Version Control

A Novel

By: Dexter Palmer

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The acclaimed author of The Dream of Perpetual Motion returns with a compelling novel about the effects of science and technology on our friendships, our love lives, and our sense of self.

Rebecca Wright has reclaimed her life, finding her way out of her grief and depression following a personal tragedy years ago. She spends her days working in customer support for the Internet dating site where she first met her husband. But she has a strange, persistent sense that everything around her is somewhat off-kilter: She constantly feels as if she has walked into a room and forgotten what she intended to do there; on TV, the president seems to be the wrong person in the wrong place; her dreams are full of disquiet. Meanwhile, her husband's decade-long dedication to his invention, the causality violation device (which he would greatly prefer you not call a "time machine") has effectively stalled his career and made him a laughingstock in the physics community. But he may be closer to success than either of them knows or can possibly imagine.

Version Control is about a possible near future, but it's also about the way we live now. It's about smart phones and self-driving cars and what we believe about the people we meet on the Internet. It's about a couple, Rebecca and Philip, who have experienced a tragedy, and about how they help - and fail to help - each other through it. Emotionally powerful and stunningly visionary, Version Control will alter the way you see your future and your present.

©2016 Dexter Palmer (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Mind-bending.... A compelling, thought-provoking view of time and reality." (Booklist)

"Far more than a standard-model time travel saga.... Palmer's lengthy, complex, highly challenging second novel is more brilliant than his debut, The Dream of Perpetual Motion.... Palmer earned his doctorate from Princeton with a thesis on the works of James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, and William Gaddis. This book stands with the masterpieces of those authors." (Publishers Weekly)

"A Mobius strip of a novel in which time is more a loop than a path and various possibilities seem to exist simultaneously. Science fiction provides a literary launching pad for this audacious sophomore novel by Palmer. It offers some of the same pleasures as one of those state-of-the-union (domestic and national) epics by Jonathan Franzen, yet its speculative nature becomes increasingly apparent.... A novel brimming with ideas, ambition, imagination, and possibility yet one in which the characters remain richly engaging for the reader." (Kirkus Reviews)

masterpiece.

this book drove me to tears, repeatedly. it has great female characters, and a most romantic storyline, that pierced right thru my heart. I'm still in shock.

Personal

Compelling characters. About the creation of a time machine and the potential implications. Skims over philosophy (categorical imperative etc). Deus ex machina ending.

A Phildickian World and More

Any additional comments?

If Philip K. Dick hadn't spent so much of his energy chasing that dark haired girl, working feverishly under the effect of amphetamines to put out enough novels to pay alimony, and laboring under the weight of a culture defined by cynicism and ennui, perhaps he could have produced something as polished as this.
After all, the book has alternative timelines, a U.S. President who interrupts all citizens' phone calls and television shows (and as an apology pays for dessert), and simulacra that are created at a dating site. But it is also carefully crafted, well-paced, and polished. There was one plot diversion that was not well enough explained, but all in all, this was a very enjoyable, intelligent novel. (I do need to point out that I hadn't heard the word "desultory" used since Simon & Garfunkel's first album, and it was used three times in the book - but ok.)
The narrator did a great job of shifting through the characters and their accents and distinguishing features. And I will definitely be getting Palmer's other novel.

This is my kind of book

I love soft sci fi and this was right up my alley. AND January LaVoy does an amazing job narrating. I’ve already listened to it twice through.

This one is a keeper

Due to Audible's generous return policy, I quite often will return an audiobook for various reasons, especially if I feel as if the book is just not going to hold up to repeat listenings, and of course the narration has everything to do with that assessment.

January LeVoy's absolutely perfect reading of Version Control makes the repeat listenings requirement a non-issue since she is amazing: versatile and believable as either sex; gifted at fading into the background, allowing the story to take over; and just an all-around great reader. I love her voice!

With that being said, however, even the greatest narrator needs something to work with, and boy is she provided with it here. This new novel is jaw-dropping in its depth and vision. Reviewers have compared Palmer to Franzen in his treatment of adult relationships, and that is an astute observation: the man has the insight of Franzen and the mind-bending genius of Kubrick. I am a huge fan of time travel literature (and time loops, time freezing, anything to do with time, really), so believe me when I say that Dexter Palmer delivers an astoundingly fresh take on a genre that has been bent in every direction already.

Not only is the author's data-immersive vision of the future plausible, but it seems quite probable; frighteningly, it's not a world that beckons so much as it invites contemplation of the many ways it already has come to pass: indeed this novel is no sloppily thrown together tale of time travel and paradox, and the reader will observe the many fine details that have been added to flesh out both characters and settings. Similarly, Version Control does not lose its perspective on where it began as do many novels in this genre, starting as one sort of story and ending up as another novel completely; rather, the plot bends back on itself, subtly tweaking the reader's memory of prior scenes while expertly playing off of the story's central conceit.

Palmer could have written a much simpler story, but instead he has crafted a complex narrative, interwoven with futuristic concepts, relevant social commentary, and fully developed characters. He mentions Octavia Butler at one point in the novel, and with all due respect to Kindred, Butler's own time travel novel, Dr. Palmer has written, here, a far superior take on the genre than she. Yes, it's just that good: Version Control is a modern classic, vast and piercing in scope and horrific in its near-future dystopian vision.

Slow-burning, not sci-fi or fantasy

Version Control is a glacially slow character novel, despite what you might guess from the blurb or Audible description. There is a plot, but it unspools at an agonzing pace that might just lead you to put the book down before you get halfway through.

Worse, it is sometimes not a very good character novel. Woody (Rebecca's father) is a complete waste, an excrescence. Alicia is drawn in such broad strokes that she might as well be a caricature--even Palmer's attempt at giving her some quirks (like her taste in 1990s popular hip-hop) doesn't do much to humanize such a flat character.

Still, there's an interesting idea here somewhere. I only wish the book had been half its length.

A slow-burning sci fi drama

How do I even begin to describe this book....It took me awhile to get through and there were times where I found it slow and even boring, but it's one of those books that stays with you. I find myself thinking about it often, and it raises such interesting questions about family, technology, identity and sacrifice.

This is speculative fiction for grown ups.

There are no space ships or explosions, no aliens, rebellions or love triangles, but if you love stories like "Arrival" and "Never Let Me Go," this one is for you.

A very different kind of Time Travel story

As some have said, it is hard to talk about this novel without talking about the details. The story is slow burn and there is not much "sci-fi" in it. If you are looking for an in your face kind of time travel story this is not for you. If you like a subtler type of story that has rich and detailed characters, give it a try.I thought he nailed the end perfectly.
January LaVoy is fantastic. I will have search out other audio books by her.

It grabbed me more than I thought

Would you listen to Version Control again? Why?

I don't listen to audio books more than once, so no. I can see how/why someone would however.

What did you like best about this story?

Character driven story, with enough drama/action/ scientific reasoning to keep it interesting. There are great leaps of faith required to keep the story moving forward, but on balance it does a reasonably job of keeping on track.

Which character – as performed by January LaVoy – was your favorite?

Our hero Rebecca Wright is rich and interesting.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Current title works for me.

Any additional comments?

This offering really did grab me. It was rich, complex, thoughtful and in places moving. Clearly the author was using this a platform for their own POV on many aspects of life, which is sometimes irritating, but not in this instance.
The story did have some plot holes and issues however, so i did need to knock it down a notch.
Notwithstanding, it's worth the credit.

Great performance

I can't wait to go through the book again and again and discover new information and foreshadowing.