Time travel is one of those topics that is hard to write without seeming like a super cheesy 70s sci-fi movie. However, Philip Fracassi's prose and with this particular concept was striking. I LOVED every word of this book. There were so many emotions evoked and the characters were incredibly well developed. I loved the thriller plot and appreciated that there wasn't a ton of science jargon. I think Fracassi is now on my auto-buy list!

5 stars

Time travel is such a difficult genre to write (I suspect). It’s really got to be thought out well, and executed perfectly.
I think Fracassi has done just that though. He has used time travel in this novel just right. And he has written such a beautiful story with so much depth and emotion. This is one of my 3 five star books of the year. I truly cannot wait to own this and reread it. I know I’ve probably missed some subtle details, and even if I haven’t it is a story worthy of many rereads.

Review Copy

First things first. I had to tag this as sf, because well, I had to put something, right? But, I believe. I also believe it's so much more than this book predicts. That aside, this book, like everything Fracassi writes is awesome.

It's impossible to talk about this book without spoilers. And I don't do spoilers. So, I will just say the obvious. It's all about time travel. It's Philip Fracassi's version, not Heinlein or Gerrold or anyone else you've read. And it's an incredible read. And a fast one!

I loved it. If you've read his books before, you know what you're in for. If you haven't read him before, add all his books to your pile and happy reading!

I love Fracassi books and this is no different. The concept of time traveling your consciousness to the past is just such a good idea. He nails it. Tiggt story, we'll developed characters and a lot of personal baggage. I loved just as much as anubkf his stuff. Five stars. Make sure you read it. It will blow your mind!

Philip Fracassi is a must-buy author for me, and this book might be the best example of why that is. He's capable of wrenching your heart, sending a chill up your spine, sure, but versatility is the name of the game, and The Third Rule of Time Travel is Fracassi flexing his pen and showing what he's capable of. Although there are certainly horrific elements, this book might fit more comfortably in the science-fiction or thriller section, and does it ever fit. The pacing is immaculate, and the ideas resonate with sense of familiarity while also bringing an originality to the table. Everything about this story is tremendously intentional, the plotting is intricate and thoughtful, without ever feeling overbaked. A month before the new year, I feel confident saying this is one of the best books of 2025.

This was a great read, recommend for pretty much anyone that enjoys a good thriller with a sci-fi twist. As the title suggests, the book does dapple into time travelling but it felt pretty grounded (in a good way) with the limitations and effects pretty well explained. I also appreciated that the author didn't focus too much on the scientific jargon, but used the character's experiences and reactions to allow us to understand what is going on. It has a good ending as well, one that left me feeling warm and satisfied.

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi is a brilliantly imaginative and thought-provoking journey through the complexities of time and consequence. Fracassi masterfully blends sci-fi elements with deeply human emotions, crafting a story that is as thrilling as it is poignant. The intricate plot is filled with twists and moral dilemmas that keep readers on the edge of their seats, while the richly developed characters ground the narrative in emotional truth. Though the pacing occasionally slows in the middle, the payoff is well worth it. A captivating and intelligent exploration of time travel that will linger in your mind long after the last page. Highly recommend!

I have never read anything by Fracassi, but my favorite sci fi trope is time travel so I was really excited to receive this ARC. I tore through it in 5 days, and it would have been less if it wasn't so darn scary. It's not scary in a traditional sense though... it's quite an experience. The cover art to this is really good because it's very significant to the entire book in the end. Needless to say, Fracassi is going to now be an auto read author for me. I wish I could time travel to when I didn't know what happened in this book so I could experience it again for the first time. I will for sure be recommending this!!

We could all use a stroll through the Existential Meadow, from time to time. Philip Fracassi's fast-paced sci-fi thriller, The Third Rule of Time Travel, gives its readers an opportunity to do just that, as the author explores grief and familial loyalty in a world where the laws of the universe are only as rigid as the mind that perceives them.

The novel poses philosophical questions as our protagonist struggles with personal tragedy, suddenly compounded by the spooky-action consequences of time travel. There's something irresistibly poignant about the longing to reverse a tragic twist of fate through the cosmic power of a time machine and Fracassi takes full advantage in this story. Unfortunately, in certain sections of the book, the underlying science becomes more entangled than the particles travelling through the titular time machine. One critical plot point, for example, relies on the same rationale behind Captain Kirk's cloning process in the classic Star Trek episode What Are Little Girls Made Of? The author’s note, frantic with insecurity about the consistency of the science, comes off as an apologetic justification for these plot holes.

That being said, Fracassi isn't a science fiction writer as much as a speculative fiction author. The story is undeniably compelling and the pacing will have you turning pages with increasing frequency until the end, with enough imaginative weirdness to keep things interesting along the way. Fans of Blake Crouch's Recursion will find some familiar territory here.

A sub-atomically entangled thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.

One Day Read!
I couldn’t stop reading once I started. Beth is a truly well thought out character that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. Excellent, bad assed, well rounded, flawed woman vibes! The pacing of the book is fast and has excellent physics (quantum and otherwise) sprinkled throughout to give the reader that “I’m super smart”feeling. Fortunately, it was done in a way that didn’t get bogged down in too much detail with the time travel mechanics. Just enough to keep us involved in a big way. I loved that Beth was the more scientific of the husband and wife team. Woman power!
The secondary characters were also interesting. I found the villain so well done I wanted to enter their dimension and kick his old, misogynistic ass! I did wish there was more of a comeuppance at the end. (That’s the only reason for 4 stars instead of 5…could this be the beginning of a series?)
I’m really impressed with this authors ability to make me care what’s going to happen. I’m looking at his previous work now. He did a great job with this first foray into Sci-Fi, I hope for more from him in this genre in the future! In fact I hope this has a sequel and then I will change this rating to a big 5 stars!

I definitely recommend this one, y’all! If you have even a little time travel obsessed nerd in you…Read This Book!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: loss of a spouse, loss of parents and sister, stillbirth

Beth is a scientist working on a time travel machine where she can go to different points in her past, but only to observe. Her husband who worked with her has passed, but when she begins seeing him after his death, she doesn’t know what to make of it. As her reality unravels with each travel, she works to understand her life’s work and fix her present.

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I thought I would. The concept was amazing, but the execution was lacking. I feel like this would have benefited greatly from 1st person perspective, and I’m not normally one to care about that. I felt disconnected to the characters, and the pacing felt very slow. I feel like I also went into this thinking the travelers SHOULD not do more than observe rather than simply being unable, but that seems like a confusion on my part. Overall, it was very interesting and I did want to keep reading to see what happened, but it just didn’t feel fully fleshed out.

2.5/5 stars

Wow—Fracassi has done it again! This might just be the best thing I’ve ever read—at least in this reality. While A Child Alone with Strangers holds a special place as my all-time favorite, this new novel gives it serious competition. Completely different in tone, this is a science fiction story bursting with heart and originality. It’s a brilliant, unforgettable experience.

Fracassi’s horror has always been phenomenal—I’ve devoured everything he’s written and loved it all. Now he’s proven his talent extends seamlessly across genres, delivering the same emotional impact we’ve come to expect, if not more.

WOW! This book was totally mind-blowing. It's one of those stories that, like, you think you know where it’s going, but then it’s all, "Oh no, honey, buckle up!" The whole time travel thing? Super wild, but not in a confusing, brain-melty way. It’s more like, "Wait, what would I do if I could peek into my own past?" And honestly? Kinda terrifying.

Beth is such a vibe—like, she’s grieving, she’s brilliant, and she’s holding it together for her daughter while juggling this insane invention that’s totally breaking all the rules. And the whole “you can only observe” thing? Yeah, let’s just say that doesn’t go as planned. Watching her reality twist and shift? Whew, I couldn’t stop reading. It’s emotional, it’s tense, and it’s just... everything.

I don’t want to spill too much tea because this is definitely a journey you need to take for yourself, but trust me—this book delivers. Like, chills, tears, and even a few “Wait, did I just gasp out loud?” moments.

Massive thanks to NetGalley for letting me snag this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Seriously, y’all, add this one to your list. 💫

Those of you who know me know how much I love Fracassi’s books. He is primarily known for his horror books, which feature strong characters, great pacing, and very memorable horror scenes. When I heard he wrote a science fiction novel, I was very excited to see what he would do!

This novel is both exactly what I expected from a Fracassi sci-fi novel and also so much more. The main character, Beth, is a scientist grieving her husband (and partner)‘s untimely death, as she is developing technology that allows a person to “time travel” back to a point during their lifetime, with the caveats that they can only observe and it’s only for 90 seconds.

This book is thrilling, has some really excellent thoughts on what it is to be human, memory, and the important things we have in our life. And also some really mind blowing discussions on physics and existence and so much more. Beyond the thrilling conceit and the science is the heart of this book - the characters, especially Beth, our protagonist. She has a great character arc in this and she feels like a real, flawed human (which many sci-fi authors either struggle with or leave out - many scientist characters are flawless caricatures but Beth is not).

This is an absolute recommend from me!

Thank you to Orbit for sending me an ARC and the author for an eARC on NetGalley.

In The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi, Beth Darlow’s husband has died. The two of them created a time machine and she’s trying to continue the work they started.

And there are three rules to time travel: you can only travel within your lifetime, you can only travel for 90 seconds, and you can only observe. The problem is: each time Beth comes back from observing the past, things in the present have changed…

The Third Rule of Time is my newest review book from Net Galley. I got to read it early and just finished it today.

The book starts out pretty slow, introducing Beth and her family and making you care about her and her machine. It takes awhile for the book to get going but once it does, it hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. I worried about Beth and hoped that she’d find a way to fix things. I was on the edge of my seat and Philip Fracassi did a great job of raising the stakes and delivering a shocking twist.

I enjoyed the book overall, though the ending wasn’t satisfying to me. It felt like there should have been more to the story. Basically, things just stopped and I wanted to know where they would head next.

The Third Rule of Time is a good book though. The story kept me interested and I enjoyed the characters and all the twists. It also made think about the nature of time and reality. If you like time travel stories like Quantum Leap and you like your novels with a dash of “realistic” sci-fi like Contact, then you’ll enjoy The Third Rule of Time Travel too.

The Third Rule of Time Travel will release on March 18th, 2025. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing an early digital copy of this book for review.

My favorite Fracassi book so far. Absolutely loved the character work and pacing of this one! Hope to see more sci-fi from Philip soon!

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for this ARC of Philip Fracassi's 'The Third Rule of Time Travel.'

Interesting take on the time travel/multidimensional universe novel.

The time traveller's mind or memories are the things travelling, not their corporeal body.

The main protagonist is living in a constant state of grief having lost her husband and work partner and trying to raise their daughter while keeping on top of the pressures of this stunning scientific breakthrough which needs to be monetized by the rapacious capitalist firm they sold out to and its nasty founder and owner.

It's cool how we're going along in a fairly conventional way until about two thirds through when things get a bit weirder and more interesting. I feel, though, we could've gotten to that point a bit sooner rather than re-emphasizing how grief-stricken she is, how under pressure she is, how nasty the company and its founder are. Fracassi also plays with gender stereotypes, the dead husband being the 'woowoo' person in the partnership and the wife being the more hardnosed scientist (a bit X Filesy, when I come to think of it).

Decent read.

I am a sucker for any good story about time travel, which is why I picked up this volume. The tale begins with a typical play=within-the=lines story about going back in time, complete with rules like going back for a limited time and not being able to change anything in the past (that's pesky Rule #3). About half to two-thirds way through the story, the narrative veers into left field with an unexpected twist, which was compelling. At the end, however, is where the story becomes a philosophical treatise of the nature of time itself (think less baseball field metaphor and more playing 3-D chess with pandimensional mice, thank you Douglas Adams). It is not a bad ending, but it is hard for me to tell if it real or imagined (Christopher Nolan's Inception comes to mind. As a matter of fact, Nolan could probably do a really good adaptation of this story). All in all, not what I was expecting, which is nice in the Sci-Fi genre.

First of ok, let me say I love everything about time travel, so this book is right up my alley. It’s the first novel I’ve read by the author and I’m a fan. Such a well written, well thought out book. I always love a kick ass strong female lead. There is a lot of character development for the female lead. She’s been through a lot in her life. So many tragic things, many would not be able to get through. I don’t want to give anything away, because it will ruin the story. I’m hoping for a sequel. (Even though it can stand alone for sure)

Full review closer to publication.

A slow paced, psychological scifi horror. The build up asks for patience, but when the smaller details of the time displacement become apparent, it is worth it.

The circle of characters here is small, and we mainly focus on Beth. I wish we'd seen more characters fleshed out, and more from their time before. Some characters appear only present to push the plot along.

However, I couldn't put this book down! There are so many questions you want answered and I raced through this in less than a day. I love Fracassi's writing and I hope he continues exploring scifi horror.