Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield
Reviewed by: Sarah Baker, Circulation Assistant
Genre: Fantasy
Suggested Age: Adult
What is this Book About? Two women are trying to change their futures. One is Alice Payne, living in 1788; she moonlights as The Holy Ghost, a feared highwayman, to pay off her father’s debts. The other is Major Prudence Zuniga; originally from 2140, trying again and again to change history in 1889 and to avoid any assignment in 2016. Because 2016 is where so much goes wrong, but it’s bigger than one person. And it ultimately leads to war between two factions known as Farmers and Guides. But Prudence thinks she can end the war before it begins. She just needs to find a person willing to change that future and resolve the war before it happens. She aims at 1788, but grabs the wrong woman. Or so she thinks. It may just be that Alice Payne can save them all.
My Review: I feel like I need the next part of this series to give a comprehensive review. Book one ends on a cliffhanger, and a lot happens very quickly that doesn’t fully make sense because time travel is a sneaky thing. And because the reader is yo-yo’d through time, keeping cause and effect straight is harder than you’d believe. Thankfully, there is a timeline in the back of the book to help you keep it all straight.
I appreciated the fact that Alice wasn’t a “typical” protagonist – she’s 32 and of mixed race; her father claims her, which is unusual for 1788; and she’s bisexual. She’s strong willed and willing to do what it takes to keep her life however she can. I enjoyed how she tackled her problems head on and didn’t hesitate to get her hands dirty. Or to pull a gun on someone to get her point across. Prudence is of a similar nature – an immigrant in time and woman obsessed with finding an answer. Her tour with Alice through various points in time is fascinating. One action here watersheds into so many others; preventing this war leads to other wars or riots, some as bad and others worse. And it begs the question – can changing history ever be for the better?
Three Words That Describe This Book: Unusual, Intriguing, Unresolved
Give it a Try if You Like: Time-travel episodes of Star Trek, Alternate history like Harry Turtledove, The Edge of Tomorrow
Rating: 3/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
