Science Fiction; Family Drama; Historical Fiction
Timescape is science fiction, but the science in that genre title is a little more realistic than what you might expect. When you think science fiction, you might think a story set in a galaxy far away with aliens and blasters and those nifty spaceships that travel between planets lightning fast. And while that is totally science fiction, too, Timescape belongs to a more specialized corner of the genre that focuses on science as we understand it.
Instead of distant planets, the adventures of the novel take place in laboratories at major universities. Instead of time-hopping Delorians, Benford's scientists use tachyons—theoretical particles that may or may not actually exist—to send messages back in time. And instead of heroes saving the world single-handedly by virtue of destiny, these characters are everyday guys trying to balance their work and love of scientific discovery with their honey-do lists and the dating scene.
Sometimes referred to as hard science fiction, this genre aims to find its fantastical elements in the technical details of physics, chemistry, and biology, and Benford's novel is one of its shining examples.
Far Out
Timescape also saves some room in its genre closet for historical fiction. This is really standard fare for time traveling tales as stories about people going into the past necessitate at least a dash of historical fiction—that is, unless you move your time travelers in the other direction and end up in the future like in The Time Machine.
Benford's choice of historical setting is the early 1960s, and there are several chapters that drop the science fiction aspects of the novel and read almost like a period piece. Consider the unexpected visit of Penny's old friend Cliff. The focus of this chapter is not the time traveling narrative but rather the issues of that era. Cliff suffers from PTSD after returning from the Vietnam War, a stark contrast to the problems of Gordon's life in 1998.
The contrast between the warfront and the home front is striking in this chapter, and it is one of several moments when the novel takes a moment to step back from its time-traveling plot and serve as more of a survey of the 1960s.
So Much Drama
Tying these two genres together is the genre of family drama. Whether scientists, politicians, or soldiers, everybody has to go home for the day, and Timescape takes several chapters to explore how the distinct worlds of home life and university laboratories both compliment and conflict with each other. Renfrew has to find a way to balance his work saving the future with being a father and a husband, while Gordon struggles with his relationships with Penny and his mother since neither comes with a mathematically tested solution.
Then there's Ian Peterson, the perpetual bachelor who has no family to go home to. In fact, this guy seems bent on wrecking as many families as he can if it means getting what he wants. His disgust for the life of a family man also plays toward the family drama.