The Ministry of Time merges time travel with a romance and a spy thriller with varying results.

A minor government translator is given a dream job. She is hired to teach a time traveler from the 1840s how modern life works. They will live together for a year. Rent, food and all the trappings are free. She just needs to provide weekly reports on the time traveler’s acclimation to modern society. The job also includes a giant bump in pay. She can’t say no to all of that. However, things get complicated when she finds herself attracted to her charge, Commander Graham Gore. In the meantime, her government agency is beset by challenges from both within and without.

The world building of the universe is excellent. The fact that Commander Gore was a real person is a mind-blowing addition to the meta feel of this book. The translator also reflects a lot about being biracial in Britain and the horribleness of the Cambodian war. There are also many humorous scenes of Graham and his fellow time travelers’ issues with the modern world.

Unfortunately, the middle of this book dragged a bit for me. I struggled to get past it. However, the slam bam thrilling finale of The Ministry of Time was definitely worth the slog. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I enjoy a light sci-fi - like a little more fi and a little less sci. Then again, if there is going to be sci, there should be enough to explain the technology in the world a least a little. Basically, I'm a bit of a picky-penny when it comes to the types of sci-fi books that work for me. Throw in time travel and the lane of likability gets even narrower for me. Even still, this book got a ton of early reviews, was a Book of the Month pick, and is mentioned all over my bookish podcasts by people I usually trust for book recommendations, so I decided to give it a try. Overall, it was a fun and easy read, but left me a bit baffled in certain areas.

The blurb made this out to be a time traveling, historical romantic fiction, spy novel. And while there were elements of all of that word salad description, all of them were surface level and never fully developed. Here's a breakdown of my thoughts:

Pros: Not too much super technical sciency stuff. Many of the descriptions and comparisons are very clever and unique. I love the lack of cliches. I also enjoyed the philosophical questions raised by the time travel elements and the idea of taking a person out of their time period. Besides Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, I hadn't read/watched any time travel novels with that aspect of bringing to the future people from the past. (And in Bill and Ted, they eventually return the people back to their time period). I really enjoyed the view of the 21st century through the eyes of past generations and how would the values of their time period fit in/contrast with the social norms of ours. Can you imagine a man from the 1600s being exposed to the Kardashians? This author did.

Cons: The start was a bit slow. In fact, the pacing was a bit odd. It was slow to start with lots of foreshadow for what is to come. We know pretty early that the speaker (the unnamed main character told in first person) is telling this story in retrospect/flashback. The speaker seemingly breaks the fourth wall by using "you" and telling this story to someone, at the beginning presumably the reader. This can be overdone, but it didn't bother me and we find out later that there is a reason for this. ANYWAY - the pace is slow in the beginning - all about the speaker's rise in the Ministry of Time and the detox of the ex-pats (those people they steal from other timelines). It isn't until after the 50% mark that we start to get any sort of answers to all the foreshadowing.
The attempt at old dialogue from the different time periods were stilted and forced. Like the author researched common vocab of the time period and tried to put it all in. I honestly skimmed most of it.
The majority of the book was world building and explaining the ex-pat information. The actual plot, when it does actually start to pick up, seems rushed and little glossed over.
Overall, the writing style is a little inconsistent. The author is clearly intelligent and has a big vocabulary. But it didn't feel like the narrator should be. The syntax doesn't always match the diction and I could feel the author's hand in the writing. In other words, the author is using words to show off her intelligence and to try to elevate the book instead of me actually believing that the character would use the words herself. I think this type of elevated diction works better in 3rd person like The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel instead of first person.
The time travel elements always add some loop/plot holes and this was no exception. The ending was ambiguous and a bit unresolved but did end on a note of hope.
Don't get me started on the "romance." Just - no.

Overall, my initial reaction was meh with a side of could have been better or more evenly paced. Loved the premise and the clever descriptions but I guess, given the description, I just expected more to happen. Not a lot happened... and not a lot was ever really explained to satisfaction in the end...

I seriously don’t know how to describe this book - I don’t think I can even properly describe what genre it is. 😂 Basically, our nameless narrator is a half-Cambodian British woman in the not too far future, who gets assigned to a new role in a new division. Why? Because 5 people from different eras of history have somehow been fetched through time travel to modern day Britain, and she’s assigned to one of them as his “bridge” or essentially handler as he transitions into the modern day. There’s also some intrigue, some romance, but surprisingly not much science fiction-y elements til towards the end of the book.

Oh, and the person she is assigned to handle, Captain Graham Gore, is an actual figure (an Arctic explorer from 1847), and the author says in a note up front that she basically started this as sort of fab-fiction vignettes to entertain her and her friends during Covid. So yeah, this book is kind of weird.

It’s for sure extremely unique and also funny. The only thing I can think of to even compare it to is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Forde which also has a strange and funny sensibility and genre mash up. But for me, it sort of fell apart a little bit towards the end. But it was interesting, and I really would love to discuss it with someone. Just wish it had stuck the landing more.

I struggled to rate it, but I think I’m going with 3.75 stars.

This moved so slowly and so never got my true interest. It was so interesting a premise with a very dry delivery that left me feeling empty.

Highly recommend this one!! This is my first time reading one of their books but it won't be the last! This book sucks you in from the get-go and you will find yourself thinking about the characters long after you finish it. Do yourself a favor and get this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance reader copy of The Ministry of Time. Unfortunately, the ARC was so fraught with spelling and grammatical errors, I had to put it down around the 20% mark and wait for the book to be released. Thankfully, that first 20% still managed to capture my attention and I'm glad I picked it back up. There's not much I can say without giving away the plot, but this book was breathtaking. I found the story to be unique and original. Kaliane Bradley is now on my radar.

I have always LOVED time travel stories and this book was no exception. It's always fun, and sometimes horrific, to imagine what life would be like if time travel were possible. And what the ramifications would be of such abilities. I love that the book pairs a modern-day woman with an 1800's explorer as she "bridges" him: teaching him how to live in the modern world. The two fall in love and hilarity ensues. The book is funny and tender and somehow realistic. I loved it.

Time travel can be really, really tricky, unless you are in Kaliane Bradley's hands. The Ministry of Time is so much more than a time travel book though. It is a love story, it is page turner, and highly entertaining no matter what genre we are in. If you like Outlander, you want to run for this.

The Ministry of Time s the definition of genre-bending. Is it a science fiction, fantasy, time-travel love story? Or is it a speculative spy thriller? The answer is- YES.

I'm struggling to craft a "traditional" review so I'm going to share a bunch of words. Funny, charming, sad, clever, contemplative, wholly unique, twisty, other-wordly, insightful, transporting, and engaging.

AUDIO: I loved the audio narration but also appreciated having a paper copy (library) to reference.

MORE: This cover- amazing.

“𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰.”

Thanks to Avid Reader press and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

I absolutely devoured this, and it's a fun mash-up of genres - a little romance, a little sci-fi timey-wimey stuff, plus some espionage. It's very aware of the type of book it wants to be, and I applaud the way it chooses to end.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a dystopian type of sci-fi (ish) novel, and I truly enjoyed it. While some themes or things in it seem far away, the reality is we are closer to these realities than we realize, which makes these books so entertaining (in a dark way).

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
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This book is about a woman (I don’t think we even get her name) who starts working for the Ministry of Time. The Ministry has pulled several people from past time periods into this time with some mysterious technology. Claimed to be part time travel, part spy novel, and part love story: Ministry of Time promises it all.
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I did not like it.
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Why, you may ask, did you not like it?

Point #1: I was exceptionally bored and exasperated with this book. There was a lot of talking. There was a lot of soliloquy-ing. There was nothing actually happening until approximately the 74% mark of the book. That is a lot of dead space for me. It could be argued that the story was being slowly built, yet I was still bored with the story building.

Point #2: The “love story” was not great. The female character (again, I do not think she had a name? I am not going to hunt for it, but I legitimately do not recall her name. If anyone knows please tell me) seems to be obsessed with the male character who comes from 1847. But it felt like she didn’t really love him for him, there was no relationship building, he was her roommate that she obsessed over and fell in love with the idea of loving him. It was weird and I didn’t like it. Likewise, the male character seemed more interested in the fact that the female character is half Cambodian rather than falling in love with her.

Point #3: I can see how the last 25% was supposed to be the crazy reveals, everything is happening part that really cemented that “wow, that was a great ending and I forgive how slow this book was up until now.” I did not like the end. One reveal was kind of cool but it felt like it was explained too quickly and then thrown away. It definitely did not make me forgive the first 75%.

Point #4: I have to admit that this point is not really the books fault but an outside party. I read a review where someone compared this book to Outlander, which I promise that I DID take that with a grain of salt. And yet at the end of this book I wanted to scream “HOW COULD ANYONE EVEN MENTION THIS BOOK IN THE SAME CONVERSATION LET ALONE SENTENCE AS OUTLANDER.” Sacrilege. THE SHAME. (Outlander is a work of art, people. ART.)
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2⭐️⭐️

There are rare books that come along that defy categorisation and, indeed, start off whole new sub-categories. Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi, Alias Grace, Tales of the City. The Ministry of Time is another.

Time-travel books are not rare, nor are science fantasy books that merge with romance, but this is a new hybrid of time-travel / romance /spy thriller / workplace comedy / climate emergency / dystopian novel that sings with invention and authenticity, not least in a unique narrator, unnamed but oh-so-present in all her British-Cambodian individuality, and the rounded cast of temporally expatriated travellers, stolen from their sure deaths to end up in a near future Britain of unimaginable heat (like today), rolling water shortages and comical governmental bureaucratic inefficiency (also like today—I swear, if you don't laugh...)

The narrator's new role as a 'bridge' for a Commander Gore, rescued from his death by hypothermia on an historic and fateful Arctic expedition in the 1840s, thrusts their worlds alarmingly close to each other. As they slowly navigate towards an understanding of each other's professional and personal boundaries, the bridge and Gore discover:
1: a plot against the entire time-travel programme
2: no-go areas, particularly relating to the British Empire and any discussion of racism
3: a mutual attraction

How the many genres are handled so well is a joy to behold and I devoured this book in one sitting. It is a perfect hybrid and displays that same 'hybrid vigour,' standing head and shoulders above similar books that are simply time-travel, or romantasy, or workplace romcoms. The characters are so vital and alive, neither saints nor sinners, but certainly everyone is a product of their time, their culture, their relationships, and Bradley weaves everyone's story into a pulsing, unstoppable narrative with thrills, twists and revelations galore.

And the romance works.

Five whole stars.

'We have time-travel,’ she said, like someone describing the coffee machine. ‘Welcome to the Ministry.’

Set some time in the not too distant future, The Ministry of Time opens up with an intriguing concept, time travel exists and the United Kingdom's government controls it. Told all from the point-of-view of a woman who previously worked in the languages department, she applies for an internal job wanting the higher pay. When the Ministry section of the government hires her to be a “bridge”, her life changes. I thought this started off strongly with an intriguing concept, The Ministry has selected people from different timelines that from recorded history, they know die in their own timeline. Our narrator's a bridge (someone who stays with the “expat” for a year to help them transition) for a Commander Graham Gore. Graham's an actual real historical figure which I thought gave this a slight fanfiction feel, to it's scifi and speculative fiction.

Ideas have to cause problems before they cause solutions.

It's all a little murky as to why the government has decided to pick these people and what exactly they're doing, our narrator's a company woman and doesn't question too much in the beginning. After I thought was a strong scifi start, the middle stagnated in pace and we get lost in our narrator's head for awhile. There's the transition of assimilating a man who died in 1847 to a twenty-first century London, along with the narrator's attraction to him. A lot of the attraction was already built as she's read his personal letters, knows his story, and romanticized him through this knowledge and liking a daguerreotype existing picture of him. For Graham's part, since we don't have his pov, he's a not a clear readable character; it seems he could be attracted to her but it could also be him trying to play his cards right. I've seen Outlander comparisons and I would caution reading this for the romance because you'd probably be disappointed (there were a few open door scenes but those alone do not a romance make).

The middle also explored inherited trauma and warring with helping your country but not enabling their same made mistakes. Our narrator is the daughter of a Cambodian refugee and she carries some of her mother's trauma which creates some push and pull in “just following orders”. We get introduced to some of the other bridges and expats, with two of them, a WWI soldier and black plague survivor playing bigger secondary character roles. Through their experiences to the new world, we get some discussions on gay rights and feminism.

The truth is, it won’t get better if you keep making the same mistakes.

After the more sluggish middle, the latter second half picked up speed with the building spy thriller aspect and what The Ministry is actually trying to do. There are some hints sprinkled throughout that you could kind of guess where the story is going (I wasn't hundred percent correct) and we get some action and takes on climate change. When dealing with time travel, there are always going to be some holes, this had those with some of the “whys” not fully answered and the “hereness” and “thereness” not completely making sense. The romance wasn't the strongest and the thriller aspect waiting around too long to fully hit, giving some of a rushed ending feeling. The discussions and takes on racism, trauma, sexism, imperialism, and other issues had some mealy mouth, I get the narrator is working through them herself, but it left me feeling like not a lot was said when done. This was a whole bunch of elements mixed together that I'm not sure all fully got realized and created a got lost on it's way middle that really slowed the pace and dented it's impact for me.

I mean this as the highest possible compliment: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley feels like what might happen if RF Kuang wrote a time travel spy novel. Or if Emily St. John Mandel had personal history as the child of refugee immigrants. (And yes, yes, John Le Carré).

Astonishingly self-assured and intricately wound (especially (!) from a debut author), this is the first book in a long while that’s made me want to (metaphorically - I was reading an ebook) flip over and start again, to see what clues I missed the first read through, congratulate myself on picking up on some of the more tantalizing hints, and grasp more firmly onto the timeline- always a slippery thing when people have a habit of not staying when you left them.

I want to say less because The Ministry of Time is worth exploring one’s self. The cheeky inspiration of the - it can only be described as saucy - daguerreotype and surviving letters of the real Graham Gore, a lieutenant on an ill-fated Arctic expedition is so beautifully imagined here. I laughed out loud, I clutched at my heart at Graham and the other expats (Maggie and Arthur, especially). The prose here is sparkling. I wanted to highlight on every page (and I am decidedly not an annotater.

Finally - I’ll just say the allegations of plagiarism are malicious and false. Ignore them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon and Schuster Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was a bit disappointed by this one! It's an awesome premise, but not much happens for most of the book. I liked the characters though!

The good: the last 25%. WILD and SO GOOD. The side characters!!! It was just really well done.

The bad: how long it took me to read the first 75%. I think if I had been listening to the audio I would’ve flown through this. Part of me wants to go track it down and do just that.

Basically, I loved Gore so much. I love how much research went into it, even if the parts about the expedition itself weren’t my favorite parts of the book. I loved the consequences. The moral dilemmas! It was great. The romance was great and made me squeal at one point, but was actually hard for me to understand or believe for quite a while? Again, maybe if I’d be moving faster than 2% per day, I might (almost certainly) feel different.

In conclusion: It’s an original work through and through and those who enjoy a time travel adventure will love it!! 💗

An extremely fun mix of humor, romance, spy story and time travel. I really appreciated the way that the story used the struggles of the time expats in adjusting to the 21st century as a commentary on what it's like for "refugee:" families to relocate to a country with colonialist history. I also especially enjoyed the way that time travel was used as a metaphor for the dangers of absolute power by a country and the dangers of the surveillance state.

This book is one of the rare books that moves between genres so well— from a time travel story, to a slow burn romance, a spy thriller and even a workplace comedy with dialogue that left me laughing at times, it is a book that is thought provoking in terms of the lengths we’re willing to go to reverse damage and repeating patterns all to fix things that in the end, may not need repairing at all. It is a book meant to disorient you as well as shock you, but also a book that pulled at my heartstrings and I think everyone should give it a chance.

The Ministry of Time sucked me into its vortex from the word go. Why? Just something about the inner voice of the unnamed narrator instantly piqued my curiosity. For me, both she and the situation she places herself in are competing contrasts. She’s both very structured and certain about particular things while at the same time rootless and diving into the complete unknown.

Arctic explorer Commander Graham Gore is a superb character developed gradually by Bradley with layers and nuance to embody such depth and intellect that he’s both an attractive and enthralling presence. I loved the fact that he, the subject of the scientific experiment, was conducting just as much, if not more, analysis himself.

Gore’s and the unnamed narrator’s keen intellects fuel many ongoing banter threads that, over time, build to deliver understated moments of comedic brilliance. If you love smart banter in your romantic suspense, for that alone it’s worth reading The Ministry of Time.

However, I think this will be a polarising read because there are characteristics of this novel that some will love, but they will just not work for others.

In The Ministy of Time Kaliane Bradley explores so many different themes; certainly far too many to list here, plus I do not want to spoil the reading experience. Some will say far too many themes and ideas for a single novel.

At certain points, which I’ll touch on shortly, greater heed of the ‘less is more’ adage would have enhanced the reading experience for me, but overall I admired Bradley’s wilful ambition in penning The Ministry of Time. Yes, at times the reckless abandon with which thought-provoking ideas and statements are thrown into the plot and narrative almost cause whiplash. In parts, it’s like a literary rollercoaster crashing through a water feature. It feels as though out of control and messy in places, but I enjoyed almost every minute of the ride.

The only aspect that detracted from my unbridled enjoyment was the level of millennial angst and navel-gazing regarding visual identity. While undoubtedly integral to the story and pleasingly self-critiqued within it, I would have just turned the dial down a bit.

Kaliane Bradley’ The Ministry of Time is an audaciously entertaining story and an appealingly unhinged and thought-provoking page-turner. 4.5 Stars.