Time travel stories always risk falling foul of paradox, but Riddle almost embraces it. What came first the chicken or the egg? This book seems to suggest that it was neither and both at the same time. Another strange thing is the complete paradoxical nature of the story. Why? It is just an alternative death penalty and that has not worked to stop all crime. One being that sending criminals to the past would stop crime. I did think there are a few naïve assumptions in the book. The science is covered, but at a level that will not confuse most readers. The style of writing is aimed at making it readable.

This juxtaposition felt a little silly but did make for a more pacy read. The characters are among some of the most talented scientists that the world has ever seen, but they are also as daft as a brush on occasion. Even as an experienced reader, I did not see many of the twists that the book had coming.Įven though the stakes are high, I found this a fun book. The book takes an exciting twist and begins to reveal more of its true nature as it progresses towards the conclusion.

But this is a time travel novel and things do not have to settle on only two timelines. Between the action set pieces we also get plenty of flashbacks to develop the characters further. This middle section of the book is part adventure story, part crime thriller. Chapters move from one between the fates of Sam and his daughter Adeline. The book opens as a crime story, but soon splits between the present and the past. Instead, enjoy this twisty thriller that has the added fun of time travel. Sending criminals to the past for punishment makes little sense, but you are not meant to think too deeply about it. Lost is in the Michael Crichton school of grandiose ideas. High concept science fiction can be so much fun. Can his colleagues and family save him? If they cannot do it in the present, can they find a solution in the past? If found guilty the sentence is to be placed in his own machine and sent back in time. With billions in the bank and a new love in his live, Sam’s life is blessed, but when a murder happens, he is the main suspect. I do not think that will happen in this book, but you will have to read it to find out.ĭr Sam Anderson is one of the founders of Absolom, a company that invented a machine that can send people to the past. That is all well and good until the day we all wake up with heads like a fly because someone pressed the wrong button. Riddle’s Lost in Time seem to have found a workaround as they send the worst criminals into the past of another timeline.

What has happened must have happened, lest you rip apart your universe in a paradox. Time travel is fascinating, it is also some of the most fictional science fiction you will ever get.

Lost in Time by A.G. Riddle