The Far-Time Incident
“When a professor’s time-travel lab is the scene of a deadly accident, the academic world and the future of St. Sunniva University get thrown into upheaval. As assistant to the dean of science, Julia Olsen is assigned to help Campus Security Chief Nate Kirkland examine this rare mishap…then make it quietly go away!
But when the investigation points toward murder, Julia and Chief Kirkland find themselves caught in a deadly cover-up, one that strands them in ancient Pompeii on the eve of the eruption of the world’s most infamous volcano. With the help of their companions—a Shakespearean scholar and two grad students—Julia and the chief must outwit history itself and expose the school’s saboteur before it’s too late.” – Publisher’s Description
The Far Time Incident is one of those books that does an excellent job of melding together several different genres and helping to take readers out of their “comfort zones” without them even realizing it. Maslakovic has really outdone herself blending history, science fiction, adventure and mystery into one compelling novel that I had a lot of trouble putting down and was very sad to see end.
The Far Time Incident is set in a time contemporary to ours, but one in which Time Travel Engineering (TTE) exists and has been used many times by scientists and scholars to observe key events of our past. Most times these researchers are only able to observe, photograph, or record these events. Maslakovic has introduced the concept of History as an omnipotent force that will block modern researchers from interfering with its course, or even being seen by those in the past if their actions or appearance would somehow cause a disturbance. There is also the concept of a “ghost zone” in history, one where History will drop the researchers into a place where a disaster is imminent in an attempt to keep everything in balance. It is one of these “ghostzones” — Pompeii on the eve of Vesuvius’ eruption — that the bulk of The Far Time Incident takes place.
After scientist Xavier Mooney is apparently murdered by being scattered across time, Julia Olsen, the Assistant to the dean of science, and Nate Kirkland, chief of campus security, begin to investigate. To fully understand possible motives and effects, Kirkland suggests that they take a short trip back in time to test the equipment and understand its function. A small team of Olsen, Kirkland, two graduate students, and another professor are assembled and attempt to travel back to New York in 1964. They find themselves instead in Pompeii in 79 AD where they immediately begin to feel earthquakes, the precursors to an eruption. Faced with the possibility of being in a ghost zone with no idea how to get home or who placed them there sets the stage for this historical adventure/mystery.
Interspersed with fantastic accounts of Pompeii, Maslakovic weaves a tale with a pair of mysteries — first the team’s investigation of the murder of Professor Mooney and their own entrapment in the past, as well as a local Pompeiian mystery that Kirkland takes it upon himself to solve. Racing against time (literally and figuratively in this case) Maslakovic also brings a fine tension and sense of suspense into this adventure as well. The characters and their reactions are very believable and Maslakovic stays true to her tenet that the past cannot be changed, keeping this concept believable and adding to the suspense as the team attempts to work within these constraints.
The Far Time Incident is a first person narrative told from the point of view of Julia Olsen. As an administrative assistant to the dean of science at St. Sunniva University, she has as great deal of exposure to the science and scientists, but little working knowledge. This helps the story as it stays away from the highly technical side of things one might expect from a harder science fiction story, but at the same time is able to incorporate that science in a way that most readers will find easy to understand. The human element of the story is definitely helped in this way as well as we get to see Julia’s struggles with having her neat and orderly life turned upside down in an instant.
I highly recommend The Far Time Incident to any fan of science fiction, adventure/suspense, and mystery novels. This is slated to be the first in a series of time travel adventures, one that hopefully will continue in this same vein!
Many thanks to 47 North, NetGalley, and Neve Maslakovic for the opportunity to read and review The Far Time Incident. My copy was listed as an “uncorrected proof”, so aside from small grammatical errors I foresee no changes between my copy and the published one.
Five out of five stars.
The Far Time Incident on Amazon
The Far Time Incident on Barnes and Noble
The Far Time Incident on Goodreads
The Far Time Incident on LibraryThing
The Far Time Incident on Shelfari
