K.A. Doore's Reviews > Here and Now and Then

This book. THIS book. THIS BOOK.

Here and Now and Then is a perfect little sci-fi gem, with just a touch of literary. When time traveler Kin gets stuck in the 20th century, he does what any reasonable person would do: fall in love and start a family. This turns out to be a perfectly good plan - until suddenly the rescue team shows up, almost two decades too late. Now Kin is back in the 22nd century, where for everyone else it's only been a week, but for him it's been an entire life. He really tries to settle back in, but when the daughter he had in the past is threatened, well, he's not about to let that slide.

It's a poignant story written with a deft hand. There's a heckuva lot to unpack emotionally when you're dealing with two lives and two families, and a heckuva lot of ways to go wrong, but Chen lands each emotional beat with not only style, but a punch to the gut. I'm not usually one to cry while reading (A Fault In Our Stars was the last one to get me, so it's been years), but I went through half a box of tissues in those last few chapters.

Moreover, the women are all fully formed, fully realized characters, with just as much depth as the men, and there's no Big Bad Wolf, just people being people. It's morally gray in the best way and the technobabble is just enough to be believable without going overboard.

Tense, exciting, emotional, and full of heart - this one's going in my rec-to-everyone list.