breadsips's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rachelb36's review against another edition
3.0
This one was just okay... I read this book because I thought it was a science fiction book about time travel! Turns out, it is only pseudo-science fiction. Actually, it is more like contemporary fiction about a failing marriage after the couple's child dies, but one of the main characters is a scientist working on a time machine.
The set-up took forever but I kept plugging away because I was promised an epic time travel twist. But... that never really came. The ending felt rushed and was quite dissatisfying.
Also, there is a lot of profanity, alcohol and drug abuse mentioned, some sexual content, evolutionary theories referenced as fact, and disdain for religion.
If this had been advertised for what it is - that is, not science fiction - I think I would have been less disappointed.
The set-up took forever but I kept plugging away because I was promised an epic time travel twist. But... that never really came. The ending felt rushed and was quite dissatisfying.
Also, there is a lot of profanity, alcohol and drug abuse mentioned, some sexual content, evolutionary theories referenced as fact, and disdain for religion.
If this had been advertised for what it is - that is, not science fiction - I think I would have been less disappointed.
antigonus's review against another edition
4.0
This is a brilliantly written story filled with philosophical rumination, near future possibilities, and the growing influence of technology on humans. But its essence somehow manages to be the tale of a marriage wrong gone, and the (intentional or unintentional) attempts to set it right.
While the Time Machine gimmick obviously looms large, it is quickly supplanted by expertly-placed essays on Big Data, science vs religion, growing into the role of adult and a parent, etc. Definitely worth multiple reads.
While the Time Machine gimmick obviously looms large, it is quickly supplanted by expertly-placed essays on Big Data, science vs religion, growing into the role of adult and a parent, etc. Definitely worth multiple reads.
mschlat's review against another edition
4.0
I've always liked time travel stories. I grew up watching Dr. Who, read and reread [a:James P. Hogan|22652|James P. Hogan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1340927576p2/22652.jpg]'s [b:Thrice Upon a Time|849488|Thrice Upon a Time|James P. Hogan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178892312s/849488.jpg|74625], and had a special fondness for the time travel romance sub-genre (especially [b:Time After Time|2857588|Time After Time|Karl Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309640655s/2857588.jpg|2883723] and [b:To Say Nothing of the Dog|77773|To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel, #2)|Connie Willis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469410460s/77773.jpg|696]). But this year has been a good one for time travel novels with a more literary bent. There's been the punk gonzo take of [a:Mo Daviau|14056216|Mo Daviau|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440658521p2/14056216.jpg]'s [b:Every Anxious Wave|26546573|Every Anxious Wave|Mo Daviau|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455217566s/26546573.jpg|45486770], the distressing morality and trippiness of [a:Daniel Clowes|5129|Daniel Clowes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206732618p2/5129.jpg]'s [b:Patience|25652706|Patience|Daniel Clowes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434480981s/25652706.jpg|45472855], and the weird mashup of YA sensibility, monster fighting, and time travel paradoxes explored in [a:Brian K. Vaughan|24514|Brian K. Vaughan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1204664235p2/24514.jpg]'s and [a:Cliff Chiang|674079|Cliff Chiang|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s ongoing series [b:Paper Girls|28204534|Paper Girls, Vol. 1|Brian K. Vaughan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458578587s/28204534.jpg|49449510]. All of them use the trappings of the time travel genre, but they examine the personal and not the historical.
None of them go so far as Version Control. In fact, at times, I wasn't sure I was reading a time travel novel as much as a piece of literary fiction with a slight sci-fi sheen. That's not the case, as Palmer does eventually deliver the time travel goods, but he does so slowly and only after building and building his two protagonists: Philip, the physicist spearheading the work on the "causality violation device", and his wife Rebecca, who thinks something is wrong with her life, but can't identify the cause. Even with the hints of an alternate world (Rebecca and Philip live in an United States where the President introduces every TV show and talks of doing empire "right"), at least half of the book is about the struggles of domestic life: the falling in and out of love, the battles of alcoholism, the blankness of life after college graduation, the pain and rituals of grief.
Version Control is very much a minimalist time travel story. It's about the ramifications of time travel more than the mechanics, and much more about the personal ramifications than the historical. It wants to explore how you might react to time travel, not as the heroic protagonist who travels in time, but as the bystander who might start to understand how their life has been altered. (It is to time travel what [a:Colson Whitehead|10029|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317975p2/10029.jpg]'s [b:Zone One|10365343|Zone One|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327888785s/10365343.jpg|15268500] is to zombies.)
Throughout the book, Rebecca talks about, uses, and works for an online dating service called Loveability (a fictional counterpoint of eHarmony), and the service's presence in the book is not a digression. The title Version Control refers not only to the software meaning, but the different versions that all the characters present to different audiences (both online and off). It's not surprising to find one of Rebecca's friends using three different profiles of herself on Loveability, and both Rebecca and Philip struggle with regular questions of identity and compromise.
It's an expansive book, and I haven't even covered the discussions of autonomous vehicles, the perils of academic research, the grappling with African American identity, and the emergence of the "silent world" (a term Rebecca uses to describe an outside environment where everyone is gathered inward on their devices). There's a lot to take in, and Palmer tends to write in monologues (both internal and external). That style can be a bit frustrating, but Palmer gets away with it often by having his socially awkward physicists monopolize the conversation. There's one gorgeous bit during Philip's and Rebecca's second date where Philip screens Blade Runner for her, stops the film, and starts discussing the five different cuts and where each one stands on the "Decker is a replicant" issue. (My inner geek cringed and jumped for joy at the same time.) Palmer never hits full info dump mode, but he gets close.
It's one of the more thought provoking books I've read this year and almost impossible to classify. I want to recommend it to both time travel fans and literary fiction readers (and especially anyone in the overlap), but with the understanding that an open mind and a sense of patience may be needed to get the rewards.
None of them go so far as Version Control. In fact, at times, I wasn't sure I was reading a time travel novel as much as a piece of literary fiction with a slight sci-fi sheen. That's not the case, as Palmer does eventually deliver the time travel goods, but he does so slowly and only after building and building his two protagonists: Philip, the physicist spearheading the work on the "causality violation device", and his wife Rebecca, who thinks something is wrong with her life, but can't identify the cause. Even with the hints of an alternate world (Rebecca and Philip live in an United States where the President introduces every TV show and talks of doing empire "right"), at least half of the book is about the struggles of domestic life: the falling in and out of love, the battles of alcoholism, the blankness of life after college graduation, the pain and rituals of grief.
Version Control is very much a minimalist time travel story. It's about the ramifications of time travel more than the mechanics, and much more about the personal ramifications than the historical. It wants to explore how you might react to time travel, not as the heroic protagonist who travels in time, but as the bystander who might start to understand how their life has been altered. (It is to time travel what [a:Colson Whitehead|10029|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317975p2/10029.jpg]'s [b:Zone One|10365343|Zone One|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327888785s/10365343.jpg|15268500] is to zombies.)
Throughout the book, Rebecca talks about, uses, and works for an online dating service called Loveability (a fictional counterpoint of eHarmony), and the service's presence in the book is not a digression. The title Version Control refers not only to the software meaning, but the different versions that all the characters present to different audiences (both online and off). It's not surprising to find one of Rebecca's friends using three different profiles of herself on Loveability, and both Rebecca and Philip struggle with regular questions of identity and compromise.
It's an expansive book, and I haven't even covered the discussions of autonomous vehicles, the perils of academic research, the grappling with African American identity, and the emergence of the "silent world" (a term Rebecca uses to describe an outside environment where everyone is gathered inward on their devices). There's a lot to take in, and Palmer tends to write in monologues (both internal and external). That style can be a bit frustrating, but Palmer gets away with it often by having his socially awkward physicists monopolize the conversation. There's one gorgeous bit during Philip's and Rebecca's second date where Philip screens Blade Runner for her, stops the film, and starts discussing the five different cuts and where each one stands on the "Decker is a replicant" issue. (My inner geek cringed and jumped for joy at the same time.) Palmer never hits full info dump mode, but he gets close.
It's one of the more thought provoking books I've read this year and almost impossible to classify. I want to recommend it to both time travel fans and literary fiction readers (and especially anyone in the overlap), but with the understanding that an open mind and a sense of patience may be needed to get the rewards.
tcoale's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic book. Time travel is examined in a unique and comprehensive way that is gripping, tragic, and intellectually satisfying. With a dystopian view of the future wherein our data is traded like a commodity, the author makes subtle suggestions that the book itself is a time machine that provides its readers with the opportunity to make changes that will redirect our course from such outcomes.
I try to save my "5 stars" for truly exceptional books, but I would probably put this at a 4.5. You should read it.
I try to save my "5 stars" for truly exceptional books, but I would probably put this at a 4.5. You should read it.
pbobrit's review against another edition
4.0
This is the kind of writing, specifically science fiction writing I love. Dexter Palmer writes in the vein of William Gibson, Ian Banks or Kurt Vonnegut. The story, set in a scarily near future, is on its surface a simple story of relationships; father-daughter, friends, lovers and spouses, parents and children, all revolving around the central character of Rebecca. But in telling this story Dexter Palmer delves into a host of ideas, from spacetime, the flaws in the scientific method and the current way academia works, identity, both gender and race but also our physical versus virtual identities and the ownership and use of those digital identities. It is a page turner of a read, but is constantly challenging you and making you think. I really enjoyed his first novel, and this one is an improvement both in the scope of its ambition, but also as writers skill. I really hope this makes into to some best of 2016 lists.
allboutdembooks's review against another edition
4.0
I'm really on the fence between 3 and 4 stars, so I'm doing 3.5 and rounding up to 4.
I saw this book mentioned on a blog where it was described as a time travel book without paradoxes, and it definitely held true to how it was described. The author did a great job of presenting a world where a time travel machine has been discovered, but paradoxes don't exist due to the universe having a built in mechanism of the titular version control. I don't know if the thrill I feel about a time travel book without paradoxes makes up for the lack of thrills in this book, though.
Pros: The author did a great job playing around with time travel tropes such as the death of a child and dystopian government. Science was presented in what I imagine to be a more realistic fashion than what you usually see in sci-fi. I really liked the dream segments. The discussions on race in the book were well done. The characters were well-developed and consistent.
Cons: While all the pieces were there to make this one of my favorite time travel books of all time, it just didn't put them together correctly for me. There was little action/adventure/excitement, and while I don't need every sci-fi book to be an adventure, this one definitely could've used a little bit more excitement. The conflict just felt like it was missing something. I'd almost rather there be paradoxes in a time travel book if it means it will be more exhilarating.
I'll recommend this book when time travel books come up, but with the caveat that it's a little dull.
I saw this book mentioned on a blog where it was described as a time travel book without paradoxes, and it definitely held true to how it was described. The author did a great job of presenting a world where a time travel machine has been discovered, but paradoxes don't exist due to the universe having a built in mechanism of the titular version control. I don't know if the thrill I feel about a time travel book without paradoxes makes up for the lack of thrills in this book, though.
Pros: The author did a great job playing around with time travel tropes such as the death of a child and dystopian government. Science was presented in what I imagine to be a more realistic fashion than what you usually see in sci-fi. I really liked the dream segments. The discussions on race in the book were well done. The characters were well-developed and consistent.
Cons: While all the pieces were there to make this one of my favorite time travel books of all time, it just didn't put them together correctly for me. There was little action/adventure/excitement, and while I don't need every sci-fi book to be an adventure, this one definitely could've used a little bit more excitement. The conflict just felt like it was missing something. I'd almost rather there be paradoxes in a time travel book if it means it will be more exhilarating.
I'll recommend this book when time travel books come up, but with the caveat that it's a little dull.
jimmypat's review against another edition
1.0
I can’t do it any more. Halfway through the book and nothing has happened. I hoped this would be an intriguing time travel story, but it seems to be a book without direction, introducing details that don’t have diddly with the core story. I also find the constant pop culture references completely annoying. This book will be out of print within ten years due to its hyper focus on today and its inability to be timeless. Bleh.
alyosha57's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jessiew's review against another edition
3.0
Great story. Enjoyed the sci fi aspect. However, I didn’t really have any connections to the characters. I found it dragged a bit.