Book Review: The Psychology of Time Travel
By: Kate Mascarenhas
Published By: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
Page Count:
Page Count:
Source: eARC kindly provided by publisher
Science Fiction — Mystery
In 1967, four female scientists invented time travel. When one of them, Barbara, suffers a breakdown during a nationally broadcast interview, she is summarily cut off from the team. Fifty years later, Barbara and her granddaughter, Ruby, stumble into a murder mystery when an inquest notice from the future is left on Barbara's door step. A year later, Odette finds the body and becomes obsessed with why it happened. Is there a connection between Barbara and the unidentified dead woman in the future? How far will Odette go to unravel the mysterious murder?
Time travel generally presents more problems than it solves, as one of my favorite quotes relates:
"Time travel. Since my first day on the job as a Starfleet captain, I swore I'd never let myself get caught in one of these godforsaken paradoxes - the future is the past, the past is the future, it all gives me a headache." — Captain Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
Unlike the good captain, however, I am a huge fan of time travel stories. I get such a thrill seeing how different authors think about paradoxes and navigate their characters through them. In all of my science fiction reading, however, I'd yet to come across an author who dealt with the effect of time travel on the travelers themselves. Although The Psychology of Time Travel is a murder mystery on the surface, its heart is an exploration of the way too much knowledge can cause imbalances both in relationships and within ourselves.
Time travelers are curious creatures, their trips regulated by the Conclave, an extra-governmental body that somehow has its own sovereign power. Because members of the Conclave can go back to talk with loved ones whenever they wish, death means virtually nothing to the time traveler unless it is her own death. Travelers become isolated from the "normal" human experience and hence more callous to the heartache and grief of others. Some even make a point of travelling to times of others' grief so they can at least observe the emotions they no longer experience. In some ways, time travel intensifies the basic pieces of the characters' personalities, with those who are sensitive becoming more so until they wash out of the Conclave altogether.
The culture that grows up within and around the Conclave changes in a similar way. Because travelers cannot actually change events in the times they visit (more on this below), the Conclave and eventually society in general embrace an increasingly fatalistic world view. Legal disputes are settled through trial-by-ordeal which the Conclave brings back from the 24th century; in the Conclave and in the future, whoever prevails in the trial was clearly "fated" to win.
Although both of these consequences of time travel added to the appeal of the book, in the end I felt like the time travelers' inability to change other time lines was a decision of convenience rather than one that was truly supported by the characters. Members of the Conclave have elaborate hazing rituals one of which is going back in time to reveal to a stranger the time of a loved-one's death just before it happens. But, they deliberately choose people whose foreknowledge will not change the outcome: too young to be believed, too close to the time of death to act, etc. Another example is when a new time travel recruit goes back in time to solve an art vandalism crime as part of her training. She happens to have noticed that a video surveillance camera that was on in her timeline is off just before theft which is thirty minutes earlier. She decides to turn the camera on which makes it match her original timeline. It would have been more convincing to me to see a character actually trying to change the timeline and failing.
Despite those limits and a small inconsistency, The Psychology of Time Travel makes a solid and important contribution to science fiction with the personal consequences of time travel and the fact that almost all of the characters are women, including the scientists.
I look forward to reading more from Kate Mascarenhas!
Summary:
A time travel murder mystery from a brilliantly original new voice. Perfect for readers of Naomi Alderman's The Power and Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven.
1967
Four female scientists invent a time travel machine. They are on the cusp of fame: the pioneers who opened the world to new possibilities. But then one of them suffers a breakdown and puts the whole project in peril...
2017
Ruby knows her beloved Granny Bee was a pioneer, but they never talk about the past. Though time travel is now big business, Bee has never been part of it. Then they receive a message from the future – a newspaper clipping reporting the mysterious death of an elderly lady...
2018
When Odette discovered the body she went into shock. Blood everywhere, bullet wounds, that strong reek of sulphur. But when the inquest fails to find any answers, she is frustrated. Who is this dead woman that haunts her dreams? And why is everyone determined to cover up her murder?
Time travel generally presents more problems than it solves, as one of my favorite quotes relates:
"Time travel. Since my first day on the job as a Starfleet captain, I swore I'd never let myself get caught in one of these godforsaken paradoxes - the future is the past, the past is the future, it all gives me a headache." — Captain Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
Unlike the good captain, however, I am a huge fan of time travel stories. I get such a thrill seeing how different authors think about paradoxes and navigate their characters through them. In all of my science fiction reading, however, I'd yet to come across an author who dealt with the effect of time travel on the travelers themselves. Although The Psychology of Time Travel is a murder mystery on the surface, its heart is an exploration of the way too much knowledge can cause imbalances both in relationships and within ourselves.
Time travelers are curious creatures, their trips regulated by the Conclave, an extra-governmental body that somehow has its own sovereign power. Because members of the Conclave can go back to talk with loved ones whenever they wish, death means virtually nothing to the time traveler unless it is her own death. Travelers become isolated from the "normal" human experience and hence more callous to the heartache and grief of others. Some even make a point of travelling to times of others' grief so they can at least observe the emotions they no longer experience. In some ways, time travel intensifies the basic pieces of the characters' personalities, with those who are sensitive becoming more so until they wash out of the Conclave altogether.
The culture that grows up within and around the Conclave changes in a similar way. Because travelers cannot actually change events in the times they visit (more on this below), the Conclave and eventually society in general embrace an increasingly fatalistic world view. Legal disputes are settled through trial-by-ordeal which the Conclave brings back from the 24th century; in the Conclave and in the future, whoever prevails in the trial was clearly "fated" to win.
Although both of these consequences of time travel added to the appeal of the book, in the end I felt like the time travelers' inability to change other time lines was a decision of convenience rather than one that was truly supported by the characters. Members of the Conclave have elaborate hazing rituals one of which is going back in time to reveal to a stranger the time of a loved-one's death just before it happens. But, they deliberately choose people whose foreknowledge will not change the outcome: too young to be believed, too close to the time of death to act, etc. Another example is when a new time travel recruit goes back in time to solve an art vandalism crime as part of her training. She happens to have noticed that a video surveillance camera that was on in her timeline is off just before theft which is thirty minutes earlier. She decides to turn the camera on which makes it match her original timeline. It would have been more convincing to me to see a character actually trying to change the timeline and failing.
Despite those limits and a small inconsistency, The Psychology of Time Travel makes a solid and important contribution to science fiction with the personal consequences of time travel and the fact that almost all of the characters are women, including the scientists.
I look forward to reading more from Kate Mascarenhas!
Summary:
A time travel murder mystery from a brilliantly original new voice. Perfect for readers of Naomi Alderman's The Power and Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven.
1967
Four female scientists invent a time travel machine. They are on the cusp of fame: the pioneers who opened the world to new possibilities. But then one of them suffers a breakdown and puts the whole project in peril...
2017
Ruby knows her beloved Granny Bee was a pioneer, but they never talk about the past. Though time travel is now big business, Bee has never been part of it. Then they receive a message from the future – a newspaper clipping reporting the mysterious death of an elderly lady...
2018
When Odette discovered the body she went into shock. Blood everywhere, bullet wounds, that strong reek of sulphur. But when the inquest fails to find any answers, she is frustrated. Who is this dead woman that haunts her dreams? And why is everyone determined to cover up her murder?
I'm baffled by the concept of time travel. The book sounds good, but the summary already has me spacing out, thinking about cheese.
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