Robert Charles Wilson

Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant.It's the near future, and the technology exists to open doorways into the past - but not our past, not exactly. Each "past" is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given "past" can only be reached once. After a passageway is open, it's the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can't be reopened.A passageway has been opened to a version of late 19th-century Ohio. It's been in operation for most of a decade, but it's no secret, on either side of time. A small city has grown up around it to entertain visitors from our time, and many locals earn a good living catering to them. But like all such operations, it has a shelf life; as the "natives" become more sophisticated, their version of the "past" grows less attractive as a destination.Jesse Cullum is a native. And he knows the passageway will be closing soon. He's fallen in love with a woman from our time, and he means to follow her back - no matter whose secrets he has to expose in order to do it.

Last Year

Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant. In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's Last Year, the technology exists to open doorways into the past--but not our past, not exactly. Each "past" is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given "past" can only be reached once. After a passageway is open, it's the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can't be reopened. A passageway has been opened to a version of late 19th-century Ohio. It's been in operation for most of a decade, but it's no secret, on either side of time. A small city has grown up around it to entertain visitors from our time, and many locals earn a good living catering to them. But like all such operations, it has a shelf life; as the "natives" become more sophisticated, their version of the "past" grows less attractive as a destination. Jesse Cullum is a native. And he knows the passageway will be closing soon. He's fallen in love with a woman from our time, and he means to follow her back--no matter whose secrets he has to expose in order to do it. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Janice Hopper

Probably 3.5 stars, if I had the option of half-stars.

A different kind of time travel story. In this world, when you go back in time, the time you go BACK to immediately becomes a different page in the Great Book of the Multiverse. What that means is that anything that is done in that past timeline WILL NOT change YOUR present. But when you close the time-travel door to that past, you can never go back to that particular time. The next time you open that door, even if it's to the same year as before, you'll go to A DIFFERENT instance of, say 1876.

Whoa.

As a practical matter, what then happens is that an American billionaire decides to open a door to the past, build up a compound (in the past) that serves as sort of a resort/playground for the 1% of the future, as well as giving the folks of 1876 sort of a glimpse of the world of the future. And hey, since this kind of meddling doesn't mess up OUR timeline, why not??? O.o Capitalism is a helluva drug, I guess, though honestly I wonder how much money they could really make given the construction and infrastructure that the future people would have to put into the past. But in the book, it seems to be worth it. Especially since the corporate guy only plans to keep the resort open for 5 years. Get the $$ and get out is the game.

However, some folks seem to have issues with using real people and places as an amusement park, and there is dissension in some of the visitors. And some of the 1876 folks start to think maybe they're getting a raw deal out of this, especially after some agitator from the future starts writing letters to the papers telling them of some of the bad things to come (with blacks and indigenous people, e.g.) and sending out contraband Glock guns to ringleaders.

The story focuses on Jesse Cullum, a local (from 1876), who's worked at the resort almost since the beginning. He catches the eye of the bigwigs, and gets tasked with finding out where the illegal guns are coming from.

The story goes on from there. It includes Jesse's growing affection for his partner from the future, Elizabeth. It also includes Jesse's backstory of being the son of a bouncer in a whorehouse in San Francisco, and a little bit of his and his sister's life there.

It's a pretty good story with an interesting twist on how not to have to worry about paradoxes in time travel. Robert Charles Wilson writes good, solid books that are always interesting to read.

Last Year

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