SciFi/Fantasy Novella Review: Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Arrives is a new novella from Tor.com featuring a story featuring time travel.  Like some other Tor.com novellas (Binti, All Systems Red), it's actually the first in a series (the sequel comes out in March) of novellas, telling a longer story over the course of multiple publications.  Still, unlike those other two novellas I mentioned, Alice Payne Arrives is more clearly the first in a series, ending on a pretty major cliffhanger.  The result is intriguing and fun (our main heroine is a mixed-race woman from the 18th century whose relationship with another woman who likes to tinker with tech gets tested when she gets involved in a time travel conspiracy/war) but isn't wholly satisfying.




Quick Plot Summary:  In England in the year 1788, Alice Payne and her lover Jane have a scheme where Alice acts as a highwayman known as the "holy ghost" and relying on an automaton built by Jane to rob local travelers so that Alice can obtain enough money to help pay off her father's debts.  Alice wishes simply to live in their estate and to be with Jane and certainly to avoid marriage, but her traumatized father is still seeking to help her....against her wishes.  But when Alice encounters a time traveler from the 22nd century named Prudence Zuniga, things change as Alice becomes aware of a conflict between time travelers that is changing the timeline constantly....a conflict Prudence intends to end once and for all, with Alice's help.  But to do so will cause changes in Alice's life and test her relationship with Jane in ways she could not have foreseen - and that's not even considering the changes to her own timeline she might cause through time travel!

Thoughts: Alice Payne Arrives features 21 chapters which alternate between Alice and Prudence's perspectives, as we go from someone who is from the 18th century to someone from our future and back again.  The result is definitely an intriguing story and both lead characters are really interesting - Alice is mixed-race and interested in both men and women, but committed to Jane...as well as adventure really (although its tempered by a need to help her father), which leads to some fun choices, while Prudence is a time traveler trying to prevent chaos caused by meddling in the time stream while secretly guilty of enjoying some of the results of that chaos herself.  The story also shows some clear keen ideas - for example the issue of change via major action or incrementalism is directly addressed - and has some cute twists on changes in the timeline that will amuse those who look up or know already the historical events referenced.

Still, the story isn't complete and it's noticeable, ending on a pretty major cliffhanger.  It's not quite as satisfying as the other first Tor.com novellas in a series that I've read as a result, which is a bit annoying.  I'd say the promise shown in this novella is enough that I'll be reading the second when it comes out in March, but if you're looking for a complete story, you won't find it here (again in contrast to those other two).