The Tesla Institute (named for its founder and … ahem … head Nicola Tesla) is an academy that trains young people to travel in time – these are the Rifters, a group of young people going on missions and protecting the time stream.

The group that runs the Hollows have a different point of view – this group believes that the Tesla agents are corrupt and have a deep desire to stop them.

One of the side effects of entering the time stream is that it erases your memories of your past.

The story is told from the points of view of Lex from the Hollow and Ember from the Tesla Institute. When Lex’s girlfriend dies during a mission he will do anything to bring her back.

Most of the time I try to review a book within 24 hours of having read it. It’s been a good two weeks since I finished this book, and here I am. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it – I really did. I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this review without giving away any spoilers.

I will say that I didn’t even twig that this was a Steampunk novel until I saw it classified as such on Goodreads. I mean of course it is –  a bulk of the action takes place in the 1800s, the costumes (I can picture this as a film) are totally fabulous and there are gadgets all over the place. But my inner Doctor Who nerd grabbed the time travel component of the book and labelled it sci-fi. If you are a Doctor Who fan, you will love the timey-wimey nature of this book. There are some great one liners, the plot is complicated enough to get you thinking.

I don’t know if all the characters were as fully formed as they could have been. I also question the language use of some of the main players given who they were prior to losing their memories. Surely if I lost my memory my speech patterns would still remain the same, or at least very similar…? There was an explanation given for this in the book but it seemed a little half hearted.

Over all this is a great romp through time with some really fun characters and plot devices.

4 out of 5  brains in a jar.

Yes, I went there. I’m not sorry. 🙂