Review: Someone in Time.

Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance by Jonathan Strahan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Someone in Time is a collection of time-travel romance short stories. As with any collection, I found my feelings were mixed. There were some I liked. Some that were okay. Some that did not work for me. If nothing else, it introduced me to new authors I will be looking to read more of.

Roadside Attraction by Alix E. Harrow was a three-star rating. I’ll be honest and say I rounded this one down, simply because I wanted a little more from it. As it was, this was a nice start to the collection, a story that pulled me in easily and had me powering through it in no time. It was a sweet story, and I adored the way it came together.

The Past Life Reconstruction Service by Zen Cho was a two-star rating. While I liked the concept of this one, I never quite fell for it in the way I had hoped. I think this is because the soul mate element of this one felt a bit brushed to the side. It was vital to the story, yet I would have liked to see more of the interactions between them instead of just being told how things were.

First Aid by Seanan McGuire was a three-star rating. This was another concept I liked but was again disappointed by the romance side of it. I felt the romance element of this one was an afterthought, as though it had been tacked on at the end when it was remembered that the collection was supposed to have a romantic element.

I Remember Satellites by Sarah Gailey was a four-star rating. I’ll be honest and say that I rounded this one up. Like the first story in the collection, this was a great mix of time-travel and romance, one that sucked me in with ease. The more I read, the more invested in the story I became, and I adored the way the pieces fell into place.

The Golden Hour by Jeffrey Ford was a three-star rating. My thoughts flickered on this one for a while, my views changing, but I cannot deny the fact that this one kept me gripped. It was a story that kept me turning the pages, one where it added subtle twists to transform what I worked out into something that was unique.

The Lichens by Nina Allan was a two-star rating. This was another one where I felt the romance element was an afterthought. It was another time-travel story that was interesting, albeit one where I didn’t quite connect with the writing style, but it would have been better had the romance not felt forced.

Kronia by Elizabeth Hand was a two-star rating. I think this was just one of those stories that I didn’t jive with. It was a little too out there for me. That is not a bad thing, it just means I quickly forgot about this one.

Bergamot and Vetiver by Lavanya Lakshminarayan was a two-star rating. I appreciated the historical elements of this one, the civilisation packed into this story, but it was another one where I found the romantic element felt forced. I was curious about the way things out play out, but the forced feel of the romance toward the end lessened my enjoyment.

The Difference Between Love and Time by Catherynne M. Valente was a four-star rating. I’ll be honest and say that this one was my favourite. It was a wild ride, and I could not get enough of. It was just on the right side of strange for me and it had me grinning throughout.

Unbashed, or: Jackson, Whose Cowardice Tore a Hole in the Chronoverse by Sam J. Miller was a two-star rating. While I really liked the emotional side of this one, it was a story that was easily forgotten. It was powerful in the moment, yet it was so quick it was lost in the other stories that left lingering lengthy effects.

Romance: Historical by Rowan Coleman was a three-star rating. This was a great combination of time-travel and romance, although I did find the story to be a little easy to predict. That was not enough to ruin my enjoyment, but it did mean it was not a favourite in the collection.

The Place of all the Souls by Margo Lanagan was a two-star rating. This was another where I was not impressed by the romance side of things. The time-travel elements were interesting, although I would have liked more, but I felt no investment in understanding the romance – which was disappointing, considering the romance was important in this one.

Time Obsolescence by Sameem Siddiqui was a two-star rating. I’ll be honest and say that I think I missed something with this one. It never really held my attention, and when things came together at the end I was left with questions that I felt I should have understood. Unfortunately, as I did not enjoy it in the way I had hoped, I had no desire to go back and find what I had missed.

A Letter to Merlin by Theodora Goss was a four-star rating. While we do not actively see the romance in this one, it was done much better than in some of the other stories. It mixed the story of Merlin (that I love) with time-travel, providing an approach that gave it a unique spin. In fact, I’d love to read this set as a full-length story.

Dead Poets by Carrie Vaughn was a two-star rating. Again, this was one where I never really felt the romantic elements. I know it looked at a different type of love, yet I felt it went against what the aim of the collection was. Thus, I was left wanting more. That said, it was an interesting approach to time-travel and something different.

Time Gypsy by Ellen Klages was a three-star rating. I’ll be honest and say that I rounded this one down. It was another interesting story, yet I found this one a little too easy to predict. The big detail at the end was a little too obvious, and it lessened the impact of the story. It was an enjoyable end to the book, though.

All in all, while there were some in this I did enjoy, I feel it wasn’t quite the right mix of time-travel and romance in most of the stories. Had I gone in expecting less romance, I probably would have enjoyed these more. As it was, I felt like I was promised something that I was not fully provided.

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