A Review of Invictus

Invictus is a book by Ryan Graudin. Farway Gaius McCarthy lives in 2370's Rome, the son of a famed time-traveller and an Ancient Roman gladiator. He was born outside of time, on a time machine. Wanting to follow in his mother's footsteps, he takes the course to become a time-traveller himself, but something goes wrong in his final exam simulator. Finding himself stealing expensive historical artefacts for a smuggler, trouble finds him again in the form of Eliot, mysterious girl who interferes with his mission on-board the Titanic...

Well, this book is fun, but that's all it is. Style over substance. I guess if you're looking for a romp through time with a pet red panda and a basis in Rome, it's right here. And you might learn something about various time periods while doing it, but you're not going to figure out the meaning of life or anything.

Rome is a fun place to base any novel. The old architecture and the new, and the required amounts of gelato are consumed. I also enjoyed the slight futuristic touches - explanations of how time-travel effected society and simple things like a lack of bees. So, if the book is based in Rome, why do so many characters have distinctly English names? Wouldn't a slight tendency towards Italian names be the norm, with a larger variation from centuries of globalisation?

Obviously, we don't spend all our time in Rome! Other places include Ancient Rome, libraries of Alexandria and the Titanic. However, I personally think the book is at it's best when it's in one of three locations. On the Invictus, in Rome 2354, or the section in 2020's Las Vegas. The historical periods always have too much going on and move too quickly for me to really get a sense of the place and feel like I'm there. But in the future (to us, at least) I feel like I'm there with the characters.

Characters! Farway is a typical leader. Always likes to seem in control, and somewhat cocky, but his crew is his family. Imogen, his cousin, is a knowledgeable Historian. This means she knows how best to blend in with the time period they're in. She'll pick the outfits they should wear for any trip, but this is much more involved than that sounds. She likes to colour her hair with different hair chalks every day. This is never explained beyond "I like colour and colour likes me." And perhaps it doesn't need a reason. Not everyone in real life dyes their hair as a symbolic way to show they are trying to hide something, so maybe characters don't need to, either. Priya is the ships medic, good at her job and a love of music from every time period. Gram, ship's engineer, huge geek and loves video games. At one point we are informed the group went to the 90's to find a replacement part for his NES. I wish the book had focused more on his games, rather than just Tetris. And Eliot... I don't want to get too into Eliot, for fear I might spoil something.

One thing I did like is that Farway and Priya were in a committed relationship from the start of the novel. Romance isn't a major focus here, with so much else going on. It gives our characters a grounding influence, and shows us a healthy relationship which I think is beneficial for people to see. And we still got a will-they-won't-they relationship from Imogen and Gram!

As with most time-travel stories, paradoxes arise pretty quickly. Going into some of the biggest paradoxes will spoil it straightaway, so: if the group stops Farway from being born on the Ab Aeterno, there's no Fade, therefore there's no reason to stop it. And surely there are other universes with very slight differences that have lead to a different Farway being born on the Ab Aeterno? Surely then, the Fade would still be there?

Props to Graudin for keeping the story contained to one book. I could easily see this been stretched into a trilogy in someone else's hands.

Recommended to anyone who's looking for a book that is just plain fun. Also, if done well, it would make for a movie that would be just too much fun.