Time Travel Series

Sparks of Light:

Into the Dim #2

by Janet B. Taylor

Publication Date August 1, 2017

Summary from NetGalley:

For the first time in her life, Hope Walton has friends . . . and a (maybe) boyfriend. She’s a Viator, a member of a long line of time-traveling ancestors. When the Viators learn of a plan to steal a dangerous device from the inventor Nikola Tesla, only a race into the past can save the natural timeline from utter destruction. Navigating the glitterati of The Gilded Age in 1895 New York City, Hope and her crew will discover that high society can be as deadly as it is beautiful.
 
In this sequel to the dazzling time-travel romance Into the Dim, sacrifice takes on a whole new meaning as Hope and Bran struggle to determine where—or when–they truly belong.

Confession:

Arc Provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

There are basically two types of time travel, magical and science based.  The magical sort is usually accomplished with an object or place suddenly transporting the unsuspecting person to a different time period.  The science usually relies on some kind of machine that either transports the person or opens a portal to the time in history that they wish to go.  This series is a mixture of those two types. There is machinery and computers, some of which was supposedly invented by Tesla, as well as the use of the ley lines to help transport the characters back and forth through time. They call the actual transfer through time ‘The Dim’.  They also have the restriction of only being allowed to stay for 3 days and then they cannot ever return to that exact place and time.  Other than those two restrictions, the rest of the rules of time travel apply here.  Try not to change history basically. 

This is a well done sequel to the first book.  We pretty much pick up from where we left off in the first book.  There are two factions of time travelers, that are competing with each other.  One is somewhat more evil than the other, but as we don’t hear their side of the story, maybe they aren’t as bad as we are led to think, doubtful.  Both side are seeking a way to make the traveling easier and longer and they both have their reasons why this is a good thing.  Basically the Viators (the good group) finds out that the evil group is going to change something so they then try to stop them. 

I like Hope and her friends for the most part.  There are times that I was frustrated with her though.  The first tenet of time travel is not to interfere in any way that would alter the time line, but Hope and her friends constantly talk and act in ways that make it hard for me to believe that they truly believe this.  They go into their selected time periods with lots of research and knowledge of the events and of the society.  So why are they shocked when they come up against some of that time periods societal norms that go against what we believe today.  For example, Doug who is a young man of color, is told that he may not eat or sleep with the others when they arrive at the hotel they are to stay in New York in 1895.  Both Hope and her friend Phoebe express shock and dismay at this.  I guess it is one thing to read about it and another to see it in action.  Hope’s eidetic memory gets them out of scrapes time and again and it does prove very valuable when she comes up against another time traveler that is a threat to her group and to the time period itself.

The romance in the story is not as prevalent as in the first book. But this is mostly due to Bran not being around as much.  I really like Bran, even though I question his motives and loyalty at times.  He does appear to truly care for Hope and it shows through his actions more times than not.  

The depiction of 1895 New York City is well done.  The author does not gloss over the poverty or despair of most of the population. But she contrasts it nicely with the glitz and glamour of the upper crust society.  We get to see and meet the Vanderbilt family and their home and the surprisingly extravagant party they through. Also Nikola Tesla who is one of the most influential scientist/inventors of the time period. We also spend sometime seeing how people with mental health issues were treated during this time period, trust me it is not pretty.  I had to skip a small part that got a little too intense and out of my comfort zone. 

An engaging time travel series that is fast paced for the most part and hard to put down.  I am looking forward to the next book to see where it takes our travelers and if they are finally able to defeat their rival travelers.