A Study in Time

by Maureen Flynn, Kate McAllan (Editor)

In a near future Australia, Minnie thought she'd live out the rest of her life researching and teaching all things Ancient Greece to eager students. Then Ronnie comes on the scene. Young and attractive, he inducts Minnie into Freedom, a movement dedicated to rescuing climate refugees from government time agents eager to prevent people from 'illegally jumping borders.'Soon, Minnie's caught up in the adventure of a life time. Tasked with rescuing a fellow Freedom agent from ancient Delphi and saving people about to drown as sea levels rise, Minnie soon discovers no one is who they seem. As government agents chase her through time, and a traitor is revealed, Minnie must use all her smarts to survive ...A short novella about time travel, trips to far flung locales in past and present and women going on kickass adventures.

59 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2018

About the author

Maureen Flynn lives on the East Coast of NSW on Dharawal nation land. She is an avid speculative fiction and crime fiction lover, writer and fan. She has finally taken up freelance work so she can dedicate more hours of her day to working on novels and short stories. Her short stories have featured in publications by CSFG, Specul8 and Deadset Press and she is working on two YA fantasy novels in 2020.

Reviews

[Emily Wrayburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay - it needed some more fleshing out. As it was, I was thrown in the deep end and felt like I was just supposed to know what was going on. There were definitely some cool ideas, particularly in regards to how the time travel worked, but the plot itself just didn't click with me.

[C.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

My only complaint about this story is that it was far too short. I loved the premise and Flynn's unique take on time travel. The action was balanced so well with the world building that I was easily caught up in the story. So much so that it was over before I realised and found myself wanting more. I would love a whole series following Minnie and Ronnie (or other Freedom agents).

Bonus points:

Academic main character
Middle-aged female main character

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! A Study in Time is a fast-paced time-travel adventure that follows our protagonist, academic Dr. Minnie Isaacs, as she is unwillingly swept up in a political intrigue that takes her from an Australian university campus to Ancient Greece, and to Tuvalu.

This is a quick-read with richly conjured historical and near-future settings, a wonderfully relatable heroine, and a suspenseful plot that deftly explores contemporary themes of refugees, discrimination, and human rights.

Highly recommended rainy-day read for anyone who loves cosy speculative fiction stories with elements of academia, history, heart, and a race against time.

I also think the characters and world-building are compelling enough to support a sequel or series!

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being the first to rate and review this book, I, of course, wish I liked it more and had more praise to lavish its way, but it just didn’t work for me, at all. To be fair, I may not be the ideal audience, a lot of time travel stories don’t work for me. This story’s intention seemed to be to wrap up a very strong pro-immigration stance into a time traveling narrative and throw in some evil anti-immigration agents in pursuit and a dash of romance to spice up the proceedings, but the overall production read too busy in a wrong way, albeit very obviously well-intentioned. It’s a novella or a novelette version of an original short story for whatever purposes.
Not terrible by any means, nice cover, proper editing and some interesting ideas. Didn’t sing for me, but might for time travel fans. Either way, it's only maybe 40 minutes of your time.

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read ! Well-paced and original with endearing leads, and a mix of lightness and serious themes. If you like time travel stories, history and academia, you will probably like this!

[Gillian Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A Study in Time' is a creative cocktail of adventure, speculative fiction, historical fiction and crime fiction, sure to find a hook for all sorts of readers! You'll find yourself travelling not only to Ancient Greece, but also a tiny Pacific Island, and central Europe in the more recent past...
Flynn creates engaging characters whose development across the plot keeps you turning pages - especially protagonist Minnie, and a character who becomes more important than his first mention would suggest.
This novella's plot and themes delve thoughtfully into contemporary issues of refugee policy, showing a heart and also a thrill of adventure which lies with supporting those seeking refuge. I would like to see more of Minnie's next steps following the final chapter - perhaps Flynn could treat us to another study in another time...!