Latest Books on Time Travel

As you read through these lines, I’ll be way into the future.

With technological advancements in full swing, in our age, we quite often love to immerse ourselves into the new, imaginative, and creative realms created by the thinkers, visionaries, and dreamers that rock the world every now and then by their ideas. So many of the science fiction fantasies are common realities now. But there is one, about which it has been written since time immemorial, ever since there has been science and fiction, and has not been achieved yet. It still intrigues our minds no matter how many times we come across that same old concept – The Time Travel! It never fails to catch our attention.

Ah well, as you read this, I may not have exactly time-traveled, but surely I would’ve moved a few days ahead and that’s the closest time travel I can accomplish right now.

Nevertheless, let’s not be disappointed by the poor time travel I can manage today, there are some breath-taking books which can take you right through into those unexplored times and worlds. Every time you read through this idea, it intrigues you even more into believing its existence - somewhere, somehow.

Of course, there are the evergreen classics like ‘The Time Machine’ by H.G. Wells, the amazing series of science fictions by Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, and many other legendary authors and thinkers, but here, I’ll talk about some of the more recent ones, of our times, which have caught the attention of the readers, even though so much has already been written about this theme.

The below list is neither exhaustive nor in any way the only list of best possible time travel novels, but these are some which the readers have thoroughly enjoyed reading and I bet are a must-try for any aspirants of time travel! There are many more ongoing science fiction/time travel series which have been there for quite some time now (Like the Outlander universe series, The Flight of the Silvers, Holo, etc.) but here I’ll try to take up the latest few, which may be unrelated to any written before and you can start afresh.

 The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman

The author, Rowan, as in most of her novels, portrays characters so real that you connect with them instantaneously. The splendor of this book is not just time travel, but how Rowan knits it all together so beautifully bringing out a story that is so emotionally entangling and thought-provoking that you keep wondering about it long after you’ve kept the book back on the shelf. It has something for everyone in it and will do just fine even with non-science-fiction lovers.

It vacillates between the 70’s and now. There are questions about something terrible that happened to the lead character’s (Luna) mother and took her away. But then, there is magic. Luna realizes her ability to travel back in time. She goes to find the answers only to be confronted by more questions. Along with her sister, as she visits the past, she has to make choices that can change everything, that can settle the affairs, but it will need a huge sacrifice - everything.

 The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Amazingly magical and mysterious. Although it’s a huge book, it grips you right on. An engrossing story, wonderful plot with twists and turns, it takes you back to the early 1900’s. The setup, the time, and the description will make you feel you are right there, in those days.

This is a story about the Mageus, who, in today’s world, still have a kinship for magic, the Brink, a dark energy that confines any Mageus who enters Manhattan in that island only to leave with their powers lost and often their lives, and Esta, the greatest thief who steals magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. Having an exceptional ability to manipulate time, Esta has been trained all this while for one terminal job, the most important one – to steal an ancient book from the Order and prevent complete annihilation of the Magues. Now, traveling to the past is not a problem, the problem is, unlike today, 1900’s were full of magic. So, to save the future, she may have to perform the biggest betrayal ever and betray everyone in the past.

 The Time Traveler by Tej Pratap Singh

It’s great to see an Indian author finally enter the arena of one of the most touched topics in science fiction, especially in the West. It takes you right to the end of our century and how our world would look like then.

The author, Tej Pratap Singh, has served in the military for over a decade and through his experience, imagination, and inventiveness, he creates an enthralling futuristic world divided between two super powers who are involved in a brutal war for complete world domination. In the process, the lead character, KC, is captured and upheld in the most dangerous and clandestine operation, which could change everything, and for which he’s sent somewhere with a complete memory wipe out. Now, without his memory, he has to find a way home, not just a few thousand kilometers away, not just across a few continents away, but across an entirely different time and reality.

The mysterious plots, the turn of events, the action-packed scenes (No, I’m not talking about any movie) keep you right on the edge of your chairs. The super futuristic world, ferocious secret agents, arms’ dealers, drug traffickers, a hero who is thrice as fast as an average man of that time, his love interest, and the time he is sent back to (That’s this year, 2017) – you name it, you have it. It’s sure to keep you hooked to the book and want more. You won’t be disappointed, because it’s not the end, it’s just the part one!

Published by White Falcon Publishing, the book is available Amazon.

  

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson

A small meeting between a linguistic and a military intelligence operator and there goes the whole world as we know it today. Well, even they did not know, then, what it would mean. We can’t blame them. What if someone told you that magic really existed just a while ago and was lost in the frequencies of modern-day technological development? And what if you are chosen to go back and change that, to tweak things a little and save the magical art from becoming a myth? Well, the Department of Diachronic Operations or the D.O.D.O are up to just that. As easy as it may sound, there are always variables which can be missed. In this case, it was the most important one - the volatile and deceitful nature of the human heart.

A perfect mixture of science, history, magic, and mystery, it really makes you believe things. And believe me, in no time, most of you would surely be browsing facts, going down the history lane to find traces of this well-researched plot and come close to references that may astound you.

  

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole

Whenever we read about a person with time travel abilities (of course in science-fiction books), there goes our heart – Wow! What an amazing ability to have. Leaping out of the conventional valiant talent of a time traveler, the author, brings a character to life who does have this amazing talent, but? Kale, the lead character, lives in two worlds, oscillating between being a no one, an average, in the present-day world, and a World War II soldier, sharpshooter back in 1945. Well, then why doesn’t he stick to the one he likes? Here is the twist! Because he can’t control it, because time travel is no choice of his, it just happens!

Living on the battlefield, fighting in the world war, and losing friends and comrades causes post-traumatic stress disorders. Of course, it does, but the problem is, that comes back with him every day to his average modern-day life where world war and its sacrifices are long but gone. Well, not every day, as his absence from the present day world has been increasing alarmingly. Ah, talking about sacrifices - his ex-girlfriend, Harper, finds Kale’s name in a historical artifact mentioning him as a fatality in war. Kale now knows that he must learn to control this ability before he goes one day and never comes back, a promise he has kept till date.

Indeed, a worthy and thrilling read with a captivating tale divided by time. 

From the Editor's Desk
Amit Sareen