Arrows of Time by Kim Falconer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another of my reviews that first appeared in the now-defunct webzine, The Specusphere, this one in September 2009.

In Arrows of Time, Kim Falconer continues her story of the many-worlds, which she started in The Spell of Rosette. She uses it to explore three concepts of time – forward, backward and circular. These ideas have been discussed by thinkers religious and philosophical since time immemorial, and in recent times have come to be discussed by physicists, too.

Time is, of course, a toy much loved by speculative authors. Ideas of time travel, parallel worlds and so on can be found in the works of authors as disparate as JB Priestley and Richard Carpenter, not to mention the plethora of more overtly spec-fic writers from HG Wells onward. Its permutations are legion; its possibilities, endless. This won't be the last time-based story you will read and I’ll bet it's not the first, either, unless you’re very new to the genre.

Falconer has an interesting twist to her use of the time-toy. Rosette and Jarrod find themselves in separate time-streams. Rosette is caught up in a seemingly endless time loop and Jarrod, it seems is lost altogether. Rosette looks to alternative futures for help.

The reader, however, is not shown exactly what is going on. We do not recognise Rosette when she first resurfaces, and nor are we privy to the actions of several other characters. This makes for an interesting, if somewhat confusing, read. Generally, I prefer books in which I am allowed to follow the main characters’ doings in temporal sequence and to know their thoughts and feelings, and I find more circuitous means of story telling somewhat distancing. But these characters have their own charm, and as in The Spell of Rosette, I was entranced by the Lupins and the Temple Cats as much as the human characters. If 'science fantasy' is your thing, and you love a good time-travel story, you will find Arrows of Time a great read, more especially so if you also have in interest in New Age religions and philosophies.

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