Pleasures 2023
by Kristin King
Time Travel: Can You Change the Past?
Everything we are today, and all our joys and griefs, came out of the past. But we can’t ever visit it—physically, that is. I’ve spent a bit of time this year as a historical voyeur, specifically looking at primary sources about the events and people that precipitated the disastrous 1924 split of the Industrial Workers of the World. Two sides emerged, each blaming the other, but I have a secret superpower. I can consult the historical record to see what the various actors did with the rest of their lives. (As an aside to Bowerman, I’m coming for you.) I’d dearly love to travel back in time and fill in the gaps in my knowledge.
Without further ado, here are four works of time travel that I have enjoyed this year.
Speculations by Nisi Shawl
When I look at the cover of this book, I see wonder, wisdom, and intelligence. The protagonist, Winna Cole, seems to be looking straight at me with something very important to say. Pure magic. And yes, you can judge this book by its cover.
The past appears to be gone, yet it holds so much sway for us. We love it, we want it, and we can’t have it. It’s mysterious and unreachable. But what if. . .
That’s the magic of the book. What if? Wearing her great-aunt Estelle’s glasses, if Winna speculates twice, magic happens. It’s a simple rule, much like the rules of magic in Edward Eager’s books that I loved as a child. What if I could go back in time as a child and find this book in the library? A brand-new Edward Eager, only better. Winna uses her magic to see her family’s past and unlock a deeply hidden secret.
The time travel here is a “look, don’t touch” variety. Winna can see the past but not change it. What she can do is use her newfound understanding to make the present and future a better place.
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
This was an entertaining read about a military-funded time-travel project that depends on bringing witches forward in time from the past. What could go wrong? Well, from the title, we already know the project is doomed. The fun part is finding out how. The initial assignment for Melisande Stokes, linguist turned time traveler, is to steal a copy of a rare manuscript from Puritan America, with the catch being the she must arrive and depart naked. While she does procure a corset, it’s too loose, and hijinks ensue. Another favorite moment: when Vikings invade Wal-Mart to prepare for a search for El Dorado.
Can you change the past in this universe? Somewhat, but time fights back, the way jello does. It needs coaxing, bribes to witches, repeated efforts, and definitely not the military.
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
This was a fun adventure and an interesting treatment of colonialism. The premise here is that time travel cannot change the past--or at least that’s what the government says. Because if you could change the past, you could stop the environmental devastation that our protagonist, a river ecologist named Minh, has been trying to heal. But once time travel was invented, funds dried up for her restoration project, and she ends up joining an expedition to the past in the timeship Lucky Peach to study rivers of the past. She’s been assured that her tour guide has a zero fatality rate, though only the tour guide knows what that means. When the locals spot this monster, hostilities begin.
Doctor Who: “The Church on Ruby Road”
From now on, Doctor Who streams in the U.S. on Disney Plus now, and that worries me. To what extent does that give Disney editorial control over the show? We will see.
Ncuti Gatwa gave a dazzling performance, with an emotional range all the way from glee to tears of grief. I hope we get to see anger as well, because I feel we really missed out on anger when Jodie Whittaker was the Doctor, and anger has power. The showrunner and writers seemed to treat Jodie Whittaker differently than male Doctors, and I speculate they may treat Ncuti Gatwa differently than white Doctors. We will see.
This episode, and the specials that preceded it, seems to be exploring the chaotic nature of time travel. In older Doctor Who stories, a building would burn to the ground, but it’s OK, because it matches our (the viewers’) recorded history. The past is being put right. But with this episode, trips to the past bring changes that oppose our recorded history and yet still stick. I’m fascinated to see how it turns out.
Kristin King (http://kristinking.wordpress.com) is a writer, parent, and activist who lives in Seattle. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Calyx, The Pushcart Prize XXII (1998), and other places. Two of her stories appeared in an Aqueduct Press anthology, Missing Links and Secret Histories: A Selection of Wikipedia Entries Lost, Suppressed, or Misplaced in Time. A selection of her short fiction has been collected in Misfits from the Beehive State.
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