Nell Gavin

I wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I feel like the plot got lost around halfway through and my attention went with it. I must admit that I largely skimmed the last 10-20% or so. There were a lot of random short chapters thrown in that seemed to serve no real purpose. I mean, there was a chapter about one character going to buy sex toys for two other characters??? And then they kept tipping their Uber drivers $500 - a lot of money for someone who is not meant to draw attention (are they taught the value of money as pat of their training? Never mind the shifting value over time - the future has none).

The whole plot also felt kind of unnecessary? Now, don't get me wrong. I loved the premise of the book - people going back in time to get a full record of history (or, for the rich, just on holiday) but I don't understand why the mitigators decided on such a round about way of solving the anomaly - especially since I can immediately think of a foolproof way of making it go away. I would have loved it if this book was more about just travelling through time and the challenged involved with avoiding detection, recording what happened, etc. I also wish that the characters had been more fleshed out. I didn't find myself particularly invested in them. And for people who who want to avoid being detected, they sure do a lot of medaling in the past. For example, providing treatment to a woman that takes away medical conditions that she is taking long term medication for and stopping her from aging.

As I previously suggested, the premise was the best part of the book. I enjoyed learning bout the future society, although it was a bit simplistic at times. A bit too perfect and everything is a bit black and white (although there are also hidden darknesses). I do like the concept of the punishment for getting a woman pregnant without consent, although parts (i.e. the isolation mainly) just seem cruel. And I doubt all men would respond the same way at the end (asking to be sterilised). I was also annoyed by how vague a lot of it was. While authors are, of course, in no way required to give super detailed explanations I would like a bit more than "we were genetically engineered to be x". Especially when it comes to the telepathy. Telepathy, as is described in this book, does not exist. Yet not only does it exist in the future, but it is implied that a modern person could learn to read minds if she just works at it. I feel like the device they have anyway would have been a great away around this (although telepathy largely disappears later in the story when the characters actually get to know each other). I also wasn't a fan of the heroes. The whole concept made me a little uncomfortable. The future population managed to get rid of psychopathy through genetic engineering but then reengineered it back into children because they wanted non-empathetic people for the difficult parts of history and reward parents for volunteering their unborn babies to become a psychopath, although they don't call them that.

I think that the author's own opinions and biases also come through at times when it comes to the future. There's a bit of a men bad, women good mentality at times. We do have good male characters, but one of our characters mentions multiple times about how boys ae taught to be good and respect women (definitely important) but given that everyone is supposedly equal in this time, it feels a bit off. And then there's that random thing at the end about how men shouldn't have power until male leadership is out of living memory because it was bad. I am fascinated by the societal structuring though and love that everyone has access to basic needs (although the way it is funded is questionable at best and definitely not really a solution that could be implemented in our times).

While this book had so much potential, I was disappointed. Everything was far shallower than I hoped for. I do wonder if that changed with editing though (at least I hope it was edited as the copy I received had some obvious issues, including chapter numbers being out if order, although the text seemed to be in the right order). It was a good attempt at an ambitious idea, but unfortunately it was not enough to keep my attention throughout.… (lisätietoja)

[Disclaimer: I got this book via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program] Nell Gavin chooses to see the contemporary events with an eye from the future: people from the 28th century routinely go back in time to witness important events, but an unnamed Historian makes an error, talks with two white suprematists, and triggers a series of events which will lead to an Anomaly. Two squads are sent to repair it: a foursome of Heroes - actually people on the verge of being psychopaths, since they are the only ones without empathy and who can do the dirty work - and Avid, an Historian who must team with a 21st-century psychoterapist.
Gavin explains in great detail the society of the future. Too much detail. Especially in the first chapters, she seems to be patronizing. I was reminded of some books written by Heinlein: but seventy years are passed, and what was a novelty then is now a bit tiring. The plot is a bit bumpy, with very long and very short chapters and with the two subplots (the Heroes and Avid) which never really blend. In a nutshell, a nice reading but not a masterpiece.… (lisätietoja)

I love time travel stories, and am always amazed at how many diverse stories are created around the simple premiss that time travel is possible. This story is an excellent and inventive variant on the theme. The story is set in the far future where mankind lives in a utopian society based in underwater dwellings. They send Historians back in time to research and document the past. Unfortunately one such excursion results in a catastrophic change to the timeline. Our hero, Avid, is tasked with putting this right. The plot is multi-facetted. We discover the strange world that Avid lives in. His relationship with others from his own time are as fascinating as the relationships with people from the time he is trying to repair. As the plot develops we learn more about the people from the future including some startling revelations. Overall this is a fascinating read and I recommend it strongly.… (lisätietoja)