Here, There & Everywhere

I've always loved time travel stories.

When I was a kid, I loved them for the sheer coolness and excitement of the idea: If you could go anywhere, anytime, where would it be? As I got older, I still loved the cool idea, but suddenly things like internal consistency and paradoxes loomed larger — if that stuff was off, it started to ruin the cool fun idea. Then I read a lot of stories where the science was at the forefront, but little things like plot and character faded away. I kept looking for a happy medium — a story where the science was solid and made sense AND there was a plot and characters that I cared about. And then I found it.

My friends, I give you Here, There & Everywhere by Chris Roberson.

Here, There & Everywhere is the show more story of Roxanne Bonaventure, who, as a young girl, is given a bracelet (called the Sophia) by a mysterious old woman. The Sophia is a time-travel device which allows Roxanne to travel anywhere and anywhen, including alternate timelines. She spends the rest of the book searching for answers to a number of questions, including the origins of the Sophia.

Roxanne is a fabulous character, charming and believable from childhood on. Other characters are drawn equally well, especially Roxanne's father, but even characters we meet only once are memorable.

I'm also fond of the way the story is structured. We get Roxanne's story in a series of vignettes contained in short chapters, with some years skipped between each one. This evokes very well the way Roxanne lives her life among the different timelines she visits. You're able to follow the storyline with no problem, yet you can also feel the same sense of disconnect that Roxanne feels.

Roberson has done a terrific job with Here, There & Everywhere. It's a fast, enjoyable and humorous read that has enough substance to give you plenty to think about when it's all over. And what could be better than that? show less

After being slightly traumatized by The Time Traveler's Wife, it was nice to enjoy this relatively angst-free fantasy romp through time and alternate worlds. The shout-outs to other time traveler stories do start to get a bit too silly and the author did annoy me seriously at least once, but on the whole, it was all in good fun.

Reading about an infinity of wacky alternate universes? Fun! Reading about a Mary Sue-type character who never makes a mistake, never changes, and can never be harmed? Not!

A beautifully constructed circular gem of a light time travel novel.

I enjoyed this book, though I lost interest from time to time when Roxanne talked with her father and others about time travel in scientific language. I did enjoy reading her story, though.