Time and Again

A mundane thriller/time travel novel from Simak. Asher Sutton is sent to make contact with an alien race, disappears for 20 years, and comes back with powers that even he does not fully understand. In his absence, the world has developed time travel and a race of androids, who despite not being able to procreate, are fighting for their human rights. There's an insidious war happening in the future over this, one that Sutton finds himself in the crosshairs of, because of the book that plans to write about the discoveries he made on the planet.

Your enjoyment of this book will hinge predominately on what you think of Simak's exploration of destiny and sentience. Sutton's time on the mysterious planet taught him that every living thing has a destiny, which functions more or less like a soul. This revelation, though we don't really get a good explanation on how this functions, will serve as the rallying call for all of the androids who as of now function as servants or slaves to the human race across the galaxy. To me, this exploration was pretty surface level and dull. Simak doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Maybe he did in 1950, but certainly not now.

The narrative itself is complicated and rather poorly drawn. I found myself confused at multiple points upon the introduction of a new plot point, not because it was inherently complex, but because Simak's explanation of it was ill defined. His prose is also unfortunately dull and uninspired, only giving flashes of the pastoral tone that Simak has shown himself to be capable of, though he does sneak a Wisconsin into the mix for good measure.

I wasn't thrilled to be reading it despite the pacing and narrative trying to emulate a thriller in many way. City is really starting to feel far and away his best work.