Review of Thirty Seconds from Now by John Chu

First up, this story is not a time travel story, which is disappointing in relation to it’s inclusion in The Time Traveller’s Almanac.

That said, it is about precognition, and is nevertheless an interesting tale. In this story we meet Scott, a young man at college who is a juggler. He is a juggler as it helps him to focus on now instead of scanning future possibilities that exist in the place where he is located. As he sits on the floor of his room juggling, he deliberately steps into the future and sees a person who is not blurred. This apparently means that this particular future is certain, not just a possibility. The story then unfolds as Scott scans further and further into the future, tracing the events that will take place involving this unblurred individual.

An intriguing take on the concept of alternative realities. Not something I class as falling within time travel, but in this instance one can almost understand its inclusion into the Almanac, as Scott almost time travels, thanks to his precognitive abilities.

4/5 rating.

My fellow time travelling readers are:

Timothy C. Ward (on hiatus)
Alesha Escobar
H.M. Jones
DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) (on hiatus)