Synopsis:

An intense and thoughtful time-travelling dystopian fantasy where three individuals, psychically linked through time, fight enslavement, exploitation, and environmental collapse. A great read for fans of Emily St. John Mandel.

In 2106, Maida Sun possesses the ability to see the entire history of any object she touches. When she starts a job with a cultural recovery project in San Francisco with other psions like her, she discovers a teacup that connects her with Li Nuan, a sex-traffificked girl in a 1906 Chinatown brothel, and with Nathan, a tech-designer and hedonist of 2006.

A chance encounter with a prominent political leader reveals to Maida his plan to contain everyone with psionic abilities, eliminate their personal autonomy, and use their skills for his own gain. Maida is left with no choice but to join a fight she doesn’t feel prepared for, with flashes of the past, glimpses of the future and a band of fellow psions as her only tools. She must find a way to stop this agenda before it takes hold and destroys life as she knows it. Can the past give Maida the key to saving her future?

Review:

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the book by the publisher for a review as I am part of the Instagram Tour.

Set way in the future in 2106, we follow Maida Sun, who has the psionic ability to see the history of any object she can touch. At her new job she learns the history of a jade teacup and sees flashes of the lives of two people from the past. Li Nuan in 1906, who was sex trafficked to a Chinatown brothel, and Nathan in 2006, who worked for a large company designing technology. Beyond these flashes, Maida also learns about a political plan to control those with psionic abilities and is thrown into a fight to save her autonomy.

Each character mentioned above has a POV in this book, and I enjoyed each of them equally. They all had such unique voices and they each had a fully realised character arc. I especially liked how they are linked together with overarching themes of societal change and one individual’s actions within that society.

Through Li Nuan we experience racism and slavery, and the desperate need to fight for the rights of yourself and others. Through Nathan we learn that our lifestyles are not sustainable, that the things we do can have devastating effects on the planet and the lives of others, but also raises the questions of how, under a capitalist society, do we make better choices? Through Maida we see that while the world can learn from past mistakes, there will always be those who seek power for themselves, and that by working together, we can stand against hate.

Having the book split across the three POV’s ensured the pace kept ticking along, with plenty of action interspersed with quieter moments. The writing was excellent too, in my personal sweet spot of snappy and descriptive, while still laying out the scene well. My biggest gripe is that I would have loved to learn more about Maida and the future world, but that was only because I found it so interesting!

Overall, this was a fantastic read. The book covers so much – climate change, racism, social justice, connection, and yet it didn’t feel complicated or ‘too much’. It was sometimes sad, sometimes empowering, and ultimately hopeful, and I enjoyed it a lot.