The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

 

Title: The Ministry of Time

Author:  Kaliane Bradley

Narrated by:  George Weightman and Katie Leung

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 22 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

Do you like movies, books, or shows that feature time travel?  I love them!  The Ministry of Time is a brand-new time travel novel.

An unnamed civil servant works for the new Ministry of Time in London.  She is tasked with helping Graham Gore, an artic explorer from 1847, acclimate to modern times.  The ministry plucked five individuals that were going to die from different time periods and brought them back to London in modern times.  The time travelers form unlikely friendships with each other as well as their handlers.  As the shadowy “general” starts to stalk the time travelers, will they be able to survive in this new time?

My thoughts on the novel:

·       The Ministry of Time is a unique blend of sci-fi, historical fiction, mystery, and romance.

·       Graham Gore is an actual historic figure that was a part of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.  He has a parallel story in the novel narrated by him where he details what happened to him on the expedition.  This matches what is known about the real-life expedition.  A great note at the end discusses Gore.

·       I thought it was interesting that the main character was never named in the novel.  She has mixed heritage with an English father and Cambodian mother.  This brought some depth to her character.  I wanted to learn even more about her.

·       I enjoy that time travel makes one think through many moral and ethical quandaries.  What gives people the right to “save” people from the past from their certain deaths?  Is it really saving them?  What is the correct timeline if time travel keeps changing what happened?  Should you travel back into your own timeline?

·       It was also interesting that the narrator had basically fallen in love with a historical figure that she had researched in the past and then had the chance to meet him and get to know him.  Graham calls her out on it later in the book.

·       Graham and the narrator have a torrid romance towards the end of the novel.  It was slightly awkward to listen to it on audiobook, but luckily, I could skip ahead.

·        It was interesting that the future has different ways it could end.  It’s really a loop from the future to the past that those from the future are trying to alter.

·       I enjoyed the friendship between the time travelers.

Overall, I enjoyed The Ministry of Time.  It was a unique novel with a great story, characters, romance, and mystery.  I felt myself caring for both Graham and the narrator and wishing there was a book two.