The Time Anomaly

by Katie Mitsui

For all intents and purposes, mild-mannered introvert and engineer Johnathan Davidson of Toledo, Ohio may be one the most influential persons who ever lived. Mostly by accident and without leaving a clear indication of how on earth he accomplished it, Johnathan invented the only time machine that, thus far in the history of humanity, has been proven to actually work.
When he made his fateful journey forward, he didn't go alone. Johnathan's machine somehow caused a snag or ripple in the fabric of time. This snag dragged every person in a 25-mile radius out of the present, sending them to reappear at seemingly random points in time between his own exit and reentry exactly 100 years later. In short, Johnathan unintentionally vanished the population of an entire mid-sized, American city and scattered its residents forward into a future without any of the connections that anchored them to their past or present lives.
The social, economic, scientific, and psychological impacts of Johnathan's little experiment threw the entire world into disarray for the next 100 years and beyond. This is the story of what is now known as "The Time Anomaly."

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2024

Reviews

[Ann-Catherine Morner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The area of a circle with a radius of 25 miles is 25×25×3.14= 1963 miles². That is more than 23 times the area of Toledo, Ohio.

Dear Fellow Readers, the 25 miles is in the blurb, so I am not spoiling anything. Look at a map. The Authoress didn't. She did look up the population. Only the people of Toledo get stuck in time. 281,500. They reappear in a constant rate over 100 years. That is less than 8 every day. We are supposed to agree that that is too much for the combined resourses of the US government.

Well, let's agree that this is not conventional science fiction.
It is about the psychology of being displaced in time. And how such an event would change the whole world.

The Plot.
The plot idea is quite ingenious. Five stars for the idea.
The plot is simple, we are told the whole of it in the blurb/foreword. A man invents a time machine, sets it for 100 years, and goes. He accidentally brings a whole city with him. The other people drop off in a constant stream along the way.
The Characters.
Many. Very varied.
The Telling.
The tale is told from a great many points of view, from various people involved, but also as news articles and scientific reports. There are nice people, there are conspiracy theorists, there are smart people, there are stupid people. This is well done.
But, Dear Fellow Readers, I can't believe how inept the people who come to rescue are. We are told to believe that they are so overwhelmed that a special branch in the US military has to be created. For 7 or 8 people each day. And every single returnee needs years of special counselling. A special city/hospital is needed to take care of them. Impractically, the scientists who try to study the Event have to help with this too.
This is not credible. The survivors aren't allowed to leave. Especially they aren't allowed to leave the US. Why?
Determening the centre of the Event should have been easy after just a year.
The whole set-up is so costly that it affects world economy. Why?
In fact, the whole world seems to stop, because I, and you, would expect a lot more progress over time. The Authoress has ideas for many new inventions. The problem with that is that quite a few already exist today...
"The future ain't what it used to be".
The Authoress wants a nice, recyclable future with nice people. Brought about by a small, local event...

Recommended? Yes, but not as hard science fiction.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnathan invents a time-travelling machine and decides to time travel 100 years into the future; however, in doing so, Johnathan teleports hundreds of thousands of people in Toledo into the future over the span of 100 years. The story shows accounts of different people, ranging from diary entries to following the characters' thoughts to written reports of theories. Some characters have a feeling they are in a different timeline and others don't understand they're no longer among their families and friends. The story also features Search and Rescue teams reporting the odd occurrence in the present day. It isn't made clear how the Search and Rescue teams conclude that people have time travelled to the future and the perspectives change so frequently that it's difficult to connect with the characters. Nonetheless, over time, those who find themselves in the future have the opportunity to tell their stories while the invention is put together to bring the people back to their timeline. This is a lengthy and complex read with plenty of characters to follow as well as a range of arcs.


I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Anomaly is nice play on the multiple narrator and time period approach that has been prevalent in recent years. Time itself is the main character, but the book deftly interweaves the experiences of people whose lives didn’t turn out how, or even when they expected with advancements in science and technology and shifting political attitudes. Anchored lightly in the story of Trevor, a boy who finds his way into adulthood after a very unusual tenth birthday, the book makes you think about where you belong and what it would mean if your whole world changed in the blink of an eye. This debut novel has a little something for everyone, from the immediate aftermath of a large-scale disaster to the everyday beauty that comes from human connection. There’s even a memorable, and somewhat heartbreaking, excursion into the wonderful world of fluffy dog butts. Little time is spent on the mechanics of time travel, but there is enough to satisfy regular sci-fi readers while hooking fans of more character-driven novels with the challenges and joys of navigating a life where timing truly is everything.

[Nan Adel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn into this story from the first page. The inventor of the time machine had good intentions in wanting to go forward in time 100 years when modern medicine might be able to cure him of his deadly disease. He had no idea he would be dragging 300,000 people with him. All of them were reentering time at staggered dates. It was heartwarming to see how every effort was made to protect and help these 'survivors,' as they were called. Some returned after a short time, others returned 50, 60, 70, years, or later. Some didn't survive where they reentered. One ten-year-old reentered after just a day or two. This child survived for three months before the people outside the affected city were aware of this phenomenon. He is one of the characters who is followed throughout his life. Some chapters were just a little too technical for my tastes and I skimmed the details. I found the emotional reactions of the survivors interesting and I could feel their confusion. I highly recommend this book.

[Cara Herbig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have recently dived into sci fi books specifically those that deal with time travel. For some reason that interests me beyond any other topic. This was extraordinarily unique and written much like World War Z was - so if you like that format you will like this. It was overly technical at times, however I was absolutely stunned with the details that the author put into this from a socio-economic standpoint. I would never have thought of so many ramifications and how society would handle such an event.

Even so, I was absolutely most interested in the time survivors experiences. I wanted much more of that. To think of what it would be like to just blink and have 50 or 75 years gone.... that is much more interesting than anything else to me. There was not enough from the time survivors themselves.

And the ending! I wanted more from that. Would love to discuss but don't want to spoil...

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a time travel novel, and I thought it sounded like an interesting read. It was interesting, but I did find the writing a little bit complex and heavy, and more technical than i expected. A large part of this was told through journal entries, but I felt like I didn't connect properly with the characters. It wasn't the easiest read, and I couldn't quite grasp it, but it was interesting.

Thank you to Booksprout and the author for a free copy to review.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Philip Pellicore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing take on science fiction and time travel genres. Fortunate enough to receive a review copy. Read it cover to cover in a few nights.
Not since watching the classic episodes of Star Trek or Doctor Who for the first time has a piece of media intrigued and captured my imagination as this work has.
If you are a fan of science fiction, time travel, or fiction as a sociocultural mirror you owe it to yourself to read The Time Anomaly.

[Nerrissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Tedious Book

If you like reading case reports this is the of book for you. If you are in looking for an interesting timeline travel novel, keep looking. I read half, to skinned through the rest and it is a repetitive amount of an event written in a style acceptable to any government agency or corporate entity.

[Ben Daily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting viewpoint for time travelers

This was an interesting viewpoint for the accidental time travelers and how they had to adjust to their new now. I was a bit disappointed at the ending. Will he or won't he?

[Paul Porlier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. It has a different twist throughout the whole book. Keeps you guessing through the whole book. Enjoyed the ending, keeps the door open for a second book.

[Victoria Owens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so much wanted to read this book. It sounded so promising unusual. I just couldn't get past the narrative in the third person. Couldn't finish the book, which is very rare for me.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome and original premise. I liked the format of the narrative. This was a great and entertaining read from start to finish and I highly recommend it.

[Michael Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

l liked the read….

It’s been a few months since I read this book, and I still ponder about its concepts. It is imaginative and thoughtful.