Time's Agent

Time's Agent by Brenda Peynado, 207 pages

The discovery of pocket worlds means big things for researchers, including archaeologist Raquel and her botanist wife. But hopping between these worlds can cause big problems, especially when the timestream of some worlds runs much faster or slower than the world we're used to. Such is the case when Raquel accidentally misses 40 years of our world after a super short trip to a pocket universe. She returns to find that everything has changed, from the people she thought she knew, to the technology, to the new-to-her uses for pocket worlds.

This is a fascinating short book that examines capitalism's innate exploitative nature of anything new, as well as the ramifications of humans not protecting those things that need it. It's a bit heavy-handed at times, but overall worth reading.

Version Control

Version Control by Dexter Palmer, 495 pages

In the not-too-distant-future, physicist Philip Steiner working on building a time machine (sorry, "causality violation device"), though after dedicating several years to the project, it's still not working. Or at least it doesn't appear to be working. Version Control follows Philip's wife Rebecca, a depressed woman working for Lovability, an online matchmaking site. Rebecca and Philip's relationship has become strained since their son died in a car accident, with Philip throwing himself into his work and ignoring his grieving wife. But then Rebecca makes a choice that changes their lives, though she doesn't really realize it.

This is ostensibly a science fiction book, complete with a time machine, but really, it's an exploration of society, technology, and relationships. Heavy stuff, and it can sometimes get a little slow, especially if you're looking for a straightforward time-travel story (because this really isn't that at all). It's definitely provided some food for thought, and that's a good thing.