“Time and Time Again triumphs and it’s the best I’ve read of Elton’s many bestsellers.”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

I really love Ben Elton and have recently read Two Brothers set in WWII. Elton does war stories really well as he’s proven Time and Time Again, and he doesn’t disappoint here either!

Anyone familiar with the author will know he’s the king of satire, but here he moves into the fantasy genre as it’s 2030 and ex-soldier Hugh Stanton is about to receive a very important message from the past and he has to go and save the world in the most terrible way.

Could you pick the pivotal point of the 20th century, the point where it all went wrong for Britain and Europe? That’s what Hugh has to do and he has to save the world with a single bullet while simultaneously destroying it too.

The story is fast paced, fantastic and exciting, it stretches belief yet it comes with a very simple message about humanity and that’s that we’re just not very good at living in peace. Time and Time Again stretches the boundaries of reality further than Elton has ever stretched them before, yet somehow he’s nailed humanity like never before too.

I’ve often said that Elton is the Orwell of our day (and you have often scoffed), but I’m going to say it again here. Time and Time Again is a perfect indictment of human nature, an astute observation in how as a species we just keep going around and around. I really want to dissect the novel and share my favourite bits, but any spoilers would ruin it, this is one you’re going to have to discover for yourself.

Fantastic, historical interest, romance, politics, humour, action; Time and Time again has it all, in spades and it a rollicking read to the last page!