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The Labyrinth
Hereafter: A Story of Love and Time Travel
Cpl. Caitlyn McAdams returns home from war, back to her family and the life she knew--but she doesn't return whole. How can she forget the man she left behind--a man she'd met only once before--a casualty of a roadside bomb, dying in front of her? And then, one day, he comes back.
From the award-winning creator of The Future Chronicles , Samuel Peralta, comes Hereafter , a spellbinding short story of love and time travel, of distance and longing, of separation and faith.
Hereafter is a dazzling story that crosses the traditional boundaries of speculative fiction, romance, and literary fiction, to ask whether, bounded by space and time, love is truly enough.
Already drawing comparisons by readers to the work of Audrey Niffenegger ( The Time Traveler's Wife ) and Richard Matheson ( Somewhere in Time, What Dreams May Come ), Hereafter is a remarkable and unconventional tale that Peralta's masterful and poetic storytelling makes into a wondrous tapestry, and a majestic triumph.
From the award-winning creator of The Future Chronicles , Samuel Peralta, comes Hereafter , a spellbinding short story of love and time travel, of distance and longing, of separation and faith.
Hereafter is a dazzling story that crosses the traditional boundaries of speculative fiction, romance, and literary fiction, to ask whether, bounded by space and time, love is truly enough.
Already drawing comparisons by readers to the work of Audrey Niffenegger ( The Time Traveler's Wife ) and Richard Matheson ( Somewhere in Time, What Dreams May Come ), Hereafter is a remarkable and unconventional tale that Peralta's masterful and poetic storytelling makes into a wondrous tapestry, and a majestic triumph.
- GenresTime TravelShort Stories
37 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 26, 2014
3 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Peralta
71 books105 followersSamuel Peralta is a physicist and storyteller. He is most well-known in publishing as a poet, short story writer, and creator of the "Future Chronicles" anthologies, with over 20 bestselling titles to date.
Peralta's writing has been spotlighted in Best American Poetry, selected for Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and has won multiple awards, including from the UK Poetry Society and the Palanca Memorial Foundation.
He is a supporter and producer of independent films, one of which was nominated for a Golden Globe and another garnering an Emmy Award.
Peralta is the founder of the Lunar Codex, launching the works of 30,000 writers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers from over 155 countries, to the Moon.
Peralta's writing has been spotlighted in Best American Poetry, selected for Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and has won multiple awards, including from the UK Poetry Society and the Palanca Memorial Foundation.
He is a supporter and producer of independent films, one of which was nominated for a Golden Globe and another garnering an Emmy Award.
Peralta is the founder of the Lunar Codex, launching the works of 30,000 writers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers from over 155 countries, to the Moon.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 5, 2015
I originally read this story several months ago in the anthology Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel. This is still as heart-wrenching the second time through as the first.
December 9, 2015
Actual rating is 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts: Love through time travel seems like it would be a b**ch (excuse my language). I don’t think I could do it. Either you’re the one that’s constantly gone heaping the pain of absence on someone you love or you’re the one left in one time. It sounds like an emotional pain in the butt that I’m ultimately too selfish to endure.
Hereafter is a short novella about time travel and love, obviously. I’m a sucker for most time-travel related things because I watch Doctor Who like it’s water and I’m dehydrated. I really liked the twist on time-travelling rules in Hereafter (don’t worry; I won’t give it away). It was original and made me really think about the characters’ determination and obvious love for one another.
The chemistry between Caitlyn and Sean was okay. The story was just so short that there was a lot of time to build the relationship. It was kind of a bare bones version of their story that could be used as an introduction or prequel to a full novel (or a detailed outline). I loved the ideas brought forth in Hereafter and the potential for a truly great story.
I really enjoyed reading Hereafter. The end was beautifully written and I may have teared up a little (major credit to the author here). So I did really like it, but I thought it needed to be longer with more character development. Personally, I will be on the lookout for more by this author. I would recommend Hereafter and it won’t take you long at all to read.
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!
Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts: Love through time travel seems like it would be a b**ch (excuse my language). I don’t think I could do it. Either you’re the one that’s constantly gone heaping the pain of absence on someone you love or you’re the one left in one time. It sounds like an emotional pain in the butt that I’m ultimately too selfish to endure.
Hereafter is a short novella about time travel and love, obviously. I’m a sucker for most time-travel related things because I watch Doctor Who like it’s water and I’m dehydrated. I really liked the twist on time-travelling rules in Hereafter (don’t worry; I won’t give it away). It was original and made me really think about the characters’ determination and obvious love for one another.
The chemistry between Caitlyn and Sean was okay. The story was just so short that there was a lot of time to build the relationship. It was kind of a bare bones version of their story that could be used as an introduction or prequel to a full novel (or a detailed outline). I loved the ideas brought forth in Hereafter and the potential for a truly great story.
I really enjoyed reading Hereafter. The end was beautifully written and I may have teared up a little (major credit to the author here). So I did really like it, but I thought it needed to be longer with more character development. Personally, I will be on the lookout for more by this author. I would recommend Hereafter and it won’t take you long at all to read.
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!
October 15, 2014
Without giving away the story - I'd say: read it. The concept of how math and physics is weaves into this speculative story of loss and love is fascinating. It has a quality of beauty in language - of sadness - and of love. Through brief glimpses Samuel leaves hints and cairns along the path of a life that gently guide the reader into a deeper understanding of himself. The language is a perfect symbiosis between poetry and prose that I wish I could write myself.
September 17, 2014
A Beautiful Expression of How Love Conquers Time
This simple line from Hereafter perfectly captures the complexities of love and how it changes—and stays immutable—over time. For fear of spoilers, I won’t recount the plot here, but Caitlyn and Sean’s story turns on a time-travel dime. (Hereafter was originally part of an exceptional time-travel anthology called Synchronic—look it up, even if you’re not a “sci-fi person”; like this tale, the stories in it are about far more than time-travel tropes.)
Separated by time (except for brief windows when they can be together), the lovers pursue a catch-as-catch-can relationship made all the more special and poignant by those rare moments of togetherness. The story reads as if you took the lifelong love affair we all dream of and stripped away the “wasted time,” leaving only the moments of perfect clarity when two people realize just how much they mean to each other. If you’ve ever teared up at an episode of NPR’s Storycorps, where one octogenarian is talking about the pure love they’ve felt for their spouse for decades, this story will read very much like that experience for you, I think. It did for me. Peralta has made his bones as a poet first, and that fact is obvious by his prose style. His words are carefully chosen, and even the placement on the page contributes to the images he evokes in the reader’s mind.
In short, Hereafter is a prose poem that melds imagery, theme, and a simple sci-fi plot device to present a love story that, while it might appear tragic, is really something we all wish for. Its message is clear: love conquers time. Love remains.
This simple line from Hereafter perfectly captures the complexities of love and how it changes—and stays immutable—over time. For fear of spoilers, I won’t recount the plot here, but Caitlyn and Sean’s story turns on a time-travel dime. (Hereafter was originally part of an exceptional time-travel anthology called Synchronic—look it up, even if you’re not a “sci-fi person”; like this tale, the stories in it are about far more than time-travel tropes.)
Separated by time (except for brief windows when they can be together), the lovers pursue a catch-as-catch-can relationship made all the more special and poignant by those rare moments of togetherness. The story reads as if you took the lifelong love affair we all dream of and stripped away the “wasted time,” leaving only the moments of perfect clarity when two people realize just how much they mean to each other. If you’ve ever teared up at an episode of NPR’s Storycorps, where one octogenarian is talking about the pure love they’ve felt for their spouse for decades, this story will read very much like that experience for you, I think. It did for me. Peralta has made his bones as a poet first, and that fact is obvious by his prose style. His words are carefully chosen, and even the placement on the page contributes to the images he evokes in the reader’s mind.
In short, Hereafter is a prose poem that melds imagery, theme, and a simple sci-fi plot device to present a love story that, while it might appear tragic, is really something we all wish for. Its message is clear: love conquers time. Love remains.
October 25, 2014
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I must admit that I didn't expect to get into a novella about time travel, but decided to give it a shot. Well...what an amazing concept and so wonderfully written! This is so much more than a beautiful love story. I really wanted it to go on and on. The last chapter was so compelling that I actually re-read it three times!!
I will definitely put this author's other novellas on my TO BE READ list. I highly recommend this to all!
I will definitely put this author's other novellas on my TO BE READ list. I highly recommend this to all!
October 30, 2014
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Want to read The Time Traveler's Wife but don't have time? Give this one a try. To me this book had the feeling of being The Time Traveler's Wife, but on a majorly condensed level.
This being a short story it can't contain all the details that a longer traditional novel would contain (and I really missed the details, my reason for only giving this story 3 stars), but if the author ever decides to turn this into a full a length novel, he has an excellent basis on which to begin.
Want to read The Time Traveler's Wife but don't have time? Give this one a try. To me this book had the feeling of being The Time Traveler's Wife, but on a majorly condensed level.
This being a short story it can't contain all the details that a longer traditional novel would contain (and I really missed the details, my reason for only giving this story 3 stars), but if the author ever decides to turn this into a full a length novel, he has an excellent basis on which to begin.
April 17, 2015
I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I will tell you.... I teared up at the end. This was good writing. I am not generally a fan of time hopping, time travelling, and the like. This was a fairly short read, and the characters were very likeable with good chemistry. A little bit more could have been done along the lines of character and story development, but, again, it is a short, quick read--this is a novella, not a full-fledged novel. I will be keeping my eyes on this author, and would encourage others to do so, as well.
I will tell you.... I teared up at the end. This was good writing. I am not generally a fan of time hopping, time travelling, and the like. This was a fairly short read, and the characters were very likeable with good chemistry. A little bit more could have been done along the lines of character and story development, but, again, it is a short, quick read--this is a novella, not a full-fledged novel. I will be keeping my eyes on this author, and would encourage others to do so, as well.
April 6, 2015
My words cannot explain the perfection and emotion.
The beautiful poetry, the subtle use of emotion and imagery and the exquisite tale of metaphors leads the reader through time in the "Hereafter.
“I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review”.
The beautiful poetry, the subtle use of emotion and imagery and the exquisite tale of metaphors leads the reader through time in the "Hereafter.
“I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review”.
February 10, 2016
Beautiful, poetic, and it really packs a punch, I had tears in my eyes at the end.
If I had any complaint about this story, it is that I wish it was longer. Not because there's anything wrong with it, I just would love to know more about the people, how he found her, when he came from.
If I had any complaint about this story, it is that I wish it was longer. Not because there's anything wrong with it, I just would love to know more about the people, how he found her, when he came from.
September 29, 2014
I read this short story in the Synchronic anthology and I was almost moved to tears. It's incredible how Peralta was able to create so many intense emotions in a story so short. Congratulations.
February 21, 2016
A beautiful love story, but not really what I was looking for from lightspeed magazine. It is more a love story with a bit of sci-fi than a pure sci-fi story
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews