Just in Time (Out of Time, #2) by Pauline Baird Jones – Review

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1950's, 5 stars, Book Review, flying, Pauline Baird Jones, romance, scifi, series, test pilot, time travel

About Just in Time by Pauline Baird Jones

He’s racing back to rescue the future. She’s trying to survive her present. Will the past doom their love?

Undisclosed location, present day. Fearless scientist and military pilot Ty Granger has dedicated his life to hunting down those who tamper with time. So when someone attempts to stop the development of a cutting-edge plane in 1954, he’s forced to make a risky jump back through a temporal vortex. But his mission takes a twist when he falls for the revolutionary device’s beautiful inventor…who only has days left to live.

Edwards Air Force Base, 1954. Alice Merriweather is desperate to prove her extraordinary creation can fly. So when a handsome stranger offers to be her test pilot, she overlooks his claim that he’s from the future. Fearing that a rival plans to sabotage her project, Alice risks trusting the mysterious man who treats her like an equal.

As history grows fragile, Ty fears the clock will expire on saving his love from her terrible fate. And though Alice has fallen hard for the futuristic man, she’s prepared to sacrifice her life if it means her radical work and the man she loves will survive.

With shadowy enemies threatening to erase Ty and Alice’s existence, will they find their happily ever after?

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Review of Just in Time

Time is complicated.  If you read time travel science fiction, you already understand this.  You know, go back in time and affect your own future for good or for bad.  Be very careful!

But what if someone else is messing with your timeline?  Wouldn’t you want to fix it?  Yeah – this is going to get complicated.

Sound interesting?  Just in Time is the edge-of-your seat, messing-with-time adventure that appeals to the “Time is Complicated” crowd.

I got to the end of the book and I realized I never really figured out who was messing with time to begin with.  But this story is not really about those people.  It is about Ty and Alice.  A man from the future meets his dream girl in 1954.  Alice and Ty appreciate the other-timeline-ness of each other’s personality, even if Alice does not know Ty’s origin.  Alice is amazed at Ty’s respect for her as an intelligent thinking woman, while Ty is heartened by Alice’s ability to excel in an environment where women were mostly encouraged to marry and have a family.  And from there, they only grow to love each other more.  This is a sweet romance with plenty of chemistry between two people that cannot possibly stay together across time.  I say the HEA seems impossible, but, it is a romance, so it has to happen… somehow.

John Phillips is the shadowy man in black whose motivation remains a mystery.  George Merriweather is the man who takes credit for the work of Alice and of Alice’s mother before her.  Because, you know, only a man could come up with such an amazing advanced plane.  These two men muddy the mystery of the time meddler and try to come between Ty and Alice.

The story of Ty, Alice, Phillips and Merriweather is wrapped in the ever-changing future that is being monitored by Mel and Jack (from Out of Time).  The secondary story of Mel and Jack is both a nod to the readers of Out of Time and a sort of marker in the present to remind us that time is complicated.

Time is more complicated than it I ever thought it could be.

Here are some interesting numbers: 585 is the number of times the word ‘time’ is used in the body of the book.  Surprisingly, the word ‘paradox’ is used only twice.

Just in Time, Pauline Baird Jones’ long awaited sequel to Out of Time contains the critical elements of a Jones book that I look for: an action-packed complex plot, engaging, smart characters and that signature sense of humor that I love.

Thanks to the author for providing a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal – Review

Tags

1950's, 5 stars, Book Review, calculator, extinction event, Hugo Award Winner, lady astronaut, Mars, Mary Robinette Kowal, Moon, Nebula Award Winner, sci fi, series, space program

About The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

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Review of The Calculating Stars

The Calculating Stars is Scifi that takes place in 1950’s America. A giant meteorite hitting the eastern coast of the United States is soon determine to be the precursor to extinction. In response, the United States, and eventually the world, ramp up the space program in order to find a place for humans on some other world.

Wow! Such a great story! A lot of research was done to make the story of an early aggressive space program seem real and vital. Told from the POV of the woman destined to be the first Lady Astronaut, the story reflects attitudes toward women and minorities in the 50s. So, our heroine and her friends have a lot to overcome.

Elma York’s background as a WASP and as a mathematician becomes critical to the space program and to getting women into the astronaut training. Luckily, she has a very supportive husband (chief International Aerospace Coalition engineer), since pretty much all of the other men are not at all understanding of Elma’s drive to go to space.

If you enjoyed Hidden Figures (book or movie), you will appreciate the how the author set up the space program, both the organizational standpoint and the sociological setting.

I wish I had read this book two years ago when it first came out. The story is beautifully told, illustrating Elma’s successes and failures along with the story of the space program and its development. I read this book and plan to read The Fated Sky (book 2) in anticipation of the upcoming 3rd book in the series. Read this book if you enjoy earth-based Scifi. Read it for the feminist insights. Read it if you like your Scifi to embrace hope. Read The Calculating Stars just want to enjoy a great story!

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