I have always been a sucker for a good time-travel yarn and “The Future of Another Timeline” does not disappoint. Ms. Newitz’s writing is fun and engaging, full of tight plotting, sympathetic characters, and dialogue that feels real. As with her earlier novel, “Autonomous”, “The Future of Another Timeline” is a joy to read.
The book interlaces two stories, one about time traveler Tess fighting an “edit war” against a faction trying to rewrite the timeline, and the other a coming-of-age thriller about Beth, a teenager living in an alternate 1990’s Orange County. Beth is trying to survive a secret, abusive home life with the help of punk rock and her best friend Lizzy, who is carrying around her own brand of darkness. If the author were to strip out the time travel stuff, Beth’s chapters alone make for a harrowing tale worthy of a stand-alone book. Meanwhile, Tess is bouncing along the timeline, collecting a team of complex, kick-ass women to fight the Comstockers, a group trying to change history to ensure that women never gain reproductive rights. Part of the fun linking the two stories is trying to guess which of the characters from 1992 grows up to become Tess.
Like the plot, the story can be enjoyed on two levels. The surface-level story engages the reader and the author, clearly having fun with the concepts of time travel, creates a technology that feels fresh. I actually found myself worried for her characters over what might happen to them because of timeline changes. I suspect Ms. Newitz knows more about the origins and inner workings of her time machines than she is telling in this novel, and I hope she’ll visit this universe again.
On a deeper level, this book serves as an allegory for current events and how to deal with them. Timeline edit wars may be an interesting plot device, but we do live in a time where well-funded groups in our society are working overtime to roll back civil rights for women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people. Young men are being radicalized into committing atrocities against women and marginalized groups. One doesn’t need a time machine to erase trans people from society (as happens to a character in the book). It can be done through more mundane means if the rest of society turns a blind eye. “The Future of Another Timeline” is not a polemic, but rather, when reading between the lines, a clarion call for collective action and allyship among diverse but intersecting groups. If we listen, and act, we may save the future in this, our only timeline.
The book interlaces two stories, one about time traveler Tess fighting an “edit war” against a faction trying to rewrite the timeline, and the other a coming-of-age thriller about Beth, a teenager living in an alternate 1990’s Orange County. Beth is trying to survive a secret, abusive home life with the help of punk rock and her best friend Lizzy, who is carrying around her own brand of darkness. If the author were to strip out the time travel stuff, Beth’s chapters alone make for a harrowing tale worthy of a stand-alone book. Meanwhile, Tess is bouncing along the timeline, collecting a team of complex, kick-ass women to fight the Comstockers, a group trying to change history to ensure that women never gain reproductive rights. Part of the fun linking the two stories is trying to guess which of the characters from 1992 grows up to become Tess.
Like the plot, the story can be enjoyed on two levels. The surface-level story engages the reader and the author, clearly having fun with the concepts of time travel, creates a technology that feels fresh. I actually found myself worried for her characters over what might happen to them because of timeline changes. I suspect Ms. Newitz knows more about the origins and inner workings of her time machines than she is telling in this novel, and I hope she’ll visit this universe again.
On a deeper level, this book serves as an allegory for current events and how to deal with them. Timeline edit wars may be an interesting plot device, but we do live in a time where well-funded groups in our society are working overtime to roll back civil rights for women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people. Young men are being radicalized into committing atrocities against women and marginalized groups. One doesn’t need a time machine to erase trans people from society (as happens to a character in the book). It can be done through more mundane means if the rest of society turns a blind eye. “The Future of Another Timeline” is not a polemic, but rather, when reading between the lines, a clarion call for collective action and allyship among diverse but intersecting groups. If we listen, and act, we may save the future in this, our only timeline.