Time Travelers Never Die
By McDevitt, Jack
Penguin, $24.95, 384 pages
Time travel is one of the classic tropes of the science fiction genre, and in the hands of one of the genre’s most prominent writers like Jack McDevitt, fertile ground for an enthralling story.
Adrian “Shel” Shelbourne is a man in search of his father, which is not all that uncommon in any kind of story. In this case, however, Shel is searching for dear old dad across time. His father, Michael Shelbourne, disappeared, and a funeral was held for him despite Shel not really knowing what happened to Dad. A mysterious note from Michael is delivered to Shel instructing him to destroy two iPod like devices that turn out to be time machines. Of course curiosity gets the better of Shel and he eventually uses the device and travels through time himself. As a back-up of sorts, Shel invites his friend Dave Dryden along for the ride since Dave is a linguistics professor, allowing for smoother acclimation within each era to which Shel and Dave travel. One thing McDevitt often excels at in his science fiction is balancing the explanation of scientific principles and the characters, and this book is no different. One of the other elements is that McDevitt simply tells a compelling story, and again he succeeds very well on this count.
Shel and Dave encounter a great many historical figures, including Galileo, Thomas Paine, Churchill, and Ben Franklin, to name just a few. In a lesser writer’s hands, this novel could be simply a travelogue through history. McDevitt, however, fills each era the time travelers visit with enthusiasm and elicits believability in the historical figures Dave and Shel meet. This, coupled with the unfolding mystery of where in time Michael Shelbourne is, makes the story come across as refreshing and energetic.
McDevitt pulled a couple of neat narrative tricks in the book, with Shel and Dave taking turns as protagonists. McDevitt also adhered to some of the typical rules of time travel that would prevent paradoxes from happening, like preventing Abraham Lincoln from being murdered. Smartly, the protagonists avoid traveling to such dark historic moments for fear of upsetting history beyond repair.
Time Travelers Never Die is an addictive reading experience, and an optimistic science fiction adventure. Though the novel is a bit more light-hearted than most of McDevitt’s work, the novel is ultimately a satisfying and entertaining read.
Reviewed by Rob Bedford
