Ministry of Time

The Ministry of Time
By Kaliane Bradley
Review by Dave

Kaliane Bradley’s hotly sought-after debut is many different genres rolled into one. The result is a fresh, funny, satirical novel that’s both intelligent and hugely enjoyable.

Themes of climate change, the refugee crisis and totalitarianism make it a tense and violent read at times, but it’s also full of humanity, warmth and hope. It features a love-story between a time-travelling Arctic explorer from 1847 and the civil servant given the job of minding and educating him about the near-future London in which he finds himself.

The story is full of clever twists. In fact, when I got to the end, I immediately read it again. I had to unpack how she’d done it, and loved spotting the clues she drops along the way.

It’s a very sophisticated debut, and I’m hungry to read whatever she writes next.

The Ministry of Time
By Kaliane Bradley
Review by Mida

The Ministry of Time is a wonderful story that could be described as speculative fiction, but it contains multitudes. With aspects of SciFi, Spy thrillers, slice-of-life and romance, this book has something for everyone.

Right off the bat, Bradley doesn’t set out to make a ‘convincing’ theory of time travel. All you need to know is that the time travel gate exists, that they’ve got the Expats and that the Ministry is an offshoot for the government in order to see what happens. I really liked how disconnected the authorities of this shady government agency are – Our narrator is only told what she ‘needs to know’ to fulfill her duties. She doesn’t get informed of what this technology is going to be used for, why they’re doing this in the first place and where the so-called ‘Gate’ even came from.

There’s a lot of emotion in this book, especially towards those in positions of power. There are themes of the refugee crisis -with obvious parallels to the Expats and Gore’s Bridge- as well as terror of climate change. Harsh summers and flooding torment our protagonists, with our narrator explaining to Gore that this aggressive change in weather is the fault of humans, coming down to hubris and greed.
There is one message that sings out above the rest; question the authority that tells you to trust them just because they are the authority. From minute one, the Ministry is ambiguous, mysterious and evasive. Our bridge isn’t necessarily suspicious of this – after all, secrets are a part of the business. But the more time she spends with the ministry, the more her apprehension grows. The first time that I was kinda like ‘MMMM I DUNNO IF THESE ARE THE GOOD GUYS’ was when she discovers her reports are thrown away without being read. Not suspicious at all!

But when others aren’t present, Gore and his bridge have beautiful quiet moments in their London flat. She educates him on the wonders of the present day, and he provides a perfect little lens through which we can see our world through new eyes. Despite the unsettling circumstances of their meeting, the two of them immediately begin to form a close friendship that eventually leads to an unexpected romance, with the two leads dancing around the topic until they finally figure each other out.

While the characters and plot are fantastic, to me, one of the shining stars is the writing. Since it is written from the perspective of the bridge, it is full of those weird little titbits and similes that sound bizarre when said out loud but somehow make sense while rattling around in your head. While some feel a bit out of place, the rest oddly fit and make sense when combined with the razor-sharp wit. It really preserves the somewhat experimental, satirical quality of the book.

Interestingly, Gore isn’t a character that was made up for this book. Graham Gore was a real person – A Navy officer who was a part of Franklin’s failed expedition- and unfortunately, we know very little about him otherwise. He was an artist- this edition of the book actually features some of his illustrations inside the covers- as well as a smoker and marksman. Bradley has taken the sparse details of Gore’s life and have expanded them into a fantastic, fleshed out Victorian gentleman.

There are very few things that I can compare this book to, but it did remind me very strongly of Prophet. If you like genre mixing , strangely wholesome narratives, and a deeply human story, The Ministry of Time is for you.

You can listen to Mida’s review from RDU below.

Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley
Review by Alex A

A best-seller for a reason, this book is thought-provoking, unusual, clever and huge fun! Similar in theme to Never Let Me Go, but with the propulsive plotting of Oryx and Crake. Combining dystopian fiction, historical fiction, romance and sci-fi, this totally unique and riveting novel has broad appeal.

Set in the not-too-distant future, the British government has discovered a method of time-travel, and to test it have brought several “expats” from the past into the present day. Each has been assigned a “bridge” to guide them through their transition. The story follows the young civil servant assigned to Commander Graham Gore – a real historical person who died in an expedition to the Arctic in 1847- as he discovers the ways in which the world has changed for the better (washing machines, Spotify) or worse (climate change). Tasked with reporting his progress to the Ministry every week, our protagonist is increasingly aware that something nefarious is afoot behind the scenes.

The increasingly close, deliciously teased-out relationship between Gore and his “bridge” is the central story of the book, around which all other small- and large-scale dramas occur. I am not usually a romance fan, but embedded in a sci-fi mystery, this was just delightful.

I can say with certainty that this will be in my top five books of the year, if not my number one!