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The Children Who Time Lost by Marvin Amazon

The Children Who Time Lost

by Marvin Amazon

Pub Date: Oct. 23rd, 2013
ISBN: 978-0957624429
Publisher: Corinthians Publishing

A sci-fi novel about the pressures of motherhood that transforms into an action thriller about an alien invasion.

In 2043, Rachel Harris is one of the only women who’s been able to give birth naturally in nearly 40 years. Worldwide infertility has made other women unable to conceive children of their own. But when Rachel’s child dies in an accident, her friends patronize her, her husband neglects her, and the world can’t stop talking about her. However, most people don’t know that government doctors have performed countless medical experiments on her in the search for an infertility cure; it’s taken a tremendous toll on her body and made her addicted to special medication. Meanwhile, as Rachel struggles to make sense of her loss, desperate couples play the Worldwide Lotto in hopes of winning a child from the future through the use of time travel. Rachel’s husband enters both their names and gets lucky on the first try, but soon, Rachel starts to uncover a conspiracy regarding the infertility problem. During her investigation, when she breaks the law by watching a video message from the future, the government threatens to sentence her husband, friends and possibly her new adopted son, Dylan, to death. Soon, she must return to the year 2013 to expose an alien menace and grapple with whether her convictions are worth sacrificing a second chance at motherhood. Amazon (The Corin Chronicles: Volume 1: The Light and the Dark, 2012, etc.) creates a intriguing character in Rachel, whose many misfortunes and desires will likely elicit readers’ sympathy and interest. But the engaging sci-fi premise, told from a woman’s perspective, eventually turns into a clichéd thriller, comprised of multiple action sequences, bland dialogue and supporting characters that lack Rachel’s complexity. That said, the book does have a resonating beginning, and its final chapters will surprise readers with a perplexing ending that may make them re-examine their ideas of motherhood and identity.

An often involving but ultimately uneven sci-fi tale.