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Alice Payne #2
Alice Payne Rides
Alice Payne returns in the thrilling sequel to Kate Heartfield's Alice Payne Arrives.
After abducting Arthur of Brittany from his own time in 1203, thereby creating the mystery that partly prompted the visit in the first place, Alice and her team discover that they have inadvertently brought the smallpox virus back to 1780 with them.
Searching for a future vaccine, Prudence finds that the various factions in the future time war intend to use the crisis to their own advantage.
Can the team prevent an international pandemic across time, and put history back on its tracks? At least until the next battle in the time war…
After abducting Arthur of Brittany from his own time in 1203, thereby creating the mystery that partly prompted the visit in the first place, Alice and her team discover that they have inadvertently brought the smallpox virus back to 1780 with them.
Searching for a future vaccine, Prudence finds that the various factions in the future time war intend to use the crisis to their own advantage.
Can the team prevent an international pandemic across time, and put history back on its tracks? At least until the next battle in the time war…
Unknown Binding
First published March 5, 2019
17 people are currently reading
383 people want to read
About the author
Kate Heartfield
36 books377 followersKate Heartfield is the author of The Embroidered Book, a Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy novel published in 2022, which was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award. The Valkyrie, published in 2023, is a retelling of Norse and Germanic legends. The Tapestry of Time, published in 2024, is about four clairvoyant sisters fighting the Nazis for control of the Bayeux Tapestry in 1944. Her Alice Payne time travel novellas were published in 2018 and 2019. Her debut novel Armed in Her Fashion (2018) was re-published in a revised edition in 2023 as The Chatelaine. She also writes interactive fiction, including The Road to Canterbury, and The Magician's Workshop, published by Choice of Games. She has published two Assassin's Creed tie-in novels: The Magus Conspiracy and The Resurrection Plot. She has won the Aurora Award for Best Novel three times, and her short fiction has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, Nebula, Locus, Aurora, Sunburst and Crawford awards, and her journalism for a National Newspaper Award. Her short stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lackington's, Podcastle and elsewhere. A former newspaper journalist, Kate lives near Ottawa, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
May 8, 2020
2020 NEWS THIS DELIGHTFUL BOOK IS NOMINATED FOR A PRIX AURORA!
Back we go to the 22nd century, the Time Wars, and Prudence Zuniga's new base of operations with 18th-century pals Alice Payne, the lover of Jane, as well as the Holy Ghost...a mixed-race highway"man", and all-around badass; Fleance Hall, where she makes her home with Jane and her American Revolution veteran father and is dear friends with Constable Wray Aubry, her father's compadre during their time fighting the rebels in South Carolina.
Of course things on the Time War front are not easy: King Arthur of England is kidnapped from Brittany before John can kill him to become the Bad King John of the history you and I know. Who does it? Take a guess...I'll wait...and, once ensconced in Fleance Hall, Arthur's not going back to *become* King because he likes the 18th century too much. Check? Checkmate? Or just another day at the office for the Time War soldiery? Actually this bit is radically underdeveloped for my taste. We don't see much, and certainly nothing substantive, of young Arthur Duke of Brittany. He's never been King in *my* memory, and I'd've liked to see some hard graft in developing some kind of purpose for him. Never really happened, sad to say. The focus in a novella needs must be tight, and he's outside the cone.
Prudence, aware of the timeline's malleability to focus change, careful to keep her memories in a book outside the time stream. She realizes that General Almo has butterflied away her older sister Grace...of whom she carries no memories or attachments...and sets herself to Get Him Back while retrieving the sister she knows she loved. Even if she can't feel it anymore, the knowledge that someone used their power over the time streams to deliberately deprive her of her family makes her so boiling mad that her love for Grace might as well still be within her.
And Alice? Alice loses her father in 1789, but takes Jane back to 1780 to find out why he returned from the American War so changed. Bad move...the ripples in the time streams from their actions taken there are what put General Almo in mind of the plot to hurt Prudence...and now he has a new, truly terrifying, terrible weapon that bids fair to deprive Prudence of her wonderfully weird made family.
Here, at last, we confront the primary problem that plagues time travel fiction: If you're fighting a Time War, you can never truly win. The enemy can always jump before your latest victory and prevent it. Bummer, right?
Prudence is not a quitter. She's a brilliant, out-of-the-box thinker. And she's HIGHLY motivated to come up with an effective solution to that problem in order to use it on General Almo.
Reader, she succeeds. One of the cleverest endings for a time-travel tale I've read!
Back we go to the 22nd century, the Time Wars, and Prudence Zuniga's new base of operations with 18th-century pals Alice Payne, the lover of Jane, as well as the Holy Ghost...a mixed-race highway"man", and all-around badass; Fleance Hall, where she makes her home with Jane and her American Revolution veteran father and is dear friends with Constable Wray Aubry, her father's compadre during their time fighting the rebels in South Carolina.
Of course things on the Time War front are not easy: King Arthur of England is kidnapped from Brittany before John can kill him to become the Bad King John of the history you and I know. Who does it? Take a guess...I'll wait...and, once ensconced in Fleance Hall, Arthur's not going back to *become* King because he likes the 18th century too much. Check? Checkmate? Or just another day at the office for the Time War soldiery? Actually this bit is radically underdeveloped for my taste. We don't see much, and certainly nothing substantive, of young Arthur Duke of Brittany. He's never been King in *my* memory, and I'd've liked to see some hard graft in developing some kind of purpose for him. Never really happened, sad to say. The focus in a novella needs must be tight, and he's outside the cone.
Prudence, aware of the timeline's malleability to focus change, careful to keep her memories in a book outside the time stream. She realizes that General Almo has butterflied away her older sister Grace...of whom she carries no memories or attachments...and sets herself to Get Him Back while retrieving the sister she knows she loved. Even if she can't feel it anymore, the knowledge that someone used their power over the time streams to deliberately deprive her of her family makes her so boiling mad that her love for Grace might as well still be within her.
And Alice? Alice loses her father in 1789, but takes Jane back to 1780 to find out why he returned from the American War so changed. Bad move...the ripples in the time streams from their actions taken there are what put General Almo in mind of the plot to hurt Prudence...and now he has a new, truly terrifying, terrible weapon that bids fair to deprive Prudence of her wonderfully weird made family.
Here, at last, we confront the primary problem that plagues time travel fiction: If you're fighting a Time War, you can never truly win. The enemy can always jump before your latest victory and prevent it. Bummer, right?
Prudence is not a quitter. She's a brilliant, out-of-the-box thinker. And she's HIGHLY motivated to come up with an effective solution to that problem in order to use it on General Almo.
Reader, she succeeds. One of the cleverest endings for a time-travel tale I've read!
February 21, 2019
Time-travel goodness!
The strengths of the first novella carry over well to the second, with the unforgettable Alice, the protected Jane, and the very interesting Prudence leading the fray.
Out of respect for this not quite being published yet, I'll keep spoilers at bay. Plenty happens *ahemArthurahem* that requires a lot of interesting reveals, but more importantly, the subject of vaccinations and plague takes a front-row seat in this one. Me likey. Add some interesting developments in the Time War, a bit of subterfuge, threat, and new tech, throw it into a steaming pot of timeline erasures, additions, subtractions, and swirl it around with existing/nonexisting family members, and we've got ourselves a plainly fun tale.
Remember the stodgy old-tyme time-travel tales of old? Yeah, you can drop those off in your local time-recyclers because this one is entirely up-to-date with our modern voracious action-starved appetites. :)
Enjoy!
The strengths of the first novella carry over well to the second, with the unforgettable Alice, the protected Jane, and the very interesting Prudence leading the fray.
Out of respect for this not quite being published yet, I'll keep spoilers at bay. Plenty happens *ahemArthurahem* that requires a lot of interesting reveals, but more importantly, the subject of vaccinations and plague takes a front-row seat in this one. Me likey. Add some interesting developments in the Time War, a bit of subterfuge, threat, and new tech, throw it into a steaming pot of timeline erasures, additions, subtractions, and swirl it around with existing/nonexisting family members, and we've got ourselves a plainly fun tale.
Remember the stodgy old-tyme time-travel tales of old? Yeah, you can drop those off in your local time-recyclers because this one is entirely up-to-date with our modern voracious action-starved appetites. :)
Enjoy!
April 27, 2019
Like many, I couldn’t wait to read this sequel to the excellent Alice Payne Arrives.
Heartfield offers us another expertly orchestrated time travel narrative, jumping all over the place, but also grounding our diverse main characters. Alice and Jane are still my favourites, but Prudence and even Auden are developped in a satisfying fashion.
No cliffhanger, thankfully, and more adventures could easily be fitted in this frame :0)
Heartfield offers us another expertly orchestrated time travel narrative, jumping all over the place, but also grounding our diverse main characters. Alice and Jane are still my favourites, but Prudence and even Auden are developped in a satisfying fashion.
No cliffhanger, thankfully, and more adventures could easily be fitted in this frame :0)
April 11, 2019
The wonderful Alice is back, and she, Jane, Prudence and Wray are bouncing around time. Prudence continues to be concerned about the time war and her sister Grace, and what her former organization could do to her. Meanwhile, Alice and Jane are growing more comfortable with both the idea and actuality of time travel.
The novella moves briskly, with multiple times visited, and Alice having a fine time putting her highwayman training and impulsiveness coupled with quick thinking into good use. The story finishes with a possibility of more adventures (what's the "black spot"?) and more individuals making Fleance Hall (now Alice's for real) their home base.
The novella moves briskly, with multiple times visited, and Alice having a fine time putting her highwayman training and impulsiveness coupled with quick thinking into good use. The story finishes with a possibility of more adventures (what's the "black spot"?) and more individuals making Fleance Hall (now Alice's for real) their home base.
April 4, 2019
The story of Alice Payne, Jane Hodgson and Prudence Zuniga continues as they and their ally Captain Wray Auden continue to meddle in time but trying to stay away from the war between the Farmers and the Misguided. But the team lacks Prudence's training in the subtlety of time travel and the Farmers are far from done with the wayward Major.
If you enjoyed the first one in this incredibly imaginative series, then I recommend this as a logical and well-realized extension of that story.
If you enjoyed the first one in this incredibly imaginative series, then I recommend this as a logical and well-realized extension of that story.
October 5, 2024
There’s quite a motley crew Alice is building around her. I wish the story had been a bit ‘fuller’- more character development. But it sounds like we will hear more from this series.
April 4, 2021
#1) Alice Payne Arrives ★★★★☆
➸ Trigger warnings for .
▷ Representation: Alice (mc) Jamacian-English & sapphic; Prudence (mc) Black; Jane (li) lesbian.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
April 13, 2021
More convoluted time-travelling drama - but in the best ways! Time slips and re-corrections and steering things through the ages continues in this second installment!
Alice and Jane a year later, in 1789 are still as devoted to each other as ever, and Alice utilizes the time-traveling technology to maintain her highwayman antics. Prudence is living in their time period, and has brought Constable Wray Auden onboard with her rogue time-traveling antics, trying to correct certain things on her own, without the assistance of a higher organization or any oversight...
However the organization looms and is more aware of what she is up to than she thinks. New technological advancements with the time travel tech makes things more interesting, too. As our rag-tag group shifts throughout time and place.
There's constant danger and you're never sure what is going to happen next, but it's riveting.
It ends satisfactorily but as with time-travel and all it's possibilities - we can never be sure if this is the final timeline or not, can we? Will it stay this way? Will there be more installments?
Really entertaining!
Alice and Jane a year later, in 1789 are still as devoted to each other as ever, and Alice utilizes the time-traveling technology to maintain her highwayman antics. Prudence is living in their time period, and has brought Constable Wray Auden onboard with her rogue time-traveling antics, trying to correct certain things on her own, without the assistance of a higher organization or any oversight...
However the organization looms and is more aware of what she is up to than she thinks. New technological advancements with the time travel tech makes things more interesting, too. As our rag-tag group shifts throughout time and place.
There's constant danger and you're never sure what is going to happen next, but it's riveting.
It ends satisfactorily but as with time-travel and all it's possibilities - we can never be sure if this is the final timeline or not, can we? Will it stay this way? Will there be more installments?
Really entertaining!
February 4, 2020
Alice Payne Rides is the second of two novellas by Kate Heartfield featuring Alice Payne, mixed-race eighteenth century English gentlewoman whose secret identity is the notorious highwaywoman the Holy Ghost, her lover, the inventor Jane Hodgson, and time-traveller Prudence Zuniga, born in the twenty-second century, once a soldier in a war spanning centuries of human history and now a deserter hiding out in Hampshire in 1789 but still trying (with the help of Alice, Jane and their neighbour Wray Auden) to covertly nudge history in the right direction. When a mission goes wrong and Arthur of Brittany ends up in 1789 rather than dead at the hands of King John's men, Prudence finds that their activities have drawn the attention of her former superiors, who want to bring her back into the fold.
Like the first novella, Alice Payne Arrives , this is pacy, clever and engaging, and if "lesbian highwaywoman time-travel shenanigans" sounds like the kind of thing that appeals to you, then you should definitely read it.
Like the first novella, Alice Payne Arrives , this is pacy, clever and engaging, and if "lesbian highwaywoman time-travel shenanigans" sounds like the kind of thing that appeals to you, then you should definitely read it.
February 17, 2019
I received a copy of Alice Payne Rides from Tor.com in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Alice Payne Rides is the second novella in the Alice Payne series. It’s a time traveling series full of strong and brilliant women, and some admittedly curious situations that they managed to get themselves into.
If you had any doubt about its ability to follow up the first then put them to rest. Alice Payne Rides was everything I could have hoped for out of a sequel, and then some. It was just as intense as the first novella, if not more so. It furthered the plots already started, and best of all, it continued developing all of the characters we’ve met so far.
The world of Alice Payne is beautiful and dark. Time traveling has opened many doors that science fiction authors have warned us about for years – and then some. This series does a phenomenal job of showing us the cost of time traveling, while also highlighting the hope that it can carry with it simultaneously.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
Alice Payne Rides is the second novella in the Alice Payne series. It’s a time traveling series full of strong and brilliant women, and some admittedly curious situations that they managed to get themselves into.
If you had any doubt about its ability to follow up the first then put them to rest. Alice Payne Rides was everything I could have hoped for out of a sequel, and then some. It was just as intense as the first novella, if not more so. It furthered the plots already started, and best of all, it continued developing all of the characters we’ve met so far.
The world of Alice Payne is beautiful and dark. Time traveling has opened many doors that science fiction authors have warned us about for years – and then some. This series does a phenomenal job of showing us the cost of time traveling, while also highlighting the hope that it can carry with it simultaneously.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
April 7, 2019
Not as strong as the first in the series, but Alice Payne Rides still has plenty of worthwhile content. The time travel aspect gets more complex, and in that, it makes things feel a bit more gimmicky. But the lead characters are still likable, the world is still intriguing, and I would still read more if it comes out.
July 4, 2019
3.5
I love the paradoxes in inherent in time travel stories, and I'm increasingly enjoying the very unusual 'rules' in this series.
I love the paradoxes in inherent in time travel stories, and I'm increasingly enjoying the very unusual 'rules' in this series.
March 29, 2019
I was a bit meh on this, regrettably. The first one had quite a lot of promise but was frustratingly incomplete as a story. I was looking forward to getting the story completed here, but instead it's setting up more of an open-ended time-traveling hi-jinks series, and I'm not sure I've really got time for another one of those. The sort of story that depends on complicated plots to change time against opponents trying to do the same requires deft handling and I didn't feel I got that here. Possibly it suffered as bit from my reading it shortly after the very-assured handling of time travel in Permafrst by Alastair Reynolds.
November 5, 2019
This was both a lot more confusing, and a lot better time travel story, than the first installment. Also clearly a middle book...
June 2, 2019
Alice Payne Rides returns us to a world of time travel, filled with daring missions and elaborate plots to keep the world running. This sequel to Alice Payne Arrives adds a new and welcome complexity to the many storylines Alice finds herself in. The race is on to prevent the erasure of a key character from the future, and to keep certain events from the 11th century on track. It’s always fascinating to follow the path of a time traveler and now that we have a group of four, the journey is even more exciting.
Now that the novelty of time travel has died down a bit, we’re able to get to know these characters closely. The relationship between Alice and Jane blossoms, with heartfelt moments that give us a love to root for. We see Alice as the master of her own house, and her own destiny. She continues to work with Prudence, trying to tweak the past to benefit the future. Captain Auden is now onboard, recruited to their mission and central to a number of dangerous situations. As a group, they make an experienced, dedicated bunch who are committed to creating a positive future and looking out for one another. There are conflicts aplenty and they rise to the occasion, prepared to do the right thing.
The world itself continues to fascinate. Heartfield does a great job analyzing the various aspects of time travel and how it can change your opinion of humanity. Early on, General Almo expresses the opinion that no one person matters in the scheme of history. His philosophy reduces history to an impersonal textbook, with him as the bored writer continuously erasing and re-writing passages. He doesn’t see the power one person can make on the chain of events, and that’s why he underestimates our team of travelers. They know the difference one decision can make and they act on that knowledge in favor of saving those who would be lost to the General’s schemes.
Alice Payne Rides is a fitting sequel, giving us a new depth to Alice and her crew while expanding the worldview and introducing a few potential conflicts that could darken the future. It’s a compelling journey that needs to be experienced.
Now that the novelty of time travel has died down a bit, we’re able to get to know these characters closely. The relationship between Alice and Jane blossoms, with heartfelt moments that give us a love to root for. We see Alice as the master of her own house, and her own destiny. She continues to work with Prudence, trying to tweak the past to benefit the future. Captain Auden is now onboard, recruited to their mission and central to a number of dangerous situations. As a group, they make an experienced, dedicated bunch who are committed to creating a positive future and looking out for one another. There are conflicts aplenty and they rise to the occasion, prepared to do the right thing.
The world itself continues to fascinate. Heartfield does a great job analyzing the various aspects of time travel and how it can change your opinion of humanity. Early on, General Almo expresses the opinion that no one person matters in the scheme of history. His philosophy reduces history to an impersonal textbook, with him as the bored writer continuously erasing and re-writing passages. He doesn’t see the power one person can make on the chain of events, and that’s why he underestimates our team of travelers. They know the difference one decision can make and they act on that knowledge in favor of saving those who would be lost to the General’s schemes.
Alice Payne Rides is a fitting sequel, giving us a new depth to Alice and her crew while expanding the worldview and introducing a few potential conflicts that could darken the future. It’s a compelling journey that needs to be experienced.
July 27, 2021
Time travel stories can sometimes be difficult to follow with characters going backwards and forwards in time, location, and multiple timelines. This one is a bit more difficult at first because, in addition to those issues, the characters also keep going back or forwards to consult with their past and future selves. However, you quickly catch on and can enjoy this story of a young woman and her companions. All Alice wanted to do was save her father's home and be with her love, Jane. She took up some dangerous work to do so. I do love the strong female characters breaking the conventions in their time but Alice's attitude towards time travel got really annoying after a while. Despite being repeatedly warned by Prudence that saving one life in a timeline could have catastrophic consequences for hundreds or thousands, she continuously decides she knows better than the time-traveler expert from the future and does what she wants.
February 18, 2023
This one wasn't quite as confusing as the first book in the series, but the biggest problem in both books is that nothing ever feels permanent or dangerous or important. If someone dies, the time travelers can go back and try again, a few moments earlier. The doesn't really change anything, because ... I notice that the author hasn't written anything in this series for a few years, and this may be the reason why. Anything that is done can be undone or redone, so nothing is ever really accomplished and nothing is ever really resolved. I usually love time travel stories, but I don't think I will be quite as enamored of them after reading this series.
November 2, 2019
3.75ish stars. This has a lot of the same elements that made the first installment strong. Of course we have the eponymous Alice, and we get to see more of Jane too, which is nice. I also appreciated Wray Auden's inclusion in their eccentric band of time travelers. I liked the more historical focus of the time travel narrative in this one; I think part of what bothered me about the first installment was the constant jumping between the past and the future. That kind of narrative can feel jarring anyways, but especially so in the tight confines of a novella. I'll check out more installments in this novella series as they come out.
June 20, 2020
A lerda terminou o livro e esqueceu de marcar ??? às, vezes nem eu não acredito na minha lerdeza.
Dá para perceber uma grande evolução do livro 1 para o livro 2.
Nesse pudemos ver um pouco mais de Prudence, que sem dúvidas é minha personagem favorita (Alice, ainda te amo). E um pouco mais de Alice e Jane juntas, o que foi interessante.
Não nego que fiquei um pouco desapontada de o problema que surge no final do 1 já ter sido resolvido quando o 2 começa. Mas nada que não dê para superar rapidamente.
Eu não sei se vai ter um livro 3, ou mesmo se caberia um, mas a saga de Alice Payne é uma das melhores ficções científicas que eu já li!
Dá para perceber uma grande evolução do livro 1 para o livro 2.
Nesse pudemos ver um pouco mais de Prudence, que sem dúvidas é minha personagem favorita (Alice, ainda te amo). E um pouco mais de Alice e Jane juntas, o que foi interessante.
Não nego que fiquei um pouco desapontada de o problema que surge no final do 1 já ter sido resolvido quando o 2 começa. Mas nada que não dê para superar rapidamente.
Eu não sei se vai ter um livro 3, ou mesmo se caberia um, mas a saga de Alice Payne é uma das melhores ficções científicas que eu já li!
March 22, 2019
Once again, Heartfield skillfully blends fantasy and science fiction together in a tale examining the ins and outs of time travel. Heartfield's historical research makes readers breathe the time period of her books. In Alice Payne Rides, we see the characters from Alice Payne Arrives grown and become more embroiled in their attempted corrections of history. Heartfield deftly moves from the 18th century to the 22nd with ease. The first novella in this series was just nominated for a Hugo, and the second one is easily that good.
November 28, 2019
This book was fun, but it's so hard to follow a timeline that keeps winding in on itself so people end up in the same place multiple times, sometimes with other versions of their same selves! I did enjoy how we got to visit a variety of times in this book--medieval France, Revolutionary America--but I still want more stuff about the time war!
I'm looking forward to the third book in this series, which, based on the titles of the first two, will probably be called Alice Payne Abides.
I'm looking forward to the third book in this series, which, based on the titles of the first two, will probably be called Alice Payne Abides.
January 31, 2022
Another quick and very enjoyable read for time travel fans! In this second novella, Alice Payne and her lover are part of a team that accidentally brings smallpox to their home in 1780. This story wrestles with the consequences and morality of spreading vaccinations and other life-threatening treatments to people before their times. I highly recommend this book ... but be sure to read this pair of novellas in order.
March 30, 2019
I really like the characters after having read the first book, so I was still vested here. And the thought of how much you can tweak timelines without being able to truly know the ripple effects, and if you still remember things before you tweaked them, endlessly fascinates me. It looks like this is a duology, so while not a "KAPOW" finish, I'm satisfied.
July 11, 2020
This was fun, but not as good as book one. It got a bit more ambitious in its scope, but the novella format couldn't fit it. There's a big exploration of Alice's father's history, that feels like it fizzled instead of being well explored, ending up used as only a path to another conflict in the time war.
December 22, 2020
Like the first book, i thought this one was a fun, light read. I was a little confused in the beginning about the context of some of the relationships having changed (from the end of the first book) and some events, but they got worked out. I think that's part of what happens when you're dealing with a time travel story where things can change.
December 18, 2019
I desperately wish that these books had any kind of character interaction that leads us to believe friendship. Aside from attending a party, Wray seems on much friendlier terms. I would have loves to explore that. Jane and Alice are the only ones who have been given spotlight to their relationship.
January 5, 2020
I really enjoyed this series. The second book continues the lightning fast (with just as fast consequences) time travel. Great characters, great take on this sci-fi sub-genre and a great, fast paced story.
January 9, 2020
This was another fun installment in the adventures of Alice Payne. It didn't feel like it had all of the depth that the first one did (despite this one being a longer story), but I love this cast of characters that Heartfield has developed and therefore it was still very worthwhile.
March 21, 2021
Prudence returns to 1789 to live in Fleance Hall with Alice and Jane. But, when Captain Auden goes back in time to save Prince Arthur of Brittany, General Almo from 2145 triggers a trap for Prudence that will erase her sister from existence.
April 28, 2021
As per usual, I barely understand the time travel timelines weaving throughout this fun novella, but a diverse (both in race, sexuality, and time period) and lovely cast of characters matters far more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews