Never heard of this book before it appeared on my ‘recommended’ list. The title intrigued me, and what inspired me to pick this book was the cover; brilliant! Is it science fiction, a murder mystery, comedy or drama? It was quite an enjoyable witty and sarcastic read full of the paradoxes of time travel. The author does not portray this as a serious work of science fiction. It is more about the character than the science.
This is Australian humor, similar to British, witty and more than a touch of sarcasm. It takes place in Perth, Australia, centered in the year 2027 but/and since it involves time travel machines, it also takes place over various time periods. It’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Back to the Future, with a sprinkling of Philip K. Dick.
Time travel has become a popular vacation activity as anyone with enough money can now own their own machine. The government Department of Time and Space (DOTAS) has set rules about non-interference, or view only restrictions for such popular events as the crucifixion or the Kennedy assignation.
Our main character, Spider Webb, is a talented time machine repairman whose life has fallen into a semi-miserable existence after losing his job as a policeman. Spider hates time travel, avoiding it when not absolutely necessary, but it’s sometimes part of the biz. When he’s called to look at a second-hand time machine, there is a problem he can’t figure out. The machine goes back to the shop, and a team from the manufacturer is brought in to help diagnose. They set up a special tent which creates its own universe inside. Not only do they find that there are two identical machines residing in the same space, one of them has a corpse. DOTAS immediately confiscates the whole affair. Spider’s old cop senses kick in. And thus begins the adventure.
Soon after, Spider is visited by various future versions of himself who’ve traveled back in time to warn him about his future or help him in the present as he tries to figure who the murdered woman in the time machine is. He is also trying to prevent his ex-wife from getting murdered. He finds one of his future selves is diddling with his sexy ex-partner from the police force.
The story gets increasingly convoluted as present-day Spider gets pulled deep into a plot that involves the ultimate villain (his boss at the time machine repair shop) who is working to destroy the universe and bring about the end of time. When present Spider travels (unwillingly) to the end of time is where the story gets a little hinky. The author never quite resolved that bit and the villain’s motivation. There are a few other dead ends I wanted explored or explained, but it wasn’t enough to bog down the story too much.
All in all, this was a light read for science fiction, and rather clever. The ending was… hard to describe; not bad, not quite filling or thirst-quenching. Perhaps the blank page at the end is the ultimate irony? I recommend it as long as you’re not a hardcore SF aficionado or offended by the four-letter language.
There is a sequel, Paradox Resolution, which I’m putting on my wish list.