I didn't read many galleys last year because I was reading four or five books a month for my reading challenges. This year, I only have one real reading challenge on, so I'm planning to read more galleys. Right off the bat, I found a time-travel sci-fi with a cool heroine.
The Paradox Hotel, Rob Hart
A fun sci-fi book about time travel and memory. It isn't a happy book, but it's so interesting, and the heroine is brave and sarcastic. If you like time travel, you'll probably like this. In this book, time travel is possible and rich people can travel around time for a hefty fee. The MC used to be an agent who worked to prevent them from doing things like smuggling antiquities. Unfortunately, the side-effect of time travel in this book is that the traveler can become unmoored in time. They'll be going about their business and suddenly they are reliving a memory. It would be safer for our MC, January, to leave the Paradox Hotel, where she's the head of security. She needs to be removed from time travel (ambient radiation or something like that) to prevent her condition worsening, but she has an emotional attachment to the place. (This is a big plot point so no details). At the same time that January is facing the deterioration of her health, the government is in the process of selling the hotel and the time travel station nearby, and some trillionaires have come to start bidding. It all hits the fan and January is sure that she's the only one who can figure out what's going on. It reminded me of The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas. It isn't similar in tone, but that book also imagines the effect that frequent time travel would have on a person, and it also has a mystery. I liked the mystery element as January tries to figure out if anyone is sabotaging the sale, and if so, who. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes time travel stories.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
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