Geek Lit: Replay

Special thanks and shout-out to Ryan for recommending this one. Much better than Krull in every way conceivable.

One of the four basic building blocks of science fiction is time travel.  Alongside artificial life, space travel, and aliens, time travel has been explored in numerous ways in fiction going back at least as far as H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine.

But what if a person was forced to relive his or her life in repetition?  That’s the central premise behind Ken Grimwood’s 1998 novel Replay.  Review and some spoilers after the cut.

Time Travel Considered

May or may not be stylish.

At some point every geek franchise goes for time travel.  Superman circles the globe at high speeds to make sure he can be in two places at once.  Captain Kirk needs to find some humpback whales.  I dream of dumping Barney back in the paleolithic age where he belongs.  Time travel is what every geek has considered at some point.

But, how exactly does it work?