The Outcasts of Time
Description:
December 1348. What if you had just six days to save your soul?
With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and suffer in the afterlife. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries – living each one of their remaining days ninety-nine years after the last.
John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, and 1645 challenges them in further unexpected ways. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived.
As they find themselves in stranger and stranger times, the reader travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment, and war. But their time is running out—can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up?
Hardcover, 383 pages
Published January 2nd 2018 by Pegasus Books
My review:
Two brothers end up being “The Outcasts of Time”. Why? Well, they were given a choice. Either stay in the year of 1348, the time of the terrible Black Death (plague) in Europe, or live 6 individual days in a consecutive 99 year interval into the future. So 1447, 1546, 1645…and so on.
With the plague around and the loss of all their family and friends, they have witnessed unbelievable wretches. As it was during those days, they believe they are destined for Hell until they hear this voice that offers them the choice.
The two brothers decide to go into the future. What else is there to lose? However, they don’t figure out until later, that they each were actually assigned a different destiny. As this novel moves through, the reader accompanies the two brothers along their different days in the future. I don’t think either of them realized, what changes all are taking place in the future! Unimaginable...
***
This book delivers a slow burn to appreciate the elemental historical moments of change. It is in parts comical, parts informative as the story unfolds its ever growing tapestry. With every new day, the advancements in all aspects of human lives are changing. From clothing, to the dialects, to behavior, to comforts, living improvements and ideals, as well as influences of literature, science and music. It is with savor to behold the details of change we so take for granted today. This book portraits a visual in your mind that leaves you more understanding of the past whilst contemplating the acceleration of change we experience today. Catapulted into the future at wits end, you can’t but feel for the characters.
Interestingly, this book leaves almost no stone unturned. Every aspect of change has been touched and the status of human thought in each of the years well explained and thought out. The brother’s belief system holds true the entirety of the novel. Their ultimate goal is to do “good”, to not go to Hell. However, they are witnessing the divergence and emergence of new branches of different believe systems, from Protestants to non-believers. It is a challenging trial from these men of a different time to hold true to their virtues and find comfort in strange places.
I really enjoyed this book. The pace is something to appreciate if you have the patience for slow reads. It simply is a measured, even paced travel though time.
It is novels like this btw, that inspire my blog name….Through Novel Time and Distance :)
