No fancy image for this post yet. I’m trying something new.
First published: September 3, 2025 by Paul W. Romero
Preface: These three Dark Matter blogs were originally written from February 8, 2023 through March 22, 2023 in a series of discussion posts for my MFA Creative Writing program. I compiled them into what I hope is a coherent review.
The tension and micro tension of the story are built in a manner appropriate to the genre. The pacing feels believable and enjoyable with peaks and valleys, moments of high tension and moments to breathe in between suspenseful moments. The micro tension occurs in each alternate universe that Jason travels in which each time he must encounter a new challenge to overcome. All of these challenges eventually lead up to the climax where Jason finally finds his way home, but not after he realizes that all his actions are the same actions as his alternate personalities who have already begun to converge on his home universe. This leads to a brilliant climax that I must admit I didn’t see coming. The tension throughout the story slowly builds up to a satisfying ending.
World building elements are present in Dark Matter through the descriptions of the various universes; how they have some elements similar to Jason’s home universe including some of the inhabitants and locations, and how they have different elements such as a pandemic, a nuclear winter, crime and destruction unlike his own. Along with the brilliant characterization of all the characters and their alternate versions, there is not only a world that Blake Crouch has created, but multiple worlds in an expanded multiverse. This is no easy task, but Crouch does it well.
Each world’s politics and philosophies are similar but where they differ are in reaction to specific events that have occurred in each of them. For example, the rules of law and politics are the same in the post-pandemic world, except that now the government has taken extreme measures to contain the virus by ordering a lock down; anyone who violates that curfew will be shot and killed. In another world, the rules and politics are the same except the world is barren; there is no one alive or at least no survivors from what Jason can see. In the universe from which his kidnapper has come from, he is a world-renowned scientist who has created a serum that has changed the law of physics forever. In his own world, he is simply a happily married scientist, and his friend is becoming the world-renowned scientist.
The food and attire aren’t much different at all; the main norms the author has chosen to illustrate is the possibility of alternate realities and alternate consequences of alternate choices which emphasizes the world building elements of politics and philosophies. As with any great science fiction story, there is always that burning question of yes, we can always do something in the name of science, but should we?
When I first started reading Dark Matter I had my reservations. I felt myself dragging past the first scene about Jason and his family eating dinner, and wondered if the rest of the novel would drag as badly as the first scene. I was proven wrong immediately. After the first few pages, the story takes off and doesn’t stop. It becomes an amazing thriller with twists and turns and an ending that pays off most definitely. This novel fit into its speculative fiction genre. It has many speculative fiction elements present such as the “alternate universe,” “multiverse,” “scale of scientific sins,” and the “which me” tropes which I discussed further in my previous book group post (TV Tropes, “Speculative Fiction Tropes”). Crouch followed the expected tropes and conventions very well in regard to the genre. The title itself sounds synonymous with speculative fiction. Furthermore, the “which me” trope played out not only to the degree in which Jason had an alternate version of himself, but several alternate versions of which a large group of them converge on him in the climax. I admit I didn’t see this ending coming and this is what made it all the more satisfying.
Crouch was able to successfully raise the stakes and tension throughout the novel up until the final moments when a vast group of alternative Jasons entered the original Jason’s world to win over his wife. This leads to a showdown that fails, causing Jason and his family to venture into the multiverse in search of a new home. The ending was unexpected, natural, and left open to interpretation as to what would happen next with Jason and his family and their new life. Overall, Dark Matter is a speculative fiction piece while also fitting into the subgenre of science fiction. Moreso, Crouch has blended elements of other genres into his work such as mystery, thriller, and the forementioned science fiction subgenre. The elements of science and technology are present in the ability to travel into the multiverse. The elements of mystery are present in Jason’s struggle to figure out who kidnapped him and where he was taken to. The elements of thriller are present as Jason races against time and multiple odds to get back to his wife before the alternate Jasons reach her first.
Blake also adds elements of YA fiction through his use of various YA tropes such as “love conquers all,” “mistaken identity,” “dystopian settings,” and the “amnesia” trope (The YA Shelf, “50 YA Fiction Tropes and Cliches We Can’t Get Enough Of”). Some romance elements Blake adds include the “stuck together,” “love triangle,” and “second chance” tropes as discussed in my previous group post (MasterClass, “7 Popular Romance Fiction Tropes to Keep Your Readers Hooked”). I would also add one more trope and that is the sex scene or as TV Tropes describes it the “Sexy Discretion Shot” (TV Tropes, “Romance Novel Tropes”). Some contemporary elements the story has would be that it is set in a modern setting and has elements from the subgenre of commercial fiction in that it has elements of romance, crime, thriller, mystery and science fiction, it reaches a broad audience looking for a fast-paced book to keep them entertained and it has a satisfying experience to read (Ballenger).
One of my favorite moments in the book is towards the end of the novel when Jason enters a chatroom where he discovers all the other alternate Jasons converging onto his home universe. I love this scene on so many levels not only for the unexpected nature of it, but how the scene is set up and how everything unfolds in real time before Jason’s eyes. I felt drawn to him as if I was in the scene with him. In this scene we see multiple messages pop up one after the other showing that the other Jasons have already reached the original universe before the original Jason. Reality and fear start settling in as the original Jason realizes what the alternate Jasons are capable of and what they plan to do. Crouch writes, “Undoubtedly most of those Jasons were killed or lost forever in other worlds, but some, like me, made the right choices. Or got lucky. Their paths might have altered from mine, through different doors, different worlds, but they eventually found their respective ways back to this Chicago. We all want the same thing-to get our life back” (Crouch 262). Crouch continues to write, “This isn’t just a game of chess. It’s a game of chess against myself. I don’t want to see it this way, but I can’t help it. The other Jasons want the thing in the world that is most precious to me-my family. That makes them my enemy” (Crouch 262).
Works Cited
“7 Popular Romance Fiction Tropes to Keep Your Readers Hooked.” MasterClass, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/popular-romance-fiction-tropes-to-keep-your-readers-hooked. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
“50 YA Fiction Tropes and Cliches We Can’t Get Enough Of!” The YA Shelf, https://www.theyashelf.com/50-ya-fiction-tropes-and-cliches.htm. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
Ballenger, Kait. “Lecture Module 7.” YouTube, uploaded by Kait Ballenger, 02 Aug. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJrx0krzH0.
Crouch, Blake. Dark Matter. New York, Broadway Books, 2016.
“Romance Novel Tropes.” TV Tropes, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanceNovelTropes. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
“Speculative Fiction Tropes.” TV Tropes, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpeculativeFictionTropes. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
Paul W Romero 