Dynestee Fields

Time flies when you’re plundering history. (147)

Ryan Graudin, author of The Walled City, the Wolf by Wolf duology, and the All that Glows series, is back with a brand new adventure. What happens when an impressive time traveler from the year 2354 AD and an ancient Roman gladiator have a forbidden love affair? According to Graudin, the universe itself is put into jeopardy! Invictus is the story of how Farway McCarthy, the outcome of this illicit affair, finds himself and his crew members acting as catalysts when the universe begins to systematically destroy itself while seeking to eradicate something (or someone) that does not belong.

Apart from its status as a standalone, a welcome relief to a land that has been plagued by trilogies in recent years, Invictus offers little to ease the faint of heart. It simply does not have time to. The speed of this novel is break neck from the beginning to the end. The first sentence of the prologue immerses readers into the fateful day when Farway’s mother, Empra, gives birth to him on the journey back to the future after recording events in ancient Rome. The following quote explains the unusual and catastrophic circumstance of Farway’s birth.

As a time traveler, he [Burg] was used to bending the laws of nature, sometimes all the way backward. But this… a child born outside of time… Such an event didn’t just distort  the laws of nature. It broke them. 

From there, the plot swiftly transforms into a comedic thriller complete with a missing mother, botched exam, Marie Antoinette, and skillful pillaging in the wake of historical disasters. During the course of this journey, Graudin interweaves phenomenal character development with an intricate and mysterious plot. Being the highly imaginative author that she is, she then inserts this construction into the city of Rome in the distant future; a future where time travel and parallel universes have become primary sources of research and entertainment.

The emphasis on time travel at the beginning of the novel has led to the creation of an academy to teach future Recorders (those who will masquerade in different time periods to record information), Engineers (those who keep the time machines running), and Historians (those who supply Recorders with the knowledge necessary to go undetected during their research). It is from this academy that the clever, prodigious Farway experiences his fall from grace after his final exam sim (simulation) is corrupted by an imposter Marie Antoinette. By pointing him out as an intruder, she ruins both his coverage of Versailles and his dream of becoming a Recorder as his mother did before him . This disastrous event is the oil that gets the plot running.

While there is a host of vibrant characters to be found inside of this novel, the key characters are the crew of the Invictus: Farway, Imogen, Gram, Priya, and Eliot. Each of these characters adds a distinctive dynamic to the crew. Farway, the fearless and somewhat arrogant protagonist of the novel, refuses to let the adventures of the history pass him by, and boldly arranges for he and his friends to plunder artifacts from the past as part of a black market organization. His chief motivation for exploring the past, aside from being able to escape the dullness of the present, is to find his mother who disappeared on a mission during his childhood. Farway, who is the captain of the time machine, makes all of the major decisions and acts as the Recorder on missions.

Imogen is Farway’s cousin and an outright eccentric. Brightly colored hair chalk, gelato, a red panda cub, and equally colorful humor can almost always be found in her possession.  Needless to say, she is viewed as an “eternal optimist. The grass is still green on this side and never ever ever give up type of girl” (46). She is the team’s Historian and the keeper of logs about the attitudes of her crew members, the atmosphere on the machine, and the adventures that she has with her friends.  When the crew is in the present, she works at a clothing boutique that specializes in historical garments. She turns red in the face whenever Gram is the object of conversation.

Gram is Farway’s best friend, who also happens to be a genius. He is somewhat reserved, and acts with caution. Due to his intelligence, he has graduated from the Academy as both an Engineer and as a Recorder. Although he can be counted upon to venture outside of the time machine when necessary, he prefers to work as an engineer and to leave the more harrowing work to Farway. Aside from his attraction to Imogen, his pastimes include playing video games and collecting rubik’s cubes.

The final member of the original crew is Priya. She is the level headed one in the group. As a Medic, she tends to the wounds of the crew when they become injured during missions. She cherishes this  job because it is her father’s   profession as well. In fact, she is descended from a long line of Medics. Priya, along with being the crew’s Medic, is also the crew’s musical guru. She knows songs from the distant past to the present. Aside from this hobby, her other primary interest centers on her relationship with Farway. Due to the nature of the events that the crew faces, she is determined to save the memories of her life and of those around her. In fact, it is her concern that allows the crew members to regroup after the world as they had once known it has been destroyed, and they have been deposited in an alternate future. Priya is of an Indian ethnicity and practices several traditions of her culture. One of these is keeping a small statue of an Indian god near her work station and her habit of making special tea when the crew is distressed. Overall, her motherly nature and conscientiousness keeps the crew steady and safe.

While the other characters eccentric personalities provide interesting scenarios for the story, it is Eliot’s character growth and the difficult things that she experiences that makes her the most dynamic character in the novel. As an alternate version of Farway, she shares a couple of his characteristics such as boldness and love for family, however her circumstances are much darker. The world that she originates from has been destroyed due to the universe’s search for the boy who does not belong in any time period. She has been tasked with ending this destruction by the Multiverse Bureau. This leads to secretive behavior, dread of the future, and loneliness. However, Eliot is strong and resourceful, even more so than Farway, and manages to collaborate with the crew to solve the problem without having to commit the unthinkable. She eventually gains the trust of the Invictus crew, and becomes a member of their family. Due to an immune disorder that has made all of her hair fall out, she is completely bald and lacks eyelashes and eyebrows.

The multiple point of view style of this story fits it well, and gives readers ample opportunities to spend time with each of the characters. Through clever plot twists and lively banter, Graudin ensures that boredom will never be experienced while reading this book. In fact, by its end, readers feel as though they themselves have become a member of the Invictus crew. This reviewer highly recommends this novel to anyone who likes adventure, time travel, and mayhem.

For more information on the crew of the Invictus