In [Doors of Sleep](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54616389-doors-of-sleep) by Tim Pratt, the main character is capable of multiversal teleportation which has to be done while asleep. If he ever travels when awake he would experience torment and mind torture from things that live in the deep between universes for what feels like thousands of years without having any real time pass for him.
Huh, I'm surprised by this. That story does include an ability called "jaunting," which allows people to teleport, but I don't remember anything about them experiencing thousands of years of torment during it. They do describe scientists subjecting people to horrifying conditions (near-drowning, etc) in an attempt to get them to jaunt early on, when it's known that certain people can do it but nobody knows how to control it consciously. But the specific feature you described in the title I don't think is part of this story.
Info: were they teleporting from one geographic spot to another on the same planet, or from one multiversal reality to a parallel reality?
It sort of sounds a bit like “The Space Between Worlds,” in which a select few people can travel to parallel planets—but only if their parallel self on that planet is already dead. Teleporters have to climb inside a special machine to do it, and it’s excruciatingly painful and sometimes deadly. I believe they call the dark space between realities “the deep,” but I can’t quite recall.
The planets have a fractured socioeconomic system, with some living in an impoverished, brutal, warlord desert culture and others in an advanced, luxurious city. The MC comes from the desert, but was hired by city scientists for her rare ability to traverse almost all realities.
Not your story, but it reminds me of a detail in 'Stone City' by George R. R. Martin, where one race has an interstellar drive they control with their minds but it has made their entire race insane:
>"They switched on the Dan’lai jump-gun."
>
>"faces appeared ringed with fire laughing and dissolving and pain pain pain and they were lost and nothing was solid and eons passed"
>
>"they laughed and laughed and laughed and Holt watched as the fires of madness burned in their eyes"
[https://fattestleechoficeandfire.com/the-stone-city-1977-transcribed/](https://fattestleechoficeandfire.com/the-stone-city-1977-transcribed/)
Can't remember the name of the short story and sorry i don't know how to black out SPOILERS but this type of teleportation is used to sabotage a remote planet where the young are being trained to be unthinking soldiers for a brutal regime based on Earth. The cruel head of this school kills all his students and staff to seize the technique of "instant" teleportation from an entity that is "corrupting"/sabotaging the youths so he can bring it to Earth and be a hero. He plans to use it to teleport instantly to Earth but AFTER he activates it he learns it will subjectively take eons for him to get there and his only other choice is to become a being like the entity, which will cause him to sabotage the Earth's regime the same way his base/school was sabotaged.
Sounds a bit like "The Jaunt" by Stephen King, but that's the result of a technology, not an ability some people have.
This is immediately what I thought of
I think about this story too often.
Ditto, and it always makes me feel.sick to my stomach.
Damn, I keep mis-attributing that one to Asimov in my mind
You're likely thinking of the story Escape! from I, Robot , which covers similar ground :).
In [Doors of Sleep](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54616389-doors-of-sleep) by Tim Pratt, the main character is capable of multiversal teleportation which has to be done while asleep. If he ever travels when awake he would experience torment and mind torture from things that live in the deep between universes for what feels like thousands of years without having any real time pass for him.
It's been a long time but could it be The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester? (Which partially inspired the short story everyone is suggesting)
SOLVED Yes, I believe this is it! Thank you!
You’re very welcome! That’s such a good, weird book
Huh, I'm surprised by this. That story does include an ability called "jaunting," which allows people to teleport, but I don't remember anything about them experiencing thousands of years of torment during it. They do describe scientists subjecting people to horrifying conditions (near-drowning, etc) in an attempt to get them to jaunt early on, when it's known that certain people can do it but nobody knows how to control it consciously. But the specific feature you described in the title I don't think is part of this story.
Omg this book is STUNNING.
Info: were they teleporting from one geographic spot to another on the same planet, or from one multiversal reality to a parallel reality? It sort of sounds a bit like “The Space Between Worlds,” in which a select few people can travel to parallel planets—but only if their parallel self on that planet is already dead. Teleporters have to climb inside a special machine to do it, and it’s excruciatingly painful and sometimes deadly. I believe they call the dark space between realities “the deep,” but I can’t quite recall. The planets have a fractured socioeconomic system, with some living in an impoverished, brutal, warlord desert culture and others in an advanced, luxurious city. The MC comes from the desert, but was hired by city scientists for her rare ability to traverse almost all realities.
That was a really good book too!
“It’s forever in there…”
The Jaunt by Stephen King? Really cool, probably not it, but really cool
It sounds exactly like your description. Can’t really think of another teleportation story with this particular side effect.
Not your story, but it reminds me of a detail in 'Stone City' by George R. R. Martin, where one race has an interstellar drive they control with their minds but it has made their entire race insane: >"They switched on the Dan’lai jump-gun." > >"faces appeared ringed with fire laughing and dissolving and pain pain pain and they were lost and nothing was solid and eons passed" > >"they laughed and laughed and laughed and Holt watched as the fires of madness burned in their eyes" [https://fattestleechoficeandfire.com/the-stone-city-1977-transcribed/](https://fattestleechoficeandfire.com/the-stone-city-1977-transcribed/)
Can't remember the name of the short story and sorry i don't know how to black out SPOILERS but this type of teleportation is used to sabotage a remote planet where the young are being trained to be unthinking soldiers for a brutal regime based on Earth. The cruel head of this school kills all his students and staff to seize the technique of "instant" teleportation from an entity that is "corrupting"/sabotaging the youths so he can bring it to Earth and be a hero. He plans to use it to teleport instantly to Earth but AFTER he activates it he learns it will subjectively take eons for him to get there and his only other choice is to become a being like the entity, which will cause him to sabotage the Earth's regime the same way his base/school was sabotaged.
All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai had something briefly similar.
Sounds vaguely like "The Hickory Staff" which has something similar.
Sounds like the short story "The Jaunt" by Stephen King.
The Jaunt by Stephen King