Redundancies and Potentials

by Dominique Dickey

All redundancies and potentials must be disposed of in accordance with Agency guidelines. This ensures that we can continue to use TimeFax to protect our communities, and better the lives of future generations.



Aster works for the Agency, a private police force that uses time travel to stop crimes before they happen. Unlike most operatives, Aster and her sister Isadora can time travel without a TimeFax machine. Which would be pretty great...except that everyone, even Aster's own clone, keeps lying to her.



As everything she's believed about the Agency and her life starts to unravel, Aster has to decide who to trust, if the Agency is worth saving-and whether she really wants to see the whole timeline.



Part of the Neon Hemlock Novella Series.

Genres: Novella, Science Fiction, Fiction, Time Travel

86 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have such a love for weird time travel books. Especially when they make the time travel uncomfortable. In this one, time travel involves death. This story is spread throughout weird timelines and it explores the cost of time travel and also the weird relationships we can build with those around us. The writing was phenomenal. I can’t wait to read more from the author.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a fun romp with characters who are enticing and a story that's lovely. I often feel underwhelmed by short stories but that's certainly not the case with this one. I hope Dickey publishes more interesting stories in the future. I'll be on the look out from here on out. How delightful to have discovered a new author

[TH Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun, short read. The “twist” is obvious early on but the book is so short and concise that it doesn’t matter. Very effectively written and fun sci-fi.

[Hannah MacLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really solid little time travel novella that I actually DNF'd the first time I picked it up, likely because of how dark it immediately was. I'm glad I gave it another shot.

I think anyone who enjoyed The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (and maybe the movie The Prestige) and doesn't mind a bit of casual gore will probably enjoy this. Our main characters Aster & Isadora are fascinating for having been brought up in one of the weirdest situations ever and made a version of "normal" for themselves.

There's also a twisted conspiracy at the heart of the narrative which, while predictable, was fun for such a short book. I love gradually unveiling mysteries, and this one does it really well.

I do think the predictability keeps it from being 5 stars for me, but I'd still recommend it for Isa & Aster alone. Their fucked up little family was so interesting to follow.

[Venneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick fast novella that hits you like a jab and has you sprinting alongside the characters. The frameup is that a girl and her sister are agents of a force that tries to prevent crimes from happening using time travel. Except it's not all what it seems, and it STARTS with our main and her sister killing each other to ensure proper disposal of duplicates. This is dark, and hilarious, and the ride as the truth starts to be unfolded is hard and fast. I would love to see more of this if Ms. Dickey chose to expand it, but this is still a hell of a novella and highly recommended.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel, clones, evil corporations, fax machines. This was such an interesting speculative fiction novella, where time travel means killing your double, and everyone is keeping secrets. I picked this up because I loved Dickey’s short story in Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity- after this novella, I’ll be first in line for whatever they release next.

[Mahaila Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and dark time travel book, with a complex sibling dynamic and one of my recent favourite inner monologue moments:

“When she pulled herself up and kissed me my first thought was What the fuck? but my second thought was Oh, I guess that’s funny and then my third thought was What the fuck!? again, but louder this time.”

By the end, I had a lingering question about the rules of timefax travel, but overall this was a fun read. The tone, the need to manage multiple copies of a person really reminded me of Mickey 17. If you enjoyed that movie, give this book a shot.

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well-written and interesting take on time travel, both in terms of mechanics and feeding it through a fascist lens. I got a bit lost in some of the time travel choices and details (I kind of want to see a timeline map of all the time traveling characters at the end). I wish that ultimately it had been more about the time travel and mystery and less about the toxic relationships, but overall fast and tight read.

[J. Lurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a 4-star but doesn't really seem finished – interesting main character and premise, but plot and some of the main character's choices seemed a bit forced. Minds changed for no real reason on the part of the two main characters, or else due to very opaque thought processes. Seems more like a sketch than a novella. Would definitely read more from this author though - quality of writing was very good.

[Millie Abecassis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down. One of the best novellas I've ever read. Five stars.

[Ladz · Rating 5 out of 5]

More words to come

If you're reeling from the Severance finale, I highly recommend picking this up.

[Shay]

Enjoyed the timefax stuff way more than the potentials stuff but maybe that’s my preference for keeping the scope small. Comes with a little RPG you can give your brother to amuse him

[Carlie St. George]

Neat concept—I absolutely love the idea of a TimeFax—and lovely prose, as expected from Dominique Dickey.

[Elena Hect · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may not be cut out for timeline problems.

[Thistle & Verse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the timefax concept from Redundancies and Potentials was inventive, led to good moments of tension, and raised troubling questions of morality, but I wanted the ending to be more of an emotional gut punch. I felt the plot was simple for a thriller, even at the novella length. I also wanted more from the family dynamics. There are compelling tensions and power dynamics that lead for good story material, but I wasn't sure why Aster or her sister accepted this questionable father figure.