Last Year

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson is one I’ve had hanging around my list since I picked it up during a 2-for-1 sale a while ago. The premise intrigued me to give it a go, as sci-fi and time travel is something that usually gets my attention.

In this novel, we get around all the pesky issues with time travel such as the grandfather paradox and the like. When travelling back in time, the time streams diverge so even though it starts with history the same as our own, by simply going there it forms a new future on a new timeline – so no altering the present.

This book explores some interesting themes – the ethics of time travellers and the impact they have on those living in the past. The big bad corporation running the show in this book is exploiting it all for their own benefit (of course), taking payment in gold they can bring back to the future with them, and collecting huge fees by running tours of the old west to rich socialites.

Filled with a variety of great characters, and lots of interesting villains, it’s a book that went by surprisingly fast for its 11 hours.

Narrated by Scott Brick (who I’ve said before I wasn’t going to rush to listen to again after his plodding rendition of Blade Runner) did a fine job of this one. I didn’t realise until I’d already spent the credit it was Brick narrating, but I’m glad I gave him another go.

All in all, an interesting take on the time travel trope in a way that won’t leave you disappointed.

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