Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel, The Ministry of Time, is a fresh and funny take on time travel, blending history, romance, and social commentary. The story begins when a Whitehall civil servant casually learns that time travel exists. This discovery opens the door to a fascinating world where people from the past—pulled from wars, disasters, and tragedies—are brought to the present to adapt to modern life.
The novel cleverly explores how these displaced figures struggle to fit into the 21st century, facing both practical and cultural challenges. One character hilariously sums up her experience by saying, “I have engaged ‘Tinder’ on my ‘phone’… It is but a new medium.”
The narrator, who has Cambodian heritage, reflects on her own connection to colonial history while being assigned to assist Cmdr Graham Gore, a Victorian explorer brought back from the 1840s. Gore is well-meaning but carries the attitudes of his time—imperial arrogance, racism, and sexism. Bradley captures this dynamic brilliantly, humorously comparing empire-building to casually claiming abandoned items.
Bradley’s book tackles serious topics, including the British Empire, government corruption, climate change, the refugee crisis, the Cambodian genocide, Auschwitz, 9/11, and human morality. Despite covering such weighty issues, the story keeps its focus on the characters and plot, making these themes feel natural and engaging.
While labeled as “speculative fiction,” the novel is an equal mix of sci-fi thriller and romantic comedy. At its heart, The Ministry of Time is a love story set in a near-future London, where a jaded civil servant finds herself paired with Commander Graham Gore, a Victorian explorer from Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition. Saved from certain death in 1847 by a modern government eager to experiment with time travel, Gore must adjust to a world far removed from his own. The blend of romance and high-stakes time travel makes for a unique and captivating read.
Scifiers explores science fiction narratives that enliven our imagination and compel us to think about the “what-ifs” of creative world-building. It is on a mission to discuss ideas about sci-fi in its various forms that keep the genre in a state of continuous expansion.
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