Polis: a city-state . policy . politics . metropolis

As previously mentioned, A Loop In Time, from author Rowena Wright, is an novel where art, science and timetravel combine in a smart and silly telling of the myth of Osiris set amid issues of post 9/11-New York.

The first thing I noticed when reading this book is added trinkets of artwork while adorn the first page of each chapter. They look like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. They’re a nice touch and help to set the scene of the book.

The story is about a single mum (Sophia) who has to deal with raising her child (Ericca) in a foreign land. Sophia hides her true heritage from Ericca, but Ericca realises as she gets older, that something is amiss.

She finds out that she is Ringgold, and has magical powers like time travelling and altering the past. Ultimately, she has to ‘grow up’ and seek out her father who died years before. She is assisted by various cool items, including her baby blanket which has Albert Einstein and Leonardo Fibonacci magically embedded. The bantering between them is quite surreal and I chuckled quite often when Albert went off on one about his discoveries and theories.

I’m a real time travel story lover, ask anyone who knows me how many time travel books I have, and it’s more than you can count on two hands. Some of the twists and turns had me scratching my head, and I had to re-read a couple of sections to make sure I knew what was going on. Although, if I’d carried on, it actually explains itself. A Loop In Time is a story I’d class as fun, yet realistic, and (of course?) science goes out the window.

It’s fun because a lot of aspects are light hearted and jovial; realistic because of the way Sophia protects her daughter and the growing up of Ericca, as she faces the world. As for the science - well, there really isn’t any. None of this is by no means negative. The way it all fits together makes it only once-removed from believable.

The associated website has a load more extra information on the world of Polis, and even one of the characters has a Myspace page.

There’s an excerpt of the first five chapters of A Loop In Time in PDF format here. Other downloads are available here, which include a 2007 calendar!

Find out more about the book, the characters, the life style and the games which can be played, at polisgames.com.