From Powells.com
Staff Pick
In this captivating work of literary sci-fi set in a not-too-distant future of self-driving cars and "personal" electronic communications from the president, Palmer offers up a biting commentary on technology and human relationships. A provocative twist on time travel and the nature of reality. Recommended By Jen C., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The acclaimed author of The Dream of Perpetual Motion returns
with a compelling novel about the effects of science and technology on
our friendships, our love lives, and our sense of self.
Rebecca
Wright has reclaimed her life, finding her way out of her grief and
depression following a personal tragedy years ago. She spends her days
working in customer support for the internet dating site where she first
met her husband. But she has a strange, persistent sense that
everything around her is somewhat off-kilter: she constantly feels as if
she has walked into a room and forgotten what she intended to do there;
on TV, the President seems to be the wrong person in the wrong place;
her dreams are full of disquiet. Meanwhile, her husband’s decade-long
dedication to his invention, the causality violation device (which he
would greatly prefer you not call a “time machine”) has effectively
stalled his career and made him a laughingstock in the physics
community. But he may be closer to success than either of them knows or
can possibly imagine.
Version Control is about a possible
near future, but it’s also about the way we live now. It’s about smart
phones and self-driving cars and what we believe about the people we
meet on the Internet. It’s about a couple, Rebecca and Philip, who have
experienced a tragedy, and about how they help — and fail to help — each
other through it. Emotionally powerful and stunningly visionary, Version Control will alter the way you see your future and your present.
Review
“Dexter Palmer’s Version Control is a gripping page-turner, an
insightful and wise look into the lives of scientists, a moving
time-distortion story, and a clever satire about our current information
age. I enjoyed the heck out of it.” Jeff VanderMeer, bestselling author of The Southern Reach Trilogy
Review
“A Mobius strip of a novel in which time is more a loop than a path and
various possibilities seem to exist simultaneously. Science fiction
provides a literary launching pad for this audacious sophomore novel by
Palmer. It offers some of the same pleasures as one of those
state-of-the-union (domestic and national) epics by Jonathan Franzen,
yet its speculative nature becomes increasingly apparent.... A novel
brimming with ideas, ambition, imagination, and possibility yet one in
which the characters remain richly engaging for the reader.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
“Far more than a standard-model time travel saga.... Palmer’s
lengthy, complex, highly challenging second novel is more brilliant than
his debut, The Dream of Perpetual Motion.... Palmer earned
his doctorate from Princeton with a thesis on the works of James Joyce,
Thomas Pynchon, and William Gaddis. This book stands with the
masterpieces of those authors.” Publishers Weekly (starred, boxed review)
Review
“Mind-bending.... A compelling, thought-provoking view of time and reality.” Booklist (starred review)
Synopsis
An NPR, GQ, and Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year
One ofThe Washington Post s best science fiction and fantasy books of the year
The acclaimed author of The Dream of Perpetual Motion returns with a compelling novel about the effects of science and technology on our friendships, our love lives, and our sense of self.
Rebecca Wright has reclaimed her life, finding her way out of her grief and depression following a personal tragedy years ago. She spends her days working in customer support for the internet dating site where she first met her husband. But she has a strange, persistent sense that everything around her is somewhat off-kilter: she constantly feels as if she has walked into a room and forgotten what she intended to do there; on TV, the President seems to be the wrong person in the wrong place; herdreams are full of disquiet. Meanwhile, her husband's decade-long dedication to his invention, the causality violation device (which he would greatly prefer you not call a time machine ) has effectively stalled his career and made him a laughingstock in the physics community. But he may be closer to success than either of them knows or can possibly imagine.
Version Control is about a possible near future, but it s also about the way we live now. It s about smart phones and self-driving cars and what we believe about the people we meet on the Internet. It s about a couple, Rebecca and Philip, who have experienced a tragedy, and about how they help and fail to help each other through it. Emotionally powerful and stunningly visionary, Version Control will alter the way you see your future and your present."
About the Author
Dexter Palmer’s first novel The Dream of Perpetual Motion was selected
as one of the best fiction debuts of 2010 by Kirkus Reviews. He lives in
Princeton, New Jersey.