THE TIMEMATICIAN - Steven Bereznai


 I have an amazing knack for picking up a book that is part of a series wherein I haven't read any of the previous books in said series.  I've done precisely that here, with this, The Timematician by Steven Bereznai. I liked the title, I liked the cover art - both drew me to wanting to read on.

Doctor BetterThan is a superhero/supervillain who loves to crush his enemies and he hates his friends, always wanting him to work their way. But at the moment, Doctor BetterThan (or Dr BT) is all alone. Heroes and villains alike have all been killed.  This is the future he fought for ... a better future, where he is all that is left. Or ... is he?

Dr BT's power is that he can reset his life to any point or any time he chooses.  Should a battle go wrong and he's about to die, he can just dial up a reset and do it all again, making sure to get it right.  Of course he doesn't need to do that when he's all alone - which is just how he likes it.

Unfortunately there's a new superhero/supervillain making herself known. Mairi Lin Monroe and her cybernetic lady-matons (yeah, you got that right) are trying to grow some crystals that are having an impact on Dr BT's ability to jump backward.  

The two seem perfectly pitted against one another ... or are they fated for one another?

For a book with essentially only one character who appears throughout and one who pops in and out occasionally, this was really a delightful read with actual character building and conflict - somewhat surprising given the lack of, well, almost anything.

The writing is snappy and we feel like we really get to know Dr BT (The Timematician is a nickname he's given by Mairi Lin).  There is just enough action to keep this exciting as a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic superhero story, but  mostly this is about Dr BT figuring himself out ... which really does make this rather ideal for the YA readers to whom this is likely targeted.

I had a surprising amount of fun (surprising because I was not aware of this series or this author before stumbling on them) and am looking forward to reading the first (and subsequent) book in the series.

Looking for a good book? The Timematician by Steven Bereznai is a fun, fast, YA, post-apocalyptic superhero thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

The Timematician

author: Steven Bereznai

series: Gen M #2

publisher: Jambor

ISBN: 9781989055069

paperback, 192 pages

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