Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd review – The perfect blend of thriller and sci-fi

Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd: The review

This collision of thriller and sci-fi is exactly what I needed to read: clever, compelling and hard to put down, Ellery Lloyd – a husband and wife duo operating under a pseudonym – have created something unlike anything I’ve read before, and something I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come.

Time to Burn is the first book I’ve read by Lloyd, and the fact that two people can co-ordinate such a fantastic story is, in itself, something worth praising. I’ll definitely be reading more from them, but Time to Burn has been a fantastic place to start. It takes place in London, simultaneously in the present day and in 1941. Tempus Tours is a controversial travel company offering time travel ‘holidays’ back to the Blitz, and the people with enough money to pay for it are keen to jump into the opportunity.

It’s an intriguing concept, and Lloyd has executed it so well. From the descriptions of war-torn London to the old Underground station used as Tempus’ point of entry, everything is so beautifully described that it’s almost as if you’re there. It’s been written with a deep understanding of present day London as well as intricate knowledge of World War II, and while the history is only a side attraction to the main plot of Time to Burn, the attention to detail really helps you get immersed in the complex world that Lloyd has crafted. Even the scientific details of time travel – however mind-boggling – feels deeply believable.

Things get a little more complex when it comes to the crux of the story, however. Primarily it follows Phoebe, a documentarian making a film about Inigo Frank, the owner of Tempus Tours. But the multiple people on the time travel tour are important too. And when one of them doesn’t come back, that’s where our story begins.

You see, offering commercial time travel comes with a lot of risks – including people doing their best to change history. As with any time travel story, some elements of Time to Burn can be a bit of a headache to try and comprehend. But just go along for the ride, and you’re going to have a fantastic time. I loved every moment, and seeing how the past and the present collide was a thrill. If you’re a crime/thriller reader, you’ll enjoy those elements, but it’s also a great entry to a whole new world of science fiction. A clever, unforgettable weaving of genres.

With thanks to the publisher, Pan Macmillan, for providing me with a finished hardback copy of the book for the purposes of this review.