The Future of Another Timeline

It's possible I might have liked this book a little more had I read it like not within the last six months as it became clear we are living in the darkest timeline the time travelers in this book are trying to fix. It's also possible I wouldn't have. In general, time travel is not my jam, and this one just triggered all of my paradox, suspension of disbelief, plot convenience triggered. I like Annalee Neuwitz a lot as a nonfiction writer, and I was pretty into Autonomous, but the writing for this one was just not strong enough for me to get into it. I should like a super diverse, punk rock, sci-fi story that draws from actual little known pieces of history, but at the end of the day, it felt like a hodge podge of cool bits of history thrown together with some pretty one dimensional characters with time travel that was explained just enough to make me question everything about it.

Also, those time travelers did NOT do a good job of fixing the timeline if this is where we are today.

I considered giving this book one star, because I really hated it, but I decided to be generous and give it two for a few reasons:

For one, I think there are some genuinely cool ideas here (executed terribly, but I'll get to that,) The book was clearly well-researched; I learned a few things from the research notes at the end. It's the most modern sci-fi I've read, and it plays on very genuine fears that myself and many other women in our country are feeling right now. I also liked that the characters are diverse.

However, that diversity of the cast felt like a checklist for every kind of marginalized identity (i.e., not white males). The time-travel details make absolutely no logical sense. The sub-plot takes a dark turn early on, but instead of that being shocking and fresh, it's essentially the premise of A Promising Young Woman. No character inspires any kind of empathy; not one of them is believable. Expositional dialogue is rampant and a weak vehicle for a blatant (if not bludgeoning) message. There is no subtlety whatsoever. And it's super polarizing; while I don't think all books should be for all people, this book is REALLY not for some pretty sweeping demographics. Also, there's a completely gratuitous masturbation party that takes up far too many (uncomfortable, forced, and very weird) pages.

I'm totally pro-women's rights to reproductive health. 1000%. And if the writing and plot were well-developed, this could have been a fascinating, empowering book. But as it is, that's just not the case. I don't recommend it (unless, like me, you're reading it for book club).

There were some really cool things in this book... I really liked the concept of the machines and using geology. As good sci-fi does, it also was a startling look at our culture from a perspective that shows just how fragile some of the things we take for granted can be. I listened to the audio book for this on Audible and I did not care for the narrator (Laura Nichol), but the addition of music in the audio book was awesome.

I liked this book, I recommend it and I plan to read others by the author. I have enjoyed her science writing and she is skilled at fiction as well.
Time travel is part of the culture in this book and has been for thousands of years, it's sort of treated as a natural resource. I liked the idea that history was like Wikipedia and is constantly being updated.
If you're sensitive about politics and social issues being mixed into your fiction, reading the book might be a little stressful.

There were two things I didn't like, one is a spoiler.
The non-spoiler is that there is way too much smoking in this book. I'm a little sensitive to this because both my parents were heavy smokers and our house constantly stunk of tobacco.
I blame their smoking on my moms early death and some birth defects that I have.
Whenever I see a character smoking in movies, shows or books, it tells me two things about the character.
One is that they are stupid and the other is that they smell bad.
I doubt that either of these was the authors goal.

Now the spoilery one
It was a big surprise to discover the relationship between the two main narrators.That part was intriguing and well written.But that one of them was also a serial killer was not helpful in telling the story.I don't think this contributed to the characters or the plot.I came away with the idea that all groups of teenagers have at some point killed a person and covered up the crime.

If you like time travel stories, you should read this.
Also, the first place I would visit if I had a time machine is the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
I thought that before reading the book and it just reinforced that desire.

Time travel, well researched history, good character development, non binary character, gender neutral language, this book has it all. I listened to the audiobook and almost quit after the first chapter because of the reader's voice, but it grew on me and I'm glad I kept with it.

4.5

A bit gruesome/violent for me at times, but an interesting take on the time travel genre and it gets nostalgia points for a very accurate depiction of how it felt to be a teenage suburban punk in the 90s

The narrator is not only great but her voice is just perfect for this story.

I have some minor quibbles with the framework of the story but I found so many of the individual scenes to be wonderfully and overwhelmingly emotional.

MATURE THEMES: Rape, Sexual Assault, Description of Abortion

That being said... I really enjoy the time-travel aspect of the book. Imagine if Marty McFly kept coming in and out of reality every time an edit happens, and only the people around the edit can remember the way it was or could have been. The secondary characters are interesting and you wonder what happens to them as each edit gets closer to the final goal. As someone who believes abortion hurts women it was difficult to see abortion so glorified. There are many other things that I think help support women in situations of unplanned pregnancy. Please, don't call me a Comstocker as again, I enjoyed the story, loved how the time travel was used, and empathized with the characters.

This isn't a book for those who love subtlety and delicate allusion. It's brash and lurid, but hey these are brash and lurid times, and it is a loud and necessary voice in today's climate. It's a passionate and angry novel, and if I'd read it when I was fifteen it would probably have changed my life.

There's an interesting and original set up for time travel, but I felt that some of the stuff about repercussions of changing history got a bit handwavey and had the sense the author was hurrying us past some of it in case we looked a bit too closely. The main thrust of the book isn't the science though, it's all about societal change and how that happens / can be made to happen. The punk rock revolution of riot grrrl rhymes nicely with the story of nineteenth century music hall upsetting social mores, and demonstrates how resistance is necessary through the ages.