Readers who enjoyed Good Intentions and Bad Actors, the first two installments in the Multiverse Refugees Trilogy penned by Canadian satirist and author Ira Nayman, will be pleased to know that the third volume, The Ugly Truth, is now available.
The Ugly Truth expands upon the premise introduced in the previous two novels. The inhabitants of Earth Prime 4-6-4-0-8-9 dash Omega, whose universe is about to be destroyed, are being relocated to other planets, including Earth Prime, where much of the action takes place. On Earth Prime, the aliens can’t help standing out. Physically, they are four feet tall, with no hair and blue skin, and dress in exquisite three-piece suits. The aliens worship a god called the Audi Enz, whom they seek to appease by engaging in absurd behaviour in order to evoke laughter.
Due to their physical and cultural differences, the aliens “fit in about as well as a skunk at a rodeo.” While some humans accept the aliens and try to help them, others, the “humans firsters,” try to make their lives difficult. The “anti-alien mob” may be “a minority of the population, but they sure are loud, so they get the attention of those in power, some of whom are willing to pander to their prejudice.”
The Ugly Truth follows a number of different characters, including, among others, the Eternal Detectives, Joe and Bill; Martini Frobisher, an alien who is running for Canadian Parliament as an NDP candidate in an Alberta riding; Transdimensional Authority operative Daveen Rasmalai Rapier; and an alien named Lemmy Adjudicator, who is “transformed into the mild-mannered superhero Mistah Charisma.”
The novel intersperses narrative with articles from the Alternate Reality News Service, entries from Martini Frobisher’s campaign diary, and a series of poems about members of a rock group called the Occidental Tourists.
As those familiar with other works by Nayman might expect, The Ugly Truth is packed with humor, including ridiculous situations, satire, and wordplay. Lines like “The market has spoken, and boy could it use some mouthwash” and “He may as well have tried to stop an oncoming train with a ramen noodle” keep the reader laughing.
Nayman weaves in a number of cultural and political references. For example, the Canadian prime minister is Ryan Reynolds, and Canadian comedian and television personality Howie Mandel gets a mention, as do the Infant President and Foxindehenhaus News. Nayman also pokes fun at superhero and police detective show tropes, bureaucracy, and human nature.
The Ugly Truth contains serious notes as well. The shabby treatment of the aliens by some individuals parallels the way refugees and immigrants are treated by some in our version of Earth.
Near the end of the book, Das Kapitan Obvious notes, “The ugly truth is that good intentions are always fought by bad actors, bad actors who scoff at rules and do not recognize constraints on their behaviour, so they always seem to have the upper hand in the struggle.”
Besides being the third book in the Multiverse Refugees Trilogy, The Ugly Truth is also the eighth novel in the Transdimensional Authority Multiverse Series, which includes titles like Welcome to the Multiverse (Sorry for the Inconvenience), Random Dingoes, and The Multiverse is a Nice Place to Visit, but I Wouldn’t Want To Live There. Fans of Nayman’s humor and capacity for imagination should find The Ugly Truth a worthy addition to the series.
Ira Nayman is a debonair humunculus of mystery who leads an exciting double life as an author of humorous divertissements. Ira was also the editor of Amazing Stories magazine for two and a half years, and is past President of SFCanada, the organization of science fiction and fantasy professionals. Or, at least, that’s his cover story and he’s sticking to it.
- Publisher : Elsewhen Press (July 3 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1915304040
- ISBN-13 : 978-1915304049
Lisa Timpf is a retired HR and communications professional who lives in Simcoe, Ontario. Her writing has appeared in New Myths, Star*Line, The Future Fire, Triangulation: Habitats, and other venues. Lisa’s speculative haibun collection, In Days to Come, is available from Hiraeth Publishing. You can find out more about Lisa’s writing at http://lisatimpf.blogspot.com/.