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While I enjoy sci-fi books I have only read a couple of time traveling books with this one being one of my favorites. I thought this story was truly original and delightful. The concept of time travel can be very complex due to all of the rifts it can cause by just altering one decision. Graudin did a very good job in making this story believable and exciting at the same time. We follow a team of thieves who go back in time to collect items that were “lost” in time. While the first half of the book didn’t really offer much in adventure, the pacing was never off. At the end of the book the pace really picks up with anticipation of how their adventure ends. There was never a dull moment in the book which can sometimes be common in sci-fi due to the abundance of information provided. There was just enough detail about the science of time travel to give the reader an idea of how it works without losing the audience. While there were parts where the readers may have been lost, it was designed to be that way. I find that entertaining because you truly feel as one of the characters who also don’t understand all of the details.

I absolutely adored the characters in this book. They each had such a unique personality that it really tied the team together. Each character gave life to the ship which is very believable for a crew that is very close. Even though we didn’t get much development of characters they were portrayed in a way where you felt like you already knew them. Since character development was not a major objection in the book, the multiple point of views really helped the connection. We were able to read from the view of each character which gave them their own voice. Using these multiple points of view really help the connection to the characters since much background information wasn’t given. The lack of background information was very successful in keeping the pacing of the book and minimizing the information.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Invictus by Ryan Graudin was a fast paced, exciting read. I absolutely loved the story and thought it was executed really well. There was just enough detail to keep the reader interested while not overwhelming them with a lot of science information. The character development was very limited but through multiple points of views you were able to connect with them on a deeper level. I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy sci-fi, action, and heist stories.