Science Fiction: Recursion by Blake Crouch

Oh time travel...I try to avoid it. And yet, here I am, ready to review Recursion by Blake Crouch. Though to be fair, this book is less about time travel and really more about memory and reality. But the subject of time travel is very much front and present.

The Situation: Barry Sutton is a cop in New York City. In November of 2018, he was unsuccessful in stopping a woman from jumping to her death from a building. Due to a new illness, False Memory Syndrome, or FMS, suicides are on the rise as people are suddenly recalling memories from a life they never lived. The memories are so vivid, so real, that many people cannot handle the intensity and ultimately decide to end it. Neither doctors nor scientists can find its cause (or cure), and it also appears to be somewhat contagious. When Barry digs deeper into the false memories the suicidal woman shared with him before she jumped, he discovers something so unfathomable that he normally would not believe it, until he starts living it. And only after meeting Helena Smith does he come to understand what it could possibly mean.

The Problem: While working at Stanford, waiting to see if her research proposal will receive funding, Helena is approached by a strange man and presented with an offer she cannot refuse, though she eventually wishes she did. Her ambition to see her passion project come to fruition, and her desire to help her mother, who is struggling with Alzheimer's, has led her to Marcus Slade, a wealthy man who wants to fund her research. But it turns out Marcus is even more ambitious than she is, and also without ethics. What started out as a project to map and preserve memories, ends up becoming a process that can send people back in time. Together, they unleash an effect that could unmake humanity, and potentially destroy the world. With Barry's help, Helena hopes to stop it, using all her research to once again alter memory and reality, but this time, for the billions of people around the world.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a science fiction novel set mostly in the present-day US. Because of the time travel aspect of the story, there are some trips back to the late 80s, but most of them only go so far as a few years. And while Barry's story begins in 2018, Helena's starts in 2007, when she was a researcher at Stanford. The primary focus of the novel is on memory and how it shapes our reality. The result of Helena's work is the ability to alter reality with the use of memories, which of course, results in many different entities wanting control over this power. There is a hint of humans meddling in things they probably shouldn't, and ultimately losing control of that. And as much focus as there is on memory and reality, there is also the issue of power and control. In this world, it simply will not do for one country to be able to go back in time...at least not if the rest of the world knows about it.

My Verdict: As with most science fiction that I pick up, I was apprehensive, but ultimately pleasantly surprised. I think what I love most about the book is that it takes a slightly different approach to time travel from what I am used to seeing. The focus being more on memory and how we perceive reality certainly helped, but I was personally thrilled that Crouch avoided many of the time travel problems that we have seen in a lot of fiction. No issues of people meeting up with their past selves. No warnings about not changing anything from the past so that it doesn't mess up the future (that happens anyway). There is not necessarily a time machine...I guess if anything it is more of a memory machine, but not even that is completely accurate. It is a refreshing take on a common theme. And the interesting characters and events are simply cherry on the top of a fascinating novel.

Favorite Moment: When Helena manages to evade Marcus in one of her timelines, starting her on the road to fixing what they have started.

Favorite Character: Helena is wonderful and brilliant, but I actually think Barry is my favorite. Despite the pain, and the hassle, and the struggles, he simply does whatever he has to do.

Recommended Reading: First, I recommend Mem by Bethany C. Morrow, or Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. But I also recommend A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Crouch named one of his characters after Towles, and admitted in the acknowledgements that A Gentleman in Moscow is one of his favorite books, which is something we have in common.