This was a risky request that didn't pan out. The storyline sounded interesting, but I don't do well with parallel worlds and time stuff. And then there were these out of body experiences and ka and each part happens in a different world but the same people with different characters?? idk.

Wanted to DNF several times, ended up just finishing the whole thing, but not entirely sure what I read. Or why.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Canongate Books via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Admittedly I requested this for the cover, but got a really great surprise being able to read some spec fiction with roots that I don't read as much of as I would like. The African cosmological stance was fascinating, and I was even better able to understand due to the nice and easy prose. Admittedly I preferred a couple of the four parts to others, overall I enjoyed it a lot!

This is a very different genre to what I usually read so it did take a little while to get used to the writing but I enjoyed it! There is a lot of plot building at the start but do stick with it!

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review :)

This is a strange, but interesting dystopian world. The action happens in parallel London and you follow Markriss, who has an interesting power - his soul can leave his body. The world is very interestingly presented, there were times when the description was to detailed for my taste - to many details (repeated information) I really did not need to know to understand the world.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. To slow in places and I just wanted to skip entire paragraphs to get to the action. Considering how interesting the world is, I would have enjoyed this book more if it wasn't for the main character. I just could not stand him, at all... nothing made me care about him, his motivation, anything. Also, surprisingly I was annoyed by the love interest and the whole idea of soulmate was to much for me (I am not a big fan of romance of any kind, in general).

I still think this book is worth giving a try. Again, the world is really interesting and well thought of.

This novel defies easy categorisation. Yes, it is about parallel worlds and astral planes through which our spirits can move. Yes, that makes it speculative fiction but one in which our world is altered at a historical and spiritual level both in the future and in the past – something not many books in the genre attempt to do.

A River Called Time reimagines our world without the colonialism we know, allowing for a culture that prizes older religions and cultures from Africa, India and China above Christianity, Islam, Judaism. But humans remain humans and our ability to create division and discrimination continues. The Ark, the promised structure created as a haven and saviour from a world crippled by environmental collapse, isn’t all Markriss Denny thought it was promised to be. His journey behind its walls lifts him out of his body and into alternative histories in which the same characters must be met and understood anew.

Time is the river that flows on an astral plane. Dipping in and out of its ebb and flow, Markriss Denny searches for another spirit like himself. One who may threaten this freedom of movement.

In this way, we are constantly slipping into new versions of Markriss and new interpretations of the Ark in an altered reality. This temporal and spatial slippage forces the structure of the novel in different and unusual directions. Gone is the standard western teleology. This is refreshing, exciting and baffling. No wonder it took Courttia Newland so long to research and write. This is a book that will reward time spent on it. I have put off writing my review of it because I know any confusions I’m left with are my own and not those of the novel itself. A River Called Time is a book that challenges its reader to reinvent their own ideas about how to construct meaning. It is a book that asks to be reread and studied.

I don’t claim to understand everything this book is trying to say to me, but I can say that anyone taking a walk through its pages will come away with tantalising questions about the riches our western-centric culture has chosen to ignore and how differently we might see the world if we were to challenge the structures colonialism has left in its wake. And Newland has offered a reading list for those who might want to explore certain ideas further.

I look forward to rereading A River Called Time and understanding it better. I think you’ll know if this is something that appeals to you. Whether it appeals or not, you are sure to hear a lot more about this book and rightly so.

My thanks to Canongate for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A River Called Time’ by Courttia Newland in exchange for an honest review.

This is an extraordinary novel, written over many years and rich in philosophical and spiritual ideas. Courttia Newland proposes a world where there was no African slave trade, no colonisation. A world in which European explorers instead learnt from peaceful contact with the result that African cosmology became the dominant world religion.

It opens with an alternative timeline as we learn that in 1830 The Ark was built in Dinium (London) in order to save the lives of the many. Yet it quickly became a refuge for the elite, cut off from the rest of the world. Now only a select few are granted entrance.

The novel opens in 2000 and introduces Markriss Denny, who is eventually among those chosen to enter the Ark. Once inside the Ark he discovers that it is a deeply flawed society and like others before him, who find themselves living in oppressive regimes, he has serious choices to make. He also has a closely guarded secret: his spirit leaves his body spontaneously. His ability to astral project allows him to experience a world beyond the physical and to become aware of a multiplicity of realities.

This short description only scratches the surface of this complex novel. I appreciated the concept of a world free of historical slavery and colonialism and the incorporation of Kemetic religion and mythology including the gods of ancient Egypt being a natural part of everyday life.

In his Afterword Courttia Newland details his sources for these aspects as well as for astral projection. Given my own experiences with various esoteric practices, I may be in a different position from readers who may come to this novel without familiarity with them.

Overall, I feel that this is a important work of literary speculative fiction that was beautifully written and very thought-provoking. It is likely to be a novel that I will revisit for a deeper appreciation of its themes and multiple layers.

Highly recommended.

Courttia Newman has written a novel in which lots goes on. It’s an alternative future history of London and by implication the UK and Africa too. There’s family history, romance and revolution, multiverses and astral projection. At times there’s so much going on that you wonder whether Newman can keep a hold on all the strands he’s set in motion.

We start in a dystopian future London - in which the city is divided into two. Makriss is a talented student whose excellence buys him a Golden Ticket from the outer lands into the Ark, the city within a city populated by the elite. Fast forward a few years and Makriss is a journalist writing puff pieces, playing up the ferocity of protesters in the lowest ranks of the Ark and writing pieces supporting the regime. Gradually, through a combination of wanting to impress girls, and political debate, he is sucked into an underground uprising.

If this sounds so dystopia so normal Newman throws in some pretty unique themes into the mix. The first is a complete decolonisation of Britain and Africa: in this London African culture, cosmology and religion are as natural as Christianity. So complete is this process that brilliantly characters can call on African gods without the reader having any idea of the colour of their skin. The second theme - the ability of the spirit to leave the body and enter other realms. The level of detail and scientific approach to this unlikely approach to space travel recalls Ian Watson’s seventies novels such as Alien Embassy and God’s World. I won’t spoil the plot by leaving another big theme which is unveiled in the last section of the book - but it casts the previous 300 pages in a completely new light.

There was lots I liked about this book: Makriss’ struggles with his own thoughts and instincts feel very real; and for those who know south London there’s some unexpected callbacks. The first 100 pages sets up the key conflicts and characters, and the last third provides surprises and prompts reflection. If I had a criticism it is that it does sag in the middle and Newman sometimes left this reader unsure of which multiverse Makriss was currently in. It’s at times not an easy read, but Newman has by the end led Makriss to some uncomfortable truths about the nature of the Ark (and caused us to reflect on the injustices of our own world).

Thank you to Canongate and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book- it had an interesting concept, but I also think there were things about the book that could have been better. Nevertheless it’s nothing like I’ve ever read before.

The idea we all have astral bodies really captivated me, and this was one of the reasons I kept reading. I wanted to see what Markriss saw and how the characters interacted with their astral forms. Technology has changed to let them do this- they sleep in pods not beds which can monitor astral activity.

The main character had a good voice, however, due to time passing, and no natural indication of transgression I felt like in some chapters he still sounds as young as he was at the start of the book.

The change in time periods confused me, as I said above, as I couldn’t distinguish between them even though each section is labelled- each characters life changes in each section and that threw me off.

As much as I liked seeing different sides of characters, I couldn’t make connections- then I realised it was a totally different timeline. Like a parallel world.

I do love the futuristic element of London, even though we’re in 2020 in the novel, it works to show that there is still a divide between the classes but that everyone is of African descent so the race side of it doesn’t exist.

Overall, it was an intriguing read and I’m glad I read it as I’d never read anything by this author and I’m trying to read more by authors of colour.

3/5 stars.
It was almost a 2.5 but it picked itself up.

Firstly, I should point out I received an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The rating is rounded up to 4 stars (but only slightly).

A River Called Time is set in various parallel versions of a place generally known as the Ark. It uses African cosmology and decolonised history to inform where it goes and what it does with the narrative. It’s bold. It’s speculative. What’s strangest of all is how grounded each reality feels, how lived-in Markriss’s life feels each time. For a story with a focus on spirituality the main draw for me was how real the societies depicted felt and a curiosity towards what Markriss’s priorities were.

I won’t pretend to like Markriss the protagonist that much. Sometimes he is active, other times passive; what was more interesting was the way the society of each reality operates. Newland does something very clever in later sections that turns some perceptions of the way similar events played out earlier on their head a bit. I can’t explain it much better without spoilers!

Looking at other reviews, I think some readers have felt cheated by the reality shifts or preferred particular narrative strands to others which is valid. I would advise going into A River Called Time not sure what to expect and with an mind. Markriss is told he is searching for a rogue spirit on another plane but that isn’t the whole story and it doesn’t play out as a standard western narrative would - and nor should it. The book has been accused of being very literary. I can see why; I’d argue A River Called Time is playing with narrative expectations in a serious way.

parallel Londons? spirits? powers? I saw those in the bio for this book and had to ask for an early copy and my god the book did not disappoint. Its full of newly discovered things in an amazing world and I really loved Denny. I always love books with an element of mystery and this book gave me exactly that, I always wanted to know exactly what was going on!

I finished this book a week ago and felt the need for it to settle in my head before I wrote a review. I was taken by the description and it was indeed an interesting read, possibly not something I would normally have picked up but would definitely recommend.

This is a book in four parts starting in an alternative post-apocalyptic London referred to as Dinium . In the first section we meet our protagonist Markriss and his childhood friend Nesta, we also get the first inkling that travel in spirit is possible. We are introduced to Pods which are used for sleep and create neural connections to external equipment and services.
In Dinium the goal of people who live in the Outside is to excel at exams to allow them to entre the Ark - a huge concrete enclosed community found on the other side of a waste called the Blin. It is in the Ark that Markriss meets Chileshe and Keshini both of whom are central to his story. Once you go to the Ark you leave all connections to the Outside and are fully immersed in the 'utopia' of life in the Ark. As you may guess the Ark is not all it purports to be....
In the second section Markriss is in a parallel Dinium where he has evolved spiritually, is based in the Ark and is part of a peaceful protest group called the Outsiders. Here we reconnect with characters from part one but all have different connections to each other than before. This section leads to acts of terror (vividly detailed) and consequences of those acts.
In the third section we find Markriss in the familiar territory of our London, again familiar characters reappear but again their connections have reformed creating new dilemmas and interactions.
Then in the final quarter we cycle round to the first Dinium in which we encountered Markriss. There story lines are woven together with the parallel Londons reflecting in each strand and Markriss journey to get to where he now is intellectually and spiritually.
The descriptions of each section is detailed and evocative, taking you to that place. I found the narrative of section two with its focus on astral projection, meditation and the development of spiritually particularly compelling . Also how peaceful intentions, convictions of a right path can in fact lead you down a very dark violence filled avenue.
The astral projection element facilitated by the pod is the main device which allows Markriss to skip between parallel realities. Each time he skips though he has no memory of the previous reality, although the feeling that you know someone does persist.
In addition the African diaspora has not been affected by colonialization, so the communities portrayed are richer and more vibrant for this.
Overall the book has a compelling narrative although the spiritual elements may be hard going for some readers. My thanks to Netgalley and Canongate for access to the ARC.

I love being taken to new places in my specualtive fiction. But I also need to see progression in more than just your world. It is 2021 and certain tropes are well past their sell-by date. I’m afraid that A River Called Time by Courttia Newland ended up a story that started promising but I found went down a very familiar path and soon lost my goodwill towards it.

We come to Dnium in 2000 we meet Markiss a young eight year ol boy who finds himself knocked off his bike by a vision of something beyond his comprehension. This happened again and his younger brother dies unexpectedly. Markirss has another experience as one of his best friends assaulted his lower seeing them in an out of body experience. Moving this aside Markiss studies hard to reach the sacred place of learning The Ark. He succeeds and finds inside them yet more fractured societies of rick and poor. He works for a propaganda newspaper and finds himself attracting attention of rebels. Finally it is revealed Markriss has abilities not seen for 5000 years and he can channel his ka to move between physical and astral worlds. Then he jumps into parallel versions of his life and then….and then and then and etc

This story lost me I am afraid to say and I’m very disappointed as the first fifth of the novel had a compelling voice and ideas. A world where colonisation did not happen instead of a peaceful merging of cultures sounds fascinating, Markriss initially seems a compelling young man trying to make sense of the world. But two things jump out - the female characters are wafer thin and in one scene his officemates all seem fascinated that two beautiful women love him. His assaulted schoolfriends come and go with little thought to their assault and his mother is exposition rather than a character in her own right. The world building is poor. Having a fractious outside world of rich and poor but then having an internal locked up world of further division really didn’t gel. Finally with little forewarning we find Markiss is a Chosen One and soon given a whistle stop tour of powers without him asking any sensible question just taking things on trust.

I would also add that the style is overly descriptive and exposition heavy - we are not being allowed to explore the world just constant infodumps to set up the next chapter.

I love diversity in fiction and this has an interesting culture that could have been explored a lot more but instead uses old school SF ideas and reheats the sexism of the past that even five years ago would have been called out. Hugely disappointing and sadly not recommended

This book started off amazing - the characters, the setting everything felt really fresh and intriguing and I was utterly absorbed.

Then there was a scene where violence against a woman was used as a reason for another character (male) to act. I did raise my eyebrows a bit but carried on then when I realised that there was nothing else to this incident, it was just a throw away plot point (no consequences for the perpetrator, very real but glossed over consequences for the victim and the MC basically just shrugs and goes on with his life) I threw my kindle at the wall in disgust. I did pick it back up and try to read on but I couldn't get passed this and gave up within a few more pages.

I honestly thought we were over using this trope, any I guess that if the use of this in fiction doesn't bother you, it might continue to be amazing but for me it's a hard bounce.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Canongate Books for providing me with the e-arc of A River Called Time in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

The story is set in Dinium, a version of London rife with disease, violence & poverty; The few rich elite are housed and protected from this London in “the Ark”, an elite enclosure in the centre of the city.

Markriss Denny, who grew up in the squalid suburbs has the power to Astra Liu project and wins a place in the Ark; A dream that soon becomes a nightmare.

This dystopian story is set in a parallel London, with an alternative history connecting Europe and Africa since the times of Ancient Egypt, allowing African culture and magical abilities to flourish and grow, rather than being quashed by our history of colonialism.

Like a true dystopian story, there is a mega-corp - E-Lul that controls the populace through crystal energy to deliver tranquil dreams and of course the capital’s recovery from the mysterious “War of Light” in 1814-18.

Whilst I enjoyed the story, I will admit to some confusion during the mid-sections of the story - I understood that Markriss had to face his friend and astral rival Ayizan to save the world, but did struggle with a lot of the astral terms and events.

The final 25% of the story does pull together the strange strands to fit the jigsaw together, and a fitting conclusion, but personally this wasn’t a story to my taste. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to read and review thus book, which started 2021 by taking me out of my comfort zone, and I do think that it is an engaging story, that many will enjoy.

I have very mixed feelings about A River Called Time and for most of the time I spent reading it (which was several months!) I was sure I was going to rate it two stars. However, it redeemed itself at the last minute and I ended up feeling quite fond of it, so three stars it is.

A lot of other reviewers seemed to give up in the middle of this book (40-60%) and I was very nearly one of them. It is very slow going and the pacing is definitely a weakness. The plot just takes forever to properly start! I also found events quite hard to follow, both in terms of the broader plot and individual scenes. The writing style is stylish but not the most clear, which only added to my confusion. And while I won't go into detail, I found the ending impossible to understand in a way that probably means I'm just not smart enough to get it, but which was frustrating nonetheless.

But, but, but. Once the plot did start going I was engaged, and by the end of the book I was so attached to the characters and the world. This is an incredibly creative book, with its combination of physics and fantasy and dystopia. The author's note at the end really hammered that home: it's fascinating to read a book where the author tried, and significantly succeeded, in completely decolonising his writing process and his ideas. If anything, I just wish that had been more obvious in the text itself and not just the author's note. I also loved the little flashes of my London that I saw, even when that wasn't the direct setting - it's a welcome change from so many American authors.

So... what to conclude. A River Called Time was a slow, often painful reading experience, but I'm really glad I read it in the end. There's so much ambition and creativity here, which I'm glad I got to experience.

Trigger warning for animal harm and death (specifically dogs). I know that's not the worst thing that happens in this book (there's also classism, lots of state violence, oppression, general violence, I think some discussion of racism, etc) but it's the only thing that surprised me and isn't standard for dystopian-type novels, which is why I'm flagging it up.

I got A River Called Time by Courttia Newland from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

I decided to read this book because having enjoyed alternative history novels before, the thought of reading one based on the premise that the continent of Africa was never colonised by the European nations appealed to me.


When I started reading this book, I was all enthusiastic as I said before the premise for the story was something that interested me, however, the book failed to live up to this.


Firstly the alternative history, while I do not feel that this type of novel has to over show that it is set in an alternative timeline, but apart from a few paragraphs about the history in this timeline and occasionally people mentioning by Ra (an ancient Egyption god), there was very little for the reader to pick up on.

The writing style for the book reminded me a lot of a Charles Dickens' novel, being written in a very dense style. Which is fine but when the plot line is a slow burner it did make a book which takes a long time to read, seem to take even longer.

The book did have some good points, for example the lead characters job of being a Journalist, whose job it was to write stories to the advantage of the government even though they knew the stories were wrong.

Who should read A River Called Time? This is a novel that needs a lot of time for a reader to sit down and just read the book, as it is not one which you can enjoy by reading a couple of pages on public transport going to and from work.

So this book is for someone who can spare the time and concentration that this book needs, in other words it is the perfect book if you like immersing yourself in the writer's world if this is you then you should read, A River Called Time by Courttia Newland

This novel started so strongly and had me intrigued with the premise the author had envisioned. The prose and particularly the description are excellent. Not sure what happened but around 40% of this novel I started to lose interest and just couldn’t get it back. I found myself reading less and less every-time I picked up my Kindle. Im sorry to say that I eventually gave up at 50%.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.

I absolutely loved this book! The mix between the familiar and the unfamiliar makes "A River Called Time" a fascinating reading journey. The writing is so easy to read, with a really beautiful flow, though some parts did feel a little bit too slow. The characters are well-built and imaginative. The story is outstanding. This is a book that should become a classic. I'll be very surprised (and more than a little bit upset) if it doesn't.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

In an alternate London, Markriss finds he has the ability to jump to parallel universes.

A River Called Time addresses themes of class, colonialism and colour.

Newland wrestles with this intriguing concept, demonstrating a high degree of imagination. Ultimately, he fails to deliver on the promise.

The introduction of several characters in the first chapter prevents the reader from getting to know each one. The characters, even the protagonist, remain flat throughout.

The over-use of sentence fragments grates. Elsewhere, sentences are overlong, and imprecise. Words such as 'seemed' (112 instances), 'almost' (96) and 'hardly' (26) weaken the meaning. Imagery falls short of the mark more often than not. Poor grammar and tautologies further alienate the reader. Where was the editor?

The editorial reviews put me in mind of the emperor's new clothes.

My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Publishing for the ARC.

This book's cover and blurb attracted me straight off the bat, and it sounded like my kind of book. I haven't read anything by this author, so that was another positive tick in a box. I really enjoy finding authors I've not come across previously and becoming a convert.

The book started off very strongly and completely captured my attention and imagination. I was really interested in what was happening, but then I started to struggle. The writing is expressive, descriptive, and absolutely beautiful in places, but I felt that perhaps the pace was a wee bit too slow for me. It's easy to pick up the social, racial, and sexual inequalities, and the power and lies of the media. Sort of 1984-ish, on a par with today, in fact.

I didn't 'click' emotionally with Markriss or any of the characters once he arrived at the Ark, I'm afraid, and that is SO unusual for me as I'm very character-driven. I loved the parts where Markriss Denny's spirit experienced things out with his physical body, but it wasn't enough to keep me reading on. I gave up at 75% - I tried my best, honestly - as my energy is too precious to waste on things I'm not enjoying.

Having said all that, this wasn't for me, but it's a fabulous concept, and it may well be the perfect book for you.

I chose an early copy from a selection at NetGalley, which I then voluntarily read and honestly reviewed. All opinions are my own.