Time on My Hands

This layered contemporary science fiction tale takes its time unfolding, but eventually reveals a moving emotional core. When reporter Max Miller goes to interview physics professor Wilford Price about his new invention, Miller expects disappointment, at best. What he gets as the day-long discussion progresses is a recounting of events—over lunch, dinner, and many glasses of whiskey—that begins with Price giving himself a device that allows him to travel through time and covers such disparate topics as the mechanics of time travel and love lost and found. The narrative switches between the interview in the present and the stories Price tells, a framing device that often feels distracting and impedes the story’s pace. Miller is also oddly incurious for a journalist, primarily hoping that “his disgust on having to waste his time on the story didn’t show.” Still, Price explores the technical, ethical, and emotional ramifications of his device and his travels in entertaining and thought-provoking ways, with satisfying results. Agent: Alison J. Picard, Alison J. Picard Agency. (Feb.)