A River Called Time

January 4, 2021
Set in a dystopian London separated into haves and have nots, this mystical coming-of-age tale from Newland (The Gospel According to Cane) offers its protagonist a view into myriad alternate worlds. Markriss Denny, a young resident of a poor district in the Outer City of Londinium with the unusual ability to astral project, aspires to earn his Excellence certification and gain entry to the monolithic Ark, home to the elite Inner City. But once he’s in, he learns that the working poor within the Ark suffer inhumane conditions, and, in his new job as a reporter, Markriss must choose whether to lie for the corporate rulers or to tell the truth of the disenfranchised. Fighting against the pods that give the Ark’s inhabitants artificial dreams, Markriss uses his power to embark on a dream quest that brings him into different versions of Londinium (one of which is present-day London), allowing him to meet the repentant inventor of the pods, to find (and lose) his soulmates, and to uncover the truth of his unusual power and stratified world. Newland smoothly incorporates elements of Egyptian mythology into his layered, multicultural world, and though the climax feels somewhat unearned, the fragmented timelines and multiple versions of Markriss are skillfully handled. This is sure to please fans of thought-provoking speculative fiction.