Critics have had their say. Now it's the characters' turn.
Here's what the people who actually survived The Five Seconds Series think of the books—and the author responsible for everything that happened to them.
I was a perfectly normal college student until this book decided I needed trauma, impossible decisions, and responsibility for a machine that can tear holes in time.
Also, everyone older than me either dies, disappears, or leaves me to clean up their mess.
Would not recommend. Apparently I'm the main character now.
The professor said the machine was safe. It was not safe.
Nobody listened to me when I said we should stop using it. Then, every time something went wrong, everyone looked at me like I was supposed to come up with the ethical solution.
I'm a graduate student, not the moral emergency brake for the space-time continuum. One star.
As a historian, I was initially excited by the opportunity to witness the past firsthand.
Unfortunately, the author confused “historical research” with “being repeatedly dropped into the worst moments in human history.” The accommodations were terrible, the return schedule was unreliable, and no one respected the importance of proper documentation.
I would give it zero stars, but apparently history has already decided otherwise.
The scientific concepts were fascinating, but the author clearly lacked respect for the inventor.
Every time I improved the device, it became more unstable. Every time I attempted to explain myself, someone interrupted me. And every time disaster struck, everyone acted as though it were somehow my fault.
Progress requires risk. The author required considerably less of it than I did. One star for scientific cowardice.
I was brought in to fix the machine. That was the job. Fix the machine.
Instead, I got time travel, family trauma, impossible power requirements, a dead professor, and coworkers who think “let's test it” is a complete safety plan.
The engineering is impressive. The workplace culture is unacceptable. One star. I'm still fixing the machine.
They came back to update their reviews.
I didn't ask to become responsible for the future of time travel.
I didn't ask to inherit a dangerous machine, a warehouse full of impossible technology, or everyone else's unfinished business.
But somewhere between the disasters, the losses, and the terrible decisions, I stopped being the student standing in the background. I became the person who could handle it.
Five stars. I just wish the author had found a less traumatic way to tell me.
The historical accuracy was impressive.
The ethical decision-making was occasionally horrifying, but at least someone in the book kept pointing that out.
Despite everything, we saved lives. We learned that history is more complicated than a list of dates and that knowing what happens next does not always mean you know what to do.
Five stars for the people who kept trying to do the right thing. The machine still gets one.
History is often reduced to names, dates, and casualty figures.
This book remembered that every event was filled with real people who believed they still had a future. I was given the chance to see them, speak to them, and understand moments no historian was ever meant to witness.
It was terrifying. It was extraordinary.
Five stars, though I strongly recommend observing history from a properly climate-controlled archive.
At last, a story with the courage to recognize genuine scientific achievement.
The device crossed time, survived catastrophic conditions, and repeatedly returned its travelers with only a statistically acceptable number of complications.
Yes, there were setbacks. Yes, several people complained. That is how progress works.
Five stars for the science. Additional stars should be awarded to the inventor.
The machine shouldn't work.
The power requirements are ridiculous, half the components are being pushed beyond anything they were designed to survive, and the original inventor apparently considered warning labels a personal insult.
But it works. And when it matters, so do we.
Five stars for the team. I'm still rewriting the safety procedures.