In this post, I’m going to rate several time travel novels, using my own I-Wish-I’d-Written-It test.
Time travel novels go in two directions. Either the plot is a thriller-style story and takes a scientific approach to time’s paradoxes, or it immerses the reader as a tourist in a past era. Most often, time travel books have a romance. I’m not fascinated by time machines or historical paradoxes, so my stories go the romance and adventure route. Time tourists trying to either change history or preserve it.
As for my favorites, I’ll start at the top. Jodi Taylor’s time travel series gets a rating of 13 on my 1-10 scale. Yes, 13. It fascinating history, its humor, and its heart are unmatched in time travel or any other category of fantasy fiction.
Jodi Taylor’s Comedic Time Travel Series
What if you could spend an hour in another century–where would you go? Would you watch a famous battle or attend a royal ball? Would you want to time travel to solve a mystery or observe how people livein another time, and in so doing, set the historical record straight?
Jodi Taylor’s 13-book series The Chronicles of St. Mary’s is a major event in time travel fiction. Her 13-book tour-de-force series begins with Just One Damned Thing After Another, which I think gives you a sense of her satirical tone. of imagined brief visits to other eras. The time traveling historians of St. Mary’s have a mission to solve history’s mysteries. Taylor combines richly imagined history with a cast of hilariously flawed characters — as the blurb puts it, “a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets who hurtle their way around History.”
The historians of St. Mary’s investigate history in real time (“don’t call it time travel!”). They get trampled in the Battle of Hastings or eaten by dinosaurs. The contraptions they travel in — I suppose I can’t call them time machines — are unreliable, poorly maintained, and smell of cabbage or something worse. I wish I had one-tenth of Taylor’s imagination. She has clearly studied history in depth, and is a deeply funny person.
Do Taylor’s books pass the I-Wish-I’d-Written-It-Test? On a scale of zero to 10, they get 15. I’d give my best laptop to have written just one of these books.
Kathleen Flynn’s The Jane Austen Project
On the I-Wish-I’d-Written-It scale, Kathleen Flynn’s imaginative premise ranks high. The idea is of two historians tasked with time traveling back to Jane Austen’s time to recover a hidden Austen novel — and thus change literary history. Talk about a wishful thinking premise! Don’t all of us Austen fans wish someone someday will discover more Austen gems? Reading this story, which brings a contemporary woman to meet and ultimately befriend Jane Austen, kindled inklings of the idea for my time traveling Jane Austen story, which hopefully will be coming in late 2022 or early 2023. Flynn handles the details of history and of contemporary characters finding ways to blend into an alien culture, but it’s not those competently described early 19th century surroundings that inspired my envy of this novel. It’s the way the author allows the reader to meet not only Jane herself, but most of her family. In the end, it felt like a historical novel more than a fantasy, and a pleasurable immersion into early 19th century history focused on Jane Austen’s part of England.
On the I-Wish-I’d-Written-It test of 1-10, this novel gets a solid 7. Excellent craftsmanship about one of my favorite historical figures and places.
Paula Brackston’s The Little Shop of Found Things
This isn’t exactly time travel, but the novel weaves together two timelines, as well as magic in antique objects. A woman who is sensitive to the voices of the obhjects’ past can return to their time period to witness why the items are crying out. The story begins with a mother-daughter pair starting a new life by buying an antique shop in a charming English village. They find is a place of quiet magic, a bounty of lost treasures, and a spirit who haunts them place.
The narrative pace is quiet and descriptive, and the setting has English village charm. The magic feels plausible, and even the ghost feels sympathetic. I love fact that an ordinary piece of antique jewelry can transport the young woman Xanthe to a previous century where something needs to be set right, and she feels she has to do it. Xanthe’s sensitivies compel her to seek the justice for people her found items belonged to. The idea of hearing the voices of history in objects will appeal to anyone who has ever spent a lot of time in museums, wondering about the ancient items behind the glass.
On the I-Wish-I’d-Written-It test of 1-10, this novel gets a solid 8. I love the light magic, the magical realism of the book, and the gentle characters. The story itself could have been faster-paced, but then the reader wouldn’t get that immersive feeling in an enchanting setting with the ghostly echoes.
Nathan Van Coops’ Time of Death
As a huge fan of Agatha Christie, I’ve always wanted to write a murder mystery. Especially one set in one of the classic mystery eras, the 1930s or the 1950s. Van Coops’ mystery features a classic noir sort of detective with a grudge against life, but with a surprising ability to jump through time. That talent alone makes him interesting. When you can watch the criminals and the crime in real time, it makes solving a mystery a lot easier. The narrative voice of Greyson Travers is compelling and describes fast-paced action with cynical economy, perfect for the character type. I could have used a little more backstory for the protagonist, and a little more heat perhaps, but I’ll definitely read forward in this three-book series and maybe find out more about Greyson Travers.
For the I-Wish-I’d-Written-It test, a solid 8. As I said, I wish I could write a murder mystery, and a time-traveling sleuth just rings my bell. Lots of page-turning fun in this one. No romance. No Scotland. And I’m so good with that!
Newest in My Timegathering Series – Undoing Time
Of course, I’m going to say I wish I’d written my own magical realism time travel series! I’m giving my own book a 10 on my I-Wish-I’d-Written-It scale. Undoing Time, focuses on what happens when spoiled rich girl Liv Pomeroy’s high hopes come undone, she’s jilted, and escapes to Italy, meeting a circle of time travelers whose mission is to save history. Can she save her own future by joining their mission to preserve the past? All the three books in the series include time travel, have settings in Italy, and romance. Take a look HERE.
Next in the Series
I’m working on my next in the Timegathering Series. Jane Austen, Time Traveler, is scheduled to be out in late 2022. Of course, it’s a 25 on my 1-10 Wish-I’d-Written-It scale because I’m wishing hard to finish writing it. Therefore it becomes the top tier in my writing wishes! Check in with me in November, when I WILL have written it.