The Third Rule of Time Travel, by Philip Fracassi
1 May 2025The Book
Synopsis:
Rule One: Travel can only occur to a point within your lifetime.
Rule Two: You can only travel for ninety seconds.
Rule Three: You can only observe.
The rules cannot be broken.
In this riveting science fiction novel from acclaimed author Philip Fracassi, a scientist has unlocked the mysteries of time travel. This is not the story you think you know. And the rules are only the beginning.
Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time—to any point in the traveler's lifetime—and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.
After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella—their only daughter—and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.
Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.
My Review
The Third Rule of Time Travel is a sci-fi thriller, written by Philip Fracassi, and published by Orbit Books. Not going to lie, after reading Boys in the Valley, I was pretty hyped for reading Fracassi trying his hand at a new genre, and he has delivered a time travel story that lands in the softer side of sci-fi, with a new approach to a classic concept such as time travel (and the rules) that manages to give us an enticing plot.
Beth Darlow and her husband Colson created a time travel machine, albeit a limited one; it allows the traveller to observe 90 seconds of a moment of their lifetime, without acting. However, Colson died a year ago, leaving Beth with the difficult task of balancing between raising her 4-year-old daughter and her professional life, not only having to protect the concept of her machine but also to determine how the machine chooses the landing point. After a really stressful time, Beth starts to experience flashes and visions, leading her to believe that the travels are affecting her present, threatening to crumble her life.
Beth is an excellent main character, compelling, a grieving person that is dealing with a significant amount of work pressure, while is also trying to be a good mother for her daughter; she's brilliant. The use of memories as the conduit to travel is an interesting idea that eventually backfires, especially as our traveller is suffering a fair share of trauma; the psychological toll of the process is starting to permeate her reality.
Fracassi has chosen for a softer approach to sci-fi, focusing more on the thriller elements; the pacing is slow at the start, slowly building the tension to eventually transform the novel into a page turner. Don't expect much action, but more focus on the grief, trauma and the emotional stakes.
The Third Rule of Time Travel is a great sci-fi novel, perfect if you are looking for a different approach to time travel and a compelling main character whose emotional journey will be an important part of the plotline. Fracassi already showed his skill at horror, but I can say he's equally great at sci-fi.
The Author/s
Philip Fracassi
Philip Fracassi is the author of the award-winning story collection, Beneath a Pale Sky, which received a starred review from Library Journal, was named “Best Collection of the Year” by Rue Morgue Magazine, and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker award.
His previous story collection, Behold the Void, was named “Best Collection of the Year” from both This Is Horror and Strange Aeons Magazine.
His debut novel, Boys in the Valley, was published on Halloween 2021, by Earthling Press. His novels include Don’t Let Them Get You Down (Zagava Press), A Child Alone with Strangers (Talos Press), Gothic (Cemetery Dance), and a global trade edition of Boys in the Valley (Tor Nightfire / Orbit UK).