When she and Aesha are headed to lunch there, trying to dodge a scary looking rainstorm that has been threatening for a while, a group of masked and armed people burst in, mowing down several patrons, including Aesha. Shawna is horrified, but then the apparent leader comes over to her, taps her forehead, and raises his gun to shoot her in the head. Then she blinks and it is suddenly three hours before, when she and Brent were grabbing a quick coffee there. What the hell happened?
Well, believe it or not, this isn't the only weird thing to happen to Shawna lately. Some strange guy in a snakeskin cowboy hat and a black leather duster has been hanging outside of her apartment and shop for the last day or two, staring something fierce, and he's also showed up in a few of her nightmares. Because that's not creepy at all. To make matters worse, he shows up at her shop after her terrifying ordeal with the shooting and he claims to be from another world. That and she's also the creator of this perfect world she lives in and he needs her to save Ygrair, the alien woman who trained all of the Worldshapers a decade ago, and who is now injured. It's a lot for Shawna to take in.
She initially thinks this guy, Karl Yatsar, is a nutjob, but he assures her that the leader of the masked group is a man called The Adversary who must now kill her, since he took part of her "hokhmah" when he tapped her forehead. Since her hokhmah is her ability to Shape the world around her, he can Shape in her world now too, and he will bend those around him to get to her. So trust Karl she must, if she wants to live.
Karl has plenty of secrets of his own, but Shawna has the power to save all of the alternate worlds, she just doesn't know it - or rather, she has forgotten all of her previous training, for whatever reason. If the pair can escape The Adversary, find the new Portal location, and leave Shawna's world, they have a chance to save the others. But what will Shawna have to give up in order to accomplish this? A lot.
Edward Willett is a fun writer and I really enjoyed his previous book, The Cityborn. While Worldshaper is nothing like it, it's still a great start to a series that promises to be very interesting. Since this book is a lot of set-up, don't expect the ending to be wrapped up in a neat little bow, but that's fine. It leaves the characters in places such that the next book promises to be very exciting from the get-go. Check it out if you like alternate world sci-fi/fantasy. It's a fun, quick read.
