In Times Like These

​In Times Like These
by Nathan Van Coops

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​​In Times Like These is a time travel adventure novel following a group of five friends who are inexplicably sent back in time to 1986 from the present day and must try to find a way to return home. Their search to find answers regarding why they traveled through time and how they can get home is interrupted when they realize they are not the only ones who traveled to the past. Now, not only do they have to find their way home, but they must also avoid an unpredictable serial killer on the loose.

The premise is fairly interesting, and I’m a sucker for good, well-thought-out time travel, so I was all on board. Unfortunately, the first half is quite honestly a drag. The characters are poorly defined and it took me far too long to even be able to distinguish them apart from their names. Blake’s defining characteristic is he has an engagement ring he wants to give to his girlfriend. Carson. . . well, I think he plays guitar. Yep, okay. He plays guitar. Robbie has a grandpa in 1986, so there’s that. Francesca is a spunky, sarcastic Hispanic girl. And the main character, who is narrating the story in first person, is named Benjamin. It took me over half the book to remember his name, let alone figure out why I should care about who is who. They eventually get slightly more defined, but the dialogue spoken by Carson is indistinguishable from Blake, or Benjamin, or Robbie, and it all just blended together for a while.

The worst characterization by far is seen in the antagonist. The villainous Stenger is a bad dude, because we’re told he’s a bad dude many times, so trust them, he’s a bad dude. He’s a serial killer, and unpredictable, so (*yawn*, sorry) watch out. When he does show up, you know you’re in for it. He’s not a very compelling character, just a device to add some tension.

It’s unfortunate to even have him in the novel, honestly, because the best parts of In Times Like These have nothing to do with the characters or their paper-thin motivations. The best part of In Times Like These is by far the mechanics, consequences, and limitations of the time travel itself. And boy, let me tell you, Van Coops has some great ideas when it comes to time travel.

The “time machines” they use are mostly personal watches the characters wear, allowing them to dial in how far forward or backward they wish to travel. This requires physical contact with an object that is stationary in time, transporting them in relation to said object. It could be a sign post, the roof of a house, or even the shell of a tortoise. If the object moves through space, so do they. For example, if they were to ground themselves on the roof of a car and travel one hour in the future, if the car has traveled during that time they will find themselves in a completely new location. Its honestly pretty cool.

Van Coops makes a point of describing the inherent dangers of time traveling in great detail. They have to worry about being fused with a solid object, hurtled through space, or just disappearing altogether. I found myself actually worrying about the characters as they traveled around time and space simply because the dangers involved have been built up to such a degree. It brings a feeling of weight to the act of time traveling and helps to make it seem like less of a deus ex machina device and more like a nuclear bomb that could go off at any second.

A lot of this doesn’t come into play until the second half, so again you’ll have to trudge through some weak characters and a lot of explaining and re-explaining of events. If something happens with only two characters present, but you spaced out, don’t worry. It’ll all be explained again when those two characters explain what happened to the other three. This happens over, and over, and over, and over. . . You’ll be constantly bombarded with exposition, including exposition that covers events you just read about a couple of pages ago. It can be a little rough, but once the time travel really gets going it becomes much more forgivable.

Your enjoyment will be determined mainly by your reading preferences. If you love great characters and an interesting plot, you might be best served by skipping this one. If, however, you’re more interested in the process and details of time travel and would like to read one of the most unique takes on time travel I’ve encountered, I recommend giving this a try. It is the first in a series of three, and to be honest, I’m more excited about what’s to come in the next book after hopefully coming up to speed with Van Coops’ great vision of how time travel could work.

- Nicholas Rawlins