CHASING STARS

Violations of time-traveling laws in the year 2123 threaten Ryan and Eden’s relationship.

Their story began in After Eden (2013), when Ryan time traveled back from 2123 to 2012 to complete a mission to save the human race. Success required enlisting the cooperation of 16-year-old Eden, whose knowledge of the future later made her a target of a “clean up” assassin from 2123. This sequel begins as Ryan frantically—and illegally—returns to 2012 to save her. But when the future officials realize what’s happened, they send another operative back to 2012 to retrieve the pair. Upon arriving back in 2123, Ryan is imprisoned and eventually sentenced to life in a lunar mining camp for illegal time travel. But Eden soon becomes something of a local celebrity, enjoying parties and outings with Ryan’s school friends, which readers may feel is disappointingly like life in 2012. This socializing undermines the sense of desperation she claims to feel about Ryan’s fate. In fact none of the characters—including Ryan’s friends and family—seem inclined to do much beyond accepting his fate and moving forward with their lives. Unfortunately, the dull characters and social interludes slow the novel’s pace. Eventually Eden rallies, concocting some escape plans that seem fairly simplistic considering the security technology readers would expect to be available in 2123. Interestingly, Eden and Ryan were depicted as white teens on the cover of After Eden, but this sequel depicts Eden as ethnically ambiguous and with dark hair rather than the red the text describes.

Lacks the dramatic pizazz expected from a science-fiction thriller