Erasing Time
Author: C.J. Hill
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Published Date: August 2012
Hardcover; 368 pages
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian
ISBN# 978-0062123923
Reviewed by: Shanda
FTC FYI: received an uncorrected paperback ARC in exchange for an honest review
*** See giveaway details below! ***
Summary
When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.
The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The same government has implanted tracking devices in the citizens, limiting and examining everything they do. Taylor and Sheridan have to find a way out of the city before the government discovers their secrets. To complicate matters, the moblike Dakine has interest in getting hold of them too. The only way for the girls to elude their pursuers is to put their trust in Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.
Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in.
First Line
It was as good a day as any to plan treason.
Review
I’ve always had a thing for time-travel stories. Maybe it’s the science geek in me. I know there are laws of physics that have to be dealt with and that it’s generally accepted as a bad idea all around, but I love the idea of time-travel anyway.
Erasing Time is set in the year 2447, far enough in the future that the English language is almost unrecognizable to people from the “twenties,” and the country has fractured into self-regulating domed cities who war with each other from time to time.
The technology in Traventon interested me. For instance, the government tracks its citizens with crystals implanted in their wrists. When someone sits down at a table to eat, their health statistics are displayed on a monitor. Most people proudly wear badges that display their “rank” in the city, based on wealth, position, health, and family relations as well as ratings from friends.
Yet, with all of this technology, including the Time Strainer that pulled twins Sheridan and Taylor into the 25th century, language is still a barrier. Echo and his father, Jeth, are historians who understand and speak the 21st century version of English and serve as translators for the government and the twins.
Soon, Sheridan and Taylor discover that they can speak openly about escape in front of Echo and Jeth without them understanding by using idioms. For example, they can “chew the fat” about how hard it would be to “flew the coop,” etc. I found this particularly entertaining and it made me realize just how much we use idioms in every day speech.
There were other contrasting aspects that I found interesting. For example, appearances seem to be everything (numerous hair colors and styles, make up in varying degrees of intensity and design) and yet their laser guns are simple black boxes. They despise the flesh-eaters that hunted animals into extinction yet there are all types of meat substitutes on the menus attempting to recreate the flesh-eating experience.
I think a book club could have a lot of fun discussing all of these little idiosyncrasies of this new “modern” society, not to mention the “Dakine” and “Doctor Worshippers.” It’s these “Doctor Worshippers” that make me want to keep reading the series. I’m very curious to know more about them.
While I did figure out a few things ahead of time it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. I found Erasing Time to be a quick read, one that kept me turning pages and left me looking forward to more.
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