Fracassi, Philip. The Third Rule of Time Travel. Orbit. Mar. 2025. 304p. ISBN 9780316572514. pap. $18.99. SF

Scientist Beth Darlow doesn’t physically travel in time; her body is still in her lab, strapped to the machine that sends her consciousness back to the most traumatic moments of her life. Moments she can only observe but not change—unless she already has, merely by observation. But Beth’s project is about to be yanked out from under her, even though she’s on the brink of a breakthrough. She’s interested in research, but her shady funder’s plans are as unscrupulous as his financial dealings. He wants to change history for profit, while she’s convinced that she already has and it’s breaking her, one altered memory at a time. The framework of this story is the race for research funding and the cost of academic rivalry as Beth and her assistant pursue science while her funder plots to eliminate them and steal their project. Beth’s desperation to salvage her own ever-changing history makes her desperate, leading to a thrilling, high-stakes ending. VERDICT Fracassi (Boys in the Valley) turns from horror to sci-fi in his latest. Recommended for fans of technothrillers and those looking for a different take on time travel.

Ludington, Andrew. Splinter Effect. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Splinter Effect, Bk. 1). Mar. 2025. 320p. ISBN 9781250349309. $28. SF

DEBUT In his over-20-year career as a chrono-archaeologist, Dr. Robert “Rabbit” Ward has only experienced two failures in his mission to loot history via time travel. The first broke his heart, cost him his dearest friendship, and left behind a religious icon and a terrible tyrant. His second looks like it will end his career in abject failure if not infamy—unless he takes a desperate gamble in one dangerous, unethical, and outright illegal move to fix all of his regrets in one fell swoop at changing history. The thrill-a-minute chase scenes in pursuit of priceless artifacts will recall the breakneck pace of National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code, while the time-travel history and adventure will enthrall readers of Jodi Taylor’s “Chronicles of St. Mary’s” series. Fans of Kage Baker’s classic “Company” novels may have finally found a worthy successor. VERDICT Ludington’s thrilling debut is a time-travel caper wrapped around a slice of historical fiction, but the heart of this story is Rabbit’s desperation to fix the things and people that he broke even if he has to outrun shadowy criminal time-looters and shady government agencies looking for scapegoats, in the past and in the present.