Time Was

I don't know who wrote that blurb, but I don't think they read the same book. Wait, hear me out. It's still a book worth reading.Yes, there is a love story. Yes, there are two lads in WWII. Yes, there is some timey-wimey stuff. That's not the heart of the book, however. This is more a literary mystery with a sci-fi twist and a speculative fiction love affair. The majority of the book is from the point of view of a modern day used book hunter/seller who prefers his books to people . He stumbles across an odd book of poetry in a dumpster after yet another bookstore in the city closes. This book, and what he finds inside it, begins the mysterious journey down the rabbit hole in which he learns of Tom and Ben.There are flashbacks, alternating chapters told from Tom's viewpoint that work to intertwine the reader into both timelines and the mystery as it unfolds. These jumps can be a bit confusing, and there are some places where the author seems to change viewpoints without a proper understanding of who's chapter it is (mostly at the end) that I had to re-read to clarify. The true beauty of this book is in the writing, the prose and the way the mystery opens up to the reader, waiting until the very end to come full circle and all is revealed.If you are looking for strictly science fiction romance, this is not it. If you are expecting two boys fighting in WWII, with guns and bombs and daring time-travel adventure and- well, this is not it. There is a love story, though, and it's beautiful. This book is simply that, beautifully written, beginning to end.

I picked up this book because it’s short (I read it in a weekend) and it sold me a fascinating premise: Two British WWII soldiers are lovers who get separated each time they travel thru time, so they leave each other notes inside a book of poetry found in historic book stores.Unfortunately, the couple, Tom and Ben, are bit players in their own story. The book is really about Emmet, a present-day bibliophile who hunts and deals in rare war books, and the bulk of the story is about him unraveling the time travel mystery. When the story returns to Tom and Ben, they typically get just one scene. I really wanted to spend more time with them. We don’t get to know much about the lovers, and little distinguishes them other than their occupations... Tom is even nicknamed Tom the Rhymer (he’s a poet) to help you remember.Don’t read the book if you need a tidy ending. It ultimately gets around to explaining the time travel premise, but Tom and Ben’s fate makes zero sense and leaves you wanting more from the book.

I hadn't read anything by this author when I pre-ordered this book but I liked the preview: I read a lot of M/M stories. However, this is not your typical story within that genre. This is a love story across time ... yes, it is between two men but there is very limited reference to any liaisons; they are almost very close friends. I see why the author chose to have two men and not a man/woman as a woman showing up where the men did would have raised lots of questions. I was a bit lost at the start of the book: the language is off-putting with a lot of description but keep reading ... it gets much better and I realized the start reflected other chapters in the book. The view points are staggered: the majority being from a third party who relates the tale but at times, the view point switches to the men themselves. I would have liked to have read more from the men themselves, especially throughout time, but the book is short and compact: there isn't a way to insert it without derailing the story line. The story itself is an interesting concept. I have to say I wasn't overly thrilled with the ending: if the story is linear, I would have expected more from one man. However, if it's not ... if things 'fold' on themselves, so to speak (I'm trying not to spoil the story), then maybe there's an HE or maybe even a HFN ending. I did leave the book thinking I wished there were more but then again, I like long, romantic stories and this one wasn't meant to be that type of book. I still gave it five stars because the idea is terrific, the story was succinct and without extraneous characters/references, only discovered one or two typos (editing was great!), and I liked the cover. It was worth the wait and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of romance with their Sci-Fi. Yeah, didn't mention that but again, didn't want to spoil the story. I was very pleased and will read it again even though it left me a bit sad and forlorn. Maybe there will be a part two? It would be worth it ... but this story doesn't hinge on it or have a cliff hanger. Job well done.

I picked up *Time Was* because I'm a big fan of McDonald's "Luna" series, and I thought this might be a fun read while I'm waiting for the third book in that trilogy to come out (March 19, 2019!). Also, I was intrigued by the prospect of reading some sci-fi that centers on a gay couple.I wasn't wholly disappointed. McDonald's a great wordsmith, dreaming up one poetic phrase after another. And as a lifelong bibliophile, I loved the role that ancient, jumbled bookshops played in the story.However, I was a little sad that we didn't learn more about the two men who sit at the core of the plot. Also, for a science fiction-ish novella, the science wasn't terribly well explained. And perhaps the most frustrating part was the ending, which seemed a bit pat, a bit too easy.That being said, I still recommend the book. It's a short, intriguing read with a few great passages and some poignant moments. It's not as strong as I'd expect from McDonald, but maybe if he'd had more time/space to develop the narrative, it could've been a five-star work. Sadly, I get the impression that he's said all he needs to say about these characters.

This absorbing tale - part love story, part theoretical sci-fi, part historical and part social commentary - has a fantastic premise, in every sense. But while well written, with engaging characters and settings, as a novella it inevitably feels like it's squandering its potential. The beautiful ending, though fairly easy to see coming, is both the book's greatest triumph and its most frustrating aspect, since it's the point at which you feel more keenly than ever that the story and its protagonists deserve far more of a page count - and there's certainly enough scope for Time Was to have been a novel twice, three times, five times the length of the existing novella.Of course, leaving you wanting more is not in itself a bad thing, and in any event the book is well worth a few hours of your time.

An odd bookseller finds a book with a letter “hidden” inside. This sets him off on an investigation of the people mentioned in the letter whom he conjectures and the proves are time travellers. There is a twist in the tale at the end which will make you go “oh of course!” or make you think how illogical it all is. Enjoyable.

Brilliant. I had so much difficulty putting this down each night, I wanted to drink it all in. The desperate, forlorn loneliness of the narrator just wrapped me right into the story.

A science fiction novella with love, time travel, war but much, much more importantly physical paper books and the sad slow death of bookshops as a key plot point – what’s not to like.

A great twist on the time travel genre - an enjoyable and poignant read