He was an anachronism, a puzzle, a piss-take, a problem, but he was, above all things, a charming man. In every century, they make themselves at home.
The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley
Genre: Sci-Fi
About: A civil servant is desperate to move up the ranks of the ministry. Several rounds into a promotion interview, it doesn't occur to her to care what the promotion might require of her, what it might make her do. She takes the job and becomes the handler of... an nineteenth century ship commander. The ministry, it appears, has discovered time travel. Now it's her job to acclimatise the... expats? Foreigners? Free Travellers? She'll read the handbook on terminology later. First she must introduce him to showers.
Thoughts
It's hard to say my thoughts on this because I do get the buzz around this book. It is incredibly original both in terms of voice and how Bradley explores time travel. It's really well researched, I loved how all the 'expats' felt like they had genuinely stepped out from their different eras. The glimpse into the future was also very relevant in terms of the conversations on the climate crisis and how racism and xenophobia are inherent parts of empire or any power structure.
Commander Graham Gore was the most fascinating character: perhaps because you're encouraged to feel the main character's obsession over him as well. He is charming and adds to his own mystery by always appearing to agree but not exactly conform. The extracts you get from his life before give him a sense of being both here in the story and back there in his own story - the here and there aspects of displacement were shown really effectively.
But overall I just didn't click with this book. I think it was the writing style, or maybe the pace, there was something about it that didn't make me excited to read. If you do vibe with it then I can see it being many people's favourite because it definitely has a re-read appeal and memorable characters.
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