Archive of Unknown Universes: A Novel

by Ruben Reyes Jr. Narrated by Lee Osorio

Overview

From the critically acclaimed 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.

""Beautiful."" -LA Times, A Must-Read Book for Summer

""Luminous."" -People, A Best Book of July

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"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." — Boston Globe

"Luminous." — People

"Stunning." — Shelf Awareness

"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."  — Publishers Weekly (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." — Kirkus Reviews (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." — Library Journal (starred review)

“Excellent.”  — BookPage

"Archive of Unknown Universes is a rare, unforgettable feast of a novel: a love letter, a lamentation, a wish. A technology-infused, literary-historical sliding doors about revolution and empire, what we leave and what we keep, family secrets and the infinite possibilities of interrupted love. Ruben Reyes Jr. is an important writer of brave and tender imagination; we are lucky to live in his timeline." — Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author of More Than You'll Ever Know

"Pay attention, world: Ruben Reyes Jr. has written a novel of deep conviction. Archive of Unknown Universes is a playful, inventive, and deeply empathetic debut novel about the meaning of borders and belonging. Through multiverses and two families irrevocably changed by the Salvadoran Civil War, Reyes Jr. investigates the allure of alternative lives in the face of painful secrets, complex love, hidden histories, and the brutality of empire." — Crystal Hana Kim, author of The Stone Home

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

"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." — Bookriot

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2025-05-03
An intergenerational chronicle of family and romance in the face of El Salvador’s devastating civil war.

When Harvard undergraduate Ana Flores invites her boyfriend, Luis, to accompany her to Cuba while she does research for her thesis, she’s uncertain whether their fledgling relationship will survive the summer. Aided by the Defractor, a novel technology that lets people see into alternate versions of their lives, Ana stumbles on an unlikely clue: an otherwise nondescript Bible. The annotated holy text turns out to hold the key to deciphering the secret life of Luis’ great-uncle, Neto, who vanished from El Salvador during the country’s civil war of 1979 to ’92. Through pitch-perfect dialogue, propulsive prose, fast-paced flashbacks, and epistolary interludes, Reyes splices together the stories of Neto’s illicit love affair with Rafael, a revolutionary compatriot; the unspoken plight of Ana’s mother, Felicia; and the evolving relationship between Ana and Luis themselves. With uncanny poignancy, Reyes depicts the bustling avenues of Havana, a refugee camp in Honduras, hazy backrooms in Managua, and hilarious scenes of the Defractor engaging with its users in the manner of people such as Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne. While the branches of Luis’ and Ana’s family trees grow denser—doubled by guerrillero code names and multiplied by the Defractor’s endless renderings—Reyes grounds readers in sensual details (“He imagines drying every inch with a towel, then leaning in to taste the algae on his lips”) and relational realities (“Whoever I was when I was with you will no longer exist”). A moving testament to the power of reciprocity, synchronicity, and the truth that love—whether familial or romantic—persists “across borders, bombings, barricades, thunderstorms, and decades.”

A gripping family history with a fresh speculative edge and timely resonances with the currently unfolding timeline.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191009384
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/01/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

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