Creating a story about time travel is difficult because there are so many rules, and it is easy to contradict one’s self in the structure of the story. Combine that with the task of creating memorable and relatable characters amidst the chaos of time travel, and it is easy to see why there aren’t many great time travel fiction books. What Dan Busby has managed with this book is impressive from both a fiction and a historical standpoint in Time Machine Emergency.

The story starts when a young genius accidentally stumbles on time travel in a most unexpected way. His discovery comes just in the nick of time as the world begins to destabilize, promising the death of billions of people. The genius and his professor, along with a companion, head to the past with a plan to change their future forever and save the world from total destruction. As they soon find out, when it comes to time travel, nothing is guaranteed.

The trio concocts a plan to pluck a famous conqueror from history and shape the world how he has once planned. The group, along with their conqueror, set out to create a utopia though the results are mixed, and things don’t always go as they are planned. There are ups and downs throughout their journey, but the story comes to a satisfying ending.

Dan Busby does a great job of walking the line between science fiction and reality. I enjoyed how he played with the butterfly effect in this book showing how small changes the characters made in the past affected the trajectory of the future. Mr. Busby is clearly a scholar of history, which showed through in his work and added an extra layer of authenticity to the story.

As far as his writing style is concerned, I was thoroughly impressed with the author and how he constructed his story. He articulates his points clearly, but without pandering, which is a difficult task, especially in the realm of science fiction. The book was simple to read but didn’t feel like I was reading a children’s story.

I think Busby may have hit gold here with a great story and fantastic characters that could be a one-off or could easily evolve into a series of books. I know that I would enjoy the latter and watching his characters grow through the books while tackling the dangerous and unforeseen circumstances of time traveling. Perhaps the most telling aspect of this book is that you don’t have to be a fan of science fiction or history to enjoy Time Machine Emergency. While lovers of both will surely love this book, any reader will have a good time and perhaps learn something in the process.