A Beginner’s Guide to Time Travel by Ben Woestenberg

Loser’s Thoughts on Ben Woestenburg’s NaNoWriMo novella. A Beginner’s Guide to Time Travel is a wild ride. (Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out time travel after reading this [or before, come to think of it…]) but that shouldn’t affect my thoughts. This novella is an extremely impressive feat: to start writing from scratch, without any real preplanned plot or characters or anything — that’s a fascinating process to watch unfold. I didn’t notice how long the actual completion of the book ended up taking, but it clocks in at (correct me cuz I’m wrong) 80k words(?). The story has a LOT going on, so from here on – mild spoilers, babycakes. (But not anything so detrimental that you wouldn’t wanna read it for yourself, wink wink). The book opens in current time period, then a few chapters in we are thrown ahead in time two-three hundred years and the world has gone back to a Hunter gatherer existence. When the reader lands in the future, it’s with a new group of characters (sort of). Then. Quite a lot happens. As with most timey-wimey novels, it is at times confusing, but it felt internally consistent. My only complaint/critique during this time is likely unjustified, but I was jarred by the sudden usage of ‘tit’ and ‘tits’ a few times — it felt sort of anachronistic but mostly just unnecessary to me. A strong point during this section of the book — the bulk middle — is the science and explanation behind the cataclysm that set humanity back, technologically. I found it very believable. Lastly, I wanna mention the ending but this part is — MONDO SPOILERS, BUBBA.

So, the final twist is that there isn’t actually time travel — it’s all a video game simulation in the even farther future, like 1,000 years. This twist comes with an entirely new plot, basically new characters, and a surprisingly unhappy ending. I do not mind late-stage plot twists, if they add to the narrative but I felt this one undid all the hard work and internal consistency that Ben had put in so far. I definitely do not mind unhappy endings, but this one felt as though it belonged to a different book. I think the two sections (time travel – simulation game) would’ve made two interesting stories, if separate. This could definitely be somebodies cup of tea, just isn’t mine, and it’s never ideal when I end a book/movie/show/song/meal? on a sour note.

Thanks so much for sharing you’re impressive feat — blows my mind that you wrote this for NaNoWriMo.

Read original Note here.