Here and now and then / Mike Chen.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780778369042
- Physical Description: 326 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: Toronto, Ontario : Mira, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019.
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Time travel > Fiction. Families > Fiction. |
Genre: | Domestic fiction. Science fiction. |
Available copies
- 11 of 11 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Castlegar Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 11 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Castlegar Public Library | SF CHE (Text) | 35146002125466 | Science Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 December #1
Chen's debut is a stirring novel that dedicates detail and precision to the vagaries and paradoxes of time travel, without sacrificing its vital emotional core. Kin is a secret agent from 2147, but once stranded in the 1990s, he eventually settles down with a wife and daughter, learns to cook, and tries to ignore his increasing headaches and memory loss. When his old best friend arrives to rescue him 18 years later, he has to learn how to return to a different life and a fiancée who thinks he has only been gone two weeks, all while trying to save his 1990s daughter, who the agency has decided is an unforgivable anomaly. This novel is primarily about what a father will do to protect his daughterâabout the ways that Kin learns to physically recover while also using his coding skills and sheer will to rebel against the rules of time travel. Chen carefully balances heart, humor, and precise world building to bring alive an emotional and genre-bending story that will please fans of Doctor Who. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2019 February
Spotlight: Visions of the futureSpeculative fiction allows the constants of our reality to change, giving readers a glimpse of how those shifts might affect their own lives. This trio of novels use time travel and prophesy to craft compelling, all-too-human stories.
In Kate Mascarenhas' superb debut novel, The Psychology of Time Travel, four female scientists in 1967 discover the secret of time travel. At the news conference announcing their discovery, however, one of the women, Barbara, has a mental breakdown that threatens to undermine the value of their discovery. To protect their work, the other three scientists exile Barbara from the project.Â
Jumping to 2017, Barbara, now a grandmother, receives a newspaper clipping of a murder that will occur in the future. Her granddaughter, Ruby, is convinced that one of the scientists is trying to warn Barbara of her impending murder. Ruby must follow this clue from the future to unravel the mystery and save her grandmother.
Mascarenhas conjures a world in which time travel not only exists but also has its own legal system, currency and lingo. She meticulously weaves the stories of multiple female characters as theyâboth older and younger versions of themselvesâjump back and forth in time to create a delightfully complex, multilayered plot. To all of this, Mascarenhas adds a thoroughly satisfying murder mystery. The Psychology of Time Travel heralds the arrival of a master storyteller.Â
Mike Chen's Here and Now and Then provides another enjoyable venture into time travel. In this novel, Kin Stewart is caught between two worlds separated by almost 150 years. Originally a time-traveling agent with the Temporal Corruption Bureau in 2142, Kin becomes stranded in 1996 when a mission goes awry. Breaking bureau rules, Kin takes a job in IT and starts a family as his memories of 2142 degrade. When an accident alerts a retriever agent to return Kin to 2142, where only two weeks have passed, Kin must confront his divided loyalties between his adolescent daughter, who may be eliminated as a timeline corruption, and the family he cannot remember in 2142.Â
Although Chen's novel is set in a futuristic world, it is ultimately about the bond between a father and his daughter. While Kin's dilemma is one that readers will never face, they will be drawn in by the human questions at its heart.
In Sharma Shields' The Cassandra, young Mildred Groves has the gift of prophesyâand the curse that no one wants to heed her warnings. Mildred escapes an abusive home and takes a job as a secretary at Washington's Hanford research facility in 1945, where workers are sworn to secrecy as scientists create "the product"âplutonium for the first atomic bombs. At first, Mildred is happy to be a part of something so big and important. However, as the product comes closer to completion, she begins to have nightmarish visions of the destruction that will be wrought on the people of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Hanford facility. She feels compelled to warn those in power, even as her own well-being disintegrates. But to what end?Â
Shields has written a brilliant modern retelling of the classic myth of Cassandra. While this is not an easy novel to read, as the imagery becomes increasingly gruesome, it is a pleasure to be immersed in a myth so deftly woven into an apt historical context. The Cassandra should not be missed by those interested in Greek mythology, the Hanford project or beautifully crafted stories.Â
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This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Copyright 2019 BookPage Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2018 October #2
A time-traveling father must save his teenage daughter from secret agents who want to eliminate her to protect the historical timeline in this debut novel. It's 1996 in suburban San Francisco. Kin Stewart, an agent for the Temporal Corruption Bureau, is on a mission to stop a time-traveling merc who's been hired to disrupt important legislation. There's a problem: Kin's been shot, and the implanted beacon that's supposed to help him return to 2142 has been damaged. Stranded in the past, Kin gradually forgets his previous life. He gets married, and he and his wife, Heather, have a daughter, Miranda. When Kin's spent 18 years in the past, Heather accidentally triggers the indestructible "metal thingy" he's kept hidden in their garage, inadvertently summoning Markus, a fellow TCB agent and the brother of Penny, Kin's fiancee in 2142. Markus gives Kin 24 hours to "close out" his life in the 20th century. When Kin realizes the TCB intends to eliminate 14-year-old Miranda as a time line error, he's forced to risk everything to try to save her life. Plot holes are neatly sidestepped as Kin explains who can time travel, when and how often, what the grandfather paradox is, and why he can't bring his daughter with him to 2142. Naturally, it takes time to set out the rules, and the explanations don't all make sense, but Kin's story isn't primarily about time machines or the Museum of the Modern Era that serves fast food as a curiosity in 2142. It's about a father who learns the value of being honest and authentic with the daughter he loves because in the end, there is never enough time. A subtly woven meditation about the fragility of time raises the bar in this smart, fun, and affectionate story. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
[DEBUT] Kin Stewart knows he is a time traveler with the Temporal Crimes Bureau and that an aborted mission stranded him in the past 18 years ago, but with little memory of his former life, he has adapted to 1990s San Francisco, found love, and raised a family. He is worried about normal things: his daughter's soccer team, his lasagna recipe, and what TV show to watch next. Then TCB finds him. It restores his memory and forcefully returns him to the futureâto a job, friends, and girlfriend just days after he left them. Lonely and confused, Kin finds a way to contact his daughter illicitly and watch her grow up from afar. He must be able to stay in the present and yet save his daughter from his mistakes in the past. VERDICT Chen's debut novel is a welcome addition to this well-traveled genre, with the theories and mechanics of time travel not getting in the way of the character- and plot-driven story. Highly recommended for readers both new and familiar with the genre, and for fans of Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife or books by Connie Willis.âCatherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib. (c) Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2018 August #4
In this heartfelt and thrilling debut, Chen revitalizes the trope of the absent and unavailable father by placing Kin Stewart in an impossible situation: despite living on the same California coast as his daughter, he is separated from her by a century. Kin is a Temporal Corruption Bureau agent from 2142, tasked with preventing temporal anomalies. While visiting the mid-'90s, he was trapped in time by a bullet from one of his targets; 18 years later, Kin has broken protocol and settled down in the past. He has committed to his life; his wife, Heather; and his teenage daughter, Miranda. But Kin can't hide forever, and eventually, the future catches up with him in the form of a best friend he barely remembers. Forced to return to 2142, Kin quickly finds himself at odds with his old friend, the TCB, and his life in the future. He misses his daughter, and when Miranda's life is threatened, Kin will risk everythingââincluding his own life, the future, and maybe even time itselfââto save her. Chen's concept is unique, and Kin's agony is deeply moving. His choices are often selfish but entirely understandable; he is human, with good intentions and profound flaws. Quick pacing, complex characters, and a fascinating premise make this an unforgettable debut.
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary. (Feb.)