Very effectively did exactly what it set out to. Now I admit the jumping around in the beginning confused me, but as I knew it's short, I persisted. And I'm glad that I did. Turns out that TT is only half the thematic intent, and Tatiana's storyis most of the rest. Hubris is the resonant bass.

The reading experience reminded very much of [b:This is How You Lose the Time War|43352954|This is How You Lose the Time War|Amal El-Mohtar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653185078l/43352954._SX50_.jpg|58237743]. Again, the chaos through time, the omission of everything not critical to the themes, the brevity, and the exploration of what it means to be intimate with another souled life.

Yes I do recommend it if you like TT, hard SF, and can handle not getting all the details of plot development and world-building that the author didn't spell out to us. ( )

Time travel stories are difficult to write well. This one qualifies. However, it also feels short and a bit rushed in places. It would have benefitted from a bit of expansion. ( )

2.5 I guess? Time travel plots are very, very hard to do well I think - they're inherently an unpleasant blend of too complex and mostly arbitrary. The length of this one also works against it, giving the multiple storylines no time to breathe. The explanation of the peril to the mission (which in itself gets barely any time) is just tossed off at the end and feels like a damp squib. Theoretically this is competent but it just feels unsatisfying. ( )

A super good time travel novel without all the annoying paradoxes within which some writers seem to get themselves messily tie up in knots.

I can't really say much more without ruining the story.   So i'll just say, even if you don't usually enjoy the temporal sci-fi stuff, read this, it's good.

Next up in Alastair's literary journey is Polished Performance.

Bye for now. ( )

"There’s a final generation now, after World Health brought in the forced sterilisation programs. It was a kindness, not to bring more children into the world. I teach them, those last children. But they won’t have anything to grow into."

Sound like 2020?
~2082. Scientists mucking around with bioweaponry have released a nightmare that will mean the end of human life. It starts with the animalitos who live in the soil, and keep it fertile and are the means of decomposition. Dying, soil can no longer produce crops. Then, insects above ground die, so now the birds have no food. Who eats the birds? Moving up the food chain, all flora and fauna of the planet are meeting their death, and humans are no exception. A radical experiment, aided by the "Brothers, four AI machines named for the Karamazovs, and using second-hand MRIs scrounged from hospitals, will attempt a form of time travel to bring some genetically-modified seeds that will grow in sterile soil, to the future.

“Paradox,” Margaret said. “Black and white. Either present or absent. If you don’t observe, paradox hides its claws. If you attempt to observe, it kills you—metaphorically, mostly.”

A creative treatment for a time travel book to say the least, I enjoyed reading this novella.
( )