The Revisionists

By: Thomas Mullen

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 16 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A fast-paced literary thriller that recalls dystopian classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, from the award-winning author of The Last Town on Earth.

Zed is an agent from the future. A time when the world's problems have been solved. No hunger. No war. No despair.

His mission is to keep it that way. Even if it means ensuring every cataclysm throughout history runs its course-especially The Great Conflagration, an imminent disaster in our own time that Zed has been ordered to protect at all costs.

Zed's mission will disrupt the lives of a disgraced former CIA agent; a young Washington lawyer grieving over the loss of her brother, a soldier in Iraq; the oppressed employee of a foreign diplomat; and countless others. But will he finish his final mission before the present takes precedence over a perfect future? One that may have more cracks than he realizes?

The Revisionists puts a fresh spin on today's global crises, playing with the nature of history and our own role in shaping it. It firmly establishes Mullen as one of the most exciting and imaginative writers of his generation.

©2011 Thomas Mullen (P)2011 Hachette

Good story, had some concerns with the narrator.

Enjoyed the story but felt disappointed with the narrator. At times when he was protraying Zed he sounded like a metronome. Maybe that was the style he was trying to give him a futuristic sound, but I found it a bit annoying and detracted from the story. I don't regret getting this book, but it was not as enjoyable as other selections in my library.

Meh

First, it’s not a time-travel book. Second, it’s not even a good spy book. Third, the second half of the book is such… nonsense.

This would have been a much better short story with less characters.

KPax Redux

It wasn't a bad idea and the story is not bad,it's just not really science fiction. This should be in the general fiction category.

Hummm

Very hard to follow...seemed like the author was trying to be too cute jumping around all the time. Would not recommend...

So Much Exposition and little action and progress

This book is less about time travel action and more about back stories and explaining so much about something you either knew or don't care about. If you love army and legal talk packaged as a terminator like exposition then by all means read. For me it was a struggle after 4 hours.

Not what it seems...

An interesting book, very well performed. But it is important to note that despite everything you will read about this book, it is NOT ultimately a science fiction, time travel novel. It is impossible to explain this in detail without spoiling the plot. Suffice that this is a well-written and well-constructed novel of romance, obsession, families and intrigue and is also a not-bad geopolitical thriller. It is NOT a time travel book.

wow

I didn't see that coming.

My only complaint - the narrator constantly said 'Zee' when I think he was supposed to be saying 'Zed'.

Lit-fic + time travel? Sure!

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book that I decided to listen to a whim. A mix of time travel and modern-day politics? Okay, let's see how the author handles it. To my surprise, he handled it very well indeed. Usually anyone who decides they're going to take on 9/11, gentrification, racial issues, and historical revisionism has an axe to grind, but Mullen's axe is hard to figure out. What politics there are in the novel are not overt, which means you can sit back and enjoy the story, and it's a very good story.

Basically, there is an agent "Z" from a future society whose job is to prevent a group of would-be revisionists from Z's time from changing the past and thus destroying the society of the future. Initially Z is presented to us as a good guy defending an advanced, peaceful society from possibly devastating historical changes. As the story goes on, however, we learn that Z's society isn't as wonderful as we've been led to believe -- indeed, as Z has been led to believe. Increasingly, he questions his mission and the truth behind it, and through flashbacks we learn just how dark the future really is.

Paralleling Z's story is that of a former CIA agent in our own time who, like Z, increasingly found the ideals he was supposedly working for in conflict with the work he was actually doing. There is also a young Washington, D.C. lawyer searching for the truth about her younger brother who died in Iraq, and a domestic worker trapped in Washington by her abusive employer who has diplomatic immunity.

Weaving all these different threads together would be complicated enough in a plain old thriller, but as it is a science fiction novel as well, I feared it would either be a mess or something resolved with some kind of deux ex machina. In fact, everything ties together quite well, and the overall tone of the novel does not even feel that much like a science fiction novel, more like a literary thriller. This would be a good book to hand someone who likes mysteries and thrillers but not science fiction particularly. The time travel elements are so unobtrusive you don't even find yourself worrying about the sorts of things you usually do in time travel stories like the Grandfather Paradox, etc.

There is some philosophizing by all the characters, each of whom is basically a good person who sometimes acts out of self-interest and has to weigh how much guilt and responsibility they can bear. Overall, a good and somewhat intellectual read with a fast-paced story. This one really surprised me. Recommended for a change of pace for anyone who likes science fiction, and worth trying even by those who don't.

Well Written Propaganda Piece

Warning: Slightly "political" opinion ahead.

The Revisionists is a well written and imaginative story. Thomas Mullen does a great job creating developed and relatable characters. However, I can't help but notice that the whole thing feels like a pro-intelligence and spying community propaganda piece. It does a good job of trying to show the vulnerabilities of the CIA, NSA, FBI branches but it seems to pretend that their worst mistakes are either caused by well-meant faults or the actions of a single bad person or two. And I think all the recent real world revelations of illegal spying and torture and more show that to be pretty blatantly false. They then go on to show how the world is full of evil men and countries and that the next big war to end the world is just around the corner if we don't allow these branches to operate the way they do. The propaganda is subtle and well written but its definitely there.

My advice is to skip it and read something else that isn't trying so hard to convince you that the carnivorous monsters in your closet really have the best intentions at heart.

Depressing

The story was depressing. The only reason I finished it was because I bought the book.