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The Sand Reckoner: A philosophical thriller about the cost of manipulating time
What would you sacrifice for more time?
Matthew Thwaite is running out of time. Passed over for promotion and drowning in debt, the museum curator finds a sixteenth-century clock that can slow the world to a crawl. He uses it to cheat chance and save his family.
But time keeps a ledger. Every stolen second exacts a toll. And Matthew is not the only one hunting the device.
Simeon Carillion, heir to the secretive Accelerants, engineers history through collapsed timelines. He believes the clock can end the killing. To get it, he will exploit every weakness, and take the one thing Matthew cannot replace.
To save his family, Matthew must enter a world where consciousness is fuel and reality is fragile. He must decide if the men who would burn the world to save it deserve a power no human should hold.
Some clocks tell time.
This one consumes it.
Matthew Thwaite is running out of time. Passed over for promotion and drowning in debt, the museum curator finds a sixteenth-century clock that can slow the world to a crawl. He uses it to cheat chance and save his family.
But time keeps a ledger. Every stolen second exacts a toll. And Matthew is not the only one hunting the device.
Simeon Carillion, heir to the secretive Accelerants, engineers history through collapsed timelines. He believes the clock can end the killing. To get it, he will exploit every weakness, and take the one thing Matthew cannot replace.
To save his family, Matthew must enter a world where consciousness is fuel and reality is fragile. He must decide if the men who would burn the world to save it deserve a power no human should hold.
Some clocks tell time.
This one consumes it.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
4 stars
What shall one do if they come across a clock that could literally slow down or speed up time around them? Oh, the possibilities... I, for one, would sleep all day long. But yeah, that's not what the book is about.
Going into the book, I was given the description that it was meant for fans of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Dark Matter, and David Mitchell's work — but I haven't read any of these, so I went in blind. Still, I got a Night at the Museum vibe... maybe because the MC was a museum curator.
Just the other day, I was explaining this book to my friend, and mind you, it had been a couple of days since I'd read it. I'll be honest, I don't have the sharpest memory, but I was able to recall almost all of the story. So the author deserves a pat on the back, because the world-building was descriptive and the plot was easy to follow for the most part. The time-travel bit was a little foggy to remember, though and even while reading it, I found some of the mechanics () confusing. I also don't have much experience with sci-fi, so some of that might be on me, but I don't think all of it is.
I also wasn't fully sold on the tonal jump once the Accelerants' full agenda came out.
But regardless, I liked the MC and the plot. I liked that the MC was a normal man with normal problems, though the side characters felt a bit 2D.
That said, I'm looking forward to the next book, if there is one and it's about AI. It reminded me of Michael Crichton's Micro.
So, to sum up, if you like sci-fi, mystery, time travel, and characters with normal problems and also want to support indie authors, then this book is for you.
4 stars
What shall one do if they come across a clock that could literally slow down or speed up time around them? Oh, the possibilities... I, for one, would sleep all day long. But yeah, that's not what the book is about.
Going into the book, I was given the description that it was meant for fans of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Dark Matter, and David Mitchell's work — but I haven't read any of these, so I went in blind. Still, I got a Night at the Museum vibe... maybe because the MC was a museum curator.
Just the other day, I was explaining this book to my friend, and mind you, it had been a couple of days since I'd read it. I'll be honest, I don't have the sharpest memory, but I was able to recall almost all of the story. So the author deserves a pat on the back, because the world-building was descriptive and the plot was easy to follow for the most part. The time-travel bit was a little foggy to remember, though and even while reading it, I found some of the mechanics () confusing. I also don't have much experience with sci-fi, so some of that might be on me, but I don't think all of it is.
I also wasn't fully sold on the tonal jump once the Accelerants' full agenda came out.
But regardless, I liked the MC and the plot. I liked that the MC was a normal man with normal problems, though the side characters felt a bit 2D.
That said, I'm looking forward to the next book, if there is one and it's about AI. It reminded me of Michael Crichton's Micro.
So, to sum up, if you like sci-fi, mystery, time travel, and characters with normal problems and also want to support indie authors, then this book is for you.
July 31, 2026
I absolutely love this book! The storyline is captivating, and the characters are well-developed. I want to express my gratitude for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) that I received; it truly allowed me to enjoy the book ahead of its official release. Thank you!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews