A clever story of second chances and clock-stopping fun.
Astrophysicist Fred may be the smartest of the Robinson brothers, but his IQ tends to get in the way of his social aptitude. Nowhere is his disagreeable nature more evident than among family. After a funeral, Fred tries his hand at brotherly love by reuniting with his siblings and their wives and children. Unfortunately for this tenacious man, the consensus is that the death of the family matriarch is ultimately his fault. Grudges and resentments aside, Fred can’t keep his latest discovery and invention to himself. In the midst of relentless quarreling and blame-casting, Fred, by way of a minor demonstration, proves the existence of time travel. Rather than shock or excitement, the Robinson clan reacts in anger, triggering a chain of events that leave the family shipwrecked in another time. Unfortunately, getting back to 2028 isn’t the only obstacle the extended family has to contend with. The clandestine Observation Council is watching, and they aren’t pleased with Fred’s time-traveling escapades. The discovery of a single stainless-steel machine screw with a little bit of rust is the first clue that trouble is brewing, but unless these brothers can band together and keep the peace, the hands of time might stop at just the wrong moment.
Time travel gets a nostalgic reboot in Alan Priest’s fresh novel, The Lost Family Robinson. Borrowing some broader themes from The Swiss Family Robinson, this up-to-date tale casts a favorable light on faith and family unity, utilizing the Vatican as a pillar of support and source of intrigue. A welcome counterbalance to overused Catholic tropes, Priest creates scenes in the Vatican that are suspenseful, yet inviting. Temporal shifts introduce vibrant places in time, as well as a few significant historical figures. The science behind the time-travel device is given a good amount of space on the page but is revealed in manageable pieces, all while tackling the usual quandaries of time travel with plausible explanations and common sense. The cast is too large to form meaningful connections and their constant bickering gets repetitive, but the story has a sprightly pace and a lurking excitement that will keep the pages turning. A refreshing take in the science-fiction genre, The Lost Family Robinson is a clever story of second chances and clock-stopping fun that successfully factors spirituality into the quantum equation.
