TimeLiners

by Emily Blaisdell

From H.G. Wells to “Outlander,” no one has traveled in time like this.


TimeLiners is not science fiction. In lieu of the usual time travel clichés, debut author Emily Blaisdell asks what would happen if some “Timemaster,” some Elon Musk-ish Bad Boy genius, turned time travel into tourism. So it’s 2027. Your Time Jockeys liner is boarding. Where in the recent past are you headed? To a legendary concert? To kill Hitler (get in line.) To watch that first kiss with. . .

Running with this premise, Blaisdell spins a sardonic spoof of modern travel. For three amazing years, a worldwide fleet of TimeLiners provides the ultimate escape from our own wacked out time. TimeLiners also plays with our hi-tech obsessions. Movies on Meh-flix. Shopping on Stuffipile.com. Social media on Spewbox and Blather. It’s all in good fun until “small dlsruptions” begin to wreak havoc.

But mostly it was miracle and wonder, with little bags of pretzels for snacks.. .
-- “The best — and wittiest — novel ever written about time travel.” — USA Yesterday

-- "Although I've been dead since 1946, I bloody well loved TimeLiners. Brilliant!" -- H.G. Wells, author of The Time Machine

— A time-hopping dramedy that’s often fun and insightful. OUR VERDICT — GET IT! — Kirkus Reviews

— “One of my favorite summer reads.” — Writer’s Digest

-- "Ms. Blaisdell and her readers should know that in all my life I never mooned anybody." -- Steve Jobs

Genres: Time Travel

365 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2025

About the author

Devoured Harry P. Dreamed of being a writer. Now I am. Live in Brooklyn with my books, cats, and Time. I’ve always been fascinated by time, how it changes us. How it slips away. How it’s GONE! Or is it?

Then one day, at 37,000 feet, I wondered. What if, instead of flying me home to Brooklyn, this flight was taking me to 1981? What if I could change planes there for 1969 — go see Woodstock?! Or 1955 — watch Ginsberg read “Howl!” Or 1927? And what if some Elon Musk-ish bad boy genius digitized time to jumpstart an entire industry of TimeLiners? You get the dream. Where and when would you go?

Reviews

[Mark Ferree]

Could I go back to Boston on Saturday, October 25, 1986, and warn Bill Buckner to be ready for Mookie Wilson’s grounder toward first base—and change history? Or would my warning only distract him enough to make the ball slip through anyway? With time travel, who knows?

That kind of question is exactly what makes Emily Blaisdell’s debut novel, Timeliners, so much fun. The book follows a purple-haired Bay Area comedian caught in a clever version of time travel where mass tourism to the near past is not only possible, but routine. Travelers check in at the Timeliner Terminal, pass through TSAT, board a 39-seat liner, and set off for carefully designated moments in history before returning the same way. But the real heart of the novel emerges once the characters arrive in the past, where each trip reveals more than a simple destination.

Some of the deeper clues can be easy to miss without a background in literature. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby echoes through the first chapter, Proust’s In Search of Lost Time informs the second, and other references follow from there. A love of American classics and avant-garde music adds another layer to the experience, expanding the reader’s understanding of why the characters travel where they do and what those moments mean.

I enjoyed Timeliners not only as a creative time-travel adventure, but also as a puzzle that rewards curiosity. Researching the places, eras, books, music, and yes—baseball—made the journey even richer. Blaisdell has written a debut that invites readers to keep looking beneath the surface, and that lingering sense of discovery may be the best trip of all.

[Steve Kanji]

Imagine a bustling tourism industry whisking you not to exotic locales, but to enticing years in the past -- in "Timeliners," Emily Blaisdell grabs this fascinating premise and sprints with it, in a romping, risk-taking, triumphantly accomplished novel that sparkles with creative verve, speculative daring, sly humor, tenderness, and brilliantly crafted writing. Always faithful to its own audacious internal logic, always eager to explore its ramifications, always surprising, "Timeliners" is terrifically smart -- beneath the playful surface lie profundities -- and has a lot of heart. Wondrous!

[Kathryn]

Time travel without worrying about science, which is fine. A little confusing at first when it seemed we were getting a series of barely related short stories but came together well. Mostly read for escapist pleasure but it did have me thinking about what people would do with the options the characters in this story had.

[Nikki Fellouris]

Medium time travel tale

Although the concept was intriguing, the way that time travel played out in this story was just too preposterous and unbelievable. Thousands of extra people at myriad past events, no control over numbers, and no effect on possible futures. But not funny enough to be convincing satire. Actually more of a 3.5 star, if halves were allowed.

[Joann Palmer]

Review

I enjoyed reading this book, but I didn't have the luxuary of reading it in a couple of days...loved reading about the time of my childhood....very well written...

[Lisa Granet]

a whirlwind tour of the past and our future

Some disruptive jumps until you get used to it. If you like time travel and cultural history you will enjoy this!