Staff Picks: Riveting Time Travel Reads
by walkerk
Looking for a thrilling time travel book? Or an interesting take on time loops? You might find your next read in this list. Some of these summaries mention heavier topics, please read with care.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel | Request Now
Over the course of three hundred years, three people—an exiled son, a writer, and a childhood friend—witness a strange event: a man playing his violin for change in an echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.
Sea of Tranquility explores the interconnections between three individuals across centuries. Some readers describe this title as one of the most original time travel books they've read in a while, with its rich characters and ethereal qualities imbuing wonder and prompting reflection on philosophical questions surrounding existence, memory, and the nature of reality.
An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim | Request Now
When Frank catches a deadly virus, his girlfriend Polly will do whatever it takes to save him. When she finds out a company has invented time travel, she agrees to a radical contract: if she signs up for a one-way trip into the future to work as a bonded laborer, the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. Polly promises to meet Frank again in Galveston, Texas, where she will arrive in twelve years. But Polly is re-routed an extra five years into the future, and Frank is nowhere to be found. Alone in a transformed America, with no status and no money, Polly must navigate a new life and find a way to locate Frank, to determine if he is alive, and if their love has endured.
An Ocean of Minutes is a time travel story that is more concerned with feelings of displacement and dislocation as opposed to the mechanics of technology. Readers describe this as a strikingly imaginative, gripping, and graceful dystopian tale that reflects on class and the limits of love. This isn't quite the traditional love story, containing more drama than action and lacking a traditional happy ending, but readers did enjoy the dark but empathetic story.
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz | Request Now
1992: Seventeen-year-old Beth finds herself in a car with her friend's abusive boyfriend dead in the backseat. This murder sets Beth and her friends on a path of escalating violence and vengeance as they realize many other young women in the world need protecting too. 2022: Determined to use time travel to create a safer future, Tess has dedicated her life to visiting key moments in history and fighting for change. Just when Tess believes she's found a way to make a change, she encounters a group of dangerous travelers bent on stopping her at any cost. Tess and Beth’s lives intertwine as war breaks out across the timeline. Is it possible for a single person’s actions to echo throughout the timeline?
Described as a clever and exhilarating title, The Future of Another Timeline is a feminist, punk, queer time travel novel with a diverse cast of characters. It seamlessly alternates between two POVs—Tess and Beth—and spends time discussing theories of time traveling mechanics for those that are interested. Readers note this as a fun, gripping, and action-packed read with fresh takes on time travel.
Wrong Place Wrong time by Gillian McAllister | Request Now
Midnight on the morning of Halloween, Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something more dangerous when Todd finally emerges. Through the window, Jen sees her funny, seemingly happy son harm a total stranger. She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered. After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up . . . it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it.
Described as an engrossing thriller with complex puzzle pieces that ultimately come into place just right, Wrong Place Wrong Time is a captivating page turner. The characters read as real, with satisfying development. And, enchanted by the non-stop twists and turns that makes the book pick up speed all the way through, readers were unable to put it down.
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