A review by kielma
In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan

3.0

I first looked at this book because I had read in some forums that people think it could win this year's Hugo Award. The description on Amazon was intriguing and I was excited to read the book. But it was definitely a let down. This is a story about a machine that modifies human DNA to affect how we perceive and move through time and to make us more empathetic and less likely to fight. Unfortunately, in the first half of this book the machine does nothing. The first half of the book is set in WWII and there is barely the faintest hint of any science fiction to it. In addition, the characters are shallow and one-dimensional. The idea the author has of comparing jazz music to the flow of time is an interesting one, but it was very poorly developed. She talked about it a lot, but never really expanded on it, and frankly I was bored of hearing about it after a while. In the second half of the book the plot got much more interesting, although the depth of the characters didn't improve. Unfortunately, we zipped through historical events so quickly in the second half, moving from WWII to the 1980's in no time flat, that the whole thing felt superficial. The climax was over before it started. All in all, there are tantalizing ideas here, but the potential is never actualized. If this book wins the Hugo I'll be sorely disappointed.