**Finalist in 2019 Readers Favorite Book Awards - Time Travel Fiction** ★★★★★ " A revelatory work of fiction" K C Finn - Readers Favorite
You don't always go to heaven when you die. Alice didn't. She woke up on a space station orbiting Saturn five hundred years into the future. Then the real mystery began!
Time Travel fans will love the best selling, Afterlife of Alice Watkins. Both novels now available in a complete set.
A tale of mistaken identity, future Earth, aliens, cool spaceships, a touch of romance and a conclusion that will tear the very fabric of time itself. Bingeworthy reading to delight readers of quirky sci fi!
Time’s attention must have been elsewhere the moment elderly, grey, unsophisticated Alice Watkins died in her armchair a few days before her birthday in November 2016. It still wasn’t minding what it was doing on Saturn Station in the year 2513. Dr Jim Grossmith, one of the most eminent scientists of the age has devoted his career to The Sleeping Beauty Phenomenon, guarding the beautiful, red-haired young woman who sleeps peacefully, in a mysterious sarcophagus, her life perfectly suspended, her body preserved in a strange fluid. The woman, cocooned in her protective shell has defied scientific analysis for almost four hundred years. History recorded little, only that she is Dr Alexis Langley, a noted scientist of her time. When the sarcophagus opens and vanishes without a trace, leaving the young woman in his care, Jim Grossmith eagerly awaits the day when she can tell him the manner of her preservation. A strange science, lost in the annals of the past? Alien technology? But as he learns her story, Jim Grossmith finds himself faced with an even deeper mystery. He is certain the physical form of Dr Alexis Langley emerged from the sarcophagus, but as for anything else…
BOOK TWO
Spaceships? Aliens? A utopian Earth? Flashbacks to a life that was never hers?
It's a lot for our time travelling granny to take in as she settles into her new, beautiful life as Dr Alexis Langley.
Alice's story continues in Book Two. Her life of promise and opportunity leads to a world-shattering conclusion.
Taken from her humdrum existence in 2016, Alice’s new life five centuries in the future brings adventure, contentment and…love. She has everything she could ever wish for…
Until she learns that she is trespassing, that the journey she is taking was meant for another. To right this wrong, the Universe demands of Alice a sacrifice.
A sacrifice that will tear the very fabric of Time itself.
I am a former professional singer and actor who only realised I was ageing when I was offered the part of the ancient, grey-haired Granny in a stage production of The Addams Family. I decided then I had matured enough (physically and mentally) to give away theatre and turn to my other passion; writing, specifically, science fiction and even more specifically, time travel and space opera.
When my mind is not scouring the galaxy for new stories, my trust chihuahua sidekick Oggie by my side, I can be found in Australia with sand between my toes, collecting teapots and nerding out over everything Star Wars.
DNF. I wanted to like this book but it’s just so slow. I kept thinking it would pick up but it didn’t. I felt like the author was hammering me over the head with the idea that Alice Watkins was too antiquated and simple for her new environment over and over. I just wanted to move on to the rest of the story but that’s pretty much all it was.
I seem to be in a minority here, but I’m only giving this 2 stars. Here’s why:
1. The story is a slow burn. It nearly became a DNF several times before the end of book 1 and there’s no way I would’ve bought book 2 had it not come as a package.
2. Book 2 is essentially romantic fiction - that I’m not interested in. Yes, it’s set in the future, but there’s not much science fiction beyond that until the very end.
3. The ending is written in the manner of so many authors - in that ‘oh damn, I’ve now got to explain what this whole book has been about in the last few pages!’
4. The facts (despite it being science fiction,) of the ending don’t make sense. (I won’t specify why because that would involve spoilers.)
The only reason I’ve given it any stars at all is that the middle bit was well written and I thought the characterisations - except for the fact that the author seems to believe that all 64 year old women are creaking, doddering wrecks! - were excellent and well rounded.
*Minor spoilers* This story started out really well, but was ultimately, unsatisfying. I could tell it was going to have a disappointing ending around 60% through, but I hoped it would surprise me. I’d hoped the main character could bring harmony to the Loyalties and Calamities. Not so much. It wasn’t “all just a dream”, but it felt like it.
Also, still kind of angry about The Calamities. What kind of name is that for something that’s, allegedly, such a “great thing”, anyway?? What homophobic/racist person wrote this? That it’s okay things are this way because there’s no fighting now? It’s just wrong. Don’t read this book. It’s an empty promise. And it has a homophobic and racist fairy tale woven through it. Really sorry I read this.
Well, what a revelation. A book I wouldn't normally have read but the title intrigued me. I'm glad I did read it as it was charming. Not exciting, not challenging, no real cliffhangers, not mainstream sci-fi even. Just a gentle tale of love, relationships and of a story gently unwinding. I'm glad I read it as it's one of the best stories I have experienced in a long while. Notice there I wrote "experienced" rather than "read". I think this word sums up the tale nicely. If your sci-fi has to have intrigue, hostility, spaceships shooting and heroes winning.... if it really has to have these, then probably best if you give this story a miss, but if you enjoy thought provoking, gentle and charming stories with a few twists and mild surprises then I urge you to suspend reality for a while and lose yourself in this good book.
How many times did I need to write DNF? Maybe a few more, just in case?
I mean…COME ON.
I just sat through God knows how many pages of the same information being repeated endlessly. They think she’s Alexis. She says she’s Alice. They say she’s wrong because they read the info off her microchip. She says she microchipped her cat. She has this conversation at least three times each with three different people. And that’s when I was done. There’s not even a hint of the “charming” or “.breathtaking” story I was promised.
Added to that this heroine is stupid. She has no sense of humor. There is nothing about her that makes me want to read an entire duology about how she microchipped her cat.
Oh I DID learn that in the future they have machines that will clean you if you poop yourself. Charming.
I enjoy the time slip genre and especially when someone manages something that bit different. The Afterlife of Alice Watkins, grabbed me at the title, and at the blurb: Alice doesn’t go to heaven when she dies, but to a space station, 500 years in the future. How? Why? A brilliant concept, well told and twisty. This book is clever enough to keep you guessing and is thankfully not spoilt by a silly ending (you know the ones). One of the best I’ve read in the genre. I loved it and would like to read more by this author.
I ended the last line with a lump in my throat tightened with emotion and tears of joy in my eyes. A wonderful story of how things could be, the deep secret of the wheel of life woven thru a story so engrossing, interesting and entertaining - I could not put the story down. Maybe it’s real. I didn’t want it to end.
I really liked this story. Unexpected in many ways I grew to connect with the characters. It had an ending that I truly did not anticipate. I am not sorry I read this.
I simply loved this story and badly wanted it to carry on. I wanted to follow Eliza's life and wondered why she referred to both mother and daddy as if she had been raised by both. This was an intriguing tale and captured my full interest and imagination like no other I have ever read. At 81 years old and a lifelong reader, I have thousands and thousands of books. This one is unique. Incredible. Delightful. Thought provoking. Wonderful. Thank you.
Took me forever to read this book—okay, I understand, it’s a duopoly, so two books—but at least two hundred pages could probably have been pared out of it and the story would not have suffered. It just went on and on, and much of it was repetitive or about nothing in particular. For awhile it was pretty good but then it deteriorated into a romance, which really added nothing except an excuse to hang part of the plot on. By the time I got to the end it was a relief, except for the fact that I hated the ending— too convenient.
A little strange... some aspects of the futuristic society are a tad awkward eg no children allowed from mixed race or culture marriages. It was a nice enough story but Alice was unrealistic for when she was supposed to have lived. She would have fitted into society 30 years before rather than the time line they gave her.
I really enjoyed this sci-fi novel in two parts. A great story with plenty of strong characters and plot twists. I would have given it five stars, but chapter 37 of part one seemed to be out of place. It referred to events in the past, without any hint at a flashback.
The racism and homophobia of a supposed enlightened society that exiles gay and mixed race couples to ghetto colonies is flabbergasting. I kept expecting a moment when this would be denounced, but no, perfectly acceptable arrangement apparently. Repellent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I didnt enjoy this book. I kept reading as i believed it would become interesting. 2 thirds of this book is dire, tells the reader very little. The last quarter is like mills and boon. The last ten pages being the best. Dont waste your time with it.
Contains possible spoiler about the end of the story. The book is science fiction, but not. It has all the usual space tropes, and oddly endearingly old fashioned characters. Ultimately it’s a love story. Alice’s for her old life, her children, Alex’s for her uncle and Akhtet, and both for their love of the man they fall for. The story revolves around an old woman in a strangers body who wakes up hundreds of years later. Over time she sheds the old lady persona and finds joy in this new person. The book is all about Alice. It slowly works its way to the end, from the awakening and confusion to the acceptance of her new life to the understanding that she had to let go again. Just occasionally I wanted to hurry my way through the endless conversations of all the very nice people, and sometimes the bigger questions about religion and diversity and acceptance and even ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ people aren’t fully developed. The space anomaly isn’t fully developed. Like a story for another time. It made me wonder about the author. Is this her idea of a final utopia and are the behaviours of humankind on the moral and ethics of this time hers or is it a story filler? Aside from that, the end leads me to consider reincarnation might be what the author believes is what happens to people. Or my idea of what reincarnation is. Ultimately it was a gentle story and I made sure to read a bit of it every day for weeks, and that for me is a winner.
This was a kind of boring, born-sexy-yesterday story.
I still read the whole thing because I wanted to see how it would end, and it wasn't the worst, but I feel like it had the potential for so much more tension and depth.
The way the main character is described, I felt she should have been from 1916 or 1816 instead of 2016. She seemed decrepit beyond her years for a 65-year-old in 2016. It also felt gross that all the men she meets in her new-to-her young and petite (of course) body love how "innocent" she is, even though it's because she was emotionally abused, neglected, and isolated for her whole 65-year life. They wouldn't find this hot if they met her in her original body.
There's also the fact that neither Alice, the 65-year-old, nor Alexis, the 26-year-old young and hot doctor whose body Alice is in, fight the homophobic and racist world they find themselves in because it ultimately doesn't pertain to the heterosexual white women's body they reside in.
All told, while it was kind of sweet, it was also very frustrating.
This book has touched my heart! This story is both eloquent and poignant especially during covid. The juxtaposition of characters in this story, remind me of my own own life, a foster child with memories of another. The world in which this story unfolds, is the world we dream of inheriting in another life. If a popular television series federation is a future reality, then I hope the author of this wonderful books portrayal of our future is our future world. This story has touched my life deeply, I highly recommend this book and hope a film or series is made to honour it.
Kudos to author Matilda Scotney for selecting the drabbest protagonist imaginable, an elderly uneducated lady of limited means and imagination. Usually ladies such as Alice aren't hurled into the future. And usually, the future isn't a utopia. Not a perfect utopia by any means, but everyone seems to be fed and a bestie of the world leader. So this book is less about conflict and whirlwind adventure and more about mystery and character development. The second book spends too much time on a romantic subplot, but the a mystery kept me going to the end. And it turned out that the romantic subplot was necessary for emotional impact. I recommend this set as a relaxing change of pace read.
I found this book very imaginative. It presented a tale of a future and a woman learning to expand her horizons and learn new things. As stated in the first part, it was a tale that had a beginning, a middle, and an end and then a beginning again. It also left me wishing that Ms Scotney had continued her circle just half a turn more so that I could see the actual outcome instead of simply being told that it all came out the way it was supposed to do. The hallmark of a good story is that the reader is invested in the characters. I was certainly invested in Alice Watkins and her alter ego.
One of the best sci fi fantasy books I have read for years. Great storyline, a very interesting take on time shifting and difficult to put down. Thank goodness this author has taken great care over spelling and grammar! Before reading this great story I had almost given up on reading novels that have been properly written. I shall definitely be reading more books from Matilda Scotney.
I have no words. Never have I been so invested in 2 books before. The characters created are very memorable and it’s like you are living the experience with them. I must admit there have been times when I’ve been confused, wanting to scratch my head wondering if or when an explanation would arrive, but you have to reach the end to learn the truth, and even then it’s still not clear. But I absolutely loved these books and the incredible journey it took me on.
One of the best books I have ever read! I didn’t want it to end!!
If you have a good imagination an interest in time, sci fi and a story well told you will not be disappointed. I am sure other readers will give a good synopsis I’m still bussing to.
Just please don’t make it into a film, no one could come close to doing it justice
Full of imagination of a future overlapping from the past. Beautiful and scenic story of a possible idyllic future of Earth, and love, set with a wonderful ideal of souls' journeys through time! I couldn't put this book down. It will be kept as one of my favorites!
I was hesitant in starting this small series. After reading it would I recommend to myself to read it? Yes I would. It is a very well thought out story. All the science seems it could possibly be real some day. I just loved the main character (Alice’s ) character development. It’s a great read a little hard to put down and go to bed…
The first book is world building. The second book really grabs you. The end is great and satisfying. I may need to reread the last chapter to really grasp the ending. I read over 100 SF books this year on kindle unlimited. These books are in the top five.
Enjoyed ? Yes characters were well fleshed. However the ending left me sad. The descriptions of the World was refreshing from the disaster often portrayed in books of the future. I just wished for a different ending
It was such a journey along with the people in this story, so imaginative and enthralling. The writer made me laugh and cry with the story of sweet, frightened Alice who managed to find joy, love, and new strength in her lives lived. A story of hope and humanity.
Not my usual cup of tea but once I started I drank the whole cup! I loved this story from beginning to the end. What a wonderful imaginative story from Matilda Scotney. I cried a lot while reading this
One of those stories that you can’t possibly put down until the very end…TOTALLY MESMERIZING! Opens up so many possibilities for Our Mysterious Universe