Showing posts with label time distortion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time distortion. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Review 735: On the Calculation of Volume IV

On the Calculation of Volume IV On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book is the fourth installment of this series. Next one is due out in November. Maybe it too will be released on November 18th, the day that is repeated for the characters in this series. In this one we have many more people. Coordination and organization seem to fill this book. The progression of days that are counted seem to jump forward frequently, another hundred here and there.

A couple of philosophical points came out at me while reading these books about how the need to work is no longer there. What do you do with your time if suddenly you have everything you need, whatever you want? What do you do with your days that repeat over and over?

I found that enjoyed this installment slightly less than the previous books in the series, but I’m fully invested and cannot wait for the next books to come out. I want to see how this all plays out.





Previously Read books in series:
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Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Review 727: On the Calculation of Volume III

On the Calculation of Volume III On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The book is the third in the series, and following the pattern begins just after the previous book. I still feel like these books would have been better in one longer work instead of splitting these into smaller parts.

Tara Selter is still repeating the same day of November 18, but now she is not alone. She writes about how they met and what they spoke about when they first met, and much more. There is quite a lot going on in this volume.

There is a section here that repeats part of her pattern in the first book. I thought this lagged the story slightly, but it was entirely understandable.

It's hard to describe what the content is without spoiling the plot, and the discovery of what happens is one of the main draws for me in reading these books. I cannot help but wonder what will happen next.

I have noticed that the translator had changed with this third book from Barbara Haveland to Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell. The quality of the writing is similar, and I could not really tell there was a change other than it was stated in the book. Although, I cannot help but wonder why there was this change.





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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Review 726: On the Calculation of Volume II

On the Calculation of Volume II On the Calculation of Volume II by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




The book is the second in the series and picks up right where the first book ended. Tara Selter is counting the days that have repeated November 18. In this book she tries to recreate a year of seasons. She visits her family for Christmas, then travels north for a winter. Then later south for spring and summer, staying in Europe. She is trying to trick herself that a year is passing instead of repeating the same day with the same weather.

In this book Tara becomes very interested in Roman history. With this she tries to navigate how to retain the items. A computer will erase all of her searches and saved documents. Things can disappear overnight, going back to where they were on November 17. Tara needs to train items to stay put by having them under her pillow or on the bed. In the case of a chair, she slept in it for several days. But things are not consistent either, just an oddity of this repeating of the same day.

This book ends with another surprise, and so I just keep reading. I love the details and the writing. The books are so short they go quickly, somewhat wish for a longer book instead of being broken into so many parts.




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Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Review 723: On the Calculation of Volume I

On the Calculation of Volume I On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Seeing this book cover around made me intrigued. I hadn’t read anything about the book, other than it is a translation and knew there are several in this series. I was pleasantly surprised by the book.

Tara Selter was on a book buying trip for her business with her husband Thomas. During this time away somehow, she got stuck in November 18. The day keeps repeating itself. Tara doesn’t end up doing the same thing over and over, at least that is not the description in the novel.

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the descriptions, the level of detail. It reminded me somewhat of Karl Ove Knausgård and his autofiction series My Struggle. However, this is entirely fiction.

The book is short, too short really. It ends with a little cliffhanger of sorts where I had to know what happened next. Happily, I had the next book, volume II, with me as I was travelling. I’ve already finished that and well into volume III. I find this series of short books intriguing and a bit addicting. Unfortunately, not all are translated into English just yet so after the fourth I am going to have to wait.






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Saturday, June 27, 2026

Review 708: When the Day Comes

When the Day Comes When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A couple of years ago I won this book from the publisher (not exactly sure how, maybe from a webinar I attended). The publisher prints mainly Christian romance, which is not my preferred genre. However, I gave it a chance as there was some interest in the premise.

Libby is a time traveler of sorts. She lives in dual timelines. The book starts one of her lives in 1774 Williamsburg, Virginia and the other in 1914 London, England, although she grew up in New York city. Each day is lived twice, once per timeline. At the age of 21 she will be able to choose which timeline to live out the rest of her life. Although there is another rule, that if an attempt to change history is made, then she will no longer return to that timeline and her body will die there.

For Libby she loves her life in 1774. Her mama was also a time-crosser who guided her for both lives. Living in the Colonial era is not an easy time to live, especially now that Libby’s father recently passed away. The women are now struggling to keep the printing shop going. However, there is Henry whom Libby loves, although he does not know. There is much more family warmth in this timeline as well.

In the 20th century Libby’s mother is very cold to her, while her only love is from her father, who had remained in New York. They are in London to find a husband for Libby. Many of the nobility are looking for rich wives from America (called American Dollar Princesses) to help support their crumbling estates, which is just what Libby’s mother is looking for, to gain further social status. This is not what Libby wants.

The writing and world building is well written, easily understood. Although why this exists, why these people become time-crossers is just a given. The story did get a bit dramatic at times, but I was pulled along for the story and enjoyed my time with the book. This is a first book in a series.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Review 705: The Vigilante Life of Scott Mckenzie




This is the seventh book in the Middle Falls Time Travel series, one of the few series I've continued to follow. While the writing itself isn't particularly strong, with more exposition than anything else, the central premise is compelling enough that I have kept reading them.

The time-travel premise in each book is that the main character dies, often self-inflicted in some way, then is “reset” as the same person to an earlier, pivotal point in their life. The character remembers what happened in their previous life, so they can make changes. This premise is what I find interesting. What would someone do differently if they could change the trajectory of their life?

In this book, Scott McKenzie is a Vietnam veteran wounded both physically. Emotionally he was wounded from early in life, as he grew up in a violent house, until age ten, when his father killed his mother then himself. It took Scott several "lifetimes" to discover his purpose, stopping those who would harm innocent people. This book contains considerably more violence than the previous books in the series, which did not appeal much to me.

Although each novel is a standalone story, characters from earlier books occasionally make appearances. That happens here as well, when Scott eventually meets and befriends the main character from the previous book. Perhaps my memory is not what it used to be, but I barely remembered Scott from that earlier story. Or, maybe he wasn’t mentioned much in that prior book. In any case, I do enjoy the crossovers.

One unexpected bonus with this book was that my husband listened to it with me during a road trip to a family wedding. Since he doesn’t read as much as me, it was nice to find a book he and I both could enjoy, and help make the long drive pass more quickly.





Previously Read Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:


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Friday, August 15, 2025

Review 610: Dissolution

Dissolution Dissolution by Nicholas Binge
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



Science fiction book that at the heart is a relationship between two people Maggie and Stanley.

We begin with an elderly Maggie being interviewed by a Hassan. They seem to be an empty pool. She doesn't remember anything at first. Hassan gives her a drug to help her specific memory recall and he wants to know everything, every detail. He claims that this will help Stanley get his memory back. Hassan seems almost not human...

Why, how? She wants to know but he won’t say, except that the memory care facility he has been in, is the cause of it. Hassan urges her to stay focused on what he wants to know. He is in control.

During the interview Maggie recalls how she takes these dives into the past, into Stanley’s memory even. Maggie learns more about her husband than she did while they were married for all those years.

In between these interviews are chapters on Stanley, his youth then later. He was an awkward boy, from a working class family and a brutal father. But Stanley was wicked smart and got himself into a good school with a scholarship. He stands out and a professor takes him under his wing, only the select are welcome, and here Stanley shines. And here his life begins.

Somehow the disconnect of these chapters do come together okay. The book does have some repetition due to the nature of Maggie going into Stanley’s past and her revealing this to Hassan. At times the book felt elongated unnecessarily. There were some really good interesting parts. Yet, it felt compiled from a handful of other stories and books, such as The Time Traveler’s Wife, some of Resident Evil, and a bit of Philip K Dick, etc... Overall, and enjoyable audio book.

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Friday, May 30, 2025

Review 587: The Changing Lives of Joe Hart

The Changing Lives of Joe Hart The Changing Lives of Joe Hart by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is the sixth book in the Middle Falls Time Travel series. Each book addresses something slightly different. This time the main character, Joe Hart, tries to change history. First by trying to prevent his two friends deaths while young, more globally to prevent John Lennon's death in New York.

Another twist with this story is that when Joe Hart dies it is accidental and he is still “rebooted” like in a video game, In previous books this resetting of one’s life happens when the death was self-inflicted. The moment the character returns to is when they were on the cusp of making an important life choice.

This book fell a little into a pattern somewhat like the other books, despite the difference, which actually are quite small. One of the reasons I typically don’t read long series books is they do become somewhat formulaic. However, I did decide to continue on with these as they do tend to make one think about grander philosophic questions which makes them interesting.



Previously Read Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Friday, May 2, 2025

Brief Review 578: The Time Machine

The Time Machine The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I saw a movie version of this years ago, so I knew the story line. Still I found myself enthralled. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Scott Brick. One of the rare times I listened to the entirety in one go, without stopping. It's short enough you can do that. What a classic!
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Friday, April 25, 2025

Review 574: The Emancipation of Veronica McAllister

The Emancipation of Veronica McAllister The Emancipation of Veronica McAllister by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is the 5th book in the series: Middle Falls Time Travel.
While this was a very quick read, I didn’t like this book as much as the others in the series. The storyline was okay, it was the writing style. None of them are excellent in the craft of writing, but they are plot driven and the questions and premise make these books interesting.

For this book the writing style was bugging me. One example is the pointing out at this time there wasn’t certain technology or way of doing things today. It happened a few times and was clunky and pulled me out of the story. (like reminding us cell phones didn’t exist.)

For this book we have a woman POV for the first time in the series. Veronica’s character was near the end of the previous book, taking her life as she was dying of cancer. This taking of one’s own life is what resets the character’s life, and goes back to a pivotal point. For Veronica who was 80 or so she reverted back to a teenager in the last few months of high school before graduation. The next day she meets her husband to be, at least in the first life.

Veronica ends up having several lives, each restarting at the same point and the story repeats some of those first moments for most of those restarts. Yeah, that gets repetitive too. Veronica ends up killing herself during each life as she isn’t fulfilled and wants to do it again, until she finally gets it right.

What the author choses to fill in these lives is always an interesting choice as well, and maybe didn’t make the best decisions. There were moments that seemed to make no sense why it was included and other moments that were didn’t get fully explored.

Yet, there are still glimpses of philosophical questions that these books bring up. Some that are explored in the series such as: What would you do different if you had a chance to do it again? What would you do the same? Ultimately, what is your best life?

I will read the next book, since I have it and these are short books. Then I will consider about continuing the series or not.



Other Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Friday, April 11, 2025

Review 569: The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon

The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




This is the 4th book in the series: Middle Falls Time Travel, and was slightly different than the previous three. The author’s note at the end helps to explain it as this story was something he had thought about for a very long while, since before he started writing novels.

The premise of each book in this series has an essential part, which is being called time travel: a character dies, then is reborn again as the same person, but at an earlier part of their life and they remember everything. I find this an interesting premise. What would someone do differently if they could change the trajectory of their life? The person always returns to a pivotal moment in their life.

In this book there the main character, Nathaniel Moon is born as a new person and changed. The first glimpse of this is when he talks to his mother while still in the womb. At age four he discovers he can heal people.

This book brought in more philosophy or spirituality than the previous three books. This was a fairly short book and the ending seemed to come abruptly, but after finishing I can see that it was a good stopping point.

So far I'm still intrigued about this time travel concept and will continue the series.



Other Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Thursday, September 5, 2024

Review 512: The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner

The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Third book in the series Middle Falls time travel, where the main character starts their life over after a premature death and wakes up sometime as a child. The main character here, Dominick Davidner, wakes up as a nine-year old. Unfortunately, this character was not as interesting as the previous two books main characters.

There’s an occurrence of repetition of scenes from the previous book, which made the book somewhat boring. After that section the book improved slightly. The main character is obsessed with the woman who was his wife in his first life, and thinks he cannot start living begins until they are married.

The lack of character development and growth in this book made it the weakest of the first three books. Which in turn, has me reconsider going any further in the series. There was a tease, near the end of the book about the overall world and this other dimension, that was slightly intriguing. So maybe. Going to wait awhile see if my curiosity develops further.




Other Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Thursday, August 8, 2024

Review 505: Time Squared

Time Squared Time Squared by Lesley Krueger
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


A unique concept for a time travel book. At first it was a little confusing; decades would go by but the characters acted as if it was only months. It only became obvious that the world was changing when technology started to change dramatically. Later characters and situations changed significantly as well. It starts, and takes place for most of the book in the 19th century, but doesn't stay there and briefly visits the 16th and 17th century and of course the 20th and 21st.

Our main character is Eleanor Crosby who lives with her Aunt Clara since her father died, who was a minister. It is time she gets a husband. She has a dear friend Catherine. The Denholm brothers are visiting their area, Middleford, Yorkshire and the eldest is the most attractive catch, as the heir to the family castle, while the younger in uniform about to head out to war.

There’s a quite a cast of characters, the above being the most important, and they all seem to reappear in each time line. The book is held as being a romance through the different eras where Eleanor is trying to be with Robin. It is that in a way, but much more.

It’s an uncommon book and the ending does try to provide some reasoning for what all came before, but I was not much of a fan of that. Despite that part I did enjoy the way the book worked and the style of writing. It was an intriguing book.



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Friday, July 26, 2024

Review 501: The Redemption of Michael Hollister

The Redemption of Michael Hollister The Redemption of Michael Hollister by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m not one to typically read series books, but I do have several exceptions. I typically don’t read one right after the other, but this week I did just that. After finishing book one in the series I dived up book 2.

The premise is that the main character is reliving his (or her) life over again, but retaining the information learned from the first time. They don’t start as babies, but when there was an “important moment” when things started to change for them, that's the explanation given for when they are "reborn".

In this book the main character is someone carried over from the first book, who was a significant character, Michael Hollister. He was not portrayed as a nice person, quite the opposite. So it was with trepidation that I headed into this book, with the title that contained the word redemption, well figured things would go differently for Michael this time around. And it did.

The book is on the short side, but still I got through it quite fast. I have the third book ready to go but that will have to wait. Not sure how many of these books in the series I will read, but I will at least do the next one. If the next proves to be as the first two have been, then this series may be another exception for me.

Oh, I actually ended up enjoying this book slightly more than the first one, and I was worried. Go figure.





Other Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Review 499: The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver

The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



What if you had a chance to relive your life with keeping the knowledge you already have? This is the premise of this book, and series. This first book introduces the world-building, which is not much different than real life.

Thomas Weaver made a mistake one night, the first time he went to a party with his older brother. His older brother got too drunk to drive and Tommy was not quite old enough yet, but he tried to drive them safely home. Instead an accident and his brother was dead. (This happens very early in the story, so not really giving anything away.) This ruins Tommy’s life until he has the chance to do it again.

It's an interesting concept and the writing was okay. The story line was interesting enough to keep me listening and engaged. Not spectacular, but good enough that I’ve already started the next book, because why not?

I’m not usually one that goes for series, but there are some exceptions. I have the omnibus which is the first three books in one edition. That should give me enough experience with the writing style to see if this is one of those series exceptions for me.






Other Middle Falls Time Travel Series books:
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Friday, February 10, 2023

Review 376: Eversion

Eversion Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The main character is a doctor, an unreliable narrator at that. He keeps waking from up from a dream where he died...or did he really die? The doctor is on a ship, and the crew remains the same each time, but there are changes.

It's an interesting premise. There is also the warning, get out while you can. It all has a sort of Lovecraft type vibe going, something unknown with a slight horror aspect.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic!


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