Review: Uncontrollable

Uncontrollable by Nina Croft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series gets better and better as the truth comes out. For readers who enjoy the two series Fringe and Marvel Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D., this series is for you. I kept imaging Olivia from Fringe as Melody Lyons. Quinn isn't quite Peter from Fringe, he reminds me more of mix between Ward and Daisy from Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. Regardless, these two characters are front in center in a very deadly time travel dilemma.

I find time traveling stories to be hard to write because of how changing events could cause possible catastrophic events. It is hard to say because there are so many different variables. It is always interesting to see how an author deals with the timeline continuum. Is it going to be campy like Back to the Future or is going to be more gritty like Loopers or 12 Monkeys? Ms. Croft does a nice balance that once again reminds me more of Fringe, especially with the lack of emotions and human intimacy in the future. There future is very bleak and takes on the same desperation as the Marvel Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D series.

The introduction of aliens and future helps add another layer of complexity to this story. Quinn and Melody's relationship feels more strained because they are two people trying to build a relationship across time. Their baseline is so different, how can they possible relate and communicate effectively? What is imperative for one may be completely inconsequential for another. I like how the females in this series are all different. Whilst Christa was a bit more mild and Sadie more ruthless, Melody seems to be all emotion. She tries to follow the edicts enforced by her society yet she tends to run more on her pathos rather than logos. This makes for unpredictable behaviours if one thinks logically. For readers who are used to emotional characters running on instinct, it is predictable and creates a foreboding dread feeling.

So many threads in this story now come together and as soon as I put the pieces together, I feel a terrible sense in dread. By the end of this story, my dread is confirmed and I desperately want to know what happens next. How will Ms. Croft resolve this? Will there be many more books in this series? Will it end in a quartet or end up with five books? All I know is that I want to read this to the end. I want to know if my conclusions will match up to Ms. Croft's. It will be a thrilling ride and I'm looking forward to it. This speculative fiction is recommended to readers who enjoy time travel and fringe science.