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Until We Met Again: A time travel novelette
Pre-order This preorder is on sale until release day, 28 October 2025.
A time traveller absconds to the past in search of her lost love.
One my name. A call from Origin through the neural lace grafted to my brain and nerves, connecting me to another place in another time. A reminder of what I’m here to do.
I clutch a bottle cap; its sharp metal edges ground me in the present. It’s funny, don’t you think, to consider this moment the present, as if the past and future I came from aren’t supposed to exist? If you were here, I’d ask. You’d smile and kiss my forehead and say you love my nonsense questions.
But you’re not here. They want me to forget you ever were.
A time traveller absconds to the past in search of her lost love.
One my name. A call from Origin through the neural lace grafted to my brain and nerves, connecting me to another place in another time. A reminder of what I’m here to do.
I clutch a bottle cap; its sharp metal edges ground me in the present. It’s funny, don’t you think, to consider this moment the present, as if the past and future I came from aren’t supposed to exist? If you were here, I’d ask. You’d smile and kiss my forehead and say you love my nonsense questions.
But you’re not here. They want me to forget you ever were.
66 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2025
3 people want to read
About the author
J.L. Peridot
15 books85 followersJL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. She's a qualified computer scientist, former web professional, amateur horticulturist, and sometimes illustrator. But most of the time, she's an author of romantic science fiction. She lives with her partner and fur-family in Boorloo (Perth, Australia) on Whadjuk Noongar country. Visit her website at jlperidot.com for the full catalogue of her work.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 16, 2025
A cleverly constructed time travel sci-fi romance that yet defies all of these genres with its originality. Poetic, compelling and vivid storytelling. A thought provoking read from a talented writer!
November 14, 2025
In a future world devastated by environmental collapse, the remnants of humanity cling to a precarious existence. Burrowing underground to escape toxic sandstorms, conserving every precious drop of fresh water, consuming fungus and vat-grown protein paste, some of the survivors try to repair the present by undoing the mistakes of the past.
Qing is one of these, bound by the Lace to omniscient Origin. Leaving her body behind in a vat of nutrient gel, Qing’s consciousness follows Origin’s call to specific moments long ago where some apparently minor shift in events will reroute time into new, more favorable paths. Changing the past, though, has multiple and unexpected consequences beyond the intended remediation of apocalypse. During one such “stitch” in time, the love of her life is simply erased. No one else remembers him, but Qinq can’t forget their connection or his hypnotic eyes.
Every stitch she executes changes the world to which she returns. Memories are slippery; weren’t things always this way? Her mission is to serve Origin and the human race. What an empty victory, though, if she must accept that love is gone forever.
I have read quite a bit of science fiction, including time-travel tales. Until We Met Again has little in common with any of them. From its first paragraphs, it is fabulously original. There are no time machines here, no matter transmitters or cross-dimensional teleportation devices. This is not about matter at all, but about mind. Time itself is a mental construct. If we did not remember the past, would it exist?
JL Peridot acknowledges the frequently-discussed paradoxes of traveling in time, but presents them in an intensely personal way. She also explores the conflict between individual freedom and the common good. Qinq is ready to become an outlaw in order to reclaim her lover. Yet even her rebellion has been woven into the tapestry that is Origin.
I will not go into greater detail here regarding the plot and the resolution of this conflict—indeed, I am not sure the ending could be called a resolution. Until We Met Again is mystifying and yes, somewhat confusing. I read it twice through, but I still don’t completely understand it.
Still, I enjoyed every sentence, every phrase. The gorgeous language alternates between poetic and stark. Desire flows like a buried river beneath Qing’s reality. Reality flickers and reforms like a dream.
If you’re looking for a straightforward scifi romance, don’t buy this book. On the other hand, if you’re willing to release the need to explain everything, if you want to be challenged to think and to question your own reality, I recommend it highly.
Qing is one of these, bound by the Lace to omniscient Origin. Leaving her body behind in a vat of nutrient gel, Qing’s consciousness follows Origin’s call to specific moments long ago where some apparently minor shift in events will reroute time into new, more favorable paths. Changing the past, though, has multiple and unexpected consequences beyond the intended remediation of apocalypse. During one such “stitch” in time, the love of her life is simply erased. No one else remembers him, but Qinq can’t forget their connection or his hypnotic eyes.
Every stitch she executes changes the world to which she returns. Memories are slippery; weren’t things always this way? Her mission is to serve Origin and the human race. What an empty victory, though, if she must accept that love is gone forever.
I have read quite a bit of science fiction, including time-travel tales. Until We Met Again has little in common with any of them. From its first paragraphs, it is fabulously original. There are no time machines here, no matter transmitters or cross-dimensional teleportation devices. This is not about matter at all, but about mind. Time itself is a mental construct. If we did not remember the past, would it exist?
JL Peridot acknowledges the frequently-discussed paradoxes of traveling in time, but presents them in an intensely personal way. She also explores the conflict between individual freedom and the common good. Qinq is ready to become an outlaw in order to reclaim her lover. Yet even her rebellion has been woven into the tapestry that is Origin.
I will not go into greater detail here regarding the plot and the resolution of this conflict—indeed, I am not sure the ending could be called a resolution. Until We Met Again is mystifying and yes, somewhat confusing. I read it twice through, but I still don’t completely understand it.
Still, I enjoyed every sentence, every phrase. The gorgeous language alternates between poetic and stark. Desire flows like a buried river beneath Qing’s reality. Reality flickers and reforms like a dream.
If you’re looking for a straightforward scifi romance, don’t buy this book. On the other hand, if you’re willing to release the need to explain everything, if you want to be challenged to think and to question your own reality, I recommend it highly.
September 8, 2025
Qing lives in a futuristic dystopian world and works for an organization that is trying to change the past, present, and future by time-traveling to different points in time to make little changes here and there to create a better future. She is a Lacer, one of the brave individuals who hop through time, and she is mourning the loss of the man she loves, who was erased from existence when something was changed in the past. Now, she's looking for him through all of space and time, never knowing if or when she might find him again.
Until We Meet Again is a fascinating tale of endurance, lost love, and hope. It's completely different from any time-travel romance I've read before. Even though the narrative is in 2nd person, it flows well and pulls you in. I felt connected with Qing and was hoping right along with her that she would find the happiness she seeks. This book makes you think about how time-travel could be possible and how life could change for the better or worse, depending on who had control of that technology.
For readers who enjoy speculative fiction with twists and turns, Until We Meet Again is something you should consider checking out.
5 Stars
Until We Meet Again is a fascinating tale of endurance, lost love, and hope. It's completely different from any time-travel romance I've read before. Even though the narrative is in 2nd person, it flows well and pulls you in. I felt connected with Qing and was hoping right along with her that she would find the happiness she seeks. This book makes you think about how time-travel could be possible and how life could change for the better or worse, depending on who had control of that technology.
For readers who enjoy speculative fiction with twists and turns, Until We Meet Again is something you should consider checking out.
5 Stars
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews