![]() This sequel to Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic (2015) expands the world beyond Red London and deepens the appealingly unconventional people that populate it. But there are deceptions lurking beneath the glittering surface of this festive event, and there are old enemies waiting for their chance to strike. Along with the rest of Red London, Rhy and Kell are getting ready for the upcoming magical tournament called the Essen Tasch. Meanwhile, Kell is struggling to deal with the aftermath of the battle in which he and Lila saved the world, in particular, the magical bargain he made to save his adoptive brother Rhy’s life, the bargain that links their lives and means they share each other’s pain-literally. She’s been absorbed in learning as much as she can about the magic that’s everywhere in this new world. It’s been four months since Lila Bard, thief from another world, talked her way onto a ship called the Night Spire and sailed away from Red London with an enigmatic captain named Alucard Emery, in search of adventure. A poignant love story is woven in with much food for thought on grief and the nature of memories and how they shape us, rounding out this twisty and terrifying thrill ride.Īn exciting, thought-provoking mind-bender.Īn absorbing fantasy adventure set in a world where magic can be a gift-or a weapon. Returning to a few of the themes he explored in Dark Matter (2016), Crouch delivers a bullet-fast narrative and raises the stakes to a fever pitch. However, when Slade takes the research in a controversial direction, Helena may have to destroy her dream to save the world. ![]() The opportunity for unfettered research is too tempting to turn down. He says he wants to “change the world.” Helena hopes that her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, will benefit from her passion project. In 2007, a ridiculously wealthy philanthropist and inventor named Marcus Slade offers neuroscientist Helena Smith the chance of a lifetime and an unlimited budget to build a machine that allows people to relive their memories. Details from Ann’s story lead him to dig deeper, and his investigation leads him to a mysterious place called Hotel Memory, where he makes a life-altering discovery. Barry knows loss: Eleven years ago, his 15-year-old daughter, Meghan, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. People like Ann have detailed false memories of other lives lived, including marriages and children, but in “shades of gray, like film noir stills.” For some, like Ann, an overwhelming sense of loss leads to suicide. She claims to have False Memory Syndrome, a bewildering condition that seems to be spreading. In 2018, NYPD Detective Barry Sutton unsuccessfully tries to talk Ann Voss Peters off the edge of the Poe Building. In Crouch’s sci-fi–driven thriller, a machine designed to help people relive their memories creates apocalyptic consequences. ![]() Then readers will have to reach the proverbial end of the story to find out whether Charles’ time loop (conveniently mapped out and including an X event, a point in time when he will learn something about himself) will let him go.Ī fascinating, philosophical and disorienting thriller about life and the context that gives it meaning. I work in the self-consciousness industry.” Inevitably, worlds collide, and Charles shoots his future self in a moment of panic. “You work in this business long enough and you know what you really do for a living. ![]() “I have seen pretty much everything that can go wrong, the various and mysterious problems in contemporary time travel,” says Charles. Our narrator’s only real companions are Ed, a dog that may or may not exist, and TAMMY, an onboard operating system with a chronic case of self-doubt. His mother lives in a kind of time-assisted living, in which she experiences the same parcel of time again and again. Charles mourns the loss of his father, who invented time travel before disappearing into its void. It all sounds rather magical-Charles has a memorable run-in with one Linus Skywalker, who carries a big chip on his shoulder about his famous father-but it’s really a very lonely world. The tech’s turf is Minor Universe 31, which is literally a science-fiction playground complete with sexbots, icons of genre fantasy and an unreliable set of physics. He’s a corporate drone for Time Warner Time, which operates multiple alternate universes for profit. His hero is Charles Yu, a kind of white-collar mechanic for time machines of the very near future. ![]() In this debut novel, Yu (stories: Third Class Superhero, 2006) continues his ambitious exploration of the fantastic with a whimsical yet sincere tribute to old-school science fiction and quantum physics. A man frozen in a universe of his own making must pursue the meaning of life. ![]()
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