The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is a contemporary novel about time travel with romance. The Ministry of Time is Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel. There is no time traveling in the novel but there are time travelers. In present-day London, there is a division of covert government called the Ministry who specialize in Time Travelers. The Ministry has a weapon where they can move people from time who were alone and destined for death. And bring them to the current day to live and acclimate to our time. The novel is about time, choices, the future, and feeling out of place and time. The story deals with big issues but makes a lot of jokes while doing it. The ministry hires bridges who live with the time travelers. The bridge’s job is to acclimate the traveler to the present day. The bridges seem to barely manage to live and take care of themselves yet another person. The Time travelers show most of the bridges to live than the other way around. The Ministry of Time is science fiction light. It doesn’t delve deeply into time travel or the way it works. It has a few time travel tropes but the novel is pretty fresh in its approach. The novel focuses on characters more than it does on Science Fiction and Romance. The book reminded me of an independent film about time travel starring Aubrey Plaza called Safety Not Guaranteed. The story idea for The Ministry of Time is very unique. I had a few issues with the way it was told. Bradley has a good vocabulary and I had to look up at least ten words. The dialogue is mostly good, but it was sometimes difficult to understand who was talking. The pace of the novel is steady thanks to the humor, but the plot moves slowly. There’s a conspiracy plot that was good and intriguing but I felt it needed to happen quicker than it did. The novel has a good twist towards the end. I noticed it and was happy to see the way it played out. The ending was good but not great.

The Ministry of Time won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction of 2024 and was nominated for Best Debut. The Ministry of Time was one of Barack Obama’s favorite reads of 2024. The Ministry of Time was published on May 7, 2024.

Favorite Quote: “Belief has very little to do with rationale. Why demand a map for uncharted territory?”

Plot Summary: The novel is told in first person from the point of view of a biracial translator. She specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. She is half Cambodian but looks White. She signs up for a top-secret expatriation job. When she gets it, she finds out her ex-patriot is a time traveler. He is British Naval Commander Graham Gore an Arctic explorer from 1847. Gore is very stoic and calm while his bridge is nervous and jumpy. The Bridge can not cook and Gore starts learning. He is not happy or used to living with a woman but accepts it. The bridge has supplied him with books and entertainment. He asks to smoke and wants a flute. The Bridge has to explain the rules of smoking indoors, she introduces him to weed which he likes. The Bridge is supposed to report everything to her supervisor. She reports a drawing that Gore did about an object he saw. The supervisor asks her to destroy it. She should not put it in the notes. The next time she fills out a report the supervisor is missing and she gets a new one. She does not know who to trust and gains feelings for Gore.

What I Liked: The Bridge explains various pop culture to Gore. It reminds me of Star Lord explaining Footloose in the Guardians of the Galaxy. The weed scene was great. I did like the other time travelers that Gore and the Bridge befriend, Arthur and Margret. I did like the lesbian and gay subtext between Gore and Arthur and Margret and the Bridge. I did like the twist at the end I solved it just a little bit before it was revealed. The twist had clues that were easy enough to pick up on. Pay attention to the hand-biting scenes to figure it out that how I did. I liked the conspiracy with the supervisor and how it was resolved. I like Gore a lot more than his Bridge. I did love the teaching Gore to ride a bike scene. The book has a lot of humor that works well with the story and makes it easier to read. I did like that Margret’s conservative Bridge couldn’t handle that she was a lesbian. I liked the book’s other twists and turns at the end. I liked the Romance angle, I liked how much Gore was thrown off since he’s used to courting.

What I Disliked: The dialogue scenes were great when there were two people. But, it was very hard to tell who was speaking when there were more than that. What makes it hard for me is there was a character called Graham Gore. He was born in 1847. This character would react to three different names: Graham, Gore, and 47. The plot moved slowly and the book meandered for a while. The humor kept me going in this book. The book gives a taste of time travel but I wanted more.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Time is an interesting book with a fresh take on time travel. This read was not an easy one thanks to vocabulary and my issue with dialogue. The humor carries a lot of weight. This book would sink without it but it works. I think this is a strong debut for Kaliane Bradley. I will recommend my followers check this book out.

Rating: I rated The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 3.7 out of 5.