Reviews

Tiempo que fue by Ian McDonald

oleksandr's review against another edition

3.0

This is a novella that was nominated for 2019 Philip K. Dick Award and can be short-listed for Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A London’s book-dealer, who specializes in WW2 history finds a rare poetry book, titled Time was. The book is nothing special but there is a love letter, written during the war, from Tom to Ben. The WW2 aficionado, our protagonist starts to dig deeper to find more about the pair and soon gets a photo. That would be the end, but another photo of presumable the same men of the same age is found, dated with the WW1. The book-dealer tries to find out what the matter.

The second story line is given from the POV of Tom in the 1940.

Good literary fiction, nothing ground-breaking but pleasant to read.

sapphicsolace's review against another edition

3.0

Review also on my blog • Twitter • Bookstagram

Rep: m/m romance

Content warnings: war

Arc sent to me by publisher in exchange for a free and honest review

This was is... complicated, that's one way to put it. 

Here's my main problem with the book, it somehow made this incredibly gay premise far less gay. If the premise is a perfect 10, then this was a 3 at best. If you've read The Great Gatsby you'd know one of the worst parts of it was that it was told from the pov of some random dude who didn't experience, he just observed. That was this book. And it was also really goddamn confusing. I can't say for sure if this was told in multiple perspectives because not even the book really makes that clear, because it's told in first person. I don't like the kind of books that makes perspectives so confusing it doesn't make sense until you're like half way through the book. 

And again, I can't even say for sure it was multiple perspectives, it not being that wouldn't make much sense though. So I was left in utter confusion for most of the book.

The writing I can say was strong. I did like it for the most part, and maybe I'll reread the book and it'll make more sense to me. The plot was just executed strangely, partially because of a misleading premise and partially because of how it's written. If you're a big fan of surrealism, I'd suggest picking it up if you're okay with outside perspective books.

crowyhead's review against another edition

5.0

This is just so lovely, such a wonderful novella about love and time travel. I usually am not a huge fan of time travel stories, which tend to spend excessive amounts of time on their own cleverness. This is a different beast, beautifully written and poignant.

cavernism's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is so beautifully written! Since it's a novella you don't get much in the way of character development, but the prose carried me through, as did the timelines- I love some time travel confusion and add some queer love in there and I'm sold. Wish there had been more of the latter, but I don't want to ask for too much within 140 pages! 

thepentheimk's review against another edition

2.0

2.5

rungemaille's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

verkisto's review against another edition

5.0

I've seen a lot of reviews that gripe about how the story of this novella doesn't match the blurb on the back of the book. I get that -- you want to read about what's on the box -- but I went into this without knowing what it was about, other than a good introduction to McDonald. What I found was a fantastic story about love, history, and time travel, told as a mystery in some of the most beautiful language I've read. I can't help but feel like those reviewers are missing the forest for the trees for not examining the story on its own terms, instead of how it was sold to them.

I'm very much a function over form reader, though I can appreciate good narrative when it doesn't overwhelm the story. McDonald is a poet, creating succulent sentences that force you to slow down to appreciate them. He's also a great storyteller who creates vivid characters to drive a compelling plot. In Time Was, he tells the story of a bookseller who stumbles across a letter in a book of poetry, which in turn leads him down a rabbit trail of history and science.

This is my first time reading Ian McDonald, but it won't be the last. I'm curious to see what he can do with a full-length novel.

bugzthecat's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

kascott1's review against another edition

3.0

So it got 3 stars, but it was 1.5 up to the last 20 pages. This book - it was like someone had a story idea and then decided to write a book that filled in the empty spaces of the story. The parts between the events. Also, that person had just been gifted a thesaurus and a word-a-day calendar. For being such a short book, it took me way too long to read it and the vast majority of the book was not compelling. Fortunately, the book became a story in the last 20 pages - just in time for me to put the book down for good. Overall, not a great read. I am still considering whether it even deserves the 3 stars I gave it.

winnifred's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0