Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance - Edited by Jonathan Strahan

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Editor: Jonathan Strahan

Genre: Anthology, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: 3.65 stars.

An interesting anthology of short stories having two themes in common – time travel and romance.

The collection features sixteen stories, fourteen original to this book and two that are long-standing favourites of the editor. The stories are of various lengths and moods. While all the stories stay true to the spirit of time travel, only a few are more oriented towards the romance factor. This affected my enjoyment of some of the stories because they worked wonderfully as Sci-fi but not as Sci-fi romance. I relished the ones that did justice to both the themes fairly, even if not in equal amounts.

Most of the stories have quality content and quite imaginative writing. A few of the authors left me awed at their creative faculty. A couple of the stories were written in the modern style of not using quotation marks for spoken dialogues. I don't enjoy reading this kind of writing, so these stories weren’t among my favourites. Plus points for having stories that were diverse and had LGBTQ representation.

The introduction by editor Jonathan Strahan elaborates wonderfully on the use of time travel as a narrative device in stories. Make sure you begin with this intro before diving into the stories.

Of the sixteen tales in the book, these seven were my utmost favourites and they reached or crossed the four star mark. Most of the rest of the stories were clustered around the 3 star mark, and mainly because I wasn’t satisfied with the treatment of the ‘romance’ theme in them.


Roadside Attraction - Alix E. Harrow - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
What becomes of the broken-hearted when they find a time-travel stone? Do they go back to rectify matters with their ex or do they search for a new direction in life? Enjoyed this sweet tale.

First Aid - Seanan McGuire - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is the story that made me look at time travel in a very realistic and practical manner. I didn’t like the romance element in this tale, otherwise it would have been a straight 5 star.

I Remember Satellites - Sarah Gailey - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
What happens when you are the chosen one for an assignment that forces you to bid adieu to all you know and love in order to do your duty? Loved the feelings in this one.

The Golden Hour – Jeffrey Ford - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
A very unusual tale of love across time. Had a few loopholes in logic, but I still liked it for balancing both the main themes of the anthology well.

Unbashed - Sam Miller - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Such a poignant tale! The writing style made it a bit tricky to read but I loved the overall story.

Romance: Historical - Rowan Coleman - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Think of the best romances and the best time travel tales. Bring the best features of these in a story. This is the result. Loved every single bit about it. (Would have gladly give it ten stars if I could.)

Time Gypsy - Ellen Klages - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This was written in 1999 but feels as fresh as the rest of the collection. An innovative and intriguing plotline that will keep you hooked from start to end.


3.65 stars based on the average of my ratings for all the stories. I feel that if you read this book as a collection of time travel stories, you will enjoy it a lot better than if you pick it up wanting a combination of time travel and romance. Recommended to time-travel lovers.

My thanks to Rebellion and NetGalley for the DRC of “Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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