In the City of Time

In the City of Time #1

by Gwendolyn Clare

From the author of the highly acclaimed Ink, Iron, and Glass series, this YA duology sends three science prodigies on a time-traveling adventure to save the Earth—if they don’t accidentally destroy it first—in Gwendolyn Clare's In the City of Time.

In 1891, Willa Marconi's life falls apart when her mentor at the University of Bologna unexpectedly dies. She loses her laboratory access and her stipend, but she refuses to let anyone take her research away. While testing her prototype radio equipment, she detects a mysterious signal and pursues its origin.

In 2034, a cataclysmic event has rendered the Earth uninhabitable, and humankind survives by living inside of artificial worlds. Riley would do anything for Jaideep, who lost his parents in the collapse of the Bay Area pocket universe—and anything includes building a time machine so they can travel back to the 19th century, prevent the destabilization of the planet, and rewrite history.

But the experiment goes wrong, accidentally pulling Willa forward in time and stranding the three of them in a strange, seemingly abandoned city. Now they’ve got a glitchy time machine, a scary android time cop hot on their trail, and some tangled temporal mechanics to unravel. Can they save the Earth when the Continuity Agency is dead-set on preserving the current timeline?

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Queer, Audiobook, LGBT, Fantasy

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2022

About the author

Gwendolyn Clare's debut novel -- INK, IRON, AND GLASS -- is the first in a steampunk duology about a young mad scientist with the ability to write new worlds into existence, out now from Imprint. Her short stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others, and her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award. She holds a BA in Ecology, a BS in Geophysics, a PhD in Mycology, and swears she's done collecting acronyms. She lives in North Carolina with too many cats, too many ducks, and never enough books.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare, with its plot about three geeky young scientists and time travel, should be a novel I adore because I love it when stories get all nerdy and scientific. Unfortunately, I do not love when authors make up entirely new laws of science to explain their science fiction, which is precisely what Ms. Clare does in this latest novel. Her explanations of time travel are so far from scientific that I could not even begin to understand what she was trying to say. Sadly, her scientific explanations were not the only issues I had with the novel. Her use of polyamory feels a little opportunistic; it feels like Ms. Clare jumped onto the inclusive bandwagon without considering whether it is the right thing for the characters. That particular relationship doesn’t even feel like a romantic relationship to me but rather more like best friends with occasional benefits. And I don’t believe that someone from the 1800s would be 100 percent okay with polyamorous relationships and willingly enter into one after only a few minutes of thought. The lack of science alone made me hesitant to pick up In the City of Time every day. Add in the questionable inclusion choices, and it all made for a novel that was a slog to read.

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tragedy of being a time agent is the past never leaves you alone.
- first line
I liked the diverse cast of characters, especially Saudade (an android) and Willa (a woman plucked out of the 1890s). Riley and Jaideep have a great relationship, and I love their back-and-forth. Riley and Jaideep are going back in time to try and prevent a crisis that took Jaideep’s family and is destroying the Earth. They are willing to be erased from existence if they can prevent the cataclysm. But they didn’t plan for murderous android time agents or a mind-bending conspiracy. This book is full of danger and excitement, but some concepts are confusing (pocket universes - using a handwritten or computerized script to create artificial worlds). There are ethical questions, threats of paradoxes, contradictions, and mind-blowing concepts. If you like your sci-fi with time travel, this book is for you.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[alanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

”’At this point, I’m probably one of the world’s foremost expert on temporal theory,’ Riley said— not a brag, just a statement of fact.”

In the City of Time follows three prodigies on a mission to save the Earth, hoping not to destroy it themselves. The rest of my thoughts get kind of spoiler-y. If you’re a sci-if fan, I would definitely recommend this book! As someone who is decidedly not a sci-fi fan, this book fell kind of flat for me. When your favorite sci-fi book is also your favorite book of all time (which sounds a little contradictory but bear with me), it gets hard to find anything to get nearly that enjoyable. There wasn’t anything I notably disliked that made this book unbearable, so overall it’s a 3.5/5 for me! The characters were interesting and lively. I think the reason I wasn’t as into it as others is that I’m not familiar with the universe (and other books in said universe) this book is set in, but I’ll definitely check the rest of them out!

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you guys know that this was a companion series to another of the author's series? True story, I hadn't a clue! The author explains this at the start, and she was definitely not lying when she said you could read this series all on its own, because I did, and I definitely enjoyed it!

Here's the thing, and where you might want to read her other series first: I didn't quite understand how they made up these new worlds (apparently, via something called scriptology. And perhaps that is properly explained in the first series. But I just kind of went with it, and it turned out fine.

Because this book isn't really about that, for the most part. It starts there, but then it goes in a very different direction, where our main characters are basically time fugitives. It's a very thought provoking premise really: do you try to change the past at the risk of completely obliterating the current future? Our main characters spend a lot of time pondering the moral ramifications of their decisions, which makes complete sense, and is really necessary. They are also taking huge risks with their own personal lives, as they could quite literally no longer exist if the timeline gets too messed up.

I also loved that all of the characters really grew as people during their journeys. They all find out a lot about themselves as they undertake these massive challenges. They also spend some time exploring their relationships with each other, which is great. The whole story is very exciting and high octane, as well as high stakes. Not only are the stakes impossibly high for our characters, but for Earth at large, which makes the story even more gripping.

Bottom Line: Gotta love moral dilemmas that could change the fate of the world!

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will be honest I am 100% lost with this book. I will admit that I have never read another book in this series, so this maybe my own fault. I feel like the plot jumps everywhere, and characters are sometimes hard to keep track of. Now I understand that this is a time travel book so jumping everywhere is to be expected, yet I don’t like how it is handled overall and as a reader it just kept me confused for most of the book. I will say that I love Willa. Any part of the story with Willa seemed to keep me engaged and I didn’t feel quite as lost as to what was going on. I think if you have read books in this series, you will love this book and writing style. For me personally it was a miss, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t recommend it to anyone who has read books in the series or are looking for a time travel series in general.
Thank you so much to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

[Charlie Newman · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first DNF in a while— there was a lot of cool sci-fi stuff here. Too much, in fact. 100 pages in I had no idea what was going on and no investment in any of it despite end of the universe-ish stakes. Maybe this should be treated like the third book in the series of her previous duology? But it didn’t work for me as a stand-alone.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.5 of 5

Willa Marconi has been doing research in a laboratory at the University of Bologna in 1891 when her mentor at the school dies unexpectedly. Without her mentor's support she risks losing her access to the lab, her stipend, and all her research to date. But when she discovers a strange signal while using her radio equipment, she fights to hang on to her research.

Fast-forward about 140 years - 2034 and the Earth has become uninhabitable. Humans exist only in pockets of artificial worlds which are often on the verge of collapse. Jaideep lost his parents when the Bay Area pocket collapsed and now Riley will do anything to help Jaideep, including making a time machine to travel back in time to prevent the catastrophic event that caused the Earth's devastation.

Something goes wrong, however, and instead of Riley and Jaideep going back in time, Willa is pulled forward with them and the three of them are stuck in an abandoned city with an android time-cop hunting them and only a faulty time-machine to help.

This book is set in the same universe as author Gwendolyn Clare's Ink, Iron, and Glass books (the first of which I reviewed three years ago), but you don't have to have read those books to enjoy this.

Clare has done a nice job of providing us with post-apocalyptic science fiction story, mixed with some time-travel, featuring some pretty resourceful teens.

The teen characters make-or-break this novel (since there aren't many characters beside them), and they are definitely a nice trio of diversity with some mad skills and witty banter that should endear them to teen readers. The time cop is also a powerful character in its own way, but I couldn't help but constantly picture the cop from the Terminator movie.

Looking for a good book? In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare is a nice diversion and for fans of time-travel science fiction a quick yet satisfying read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Megan Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was something else!! I already loved the Ink, Iron, and Glass duology. And I will admit that I look forward to probably seeing characters like Leo and Elsa again in the sequel to this book, as well as continuing to find out what happens. But this book was an amazingly well-built sci-fi, too! And these characters are likable and witty as well. Some of my favorite lines in it were:

"'...I don't suffer from sarcasm. I inflict it upon others.'"
"'...You are merely an incidental beneficiary of my culinary prowess.'"
"After all the work she'd put into cultivating a standoffish countenance, it was almost depressing to think that people tended to like her on sight."

I find it really interesting that this book includes the idea that theoretical science can be applied to things many people would consider to be pure fantasy or philosophy, like how --- at least to me --- Itzkowitz's probability density functions in this book sound a lot like fate.

I admittedly don't understand everything to do with the androids and unmooring completely. But I liked this book and was excited to keep reading it and to find out what would happen in it and with its characters nonetheless.

It was interesting to finally really see the tie-in to the Ink, Iron, and Glass duology toward the end.

And I also just have to say that Riley and Jaideep supposedly living only about ten years from now is kind of scary, haha (: Maybe the reason the world doesn't seem to be headed the way that they were living is because Willa will succeed in preventing the cataclysm. But I guess we'll see!

Overall: If you enjoy intelligent sci-fis that also include mental health, LGBTQ+, and appropriate sprinkles of humour --- or if you like Claudia Gray, E. C. Myers, or Alita: Battle Angel, for that matter! --- this is an awesome book for you. Gwendolyn Clare knows what she's doing. This book would be a crazy movie if it were made into one (in a good, action-packed way!) And it is no wonder I am excited to read her work every time a new one comes out.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for gifting me an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Time travel. It be real cray. Especially when you're also dealing with alternative realities, and pocket dimensions. Time can really end up being a big ball of wibbly wobbly time wimey.....stuff.

In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare is a YA sci-fy book that combines the elements of time travel and pocket dimensions, in a neat and unique way. In the year 1891, Will has just been kicked out her big time gig at the University of Bologna when her mentor suddenly dies. And because she is a women of science, all of her funding and lab get taken away. But she refuses to let her research go to waste. Meanwhile, in 2034, the world is a hot mess with alternate realities and pocket worlds due to a great cataclysm that decimated most of humanity. Yet, Riley will do anything to help her beloved Jaideep, including breaking the very space time continuum to hopefully stop the cataclysm at the source. But in reality, Riley somehow pulls Willa and strand them in an isolated world unlike their own.

So in simple words, it all gets complicated.

Clare does an excellent job, in creating world both like our own and not. While not making it all over complicated. But I loved how morally driven the characters were. As they were constantly faced with the fact at their actions had consequences, whether they liked it or not.

But overall, this book is not for anyone who isn't a hardcore sci-fy fan. Mainly because a lot of spoiler reasons.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly found myself a bit lost during this book, likely because I had no idea that this took place in a universe that had been introduced in other books (which is admittedly my own fault). But because of this I felt like there wasn't as much world building/explanation of the universe as I wanted, which made me feel like I was missing some of the details in the story.

I think that if I read this after reading the other series, I would have really enjoyed it. It was definitely a YA book but I found it dealt with important themes and had good representation throughout the story. It was a fun plot, set all throughout time, and I tried to just read along and let the story unfold rather than focus on getting a 100% understanding of exactly what was happening and how everything worked. By the end, I think everything was clear and any of the details I may have lost along the way didn't take away from it too much.

Overall a fun, slightly confusing, sci-fi/time travel book with a good plot. I will definitely pick up the sequel to see where the story goes once that comes out.

[Jenavie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first book by this author, and I really liked the creative take on time travel and how the setting was built. The characters were unique, with interesting names and backgrounds, which I appreciated as someone with a unique name myself. The mix of timelines, non-human characters, and the idea of someone from the future trying to sabotage time travel was cool and kept me interested. That said, the dual perspectives from Willa and Riley made parts of the story hard to follow, especially early on and again near the end. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending because it felt unsatisfying, and some of the added elements around sexuality and relationships felt forced. It seemed like the book was trying to include too many perspectives at once, and the open relationship part felt awkward. I would’ve preferred Willa just be a intelligent and caring friend to Riley and Jai instead of being romantically involved. Overall, it had some strong ideas but didn’t always come together for me.

[Koen Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to be.. EPIC

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an early copy of this book!

Over the past week I finished the Ink, Iron & Glass duology and was desperately wishing I could find a way to get more of it. This book is it. It is set in the same universe as Gwendolyn Clare's first two novels, which I absolutely loved. First of all, it was done perfectly. I was giddy through the whole experience.

I loved the characters so much. They were diverse, dynamic and interesting. Their interactions were, in my opinion, very realistic and it never felt like anyone was out of place (unless they were obviously intended to be). The dry humor and sarcasm was spot on for my tastes.

The cherry on top is that it's not over yet. This, of course, left me with a bittersweet feeling. I have to wait for another book but at least there is going to be another book!

[carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In The City of Time" left me feeling somewhat disappointed as it fell short of my initial expectations. While the premise held promise, the execution left much to be desired, and I couldn't help but wish for a more in-depth development of the storyline. The characters, though likable, lacked that crucial connection for me, failing to leave a lasting impact.

The novel does manage to present an interesting plotline, but it suffers from poor execution that hinders its full potential. Moreover, the characters felt somewhat hollow and underdeveloped, leaving me yearning for more depth and complexity.

Despite these shortcomings, I recognize the potential in Gwendolyn Clare's writing and storytelling abilities. Although "In The City of Time" may not have been my ideal read, I remain curious and eager to explore her other works. Perhaps in different narratives, Clare's talents will truly shine, and I'm hopeful for more engaging and captivating stories in her future releases.

[Jill Nathanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would describe this book as a young adult time travel French farce. Characters are constantly popping in and out of portals in different locations and different time periods. The action is fast and furious. There are themes of polyamory, trans gender, and whether artificial life forms can choose to be good or evil. Our intrepid heroes are trying to prevent a cataclysm even at the risk of removing themselves from existence. This book is part one of a duology by Gwendolyn Clare. I didn't previously read her series; Ink, Iron, and Glass, The author recommends reading it before the second book in this series is published, so I will do that. If you enjoy time travel with all of its contradictions, you will love this book. There are a lot of mind blowing concepts.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

[pineapple tofu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teens Riley and Jaideep live in the far future, where a cataclysmic event destroyed the earth. They create a time machine but somehow portal a young woman named Willow from the 19th century to them. All three of them have a chance to save Earth from the destructive event, but will Willa ever make it back to 1891?
I honestly had a hard time reading this book. There was just too much technical jargon about space, time travel, and the physics of them all. Staying with the book took a huge amount of effort, but I channeled through it to the end. The two androids were interesting enough, but the three humans' relationship wasn’t as attention-grabbing as I thought it would be. It's not a book I would recommend unless you like this sort of sci-fi. I adore time travel, but this one bored me and confused me a lot.

[Erin Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure!!!

This book has it all: time travel, alternate history, ethical quandaries, androids, and a diverse cast of characters. In the City of Time is a fast paced "save the world" novel. It is set in the same universe as Gwendolyn Clare's first duology (Ink, Iron, and Glass), but you didn't need to read those first to understand this one. It's a bit timey-wimey, so you need to pay attention to understand what is happening. I really enjoyed the interactions between the characters. The only bad thing is the wait to get the other half of the story!! Definitely recommend if time travel books are your jam.

Thanks to #Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an early copy for review

[Erica Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...entertaining enough, I suppose. It lacks substance in many ways.

LGBT friendly, also features a polyamorous relationship which is something I've not seen done in a book previously (not saying it hasn't been done, this is the first time I read such a book)

Honestly not sure if there are content warnings for this book unless mild gun violence and two females kissing would bother you

I thought of the ending I hoped the book was working toward shortly before the end. It wasn't. I guess my preferred ending would have been a mismatch with the tone

[D. E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three main characters of the story were very well written, and very well developed. Some of the moments between the three of them were incredibly fun. However, the way Willa was exposed and instantly seemed to become okay with polyamory didn't seem to jibe with a character who would have come from the 19th century (even with what we come to learn later about Willa and her nature). Also, Clare didn't seem to keep track of her own rules regarding time-travel. These were not necessarily deal breakers for me, but they did take me out of the story.

[Dorothy Emry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Th great YA science fiction story does an exceptional job at introducing transgender characters who truly feel like a natural part of the story telling (unlike other stories I've read where they seem to be used in a forced way to show the author is trying to be inclusive). Can't wait to read the sequel, but first I have to read Gwendolyn Clare's first two books and that will be a joy, too, I'm sure.

[CR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was confusing to say the least. There is so much tied up in how time travel works all it did was confuse the crap out of me. I wished it was more just kind of glossed over or explained in a way that I didn't feel like I needed a degree to understand it. Other than that the book was great. I loved the characters and the plot. So if you choose to read this one just kind of skim all the science.

[Armalite]

As someone who loved the previous duology in the same universe, I was awfully disappointed by this book. Gwendolyn Clare excels at writing steampunk settings and atmosphere; her SF, however, is astonishingly bland. Ot at least, it is in the first 22% of In the city of time: I couldn't push myself to read any further.

[Corey Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent book, but the ending kind of ruined a lot of it for me. I want my books to be able to be standalone by the end and this one didn’t quite do that for me. Still a decent read, just didn’t quite live up to what it could have been. Time travel stories can be pretty hard to execute, and I will give credit that this one was easy to follow

[Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was a fun read. There were a few parts that confused me, and I could not keep up with some of the time travel rules, but it might be because I did not read the Iron Glass duology. I also think that the world building isn't explained simply enough and can be confusing to a reader. Overall, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic twisting tale of time travel! I'm always Leary of time travel books because I do not like groundhog day esque sequences. In the City of Time is not only wonderfully written, it's also one of the best time travel stories I've read!

[rachel x]

⚠️ Spin-off series from Ink, Iron, and Glass

[jana]

IM LITERALLY NEVER GOING TO READ THIS LMFAO💀💀

[Remi · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf. not well explained what was happening, didn't care about the characters, no real emotional stakes

[Linsey Frayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Literally had no idea what was going on at any point in time with this one.

[Giuliana]

DNF
I did not enjoy reading this. I was really confused and it just didn’t peak my interest. I think some people would really enjoy it though.

[KC Hawthorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

very forgettable ...