Time Hack

Time traveling brings to mind the images of flashing lights, a spinning tunnel, and a white-haired doctor piloting a huge clock. Well, those images are about to get their teeth kicked in, because Time Hack is not your father’s time-travel book. This book has a fresh outlook on what it means to visit the past. Written by Carel Mackenbach, the story follows a number of heroes and villains as it takes place in both the modern-day Vatican and far-off future Beijing. The book also closely examines how the mind works, over how the body travels in space. It is an eye-opening experience and causes the reader to rethink the possible of the human mind.

Mackenbach perfectly blends Cold War paranoia with new-age digital terrorism. For the most part, there is a lot of technological jargon and “time paradoxical” theories thrown around, but they never overwhelm the story. I personally enjoyed the concept that no one can travel past the point before the time machine was made. It’s the kind of paradox that most people don’t think about. It is enjoyable to read a smart book and not have the book talk down to the reader.

Time Hack has a solid plot. The book’s time frame skips around plenty, but it never loses the reader. In part one of the book, there are at least four or five different narratives that all seem disconnected. Mackenbach weaves these narratives masterfully into a well-balanced story. These characters are lively and unforgettable, and even the “future people” have human elements that make them appealing. Time Hack is a classic example of enthusiastic writing intermingled with an engrossing plot and characters.