Dispelling: B

A bit more than a year ago, I began a science fiction trilogy by Mark Lawrence, Impossible Times. A time-travel adventure in the mold of Ready Player One or Stranger Things, the series opens in the mid-80s as young Nick Hayes receives a visit from his adult self, kicking off a sequence of events that must be adhered to in order to preserve the future. Now, book three follows adult Nick as he invents the time machine to fulfill his destiny, learns that time travel doesn't actually work at all like he'd imagined, and tries to somehow cheat a fate he'd rather avoid.

Dispel Illusion isn't a mind-blowing conclusion to this trilogy... but neither is it a letdown. If you've come this far, you'll want to finish the entire series, and you probably won't be disappointed. But there are both good and bad things about it.

The Impossible Times has many of the trappings of young adult fiction, but it's always had a rather sophisticated view of time travel. There are shades of the movie Primer in where this final book takes the story, the plot line deeply concerned about questions of predestination and moral obligation to alternate realities. This sort of take is rather rare in my experience, which makes it rather novel and fun. But at the same time, a protagonist who feels locked on rails isn't always the most compelling character to read about. The middle chunk of the book does sag a bit, feeling rote and predictable.

What kept me engaged was the wealth of interesting images along the way. I can't think of an example of time travel looking quite as its presented here, leading to several interesting scenes throughout the book. As for the language? Lawrence has a fairly stripped-down writing style overall, but does land the occasional zinger to spice things up.

There is one massive plot hole in the final act, in my view. It didn't truly detract from my enjoyment of the book, but I could see it driving a fan of more "hard sci-fi" into a rage... not that I think that sort of reader would have made it this deep into the series in the first place. This tale is more sophisticated than usual, like I said... but this is still not truly "idea driven" science fiction. (If you want the somewhat-revealing spoiler, it's this: any barrier to time travel inserted into a time stream is going to work both ways. This is even explicitly stated in the book, though later overlooked.)

Still, I enjoyed the book overall -- about on a par with the first two before it, which is to say I'd give it a B. If you're looking for a quick read and enjoyed Ready Player One, you should probably give Impossible Times a try.