Farway ("Far") Gaius McCarthy is the son of a time traveler from 2354 AD and a gladiator from ancient Rome. For all intents and purposes, he shouldn't have even been born, since his existence challenges the laws of time. Growing up hearing of his mother's exploits throughout time, there is nothing he has wanted more than to follow in her footsteps.
When Far fails the final exam he needs to be admitted into the government's time travel program, he insists that someone hacked into the system, but his dreams are crushed. So when he is offered the opportunity to captain his own ship and lead his own crew, he jumps at the chance, even if it means being under the thumb of a criminal, who forces Far to travel throughout time, stealing valuable antiquities and black market delicacies.
As captain, Far hits his stride, and he and his crew travel through time, sometimes barely escaping danger, but never missing an adventure. And then on a journey to steal a valuable book from the Titanic before it sinks, Far encounters Eliot, a mysterious young woman whom he believes he's seen before, and who always seems to be just a step or two ahead of him, throwing his missions into chaos.
It turns out Eliot is more connected to Far than anyone knows, and has secrets that have major ramifications for his future and those of his crew—not to mention their pasts. Yet as much as they don't know whether to trust her or fear her, they have to decide whether her warnings about the imminent danger to time are true, and if so, what they can do to change things before everything changes around them.
Invictus is a fun adventure, one which raises interesting theories of time and how the slightest moves can impact the world and history. Graudin has created a fascinating cast of characters, full of quirky personalities, and you find yourself rooting for them to get out of the scrapes in which they find themselves, even though in many cases they're technically committing crimes.
The plot gets a little bogged down and confusing at times, borrowing elements from Blake Crouch's Dark Matter and other sci-fi novels that touch on the concept of multiple universes. I felt like things could have been tightened up a bit, because it took a while to resolve everything. But Graudin's storytelling is really entertaining, and I think this could be a fun movie, kind of a Firefly with a little less bad-ass attitude.
NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
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