The Bee is a time-travel and futuristic science-fiction novel that supposedly (I wouldn’t know) combines real science with spirituality. Much of the science was interesting to me at the beginning, especially how it was made relatable through University lecturer Joe Main’s acquaintance with an exile called Spero, and his ‘Bee’ from the future. ‘The Bee’ is a time machine of sorts, used by a future Earth.

Joe and Spero strike a deal to help one another out, which Joe uses to help fellow lecturer Melissa in her work on anthropology, which I assume was the spirituality/human origin aspect. The other character was called Justin, whose storyline was set in a class-based future Earth.

Joe’s personality reminded me of an anime called Stein’s Gate, and to a small degree Back to the Future, even though the general idea was completely different. I found Joe’s story arc to be much more interesting, but mainly when he was first being introduced to Spero and later when his thoughts were detailed in concluding the story. Joe’s adventures with Spero in the Bee started off light-hearted and very imaginative, though I did tire of the three-way dialogue, the forays into the future, and the constant explanations for how time-travel had to be conducted.

Overall, this was an interesting and original idea. The main characters and the main theories were worth studying. I felt that although the point of the storyline was obvious, there could have been more subplots or events of import to make it grow. Instead, there were small sections of the story that were overburdened by scientific explanation.