The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There have been a lot of time travel books. Like. A LOT. But few deal quite this directly with the secondary effects of a lot of movement through time. This one does.

The title is entirely accurate but it is NOT a DSM listing. Rather, it's part a worldbuilding exercise where madness, murder, and mayhem is realistically unfolded in the reality of knowing Time. This is not a universe where paradoxes happen. This is unmovable Time. The institute can set up trade agreements between time periods and a timeless economy can flourish, paying taxes during whatever time period is most favorable. :)

But better than that, everyone in the department knows when they die and prospective partners engrave their births and deaths on their rings. Isn't that messed up? Well, not really. People still do their willfully ignorant things, play around with time, get revenge for slights and wrongs, murder, investigate murders, and while there is no prevention, at least there is Understanding.

I like this best about the novel, but a good runner up aspect is the fact that most of the characters are women of all qualities. Sure, there's plenty of questionable mating practices among both sexes, using foreknowledge to mess with or cheat on or seduce when there might never have been any chance at seduction.

And yet, the question is something odd, since All Things Are Set In Stone.

What happens with people's minds when that point is driven home? It's almost theological. :) Or rather, future time travelers already go there. :)

Well worth the read. Complex, great characters, and even better forethought here. :)


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