The Continuum

This was a fast and interesting read! I really enjoyed it. Even though it was novella sized, I didn't feel like it skimped on world and character-building. Time travel can be a difficult and confusing thing to write about, and for the reader to read, but somehow Wendy Nikel managed to write a fun book without getting too bogged down in serious details and worries, allowing the reader to ignore them as well. It reminded me a little bit of Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's series, which is one of my favourites. As soon as I finished The Continuum, I immediately started reading book 2, and it appears to be just as good as the first.

I received this book along with the sequel courtesy of the publisher, via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's Program.

Nikel's fun novella adds some new twists to the time travel genre. Elise's day job is by no means a normal one--she's sent back in time to retrieve clients whose time travel vacations have gone on too long or become outright meddlesome to the space-time continuum. After a close call regarding the Titanic, she returns to the present only to be ambushed by rogues who force her to travel again--into the future. She thinks she's there to retrieve a man who has gone missing on a new technological marvel called the Continuum, but the situation is considerably more complicated than that. The Continuum/continuum is not at all what show more what it seems...

This was really the perfect read to suit my mood. I needed a fun, thoughtful escape, and this provided that. I do love a good time travel story. I was left wanting to know more about Elise's background and perhaps more development with some of the side characters. I tend to be very good at predicting book endings, but this one left me gobsmacked. Such nice surprises, and they worked! I'm glad I have the sequel lined up to read next. show less

The Continuum really surprised/impressed me! This is a good example of how a successful novella should be done: there was just the right amount of plot for the length of the book, which made the story fast-paced without feeling rushed or incomplete. It didn't negatively draw attention to the fact that it's a shorter book, and the story kept me hooked the entire time.

First of all, this is a book about time travel, which is awesome enough - but it was also done in a refreshing way. Rather than having characters who travel back in time in order to change something in the past or prevent something from happening in the present/future, The Continuum involves a travel agency that arranges vacations to the past and specifically prohibits their show more clients from altering the past. Jumps in time are strictly regulated by a careful set of rules.

But, of course, rules are broken and complications arise. Elise, the protagonist whose job is to retrieve people who don't come back to the present when they're supposed to, ends up getting sent to the future... which as far as she knew was not possible. The story takes place in three main settings: 1912 England, just as the Titanic is about to begin its voyage; 2012 New York, Elise's present-day life as an agent; and 2112, where Elise jumps to a futuristic settlement... in space.

Despite the time travel and space aspects, this story was not overly sci-fi or techy. I was also able to easily follow the 'rules' of time travel (i.e., How does going to the past affect the present/future? What happens if you run into yourself in the past? Answer: you don't, because the agency only allows you to jump to before you were born.) without feeling like my mind was melting. I really enjoyed the parallels between 1912 and 2112, which could've been tacky or cliché, but which I thought were handled elegantly and created a nice cyclical, history-repeats-itself effect.

My only complaint, if I had to come up with one, would be that I didn't really get to know Elise very well (although I was so caught up in the plot that I didn't notice this too much). I learned her values and who she was on some level based on her choices and actions, of course... but I would've loved to see more of her personal life, her past, and her more routine jumps to the historical past! Maybe Wendy Nikel will write some side stories about some of Elise's other adventures. show less

When I reviewed the synopsis and realized that this novel would involve time travel, I was a little skeptical. So many authors end up breaking their own rules surrounding time, and consequently readers like me who become literary lawyers lose enjoyment for the pages following those errors. Wendy Nikel makes time travel shine, and with a female protagonist to top it all off. Even in the first chapter she did an outstanding job of developing parameters around the world the book lives in but also testing its limits in an engaging way that made you want to keep reading more. She didn’t have enough time to give the characters you encounter much depth, but what was really worthwhile in the end was the dynamic between them despite what show more little you knew. The choice of conflicts, twists and turns was tasteful. There were some cliches here and there, and some moments that you will need to just forgive and forget, but they were still well-placed and served a purpose. I couldn’t put this down! Just about spent every night before bed devouring every page. Mark January 23rd on your calendars because this is going to be your next sci-fi read. show less

Elise Morley works as a retrieval specialist for a time travel agency. When readers meet her, she is on an assignment to retrieve a client who has not returned as scheduled. Fortunately, Elise spots her just as she's boarding the Titanic. Before she's had a chance to fully recuperate from this retrieval, she is sent on a dangerous mission. A rival time travel agency, so secret that Elise has never heard of it, has lost one of its agents in the future, and they want Elise to retrieve him.

While I don't consider myself a sci-fi or fantasy fan, I do love a good time travel story, and I found this one very enjoyable. The characters, setting, and plot are all interesting and fun. It reminded me of both the Thursday Next books and Connie show more Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog.

I was selected to receive the sequel, The Grandmother Paradox, through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program and the publisher provided a copy of this book as well. show less

I'm a sucker for time travel stories. I've seen countless movies for it and yet I remember each one and whether or not I liked it. Same for TV shows and other books that deal with it too. That being said I was a little nervous reading this because of the title. By no fault of the author the title brought to mind a Canadian TV series called Continuum, it had a great first season but as time went on (sorry for the pun), the story got out of hand and the quality worsened. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Fortunately for me, The Continuum by Wendy Nikel is one of the good ones. Elise Morley works as an Extractor, a person that goes to retrieve a person that has vacationed to a different time in history that has overstayed their welcome. She show more finds a different challenge with every job but it's never one that she can't complete. After coming back from an extraction she is contacted by a new client that wants her to do something that her employer had led her to believe was impossible: travel to the future for an extraction.

The rules for time travel were explained in a way that was plausible enough for me to suspend my belief for just a little longer than half the book which says a lot for me, a person that likes to nitpick at every corner. It was very fast paced so I think that's why I was so forgiving. But I'm okay with that as long as 1 - there's a strong main character that I like and 2 - the story still flows naturally. The ending was not my favorite yet I didn't feel like I wasted my time. Overall I liked this story. show less

I found the book fast-paced and engaging. However, I was surprised at how short it was, there was potential to really go in depth with the ins and outs of time travel. Overall a good quick read.