Synopsis
Following humanity’s discovery of pocket worlds (hidden offshoots of our own reality, sped up or slowed down by time), teams of academics embarked on groundbreaking exploratory missions, eager to study this new technology and harness the potential of a seemingly limitless horizon.
Archaeologist Raquel once dreamed the pocket worlds held the key to solving the universe’s mysteries. But forty years later, pocket worlds are now controlled by corporations squeezing every penny out of all colonizable space and time. Raquel is in disgrace, and her wife, Marlena, lives in her own pocket universe (that Raquel wears around her neck) and refuses to speak to her.
Standing in the ruins of her dream and her failed ideals, Raquel seizes one last chance to redeem herself and confront what it means to save something — or someone — from time.
Review
Time’s Agent is a beautiful, emotional, soulful book. It’s a fantastic genre-blend that dives deep into the impact of loss and the devastating reality of what happens when your world falls apart. It’s deeply personal, and will especially resonate with any parent who’s ever felt like a failure.
When it comes to time travel, the premise and hook of a story can be so strong that it eclipses the whole book. There was definitely the potential for that to happen here, as the concept of pocket worlds — tiny alternative realities belonging to a multiverse that can be accessed by anything as small as a locket — is truly awesome. Especially when those pocket worlds interact with time differently to our own — in some of them, a few seconds in our world can become a few days or years there, and vice versa. But what impressed me most was how the book delivered on that premise. I was blown away by how it lived up to the promise of its potential, which makes this a truly rare jewel of time travel fiction.
In terms of characters, the story follows Raquel — a scientist who is overjoyed by the discovery of pocket worlds, and is sent by an agency to explore them. She’s such a delight to spend time with. Raquel breathes sunshine, sees good in everything, and has so much enthusiasm that she virtually bubbles off the page. She’s written with such honesty, that I forgot at times she wasn’t real. And then, disaster strikes, which changes everything, including Raquel.
The writing is poetic and intriguing and it opens up the world and the characters so seamlessly, it’s hard not to be pulled into the story. I found myself turning the page so fast, but wanting to slow down so I could indulge myself in the way it was all unfolding. I loved the style, and by the time the main heartbreaking twist arrived, I was so deep into it, that the reality of what was happening truly devastated me.
I loved the way that the world develops. It begins with so much hope, and undergoes monumental change. Capitalism and profit overwhelm the benefits of learning. Science is defeated by greed. And it provides a stark warning for the way humanity tends to exploit discovery for the sake of personal gain. But then, there’s also something truly magical about the way this ties in to the personal trials that Raquel goes through — how her own naivety mirrors the idealism of the world around her, and when it’s shattered, so too is the reality she’s faced with.
Of course, the book isn’t just a depressing harbinger of negativity and sadness. There’s a whole range of emotions that it drags you through, and there’s something sweet about the reconciliatory nature of the journey it takes you on. The ending is every bit as satisfying and poignant as you would hope for, and it leaves both your head and your heart buzzing for different reasons. Overall, this is as smart as it is sensitive, and I absolutely adored the fusion that has been achieved between mind-blowing concepts and heart-wrenching moments.
If you read Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel and wished for more books like that in the world, then this is an answer to your wish. It’s a time travel book that is designed to make you feel. It’s an experience. It’s every bit as clever as you hope it to be. And it’s a breathtaking, immersive, ingenious, original, and artful slice of speculative fiction. Don’t miss it.
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