Divine Zape’s Review from Readers’ Favorite

Pulsar: The Time Traveler by Alexander Heed opens with a tragic premise. The dying Nespis Empire bombards the planet Rhaland, and young Chase Monadi escapes using a time machine. The jump sends him over a century into the future on Earth, where college roommates Rachel and Jason are distracted by job rejections and finals. Their ordinary lives shatter when bounty hunter Botter arrives with his terrifying War Pups hunting Chase. They want him for committing the only unforgivable crime in the galaxy: time travel. Now Chase and an alien trader, Kay, together with his brother Coba and friends, embark on a dangerous escape that takes them across a hidden nightclub, a drowned city, battlefields, and the ringed world of Tsidio. Meanwhile, Chase has a hidden agenda: to bend time backward so he can prevent the deaths of his parents. Can Chase and his friends outsmart their pursuers, and will he succeed in bringing his murdered parents back to life?

What caught my attention is the way the author handles the characters, drawn from across different worlds and with different backgrounds. Chase is not portrayed as the chosen one. He is genuinely flawed: a grieving son unable to let go, which drives his actions. His quest for the piece of the machine that can enable travel back in time is the engine of the story. The supporting cast is finely drawn as well, believable characters that augment the humanity and realism of the story. Alexander Heed is not just a master storyteller with a unique gift for deft plotting but one who brings the galaxy to life with Gifts that can sense energy, casinos beside black holes, and phaser disguises. This is a perfect read for sci-fi fans. The pacing is fast, and the action, especially with the chase, makes it hard to put down. The crisp prose, short chapters, timely paragraph breaks, and exciting dialogue make the book even more enjoyable. Pulsar ticked all the boxes for me. You will turn the last page in no time and will want more.