The Future of Another Timeline

By: Annalee Newitz

Narrated by: Laura Nichol

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Locus Award Finalist!

"A revolution is happening in speculative fiction, and Annalee Newitz is leading the vanguard." (Wil Wheaton)

From Annalee Newitz, founding editor of io9, comes a story of time travel, murder, and the lengths we'll go to protect the ones we love.

This program includes a bonus interview with the author, as well as an author's note and historical material read by the author.

1992: After a confrontation at a riot grrl concert, 17-year-old Beth finds herself in a car with her friend's abusive boyfriend dead in the backseat, agreeing to help her friends hide the body. This murder sets Beth and her friends on a path of escalating violence and vengeance as they realize many other young women in the world need protecting too.

2022: Determined to use time travel to create a safer future, Tess has dedicated her life to visiting key moments in history and fighting for change. But rewriting the timeline isn’t as simple as editing one person or event. And just when Tess believes she's found a way to make an edit that actually sticks, she encounters a group of dangerous travelers bent on stopping her at any cost.

Tess and Beth’s lives intertwine as war breaks out across the timeline - a war that threatens to destroy time travel and leave only a small group of elites with the power to shape the past, present, and future. Against the vast and intricate forces of history and humanity, is it possible for a single person’s actions to echo throughout the timeline?

Praise for The Future of Another Timeline:

"An intelligent, gut-wrenching glimpse of how tiny actions, both courageous and venal, can have large consequences. Smart and profound on every level." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

"You close the book reeling with questions about your own life and your part in changing the future." (Amy Acker, actress, Angel and Person of Interest)

©2019 Annalee Newitz (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2019 The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year
2019 NYPL Book for Reading and Sharing
2019 Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year
2019 NPR Best Book of the Year

"Newitz's carefully built narrative of time travel and conflict is rooted in the drive and joys of intersectional feminism, sex positivity, and acceptance... This riot of a book will have readers delighting both in the thrilling battle over timelines in an intricate, alternative world and in the joys of inclusive feminist solidarity." (Booklist starred review)

"Where the book really shines is in its page-turning plot and thoughtfully drawn characters...the story charges along until Newitz suddenly ties it all together with breathtaking finesse. An ambitious adventure that keeps the surprises coming." (Kirkus starred review)

"[Newitz] highlights the truths of our past and possibilities of our future. The fantastical elements do not hide the all-too-real horrors women could face, but intelligence and hope are woven into every level." (Library Journal starred review)

may be in love with this narrator

Story was a little hard to get into but grew on me. if you're good with lots of names and can easily understand timeline stuff, (and love strong FMCs) you'll love this book. There was a lot of thought and energy put into this book which really made me like it.
This may be my favorite narrator of all time. her voice was perfect, especially for this book.

Annalee Newitz continues to astound

While this is just her second fiction novel, Annalee Newitz is one of my favorite authors today. Between this and Autonomous, I am guaranteed at this point to buy whatever she writes next with full confidence.

Her take on time travel was unique and fun, and I enjoy the thought of a fluid timeline where nothing has to be set in stone. The world she created was populated with interesting characters and rich details, and there was even a twist or two that made me really question the wisdom of choosing this book for a road trip, because I was liable to drive off the Astoria bridge, too engrossed in what was happening.

I just couldn't get into this book.

Yeah, it had time travel. Yes, it had an interesting premise. It involved a noble purpose. But, it didn't work for me. I couldn't find anything about the characters to make me care about them. It was long on banter, short on plot. Some literary devices used were so trite I found myself groaning at the predictability of what was coming. All in all, not my favorite listen.

The future, and the past, is female.

The narration wasn't bad but it left something to be desired. it got difficult to recognize different characters at times.

the mechanics of time travel are vibrantly fresh. especially the concept of the big four years.

it was a little more feminist punk than I expected but I really do feel like a part of that isn't because this book veers too deep into it, rather, I'm just that used not getting this perspective in nearly every other story.

while I still think the emphasis was more on the importance of intersectional feminism, I didn't mind it overall.

Cool! And awesome performance.

The concept of this is fantastic and I found that to be such a great framework to lean on. I think the narrator is FANTASTIC and actually sounds like a real person talking to me un-performatively. There’s an authenticity to the whole story and I ate it up.

Worst reader ever

Really, I can’t think of another book where I’ve heard so many words and names mispronounced or said so awkwardly that the reader clearly didn’t know them. Where were producers, sound technicians, or anyone else that could’ve corrected her?

Add to that that the reader has only one voice for characters, regardless of age, time period, nationality, or even sometimes for gender. Yes, there are a lot of reasons why the Valley Girl accent is unfairly maligned, and it fits for a few characters, but definitely not for all of them. I often struggled to figure out which character was speaking.

Though the writing itself explored a variety of interesting ideas, it sometimes also felt clunky. However, this awkwardness might’ve also been due to a reader who barely seemed to know what she was reading.

Interesting Story - Terrible Narration

The story was well written and intriguing. There was little variation of voices in dialogue, making character identification difficult, and multiple words and names were mispronounced throughout.

it's her voice....

I just could not get past the narrators voice . no inflection, all the characters sounded the same. just not for me, I can not comment on story ,it seemed convoluted at first and I just wandered off like a child at Walmart, and NO ONE came to get me..

Fantastic Feminist Sci-Fi

I enjoyed this book so much it combined my love of intersectional feminism and time travel. What’s not to love?

Complicated, yet simple

This hit on some big topics: abortion, reproductive rights, abuse, rape, mental illness and suicide; and included vigilantism that went all the way to murder. Blending together various timelines, where a small change trickles down to big changes decades or centuries later is a tough thing to write.

The main theme was women's reproductive rights. Whether it focused on a pregnant teen who didn't want a baby in a society where abortion is illegal or a far-future society where only certain women were allowed to reproduce, this complex storyline was alternately hard to follow and simplistic. I found myself wanting to shout at the teenage girls for going to unsafe places (my brain is shouting DATE RAPE at me and I can't make the characters hear it) and it made me wonder if all teenagers are this stupid, and if so, how did I live through those years?

The complicated parts were where they tried to make careful edits to change the timeline. I read a LOT of scifi and have for decades, so I'm well versed in this type of plotting, and I found it hard to follow. That may be attributed more to the fact that I listened to it on audio and there is never 100% brain-engagement when doing that. The narrator was good.

Overall a well-written novel and I would recommend it.