“Imagine this whisk with an infinite number of wires.” (169)Įxistence was a matter of chance, of probability, as infinite futures became one observed present.

“Possible futures, possible timelines––infinitely possible,” I said. “All of history––the observed past.” At the top of the handle, I said, “The Present”…I touched each of the wires on the whisk. The effect was called lensing, the sensation bizarre, our instructor saying that IFTs could feel like dreams within dreams. We were told that we affected IFTs even as we observed them––that they would bend around our psyches in subtle ways, but as surely as intense gravity bends light. We were warned that no time passes in terra firma while we lived lives in IFTs––and yet IFTs weren’t real, not “objectively” so. Only the Present is real, only the Present is terra firma. Here are a few of the clever ways Sweterlitsch conveys this idea: In order to solve high-priority crimes for the Naval Space Command (NSC), she engages in time travel through the use of quantum-based technology, exploring “Inadmissable Future Trajectories” (IFTs)––possible futures that stem from “terra firma” (the Present) but are just one of an infinite number of futures that may occur.

Moss’s particular role within NCIS isn’t what you’d expect. Moss’s relationship with her own physicality and ambulation through the use of various prosthetics are differentiating factors that make her more interesting and sympathetic than other protagonists in this genre. The one notable exception is her left leg, which was amputated above the knee after an accident in the field. In most ways, Moss is a typical hard-boiled detective: highly intelligent, intimate with humanity’s dark side, and sporting a gruff persona that conceals a vulnerable and compassionate heart. The Gone World begins in 1997, and tells the story of Shannon Moss, an agent working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Sweterlitsch’s imagination demonstrates impressive nuance and scope, and his prose slices the mind like a brutal blade. In this riveting and extremely grim science fiction thriller, the classic detective novel gets a time travel twist. It feels odd to call Tom Sweterlitsch’s The Gone Worlda ”fun” read, but fun is a whole lot of what I had while reading it.

The gone world by tom sweterlitsch