I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Time's Agrent by Brenda Peynado Published by Tordotcom on August 13 2024
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 208
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A novella sized book packed with intriguing ideas and an emotional storyline, Time’s Agent gives readers plenty to think about.
Time’s Agent is such a unique story, and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it. Brenda Peynado imagines a future where pocket worlds—alternate worlds where time moves either faster or slower than standard Earth time—have been discovered, and she’s taken this concept and built a riveting story around it. It’s also an emotional story about relationships and losing everything you have, as well as a commentary on corporate greed and environmental issues. I wouldn’t say this is a happy story, but I was glad that it ended on an optimistic note.
Raquel Petra lives in the Dominican Republic and is an archeologist who studies pocket worlds, or PWs as they are called. Alongside her wife Marlena, she works for the institute, the corporation in charge of researching and monitoring PWs, and she loves her work. Raquel and Marlena have a six-year-old daughter named Atalanta, who they love dearly. Life is good, with so many possibilities ahead, as there seems to be an infinite variety of PWs to explore. But one day, Raquel makes a terrible mistake and winds up in a short time PW by accident, and when she returns to her own world after only a few minutes, she’s devastated to discover that forty years have passed on Earth. Marlena, who was in a different PW at the time (one that Raquel wears around her neck) is furious when she emerges and realizes what happened. Life as they knew it is over. Pocket worlds are now commonplace and have been monetized. The grand days of exploration and research no longer exist, and corporate greed has reared its ugly head.
As Raquel struggles to come to terms with her new life, her marriage begins to crumble. How can she find purpose and happiness in a world that won’t protect the new worlds its discovered?
First, let’s talk about the concept of pocket worlds, which I loved. Who wouldn’t want their own private world where you could disappear for a few hours to read your book (or fill in the blank with whatever you love to do!), and return to the real world at the exact same time you left? Sounds perfect, right? But PWs are tricky, because some of them work the other way, and it’s tough to know which is which. I will admit my head was spinning during some of the explanations about PWs, but it’s easy to just go with it and not analyze it too closely. I did love the idea that Raquel wears a pocket world around her neck, which is how Marlena got pulled into the short time world with her. It’s sort of mind boggling but cool, right?
The trouble with pocket worlds forty years later is that they are being used for some awful things. Some have become landfills, where people on Earth can stash all the trash that won’t fit in our world anymore. Some are being used for silly things like childcare (a convenient place to put your kid while you’re at work) or as a way to keep parts of your body looking young. Raquel, however, wants to find an Indigenous race of people called the Taino who may have disappeared into a PW, and more than anything she wants her work in researching PWs to mean something. Of course, she runs into a lot of opposition as she’s trying to find the Taino. Peynado shows how corporations have taken over everything that happens to PWs and how most people’s lives have become worse because of that. It’s a bleak future for sure, but I thought the author did a great job with the theme without beating the reader over the head.
We also get lots of emotional moments between Raquel and Marlena—and many of these scenes deal with Atalanta, which I won’t spoil for you here—and for the most part, their interactions with each other seemed authentic. I wasn’t sure how the author was going to wrap things up, and it was not what I was expecting. But I did like the hopeful ending, even though the events leading up to it were a little confusing.
Overall, I really enjoyed Time’s Agent. It gave me lots to think about, and I will definitely be picking up Brenda Peynado’s next book.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one, it certainly sounds like an unique but confusing premise. I appreciate that it’s managed to take such an unusual route by working corporate greed into the story too. It sounds packed for a novella.
She did a great job of weaving the themes into the plot:-)
Great review, Tammy! I love the concept of these pocket worlds and it sounds like the author made a great story about them with some great characters. I can only imagine how terrible it must be for Raquel to return and realize forty years have passed and so many things are different. I feel for her already!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience by Stephanie Burgis
There were some heartbreaking scenes!
Great review! Would you say the book is rather dark or not?
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Final Bout of Books: Day 2
It’s a little dark, and sort of depressing but for me I thought the ideas were fascinating and I don’t mind dark stories.
I’m with Tammy, but this was totally not a happy story.
Nope, not happy!
I was on the fence about requesting this one, because it sounded a bit more serious than I was in the mood for…with the corporations and whatnot. Now I’m regretting it…I think I’ll keep this one on my radar!
Roberta R. recently posted…Katrina Monroe: “Through the Midnight Door” (ARC Review)
It has some heavy themes so yes, definitely on the serious side!
This sounds fascinating! I always love creative use of time and alternate worlds, and since this is novella-length, it should be a good one to squeeze in between longer reads. Thanks for sharing!
The author did a great job of building a story around the pocket world idea:-)
Great review. I love the imaginative scenarios in scifi books.
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I was fascinated by the pocket worlds:-)
I’m intrigued. I like the concept of pocket worlds and how they’re used.
It’s a fun idea and there are so many possibilities:-)
Pocket worlds – sound so good, I love the idea of this.
Lynn 😀
I want one!
Okay the premise for this has me hooked, I want to know more about these PWs! I love that the novella will include themes of corporate greed and the environment because of course we can’t have cool things without them being abused to heck!
I added this to the tbr faster than you can say Pocket World!
Veros @ Dark Shelf of Wonders recently posted…Magical Readathon: My TBR For Autumn Equinox (Sept) 2024
I hope you get the chance to read it!
The book have a cool cover, too. Sounds like an entertaining read.
I love the cover (it’s the pocket world she wears around her neck) and if you look closely you can see the “meadow” from that world.
Totally agree, such a cool concept! I agree that the PW around her neck was a little hard for me to wrap my head around, but it was all so thought provoking and emotional! Glad you enjoyed it too!
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