Dakota Bell and the Wastes of Time

The Future Next Door #4

by Brian Olsen

Dakota Bell had a difficult summer – her boss turned evil, her roommates took off, and her girlfriend wanted a break. She hoped her birthday might turn things around, but the gang of identical gunmen crashing the party had other ideas. Dakota and her friends flee for their lives through a mysterious portal, leaving them stranded in their own childhoods. She’ll need to save the past before she can save the future, but the present holds dangers all its own. A madman hunts her across the years, monsters wait for her beneath the earth, and Dakota’s out of time... Dakota Bell and the Wastes of Time is the final book of The Future Next Door, a contemporary urban science fiction comedic thriller series in four parts. Book Alan Lennox and the Temp Job of Doom Book Caitlin Ross and the Commute from Hell Book Mark Park and the Flume of Destiny Book Dakota Bell and the Wastes of Time

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

I’m a writer living in New York City. I primarily write science fiction with a sense of humor, though I veer into fantasy and the paranormal from time to time. I believe strongly that fiction shapes reality through its influences on and engagement with readers, and as such I’m a proponent of diverse representation – all of my works feature a broad array of queer and POC lead characters.

I’m the author of The Future Next Door, a contemporary urban science fiction comedic thriller series in four parts, Multiverse Mashup, an ongoing genre-bending adventure series, and Yesterday's Magic, a young adult contemporary fantasy series. I’ve also written a couple of shorts and a number of plays, sketches and monologues for the stage.

I’ve been a theater person for most of my life, as a playwright, actor, director and producer. I got my MFA from the Actors Studio, so if you need someone to cry on cue, hit me up.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like it's been decades since I read the first three books in this series, but it's only been about a year, so I'm not feeling too guilty. What I am feeling is annoyed that I didn't get to this one sooner. I got it at the same time I got the previous two books, but for whatever reason I got distracted, and forgot about it. And before I get started on the review, I have to say how much I love this title and the way it not only plays with word meanings, but with the actual concept of time as well. Frickin brilliant.

Like the first three books, this is a mashup of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and social commentary. This time it's blended together into a hilariously violent game of cat and mouse played through space and time. Of course you can't have time travel without paradoxes coming into play, and I like the simplistic approach the author took. If a paradox occures, the universe manufactures whatever it needs to keep it from destroying the time line.

Character wise, I'm in love with this cast of characters even more than I was in the beginning. They all get their moments to shine, even though this book centers around Dakota. Alan is still my favorite. What he goes through in this book, makes what happened to him in the first book look like child's play. Whether it's having to confront a truly horrific episode from the past, or having to deal with yet another issue of the heart, he rises above it, and shows a huge amount of maturity at the end. Caitlin is still Caitlin, and she has to deal with where her life is heading, and what she pictures the end goal to be. Mark makes the most selfish decision he could in this book, and I applaud him for it. I can't imagine having to face the choices he had to make, or the sacrifices he chose in order to save the world. Dakota has to deal with choices made in her childhood that were not only beyond her control, but about as paradoxical as can be. And that leaves us with the evil boss. I still adore him, I still understand where he was coming from, I'm heart broken at the betrayals he has had to contend with, but I stI'll think what he did is truly horrific. He made choices that are almost impossible to defend, even if his heart was in the right place. I wish he could have been saved or redeemed, and I still cringe when I think about his ultimate fate. Since this series played with science fiction constructs, maybe there will be a fifth book that serves as his path to salvation. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

[Gail Butterworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these books

Really good story line. Excellent writing. I would definitely recommend reading them all.
I read a lot of books, some of them the writing is so poor I have to move onto something else. These books were excellent they hooked you into the story from the very beginning and you just can't put then down. Brilliant

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this and thought it was a great conclusion to a fun series. The middle two books did seem to meander a bit and I had a bit of trouble figuring out why everything that was happening in them was important, but it really all comes together in this last installment. This was pretty much just non-stop action and I actually really liked how the author handled all the time travel issues - high praise coming from me because I generally just ruthlessly pick apart any time travel book I read. There were a few minor points that seemed a bit hand-wavey but overall it was incredibly well thought-out and I'm very happy with how the series ended. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a fun sci-fi series with diverse characters who are incredibly well written and feel very real.

[Wyrn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant series. It's really quirky about ordinary people who find themselves constantly in implausible situations. I really loved the logic and the morality over time travel and changing / influencing the past.

I would love just one more book.

[Ashilee]

I loved this series. I think there is still more than can be done with it so I hope that the author continues on with this series because there is still a lot that can be done with it. I read these a little too quickly!