Scan barcode
A review by jonathanpalfrey
A Girl in Time by John Birmingham
3.0
This is one of those books in which the protagonists jump to escape from a bad situation, which lands them in another bad situation, and so on. A bit like [b:The Unicorn Girl|757054|The Unicorn Girl|Michael Kurland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348126935l/757054._SX50_.jpg|743167] or the film Time Bandits, to take two examples that spring to mind.
The situations they get into are well imagined and described, and the off-balance chaos of it all reminds me vaguely of [b:Take Back Plenty|1415743|Take Back Plenty (Tabitha Jute, #1)|Colin Greenland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1183420640l/1415743._SY75_.jpg|2662002].
However, the best feature of the book is the pair of main protagonists, Cady and Smith, who are original creations and complement each other nicely. They're both somewhat more capable than average, but in different ways, and their capabilities are sensibly limited: neither of them is Superperson. Both are fairly likeable though not flawless. In the course of the story, they cause trouble for each other but also help and rescue each other. They're an incongruous pair, which gives the opportunity for welcome touches of humour.
They have two problems in addition to the normal problems of time travel: first, they have little understanding of their time-travel device, so they don't know where or when they are after a jump; second, they're pursued through time with lethal intent by a mysterious group of people who call themselves Apprentices.
Although it's not important, I'm not keen on the title. "A girl in time"? It's not a very imaginative description of the story, and I wonder how Cady would react to it. She's not a little girl, she's an intelligent adult with professional programming skills.
The situations they get into are well imagined and described, and the off-balance chaos of it all reminds me vaguely of [b:Take Back Plenty|1415743|Take Back Plenty (Tabitha Jute, #1)|Colin Greenland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1183420640l/1415743._SY75_.jpg|2662002].
However, the best feature of the book is the pair of main protagonists, Cady and Smith, who are original creations and complement each other nicely. They're both somewhat more capable than average, but in different ways, and their capabilities are sensibly limited: neither of them is Superperson. Both are fairly likeable though not flawless. In the course of the story, they cause trouble for each other but also help and rescue each other. They're an incongruous pair, which gives the opportunity for welcome touches of humour.
They have two problems in addition to the normal problems of time travel: first, they have little understanding of their time-travel device, so they don't know where or when they are after a jump; second, they're pursued through time with lethal intent by a mysterious group of people who call themselves Apprentices.
Although it's not important, I'm not keen on the title. "A girl in time"? It's not a very imaginative description of the story, and I wonder how Cady would react to it. She's not a little girl, she's an intelligent adult with professional programming skills.