Book Reviews

Book Blurb

What if you wanted to go back into the closet? What if you could?

Need a little something tweaked in your past? Davis is your guy, as long as it won't screw with his own t-line. He's your typical everyday past-pathing time nerd, and he's seen it all.

Then one day he gets an unorthodox proposal, even by his standards. And when he finds out who his new client is, things quickly go from complicated to crazy-dangerous, challenging his mantra:

You're not God.
Never mess with your own past.
Remember, you're not God.

Book Review

A lot of stories I have read examine the effect of changing the past, usually to avoid some catastrophe or to create a better version of the future. “Repetition” looks at a single question: is it possible to go back into the closet? The character who asks to have his past changed has a very selfish reason to do so, and Davis, the main character who developed a way to change the past, faces a moral dilemma for more than one reason. This story looks at what Davis does, the discovery he makes, and the consequences of his actions.

While the technology of time travel Davis uses is sort of explained, at least enough to make it plausible if you don’t go too deep, it is not really the focus of this story. What I found fascinating is the human part of the equation: Davis’s conclusion about what he should do, his client’s reaction, and the consequences when they collide. It’s amazing what can happen in just over twenty pages of a short story, and the ending, while I had hoped it might be different, is perfect just the way the author wrote it.

If you like time travel and the headaches it can cause, if nerdy scientists meddling with the world’s (and their own) fate are your thing, and if you’re looking for a read that might just cause a headache when you try to figure out what happened, then you will probably like this short story as much as I do. I think it’s frustrating and intriguing at the same time – and a very imaginative answer to the question of what consequences messing with time might have!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Short Story, 27 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	09-January-2019
Price	$0.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Repetition-J-Scott-Coatsworth-ebook/dp/B07MBCH7S7