson Whitehead who want to view the meaning of romance from many angles.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Marvelous...Reyes powerfully excavates the rippling effects of the Salvadoran civil war on his characters. Equally remarkable is his depiction of tech's alluring yet dangerous frontier, which also affords the narrative a bit of fun. Readers will be riveted.

Reader Reviews

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