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A review by aimeesbookishlife
The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig
4.0
This book picks up almost exactly where [b:The Girl from Everywhere|21979832|The Girl from Everywhere (The Girl from Everywhere, #1)|Heidi Heilig|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434729653s/21979832.jpg|41290415] left off, . I read them back to back but there is a helpful recap of the events of the first book (without too much info-dumping) so even if I had left a gap I think I would have been able to remember all the necessary information.
The first thing that struck me was the difference in pacing between this book and the first book. The Girl from Everywhere takes a little while to get going, although I actually loved the slow scene-setting, whereas this one jumps straight in with a gripping story that kept me turning pages way after bedtime. I think it's because the set-up was already done in the first book - there aren't any characters to get to know, and the reader already understands Navigation, at least a little bit.
Speaking of Navigation, the sci-fi nerds will be pleased that Heilig goes into much more detail in this book about the type of time-travel involved. It's actually a little bit 'timey wimey wibbly wobbly' but mostly because the characters themselves don't really understand whether or not they can change the past; in fact the whole story is about that. I loved the moral dilemmas and quandaries about changing the past - do you risk the lives of innocent strangers to save those you love? Can you undo your own existence? My only criticism would be that these subjects aren't given a lot of time in the book, they're usually raised by one character and dismissed by another with a 'we'll figure that out later' attitude, but I guess most readers would have been bored by pages and pages of characters philosophizing about the nature of time so maybe it's for the best.
I LOVED having POV chapters from Kashmir. He was in many ways the break-out star of the first book; a sarcastic, loveable rogue with impeccable dress sense. He goes through somewhat of an existential crisis in this book too (he is from a mythological city and starts to wonder if his whole life is just someone's invention) so it makes sense to be able to see it from his perspective.
It's a very worthy sequel to a great debut, and I'd recommend both books to all lovers of YA sci-fi/fantasy.
Spoiler
with Blake now aboard the Temptation and all the crew recovering from their ordeal in HawaiiThe first thing that struck me was the difference in pacing between this book and the first book. The Girl from Everywhere takes a little while to get going, although I actually loved the slow scene-setting, whereas this one jumps straight in with a gripping story that kept me turning pages way after bedtime. I think it's because the set-up was already done in the first book - there aren't any characters to get to know, and the reader already understands Navigation, at least a little bit.
Speaking of Navigation, the sci-fi nerds will be pleased that Heilig goes into much more detail in this book about the type of time-travel involved. It's actually a little bit 'timey wimey wibbly wobbly' but mostly because the characters themselves don't really understand whether or not they can change the past; in fact the whole story is about that. I loved the moral dilemmas and quandaries about changing the past - do you risk the lives of innocent strangers to save those you love? Can you undo your own existence? My only criticism would be that these subjects aren't given a lot of time in the book, they're usually raised by one character and dismissed by another with a 'we'll figure that out later' attitude, but I guess most readers would have been bored by pages and pages of characters philosophizing about the nature of time so maybe it's for the best.
I LOVED having POV chapters from Kashmir. He was in many ways the break-out star of the first book; a sarcastic, loveable rogue with impeccable dress sense. He goes through somewhat of an existential crisis in this book too (he is from a mythological city and starts to wonder if his whole life is just someone's invention) so it makes sense to be able to see it from his perspective.
It's a very worthy sequel to a great debut, and I'd recommend both books to all lovers of YA sci-fi/fantasy.