*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!*

CW: death of a child (off page)

I quite enjoyed this book! It was super weird, but I was into it!

This is very much a sci-fi story, about two researchers who work for The Institute and who study pocket worlds or PWs. The story takes place in the Dominican Republic and the story revolves around these two researchers, who are married and have a child. The way that the PWs work is that some/most of them have different time dilation, so some are long worlds and some are short worlds, and this plays a huge role in the story.

I liked the idea that Raquel was studying these PWs to find an answer to where the Taino people went. The Taino are/were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Caribbean islands, and it is thought that they no longer exist (since European contact). Raquel was trying to find evidence of them in these PWs, as because of the time dilation, there were some PWs that were existing in the past. I really liked all of the discussions about the Taino and getting to learn a little bit about them.

It was interesting to read a sci-fi book that is set in the future, and then has a time jump to even further in the future, and to see how things have changed, for the worse. The book is definitely a critique of capitalism and extractive industries and basically everything that we're seeing today that is destroying our planet. And how it all started with good intentions. 'We're just going to explore this thing here to see if it can be useful' and then in the not so distant future, those things are being used to exploit the poor, to exploit the planet, to be a luxury for the rich. I saw so many parallels to current day capitalism and how we're destroying the planet.

I thought that the ending was really satisfying. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, if Raquel and Marlena were going to be able to be together despite all the terrible things that happened, so I really liked the ending.

What a great concept - and the book itself doesn't disappoint!
This story reminded me why I love science-fiction.
It doesn't shy away from exploring hard themes (including colonialism, exploitation of nature, hardcore capitalism, and homophobia among others) that painted a painful yet sadly realistic portrait of what a heartbreaking future might look like if pocket worlds really existed.
The concept of pocket worlds was also well developed, the author clearly gave a lot of thought about what she could do with her concept and threw a lot at us, and, well, at Raquel and her other characters of course.
Raquel herself was far from perfect, but her role and thoughts really evolved with the book in a satisfying way and made her feel real and human. I liked the archaeology lens and felt worked really well for this story.
I wished the other characters like Marlena were more developed as well, and that the pacing at the beginning would be a bit slower - I guess I'd have liked this book to be longer even though I enjoyed the ability of the author to go to the point.
The ending was beautiful and didn't leave me hopeless or sad.
I want to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This sci-fi novella was definitely an original read. Time’s Agent explores the subjects of time travel, grief, colonialism, other worlds, gay marriage, capitalism, greed and the climate crisis caused by the last two.

The world building in this book is phenomenal, and the character development fantastic. The emotions the FMC goes through while missing her wife, her daughter, getting caught in a time not her own and returning to a world that has completely changed, were so raw and so vivid, you feel them as she’s experiencing them.

For such a short book, there was a lot packed into it. Entertaining, emotional and thought provoking, this was a really good read. I would totally recommend for any sci-fi fans out there.

Thank you to TOR Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought parts of this books were really confusing. There were a lot of ideas here that I wish were better fleshed out in a longer book.

There was a lot of potential here, but I feel like the author tried to address too many different topics in such a short book. I think the worldbuilding (or timebuilding) was kinda confusing due to this. I see the vision and if fleshed out into about 100 more pages it would have really worked.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via NetGalley.

This was a story full of twists and turns. With each revelation, I became more invested and ended up reading most of the book in one sitting. Peynado does an excellent job exploring the consequences of her characters actions in a way that will leave me thinking for quite some time. Highly recommend and can’t wait to read more by this author.

Brenda Peynado’s debut novel Time’s Agent is as explosive a debut as they get. Centered around a sapphic academic couple studying pocket worlds with varying degrees of time dilation and contraction, this novel is a critique of capitalism and colonialism, examining in a microscopic view the pain they can inflict on families.

This novel follows Raquel and her wife Marlena as they are transported via a pocket world 40 years into the future, where capitalism has reached a horrific stagnant place. The horrors of exploitation are amplified through pocket world technology, a horror Peynado doesn’t shy from within the narrative. Raquel’s ties to her present and her ancestry are uprooted as she is moved to a new time with no way of going back.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. In such a short amount of pages, Peynado packs a poignant, emotional punch and I adored every second of it. It’s perfect for anyone who prefers work on the more speculative end of science fiction. The examination of capitalism, colonialism, and queer family is blended brilliantly into a heart punch story that will stick with you for days afterwards. I highly recommend it.

The novella packs a lot of punch for something of such a compact sized! It did so much heavy lifting both in worldbuilding and in character work, I gulped it down in one evening and feel absolutely convinced to keep my eyes open for anything Peynado might publish in the future!

This was such a fascinating read! This book follows a researcher in the future working for an institution that investigates “pocket worlds”, aka parallel worlds that are connected to the present world. This story plays with theories of time and universes, while still uncovering human relationships, dealing with grief, and capitalistic societies. As a scientist myself, it was so interesting to put myself in the shoes of a researcher in the future navigating these discoveries and situations. I really enjoyed this quick read! Great representation of a wlw relationship without tokenizing the characters, & I appreciated the inclusion of an older main character. Very thought-provoking story. Well done.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this book of science fiction that deals with other worlds, and the families that are changed when we always look for something that might be so close.

Humans have a problem with just being satisfied. Nothing is ever just ok. Relationships need to keep that fire, jobs have to inspire, technology has to keep changing, adding things, while not really getting better. The family crest of the fictional spy James Bond is "The World is Not Enough", and it is true for many of us. In this way great things are made, new things discovered, new art to give hope to people. Some of this comes down to greed. New thing, new money. New ways for government to control. New ways for human prejudices to come forward, and bring the new down to the regular old world. Curiosity according to the myth of Pandora, gave us all the evils in the world. However there was also hope, which is what the character in Time's Agent, a novella by Brenda Peynado, holds on to. Even as all the worlds start to fall apart.

Raquel is an archeologist on the greatest set of finds ever. Exploring the secrets of other worlds. Called pocket worlds these are small universes that have a different set of rules in time, space, even what lives there. One could go to a pocket world, return and find years have passed. Or return to find no time has been lost at all. These pocket worlds explain many of the weird instances of people disappearing, lone travellers, judges walking home, entire armies. Once the science to enter these worlds was opened an Institute was formed to explore them. And Raquel and her wife Marlena were happy to explore them. Until the day everything went wrong and Raquel found herself in a future where everything had changed. Friends, family and co-workers were dead, including Raquel's daughter. Society had changed and giant corporations were using pocket worlds to create their good and services, leaving a path of destruction. Raquel is alone, Marlena not wanting to join her living in a pocket world that Raquel wears around her neck. Raquel has an idea, a plan that might make everything right, or make things even worse, if possible.

Recently I have been on quite a novella kick, and I can not get over how good many of this books are. This might be one of the best. The ideas, the science, the use of the past, Raquel's heritage as a descendent of the Tanio people, and the fact that corporations will do anything of a penny. For a small book all these ideas are presented and are quite important to the story. As is the love of Raquel for her family. The writing is really quite good, much more literary than I expected, and mixed with the science of pocket worlds makes for some great sentences. Raquel seems like someone I would know, someone who can't stop thinking about mistakes, who can't get over what she has done, nor get over her lost. Raquel seemed very real. Everything she does is because of her guilt. The story is quite good, as is the world building. I really can't get over that this is just a novella. There really is a tremendous amount going on.

There is lots to like here. The science, the comments on society, and the fact that humans still can't get over themselves. A very smart science fiction story that asks a lot of questions. I've not read anything else by Brenda Peynado, but plan to do so soon.

The multiverse premise is absolutely fascinating, and I liked the world-building. I liked the comments about commercialism and greed. However, the story focuses more on the characters, and at the half way point, the main character is still just talking about her grief. I couldn't figure out where the plot was going, and it seemed more like an exploration of the character's grief. The writing was good, but the story was okay.

I was absolutely mesmerised by Time's Agent - there's an awful lot packed into a relatively small novel. Time's Agent manages to convey emotion on a personal level whilst also tackling larger-scale issues and themes - from colonialism, and climate change, to capitalism, there are many avenues explored alongside this seemingly personal tale. Despite opening on a lonely Raquel, there is a cast of well-formed and developed characters - Raquel herself is visible with all of her flaws, but we see her motivations clearly even whilst she's making ill-advised choices. I found myself slightly confused by the plot towards the end, but the novel as a whole still felt conclusive and satisfying.

I love books that are unique and for me this book full of pocket worlds fits the bill. I've read a quite a bit of science fiction and end up reading most books about time travel and the multi-verse. I was more interested in the concept and ramifications of pocket worlds than I was the characters, but it was still an enjoyable read.

I don't often read novellas, so this book was a bit on the short side, but I think the length worked well here.
This story is set in a future world where pocket worlds exist, there are countless of these pocket worlds, and through history humans were sometimes able to enter or exit them. Time runs differently in pocket worlds, some are very slow and you can spend years there and come out when you entered, while others are fast that after a few minutes spent inside, decades have passed.
I loved this premise of pocket worlds, and I like the exploration of such concepts. Initially, the Institute is in charge of pocket worlds with mostly researchers and the main character idealizes this set up, but later on corporations are in charge and that goes as well as you'd expect. I loved the social commentary here, showing how capitalism can mess up such an amazing technology.

The main character is from the Dominican Republic and a descendant of the indigenous Taino people who used to live there, though she also descends of the many other ethnic groups that have been in the Dominican Republic, and her main interest with pocket worlds is that she's looking for any evidence that the Taino civilization survived and could have escaped into pocket worlds, and I liked her desire to reconnect with that culture, while also eventually realizing that the current, capitalist world would only harm such a civilization.

The story was mostly easy to follow, though there were a few points near the end where I was a bit confused, and I think it is suitable for people who don't read scifi on a regular basis, the science itself is not super complicated.

I think this novella would be great for fans of sci fi and dystopian

I'm a sucker for time travel novel, particularly if it isn't heavy on romance (which this isn't). This is the story of a woman who is working to learn about history and cultures by looking at archaeological evidence in pocket worlds (alternate worlds adjacent to ours with easy access, but varying evolutions and, interestingly time speeds). When she accidentally enters a world with this altered time, she comes out (to her the next day) but the rest of the world is 40 years on. And things have changed. Pocket worlds are now exploited for commercial interests and the attendant dystopian society of poverty, pollution, and social unrest. Trying to fit into this new world doesn't go well, and she ends up having to make some difficult ethical decisions. This book does a great job at exploring the possibilities of the pocket worlds and the benefits and problems they would present.

The book talks quite a bit about the history and mythology of the Taino peoples of the Caribbean. I think having a knowledge of this would have made the book even more powerful. But it is understandable without that background.

Overall, a fun fast read with interesting concepts and ethical conundrums. The portrayal doesn't speak well for the future of a greedy humanity, but it does end on a hopeful note. Recommend for sci-fi and time travel readers.

I'm rarely an enjoyer of time travel in fiction as I often find it too complex and paradoxical, but this is what I will call an exceptional exception.

The "travel" part of the phrase is utilized in an interesting and thoughtful way. The Pocket worlds are not just temporal anomallies but spacial. This novella gives a realistic look at how the world would handle the fusion of time and space as a commodity. The PWs are definitely one of my new favorite takes on time travel in fiction.

Their use in the novel's themes of human overconsumption, capitalization, and greed is well done. I've never read a take on time as a commodity quite like this one. Time is no longer quite an unwanted thief but rather one we welcome in on occasion.

Time's Agent speaks to the destructive image humanity has of time but asks the question if humanity is truly the worse thief.
Is it truly time that takes or is it the overconsumption of humanity that does the work for time? Peynado does a masterful job examining the query.

I cannot reccomend this one enough, and with a length as compact as the Pocket Worlds it features, it is accessible and a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an ARC.

It is profoundly weird to go from the fluffiest of time travel stories (Ministry of Time) to this. Time’s Agent is a powerful book about grief, colonialism and capitalism, especially in how time has become a commodity. It is a Big Ideas science fiction book but is also remarkably readable.

In Time’s Agent, we’re introduced to pocket worlds, which are a sort of parallel dimension that can be small enough to hold in one’s hand. Time can also run differently.

I was particularly taken by the brilliant, dystopian applications of pocket dimensions including special pocket worlds for indigent workers to sleep in, their legs hanging out into plain view; others designed for the vain to put their hands in so they will age more slowly (causing nerve issues as the hands grow out of alignment with the rest of the body); and finally, “slow-triplets”, which refer to children put in near stasis while their parents work. (“You could tell when people used this method because their children would all seem to be the same age and never grow up and the parents would be ancient compared to their toddlers, because when were they not working?”)

Highly recommended.

4.5 stars

What a lovely surprise! It's always such a pleasure to read a novella that makes you think and feel. It's not an easy job to do in a short page count.

What you will find from this story:
- scifi
- timetravel/multiverse
- queer mc
- robots
- environmental crisis
- grief and loss

What I enjoyed most in this book was the handling of loss and grief. We all experience it differently and we all behave differently when we have to face them.

It took some time for me to fully understand the world and there was also one scene in the end that I didn't quite grasp, but otherwise the world-building was really interesting. Time travel is always a bit hard to understand, but in here you can experience the effects of time with our main character which made it easier to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Time's Agent follows Raquel, an Archaelogist who works for the institute, delving into the mystery of pocket worlds (PW for short) and documenting their findings. She, her wife Marlena (a biologist) and several others are part of an elite team at the beginning stages of this exploration, when pocket worlds were vast and new. Lush and magical.

After an accident, they find themselves stranded 40 years in the future well and truly alone. The pocket worlds that seem so infinite have turned into a capitalistic nightmare. Marlena spends most of her time in the PW around Raquel's neck. Her work extending the frontiers of knowledge paved the way to new wars and new land to make profit.

For a novella, I loved the depth and breadth of the topics it touches upon. Of loss, corporate greed, colonialism and more intertwined with the sci-fi, speculative-ness of pocket worlds, time dilations and such. It's an emotional story and the grief is palpable as I feel so much for Raquel and what she has lost.

While I find the middle section rather slow as compared to the rest of the book, I really did enjoy it and at the time of reading, I didn't find it to be tedious. However, getting near the ending did I realize how slow it was as the last few chapters hasten to wrap the story.

Overall, it's a fascinating read and I'm curious to read more stories like this.

Thank you to Emily@ Tor who provided me a copy of this novella through Netgalley.

I didn't end up enjoying this book as much as I thought I might based on the summary. It is very well written, the world building is great and so relatable in the way that a lot of scifi portrays worlds where capitalist, corporate greed rules, but I just couldn't get into it, or the main character, and be compelled to finish without forcing myself.

Primarily my disenjoyment revolved around the main character and her child-related grief and the fact that the summary made it sound like Raquel's loss would be relationship focused instead. Stories and characters that have a heavy focus on parent-child bonds, love, etc. do not interest me, especially if I don't have any attachment to either character. I wouldn't have accepted the offer of this title if I had known this before hand.

Despite my own preferences here, I do think that this book was interesting and explored speculative concepts that others would like.