Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen (2019)


My last 'sci-fi' read of the year is the story of a time-agent, a person tasked with preventing criminals from taking advantage of time travel, getting stuck in the past and his 'rescue' after 18 years. Problem is, he is emotionally torn between the family he leaves behind in the past and the family from his proper timeline he returns to. In short, it's an emotional rollercoaster painted with a veneer of sci-fi shenanigans. And that's the book's main problem. 

As a family drama, the book works well enough (though I surely wouldn't say 'gripping') and is generally well-written. I just couldn't get behind the overall story, though, because the book is billed as being sci-fi - given the element of time travel - but the time-traveling merely serves as a plot device whose particulars aren't given much thought by the author. This tended to make the book almost read like advanced Young Adult material than a thought-provoking exercise in sci-fi. Worst of all, you can see the end coming a mile away once the final act begins. 

It's a decent enough effort, I suppose, and there are many more worse sci-fi dramas out there. Ultimately, for me, this book was really neither Here Nor There Nor Anywhere. 

Final Score: just maybe 7/10

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