All Our Wrong Todays

Great time-travelling tale! Audio was great as narrated by the author.

I have to be upfront here - I don't read science fiction at all because I don't understand it much. All the scientific terms go way over my head and I don't feel the same emotional connect that I probably would with a dystopian fantasy or historical fiction. The only SF book that I remember reading before this is Dark Matter which was quite good because I let all the technical aspects go and treated it like a romantic thriller.

Coming to this book, the premise sounded interesting and I had a feeling it would not be too technical. It started off really well and I thought I would love it. Tom lives in a different 2016 which he calls a techno-utopian paradise. Everything that mankind dreamed would be technologically possible has happened - flying cars, teleportation, jet packs, space vacations, moon bases, hover cars and so much more. His father is a scientific genius in the field of time travel who is disappointed with his ordinary son. Tom falls for another genius perfect woman and when tragedy occurs, impulsively goes back in time to the moment when the world was set on its high technological advancement trajectory. And unexpectedly, lands up in our 2016; with a more loving father, a living mother, a sister he never knew he could have and the love of his life. He is also a sort of genius here but with a different name. And the remaining book deals with his struggles in this world, his guilt of destroying his old reality and his desire to stay here with this loving family.

Only when Tom/John decides to find the genius behind his world's technological advances that the book gets too much for me. It goes into various details about the technicalities of time travel which I did not understand. And everything that happens later is quite confusing and I am not sure how we arrived at the ending. On the whole, the book turned into something that I didn't expect. I did not enjoy it as much I wanted to but it has enough good plot and writing to impress anyone who is more interested or aware of the genre.

4.5 out of 5 stars – see this review and others here.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mashup: The Martian + Dark Matter + Back to the Future

It was truly a delight to read a novel with such a perfect blend of wit, adventure, and poignancy. Mastai writes with a smart, self-assured edge that makes his wonderfully absurd plot feel plausible and all the complexities of time travel seem straightforward. I fully expect (and hope) that All Our Wrong Todays will be a hit when it is released next year and I look forward to the movie adaptation that is already in the works.

3.5 stars. Slow start and a confusing ending, but a brilliant middle. It's always tricky writing about time travel, but for the most part, Mastai got it right.

3.5/5 stars

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—
Avery Brooks famously asked, “Where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars! I don't see any flying cars! Why? Why? Why?” Elan Mastai's book finally provides the answer. Simply put: we had it – flying cars, routine space flights, robots/other tech dressing us, feeding us, doing the everyday jobs that need to be done so that humans can focus on working in labs to make the world an even better place, to make the next technological leap forward. Essentially, everything that Science Fiction of the 1950's told us to expect, we lived in George Jetson's world.

Until July 11, 2016 when the first time machine was turned on and things went wrong, resulting in 40 years of history being rewritten and one man – Tom Barren – was the only one to know that we are now living in a dystopia. It's a dystopia for everyone on Earth, but Tom, that is – his life in the 2016 that we know is much better than it was in the “original” 2016. So now Tom has to decide, does he try to restore the timeline (if he can even figure out how to do so), or does he keep things the way they are?

That's less than you can see on Goodreads/Mastai's site/Web retailers – and yet I think I gave away too much. But really, that's barely scratching the surface.

There's a great mix of detail to the science (at least the ideas and theories behind it), yet keeping it at the level where we don't get bogged down in technicalities (and kept Mastai from having to work them out) – he gets away with it by comparing it to the way that we don't really understand how hydroelectric dams or incandescent light bulbs work.

There's the literary equivalent to that scene from The Wire's 4th episode – it's a mixture of genius and profanity and poetry. Mostly profanity.

We're going to be talking about Elan Mastai the way we recently talked about Ernest Cline or Andy Weir next year (assuming I can predict anything) – and he deserves it. The voice grabs you right away from the humor, the honesty – the trouble with time travel grammar. I really wish that Jonathan Tropper's endorsement of the book wasn't right there on the front cover, because it feels like a cheat to compare Mastai to him now, but I want to. He's got the same mix of humor, heart, drama, inspiration as Tropper, he just blends science fiction themes in with those. 

Tom Barren's a great character (a questionable person, but a great character) that you'll love spending time with. There are really a lot of great characters here, but he's the only one I feel safe discussing. There are characters with warts, strengths, weaknesses, courage, bravery, humanity in all shapes and sizes – some noble, some despicable, some pathetic. As is frequently the case, seeing multiple versions of the same characters in the various timelines tells you a lot about the people and/or worlds they live in.

Tom's father, the one who developed the time machine – has some fantastic theories about time travel – it's not just about time, it's about space (between the earth's rotation, movement through space, etc.), and for time travel to be really possible, both have to be addressed. Not only does it clear the TARDIS from every critique of time travelers/machines mentioned in the book, but it's a really, really good point.

It's one of those magic books that you don't want to end, because you'll have to leave the characters and world – but that you can't get through fast enough because you just have to know how it turns out.
Is it flawless? No, I'm sure it's not, but unlike ever other book I've read this year (including the ones I've loved), I can't think of a single problem. That says a lot to me.

I have not been able to stop talking about this book for a week now – I think my wife and kids have started ignoring me when I bring it up. All Our Wrong Todays is a book that practically demands over-hyping – it's only a huge amount of restraint that keeps me from spilling everything. I have a list of people I want to buy this for (started compiling it when I was about 10% finished), and the list is currently long enough now that I wouldn't be able to buy any books for myself until June 2017 – so, sorry everyone, buy your own.

I don't know if I'll be able to watch/read more time travel again – especially time travel involving love stories – but man, it's absolutely worth it if this was my last. Pre-order this one now so that you can dive into it as soon as possible.


Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Dutton via NetGalley in exchange for this post – thanks to both for this.

I finished this today but I don't want it to count for the 2018 challenge, so I'm changing the date.

It took me way too long to finish this book, so we can say I didn't really enjoy it. It's not bad per se, the idea is brilliant, I just got lost too many times in its execution, I think? Plus, I disliked the main character so I couldn't get invested in his story.

Not a bad book, just not for me.

Right off the bat I enjoyed the chapters being smaller because I feel a sense of accomplishment when reaching a new one. The beginning was kind of all over the place and talking about multiple people at once. When this book began to focus on the main story I started to get into it a bit more. The book started to become more grim in the first quarter and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Tom. My heart broke at the realization of what Penelope was doing but it didn't sink in, until it was pointed out a few pages later. There were times I found the author's repetitive writing annoying. I found the way Tom described his new life interesting and thought he would be happier things weren't like before. When Tom left and John took over I was in complete shock. It made me appreciate Tom a little more and had me realizing we miss things once they are gone, even if it is fictional characters. Then, just like that, I am confused as heck, torn between what is happening, and trying to figure out a solution to the Tom verses John situations. The more I kept reading the more I yearned for the chain of events to change and reward Tom with at least a sliver of hope that a situation would end up in his favor. After Tom met Lionel things began to unfold in a way I did not see coming. I figured they would meet, talk etcetera, but nothing like what was described. I felt silly for not realizing the relationship between John, Tom, and the time machine sooner, but how I loved how the book had me blissfully unaware. I didn't like how Victor's character was added in the end game. Sure, I get giving the reader a perspective of what could've been had Tom messed up, but that perspective didn't need to be continued afterward. The rest of the ending gave me mixed emotions. I was happy for Tom, but just felt like the ending was rushed. I also feel the ending had more potential than what was produced. Overall this book was a delightful read and I'm glad to have read a book from a new-to-me author.

This was a modern sci-fi ‘Catcher in the Rye' that I did not care for. Second star is because the idea of the story.

Well that was a little bit epic.

For a guy who claims to dislike time-travel books, I sure seem to be reading a lot of them. Wrong Todays was a fun airplane book. Short chapters and innovative SF.

All our Wrong Todays is an excellent start for Mastai's future; It has wonderful characters, an interesting plot, and some very unique time travel mechanics. He needs to work on his writing style, especially his chapter organization. Two or three page chapters lead to a very choppy reading experience, like riding with someone who is learning how to drive, constantly slamming the gas or the breaks. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend Mastai's debut novel, and look forward to what he writes next.

Also, this review has been lowered one star because of the books intentionally frayed edges. Fuck those.