Salvation could be within reach.

Excitement mounts as Levi tracks down a time-faller from the first sink-hole. You remember that plane that was miraculously fixable? Well, Levi manages to track the source of a strange signal, which explains why he was attempting to use a radio that you’d think was rendered useless by virtue of it being around several millennia earlier than it was invented. The source is a person who can, of course, fix the plane, and they are close enough to reach but far enough away for the walk to take much longer than they have, with the crack in the sky closing. Oh but it’s OK, they finally managed to get one of the vehicles working. That was lucky.

The crack closing does build a little welcome tension back into the story, but those convenient narrative devices are still there, as the problems with Levi’s plane are easily and quickly diagnosed and fixed. The last survivor of the first sink-hole has a connection to one of the people in Gavin’s rescue gang, which is quite sweet, and it puts her instantly in the ‘like’ column of characters. She even (finally) gives an explanation for why the people who fell through the hole over Africa are in America, but it feels a little ‘skipped over’ for me, for such an important plot point.

One thing that is addressed more fully is the fact that the modern artifacts from the time-fallers are there in the modern day to be excavated, I was wondering about that. Keeping this spoiler-free, that leads to things getting interesting again as a new conflict arises and tough choices are made. It’s this interpersonal survival dynamic that holds interest for me, you can keep your indestructible crashed planes… or maybe not…

Verdict: The price of trying to act in everyone’s best interest is a heavy one to pay for Eve and Marybeth. 7/10

Claire Smith