you-dont-belongBy Tim Major

Snowbooks, out now

Surely if you have a time machine, the last thing you should run out of… is time.

If you like the more unsettling aspects of time travel – such as those at the heart of 12 Monkeys and its ilk – then you’re likely to love Tim Major’s novel, which rewards concentration as you read it and invites you to jump to conclusions as you go along that are constantly upended.

Daniel Faint has stolen a time machine, but he’s not exactly sure how it works – and once he does start to get it going, he’s not at all sure that he has any real degree of control. Who exactly is watching him? Why are there large gaps in his memory?

There are elements in here of one of my favourite Roger Moore movies (no, not one of the 007 ones) although to say which would give away too much of the reveal. Major doesn’t cheat the reader but it’s definitely one of those books where a re-read will show the story in a very different light.

Major doesn’t try to make Daniel into a sympathetic character but he does succeed in making him an understandable one, reminding me at times of HG Wells’ Griffin in The Invisible Man – a weak man caught up in forces that he believes he can control, yet clearly can’t. You may well find yourself loathing Daniel at times, but persevere with the novel even when he’s at its heart – it’s worth it.

Verdict: An unsettling and disconcerting piece of SF. 8/10

Paul Simpson