An exciting whirlwind of science-fiction espionage for those who appreciate plot-driven stories.Even with do-overs, saving the world can seem impossible.Following the adventures of Broken Shards of Time (2020), Wren Derecho has just returned from the future—barely—as the timeline was collapsing, but she hopes her efforts and the sacrifices of her friends were enough to prevent those horrible events from unfolding. However, it seems that altering the future has also changed some things in the past. Alex Donahue's eyes are now bright blue, the same blue as the infernal orb that caused her future self to turn evil—and that is back in her possession even though she left it in the crumbling future timeline. Now Wren is stuck in a time loop, one of which only she and Alex are aware, as they relive a day during which the world continually ends. Wren needs to find a way to break the loop in order to save her friends and time as they know it. Told from multiple characters' perspectives and going over multiple iterations of the same events, this narrative keeps both the protagonists and readers on their toes, though it is sometimes difficult to emotionally invest due to the continually changing circumstances. Nevertheless, this second installment maintains a fast pace as it rockets into the finale. In a racially diverse cast, Wren is cued as White, and Alex is brown-skinned; both have robotic prostheses.
Description
Wren Derecho has successfully time travelled back to the present, confident that the dangerous and powerful orb has been lost forever in the broken shards of time. However, her sense of relief quickly turns to horror when she realizes the orb has mysteriously reappeared and things are not the same as when she left them.
Now Wren must navigate through the new timeline and overcome the unexpected obstacles and twists it presents. As she struggles to adapt, she learns about Operation Aquarius Deep, a DAWN mission to retrieve ground-breaking tech from the hands of the ruthless Cyril Elton-Blackwood. But things have changed drastically for the worst in this new reality and everything that Wren thought she knew is now unfamiliar and beginning to spiral out of control.
Could the orb, an other-worldly power source, be the cause of all this confusion? Or is it possible that even more formidable forces are at play? With the help of her friends, Wren must try to bend time and rewrite fate to avoid disaster. Secrets will be revealed, lives will be stolen, and the past will return to haunt those who wish to forget it.
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Reviews
Fans of fast-paced YA will delight in this action-focused, no-romance story.Nichol's tightly-woven narrative zips along and never feels repetitive, despite the time loop premise, and each loop builds nicely on the previous ones—bringing Wren and her future friends one step closer to solving the mystery, although the final loop may come at a terrible price. To keep the plot fresh, Nichol changes character viewpoints in every loop, an effect that advances the storyline but also leaves Wren on the sidelines more often than not, and she and Alex quickly fall into a pattern of familiarity that comes across as forced, especially given the short amount of time they actually spend together.The ultra-focused plot keeps readers firmly glued into the mission and focuses most of its time at the facility that's responsible for raising Wren, known as “DAIR,” leaving the villain's motivation a bit hazy. Although he rails against DAIR's influence, it's never clear how accurate his assessment of the organization is, but despite the novel's narrow scope, its world is rich with enough exciting gadgetry to create a near-future feel without resorting to tedious details. This clever sci-fi narrative will enthrall readers and keep them guessing until the very end.
"Libraries looking for suspense stories for young adult to adult audiences which go beyond the usual timeslip focus of getting back home will find Faded Glimpses of Time a winner."
"... the second book in Nyah Nichol's Tempus Trilogy, a riveting young adult sci-fi series that will have readers anticipating the trilogy's final installment.
