Time Salvager: a fast-paced time travel adventure from Wesley Chu, the award-winning author of of The Lives of Tao.
Convicted criminal James Griffin-Mars is no one’s hero. In his time, Earth is a toxic, abandoned world and humans have fled into the outer solar system to survive, eking out a fragile, doomed existence among the other planets and their moons. Those responsible for delaying humanity’s demise believe time travel holds the key, and they have identified James, troubled though he is, as one of a select and expendable few ideally suited for the most dangerous job in history.
James is a chronman, undertaking missions into Earth’s past to recover resources and treasure without altering the timeline. The laws governing use of time travel are absolute; break any one of them and, one way or another, your life is over. Most chronmen never reach old age; the stress of each jump through time, compounded by the risk to themselves and to the future, means that many chronmen rapidly reach their breaking point, and James Griffin-Mars is nearing his.
On a final mission that is to secure his retirement, James meets Elise Kim, an intriguing scientist from a previous century, who is fated to die during the destruction of an oceanic rig. Against his training and his common sense, and in violation of the chronmen’s highest law, James brings Elise back to the future with him, saving her life, but turning them both into fugitives. Remaining free means losing themselves in the wild and poisonous wastes of Earth, somehow finding allies, and perhaps discovering what hope may yet remain for humanity’s home world.
You can buy Time Salvager at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Books-A-Million!, Amazon UK, Indiebound, or at any of your favorite bookstores.
Time Salvager has been translated into German, Hungary, Russian, Chinese (Taiwan & China).
Trade Reviews
Chu creates a fascinating world, strange and familiar, infused with humor, sorrow, courage, greed, and sacrifice. This page-turner is a riveting, gratifying read. – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Gripping story set in an all-too-imaginable far future with time travel a mundane fact of human existence – Shelf Awareness (starred review)
From its early pages, Time Salvager establishes itself as an utterly captivating time-travel adventure. – RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!)
2015 – Science Fiction Novel nominee
2015 – Rt Book Of The Year nominee
Praise for Time Salvager
“Smart, fast, and fun.”– Brent Weeks, New York Times bestselling author of the Lightbringer series
“Time twisting action-adventure as only Wesley Chu could imagine it. I enjoyed it a lot. Read this book!” – Ann Leckie, author of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ancillary Justice
“A powerful and compelling search of the past for redemption in the present, by turns thrilling and sweet and gut-wrenching.” – Kevin Hearne, New York Times best selling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles
“A gripping, taut space opera about keeping hope in hopeless circumstances. Immensely enjoyable.” – Robert Jackson Bennett, author of City of Stairs
“A fast-paced ride that offers a fresh spin on time travel, combines it with a high-stakes plot and genuinely innovative action, and spices the blend with a healthy dose of irreverent humor.” – Jacqueline Carey, author of Kushiel’s Dart
“Chu has taken a simple, brilliant premise and built upon it an epic universe full of thrills and wonder.” – Jason M. Hough, New York Times bestselling author of The Darwin Elevator
“More than a compelling, innovative take on the perks and pitfalls of time travel – Time Salvager is a sharp study of how human nature might prove mankind’s salvation, or eventually doom us all. This is world-building that will make you fear for the future. In a good way.” – Cherie Priest, author of Maplecroft
“A clever, cautionary sf tale with cool gadgets, characterization that surprised me in the best possible way, and multiple cunning twists.” – Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series
“With time travel, force-field kung fu, and a huge helping of wit, Wesley Chu transmogrifies a bleak long-whimper apocalypse into vicious, high-octane fun.” – Max Gladstone, author of the Craft Sequence
“Exciting, interesting, and never forgetting the fun of ideas, this is brilliant new stuff.” – Paul Cornell, author of London Falling
“A time-warping science fiction thrill ride.” – Jaye Wells, author of the Sabina Kane series
“Gripping.” – Howard Tayler, Hugo Award-winning creator of Schlock Mercenary
“Fresh, original, cinematic. A hell of a fun read” – C. Robert Cargill, author of Dreams and Shadows
Editorial Reviews
The amount of world building packed in without it being convoluted or contrived. The amount of theme and nuance depicted with just a few hints and implications is one of the best I’ve read. The concept is original – the whole book is a definitely excellent read. – Fangs for the Fantasy
It’s accessible, raises clever questions, wraps them through interesting characters…and then sets off an explosion. – SF&F Reviews
Time is a tricky one in a book like this, yet Chu handles this in a way that’s not confusing and adds another dimension to the novel to give it the added difficulty of – well, reality, really. – Ventureadlaxre
Wesley Chu is one smooth Wookie. – Dangerous Dan’s Blog
When Chu writes something, I will read it. And enjoy it. He works magic with words and makes a tight fast story that I find very hard to put down. – Bibliotropic