Version Control

This one was right up my alley in so many ways. Thoughtful, personal. Used sci-fi to explore philosophical ideas, but didn’t lose the human story in the midst of that.

I can see why not everyone would enjoy this. It’s quiet and slow a lot. There a lot of tangents with different ideas explored. If you are looking for more of an adventure with action, this is not it.

The overall message of the main story to me was a message of gratitude, wonder, straightening out priorities, being present. But it didn’t feel sentimental like many books with that kind of message feel.

So yeah, very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.

Favorite quotes:
To agree to a marriage is to consent to a mutual act of transformation, to promise to ensure that the versions of yourselves that you will become will remain in harmony, though you yourselves can never stay the same.

But the arrogance of old age can cloak itself in the authority of past accomplishments, which can serve to confirm the belief that one’s arrogance is justly held. It can shield a man from the realization that his beliefs have calcified, that he can no longer assess a situation accurately at first glance, that the world has changed around him and left him behind. Guarded from this knowledge, he remains content.

This is the last moment of contentment untainted by sorrow, when the brain hesitates before delivering the message to the heart that it knows it must.

It is always at this time, just before he slips into unconsciousness, when the voice comes to him: not as loud and snide and insistent as it once was, but still there, still hounding him from behind, still trying to drive him stumbling forward. Is this the best you can do? Tonight, for the first time in many, many years, Philip chooses not to ignore it: he answers. It is. It really is.

It's always a good sign when you finish a book and you just have to sit for a few days and really THINK about it. That was the case for this one. I guess the best way I could classify this book is science FICTION. That is, it's a book about relationships, dynamic characters, hard hitting themes, and social commentary, all wrapped up in a time travel story. If you're looking for a fast paced time travel adventure, this is not your book.

I have to say that I really love how this story handles time travel. It follows a different time travel theory than any other time travel media I have ever consumed, and I really loved it. The author did an excellent job delving into the real theoretical science behind some of the concepts, and did a good job at getting it across to the reader.

However, I think the author's skill really stood out in all of the characters. Each of the characters had so much depth and nuance to them. Even largely unlikable characters, like Alicia, were written in a way that you couldn't help but admire at times.

My only criticism is that there was so much commentary in this book that I didn't think the author had the time to flesh all of the themes out into a clear message. Between the dangers of big data, racial identity in a mixed race relationship, performative "wokeness" from the perspective of a black writer, media manipulation of reality, dangers of AI, alcoholism, secularism vs. philosophical theology, and technology escapism, SO much was crammed into this book, but nothing was fully developed. And that's saying a lot considering the book is so long.

If you'd enjoy a character driven sci-fi story like you've never read before, pick this one up.