Fascinating Spin on Time Travel and the Lure of Changing History
"Back To The Future" meets "The Handmaid's Tale" in this rather brilliant examination of time and the lure of being able to change the past.
Tess is on a mission. Not necessarily from God, but one in which the future of time itself could be irrecoverably changed. She is one of a select group of people who can travel back and forth in time, and she intends to make sure that past and present generations can be safe from the "Comstocks," a group of men hell-bent on reverting society to one in which women have few, if any, rights at all. Contrasted with Tess's story is Beth, a young women from 1992, who has to contend with an unexpected situation at a concert that leaves her on a increasingly violent path. These two women will find themselves linked in ways that may result, quite literally, in changing time as we know it, forever.
This was an absolutely delightful trip! Time travel is also a tricky thing to deal with, whether book or movie, and while there were a few quibbles that inevitably seem to come up every time you are dealing with the mechanics of time travel, the plot and characters were so good, the other stuff fell away. The writing not only brought me back to my 90's childhood, but did a great job of combining the history of women's rights and censorship in a thriller-esque framework.
All-in-all, Annalee Newitz has made a wonderful addition not only to the thriller/sci-fi world, but also highlighted the very real and powerful battle over rights that continues to this very day. You will come for the story, but leave recognizing that the best of science fiction has roots in a potential reality that, like your side mirror, may be closer than you think.
Tess is on a mission. Not necessarily from God, but one in which the future of time itself could be irrecoverably changed. She is one of a select group of people who can travel back and forth in time, and she intends to make sure that past and present generations can be safe from the "Comstocks," a group of men hell-bent on reverting society to one in which women have few, if any, rights at all. Contrasted with Tess's story is Beth, a young women from 1992, who has to contend with an unexpected situation at a concert that leaves her on a increasingly violent path. These two women will find themselves linked in ways that may result, quite literally, in changing time as we know it, forever.
This was an absolutely delightful trip! Time travel is also a tricky thing to deal with, whether book or movie, and while there were a few quibbles that inevitably seem to come up every time you are dealing with the mechanics of time travel, the plot and characters were so good, the other stuff fell away. The writing not only brought me back to my 90's childhood, but did a great job of combining the history of women's rights and censorship in a thriller-esque framework.
All-in-all, Annalee Newitz has made a wonderful addition not only to the thriller/sci-fi world, but also highlighted the very real and powerful battle over rights that continues to this very day. You will come for the story, but leave recognizing that the best of science fiction has roots in a potential reality that, like your side mirror, may be closer than you think.