Here and Now and Then

Starred review from August 27, 2018
In this heartfelt and thrilling debut, Chen revitalizes the trope of the absent and unavailable father by placing Kin Stewart in an impossible situation: despite living on the same California coast as his daughter, he is separated from her by a century. Kin is a Temporal Corruption Bureau agent from 2142, tasked with preventing temporal anomalies. While visiting the mid-’90s, he was trapped in time by a bullet from one of his targets; 18 years later, Kin has broken protocol and settled down in the past. He has committed to his life; his wife, Heather; and his teenage daughter, Miranda. But Kin can’t hide forever, and eventually, the future catches up with him in the form of a best friend he barely remembers. Forced to return to 2142, Kin quickly finds himself at odds with his old friend, the TCB, and his life in the future. He misses his daughter, and when Miranda’s life is threatened, Kin will risk everything––including his own life, the future, and maybe even time itself––to save her. Chen’s concept is unique, and Kin’s agony is deeply moving. His choices are often selfish but entirely understandable; he is human, with good intentions and profound flaws. Quick pacing, complex characters, and a fascinating premise make this an unforgettable debut. Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary.

October 15, 2018
A time-traveling father must save his teenage daughter from secret agents who want to eliminate her to protect the historical timeline in this debut novel.It's 1996 in suburban San Francisco. Kin Stewart, an agent for the Temporal Corruption Bureau, is on a mission to stop a time-traveling merc who's been hired to disrupt important legislation. There's a problem: Kin's been shot, and the implanted beacon that's supposed to help him return to 2142 has been damaged. Stranded in the past, Kin gradually forgets his previous life. He gets married, and he and his wife, Heather, have a daughter, Miranda. When Kin's spent 18 years in the past, Heather accidentally triggers the indestructible "metal thingy" he's kept hidden in their garage, inadvertently summoning Markus, a fellow TCB agent and the brother of Penny, Kin's fiancee in 2142. Markus gives Kin 24 hours to "close out" his life in the 20th century. When Kin realizes the TCB intends to eliminate 14-year-old Miranda as a timeline error, he's forced to risk everything to try to save her life. Plot holes are neatly sidestepped as Kin explains who can time travel, when and how often, what the grandfather paradox is, and why he can't bring his daughter with him to 2142. Naturally, it takes time to set out the rules, and the explanations don't all make sense, but Kin's story isn't primarily about time machines or the Museum of the Modern Era that serves fast food as a curiosity in 2142. It's about a father who learns the value of being honest and authentic with the daughter he loves because in the end, there is never enough time.A subtly woven meditation about the fragility of time raises the bar in this smart, fun, and affectionate story.

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December 1, 2018
Chen's debut is a stirring novel that dedicates detail and precision to the vagaries and paradoxes of time travel, without sacrificing its vital emotional core. Kin is a secret agent from 2147, but once stranded in the 1990s, he eventually settles down with a wife and daughter, learns to cook, and tries to ignore his increasing headaches and memory loss. When his old best friend arrives to rescue him 18 years later, he has to learn how to return to a different life and a fianc�e who thinks he has only been gone two weeks, all while trying to save his 1990s daughter, who the agency has decided is an unforgivable anomaly. This novel is primarily about what a father will do to protect his daughter?about the ways that Kin learns to physically recover while also using his coding skills and sheer will to rebel against the rules of time travel. Chen carefully balances heart, humor, and precise world building to bring alive an emotional and genre-bending story that will please fans of Doctor Who.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)