Unknown Title

Title:

Last year / Robert Charles Wilson.

Author:

Wilson, Robert Charles, 1953- author.

ISBN:

9780765332639

Personal Author:

Wilson, Robert Charles, 1953- author.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

351 pages ; 22 cm

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

General Note:

"A Tor Book."

Abstract:

"Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant. It's the near future, and the technology exists to open doorways into the past--but not our past, not exactly. Each "past" is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given "past" can only be reached once. After a passageway is open, it's the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can't be reopened. A passageway has been opened to a version of late 19th-century Ohio. It's been in operation for most of a decade, but it's no secret, on either side of time. A small city has grown up around it to entertain visitors from our time, and many locals earn a good living catering to them. But like all such operations, it has a shelf life; as the "natives" become more sophisticated, their version of the "past" grows less attractive as a destination. Jesse Cullum is a native. And he knows the passageway will be closing soon. He's fallen in love with a woman from our time, and he means to follow her back--no matter whose secrets he has to expose in order to do it"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Time travel -- Fiction.

Space and time -- Fiction.

Genre:

Science fiction.

Format:

Books

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Albion - Hoag Library	34411001399111	WILSON	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant.

In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's Last Year , the technology exists to open doorways into the past--but not our past, not exactly. Each "past" is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given "past" can only be reached once. After a passageway is open, it's the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can't be reopened.

A passageway has been opened to a version of late 19th-century Ohio. It's been in operation for most of a decade, but it's no secret, on either side of time. A small city has grown up around it to entertain visitors from our time, and many locals earn a good living catering to them. But like all such operations, it has a shelf life; as the "natives" become more sophisticated, their version of the "past" grows less attractive as a destination.

Jesse Cullum is a native. And he knows the passageway will be closing soon. He's fallen in love with a woman from our time, and he means to follow her back--no matter whose secrets he has to expose in order to do it.

Author Notes

Born in California, ROBERT CHARLES WILSON grew up in Canada. He is the author of many acclaimed science fiction novels, including Darwinia , Blind Lake , Julian Comstock , Burning Paradise, The Affinities and the Hugo Award-winning Spin .

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The 21st-century time travelers who came to 1870s America didn't just reveal themselves to be from the future; they also built the City of Futurity in the Midwest to give tourists-at least those willing to pay the extremely expensive ticket price-a vague look at the world to come. Jesse Cullum is a "native" City employee, born in the 19th century, who knows he's got a good deal working security and means to keep it, especially while supporting his sister, Phoebe. Knowing the future people's oddities well, he's not surprised by the forthright and occasionally crude behavior (by 19th-century standards) of his new security partner, Elizabeth DePaul. But he is surprised when he falls in love with her, and shocked when someone arms the oppressed groups of the 19th century with future knowledge and weaponry. Wilson (The Affinities) flips the traditional time-travel genre on its head with an engaging protagonist who adapts the best of both worlds into rugged, brainy secret-busting resourcefulness, forging talents superior to 21st-century technology. Wilson's turnabout effectively turns both past and present into "another country" and may just lure readers tired of temporal clichés back into the time-travel fold. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

People from the twenty-first century have opened a portal in rural Illinois that allows them to visit 1877. They've built a tourist resort called the City of Futurity, where wealthy individuals can experience the past and locals can catch a sanitized glimpse of the future. Jesse Cullum is a native of 1877 who works for the City. A man with a violent history, he meets and falls for a woman from the future. Meanwhile, someone is smuggling future technology into the past and sowing discord toward the City. Soon enough, it all starts to fall apart. There's a lot going on in the latest from Hugo Award-winning Wilson. It's an alternate-history novel, a time-travel story, and a whodunit all in one. It explores parallel universes, corporate greed, and culture clashes while critiquing the entitlement of modern society and our tendency to romanticize the past. Wilson wrangles all these threads with skill and vividly renders the reality of the past. The story is well paced, builds to an epic crisis, and makes for a satisfying read.--Keogh, John Copyright 2016 Booklist