A literary sci-fi novel that reminded me of some of Kazuo Ishiguro, The Ministry of Time is a zany mishmash of classic genre time-travel ideas and modern irony, buttressed by a plot silly enough to fail but one that succeeds through sheer verve. In a near future England, a jaded public servant joins a secret ministry bringing in and examining “expats” from various spans of history. She is labelled as a “bridge,” acclimatizing the shell-shocked expats to the modern world. Her charge turns out to be an explorer from a disastrous attempt to reach the North Pole in 1847. Naturally enough, she discovers there is more to her job than what she knows, and the book’s plot accelerates after the midway point into a fantastical battle across different time eras. The author juggles the plot with high aplomb, while infusing it with the protagonist’s modern-day identity issues, and the 1847 expat is a wonderful secondary character. It all makes for an engaging, fast read of sophistication, and while The Ministry of Time does not quite give our “bridge” enough gravitas to tackle major themes, the read is a splendid one.
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