The Forest on the Edge of Time

by Jasmin Kirkbride

The Future of Another Timeline meets The Bone Clocks in this dazzling piece of time-travel climate fiction.

Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos to change history and save the future from ecological disaster, Echo and Hazel are transported through time to opposite worlds. Echo works as a healer’s assistant in Ancient Athens, embroiled in dangerous politics and wild philosophy. Hazel is the last human alive, in a laboratory on a polluted island with nothing but tiny robots and an untrustworthy AI for company.

Both women suffer from amnesia but when they fall asleep, their consciousnesses transcend time and they meet in their dreams. Together, they start to uncover their past – but soon discover the past threatens humanity’s survival.

If Echo and Hazel have a chance of changing the future, they must remember to forget…

THE FOREST ON THE EDGE OF TIME is a novel about family and duty and the worlds we try to save along the way.

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Adult, Fiction, Audiobook, Dystopia, Fantasy

358 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2026

About the author

Jasmin Kirkbride is an author and academic.

Her debut science fiction novel, THE FOREST AT THE EDGE OF TIME, is due out with Tor in February 2026. Her short speculative fiction has appeared in places including Reactor, and her story ‘Sand’ was featured in Some of the Best from Tor.com 2021.

Her eco-poetry has appeared in places including Frogpond and Presence, and she was the 2022 Researcher-in-Residence for the British Haiku Society, investigating haiku in the climate crisis.

An ex-editor and book trade journalist, Jasmin holds an MA in Ancient History from King’s College London, and an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Her research explores hope in dystopian climate fiction and intergeneration healing in feminist mushroompunk.

By day, she is a Lecturer, and lives in Norfolk (UK).

Reviews

[Maryam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐

I’d describe this book as a massive leap through time-travel tropes. I didn’t love it, but I didn't hate it either—it falls right in the middle for me at 3.5 stars. The premise is cool: Echo is in Ancient Athens, dealing with philosophy and politics, while Hazel is the last human alive on a polluted island with robots and a sketchy AI. They connect through their dreams to try to save the world from ecological disaster.

The problem for me was that there were just too many elements thrown into one pot—past wars, historical events, future robots, and AI. It felt a bit overcrowded, and the plot details didn't quite click for me. That said, the audiobook narrator was fantastic and really kept me going!

Review of advance copy received from Netgalley and Tor/Forge!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a wild take on a time-travel/cli-fi story, featuring adorable little robots, sassy AIs, and also Xenophanes who has got to be one of my top three pre-socratic philosophers!

Picture a seesaw, except that seesaw is the timeline. As a part of a mysterious project to secure to safe future of humanity, Hazel and Echo travel through time. Hazel moves forward to an isolated research station in the far future inhabited by CHARL1E, a cheeky AI, and the Tinys, a group of little helper robots. On the other end of the time seesaw, Echo ends up in 514 BCE Athens to establish a school of philosophy that will hopefully improve the eco-consciousness of the future. In the middle, at the hinge of the seesaw, teenager Anna is struggling with the usual teenager issues during COVID-19.

Is the seesaw analogy too much? Well, the time travel system in this book is a little complicated, so it helped me to think of it that way. Big fan of the Tinys, I was picturing them all as little Wall-Es, and I appreciate the idea that a very sophisticated AI like CHARL1E would end up being kind of bitchy so I'm a fan of him too. I followed the 514 BCE pov a lot less but love that like everyone there was gay, this was biblically accurate Ancient Greece, and the discussions around citizenship and class-based slavery were engaging. This isn't a very character-driven story so I wasn't blown away by the characters, but that's not a big deal. Some of the scene transitions, especially at the beginning, were hard to follow for me. I also definitely favored Hazel's pov at the beginning, but I warmed up to the other two as the story went on. I will say that Anna's texts with her friends made me cringe so hard. I was about the same age as Anna during COVID and I promise I never typed "im rlly curious bt im not sur i shd read it, yknow" or "even wen she isnt rite shes at least tryin. Idk mbbe its coz its just u 2 or sumthin."

Fun book, super wild and I love new takes on time travel because it's inherently cool, but I was left a little wanting. Now, where can I get myself a Tiny to me me shitty tea and make me go outside?

Thank you to Jasmin Kirkbride and Tor Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

[Mikayla Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a time travel book. In The Forest on the Edge of Time, a pair of time travelers are recruited to join Project Kairos, a secretive organization created to prevent the future from cascading into disaster by changing ancient events. They must travel to the dystopian future and the ancient Grecian past, but in doing so will forget their memories, their purpose, and their connection. Our travelers-Hazel and Echo-learn that they can communicate within the “dreamscape,” a place that their consciousness travels when they’re asleep. They must collaborate despite their restrictions in order to save humanity’s collective future.

I found this book both interesting and challenging at various times (but in a good way)! You meet an advanced AI and peculiar helper robots in the future that help the forward traveler survive and learn her mission objectives. In Ancient Greece, you meet the ruler’s son, a healer, ancient philosophers, and their companions, who help the backwards traveler complete her mission. Both travelers have difficulty adjusting to their role and experience the frustration of profound confusion and loss of identity. But there is so much hope baked into the story!

For me, the language was occasionally a bit dense, but appropriately so given the subject matters and settings (I did look up a word once or twice only to discover it was made up for the novel which lol). I loved the interaction and personalities of the Tinys and would watch a full cartoon series of just their lives. Some of the existential dread felt a bit over-the-top, but it’s near-future earth where humanity has essentially been wiped out—so the dread makes sense!

Overall, I’d recommend picking this one up when it comes out if you have a thing for ancient history, time travel, sci-fi, or a confusing mystery of a ride. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the advanced egalley copy!

[A Dreaming Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC.

This was an interesting and unique take on time travel. I enjoyed most of the book but the middle of the book dragged on quite a bit. It started off really well and the ending twist was pretty cool too. But, some of the chapters felt repetitive. I know it was probably to make a point about how hard they were trying but it just took me out of the story. Anna's PoV, especially her texts were very annoying and that's the one part that sucked while listening to an audiobook. Her PoV also didn't add much to the story except partially for the twist I suppose. I liked all of the robot characters in Hazel's timeline. I get annoyed when authors just throw the word "quantum" around just to make it sound futuristic. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a time travel with two timelines and Greek philosophy.

The narrators did a brilliant job, especially with the robotic voices.

[Ashley]

DNF @ 21%

This is a soft DNF. I'll probably come back to it, but really not in the mood for the slow pace right now. Not a plot-driven book, or a voicey book, and that's what brain wants right now.

[Cassidy | fictionalcass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what it is about the concept, but I love stories about time travel. I love seeing the way different creatives approach it, and there were so many things about this one in particular that I really enjoyed. The idea of a whole enterprise created to address things in the timeline is pretty cool.

This book follows three different timelines, one in ancient Athens, one in 2020, and one at an unknown future; and all three we are following different characters. My biggest barrier was the chapters focused in Athens with Echo. The other two sections, Anna and Hazel, felt much more character driven and I was a lot more invested in their individual journeys than I was with the actual plot of what had to happen in Athens. Overall, I did really enjoy the character work in this book and the way that each separate timeline intertwined with the rest. There is a side love story in Athens that I was invested in as well.

I did really enjoy the time travel elements specifically and the way they are laid out in this book. A lot of it felt familiar (using the Sator Square and other palindromic phrases) and a lot of it felt new to me with the dreamscape elements and how the characters actually interact with the different spaces around them.

All in all, I really liked this and will look forward to future releases from the author!

I received an advance review copy of this book.

[Jensen McCorkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, there is a whole lot going on in this read. We have two very different timelines via time-travel, an ecological catastrophe, a mysterious organization called Project Kairos and high stakes that hold the future in it’s hands. We have two protagonists, Echo, living in ancient Athens and Hazel, the last human alive. Eventually, through the unique version of time travel their timelines merge. The time travel system seems very complicated and I do wish there was more intricate detail but I realize that would turn some readers off. I am just all about the details in my sci-fi but I know others are not and this story is already pretty dense at times so might have been a good call overall for the success of the novel.

This read was both challenging and intriguing at the same time, leaning heavily n the latter. There are many references to historical, philosophical, religious and political systems throughout history but lets be honest that is to be expected since they are all ubiquitous to humanity and it’s culture. This novel takes on some heavy themes. For example, the idea that even when civilizations vanish, humanity persists, offering hope that empathy can transcend distance and time. Another example is ecological collapse and the eventual renewal, reflecting current anxieties about climate change and humanities survival.

Overall this was a challenging yet fascinating read that I truly enjoyed.

[Ellie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know the Three Course Dinner Chewing Gum from Willy Wonka? This book's a lot like that, and it only sort of feels you've turned blueberry at the end.

I won't be able to forget about the wild ride that was "The Forest on the Edge of Time" for a long time; it's born to be underestimated as a novel, since it's really three, and it defies genre (historical fiction? speculative lit? science fiction? fantasy?) in the best, most "Le Guin" of ways. It manages to strike the perfect balance of technobabble and awesome lore, and its characters (human and mechanical!) are complex, deeply lovable, and ever growing. I can tell the author loved and contemplated every word she wrote. Honestly, this book will probably be one of my favorites from this year.

I see a lot of negative reviews claiming this book is "too complicated" and to that I say, when you read it, turn your brain on and be prepared to use it. You should probably do that with any book, but I'm not your mother.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're into time travel concepts, multiple POV, and sci-fi with tiny robots, this may be your kind of read.

I listen to a ton of audiobooks, and it's not usually hard for me to follow along. For whatever reason, this one took me a bit to settle into.
Overall, I liked the audiobook, though this felt a story that would have benefited from having a physical copy alongside the audio. With so many moving pieces and timelines, having pages to flip back and reference would have helped me fully absorb some of the details.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for an advanced listening copy!

[Eis Mormel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sounded so promising, but it was just unfortunately executed very poorly. I was intrigued by the premise of two people, where one travels 2000 years into the future and is the last human alive and just surrounded by AI, and the other one travels to Ancient Athens. And the unique part is, they can communicate in their sleep.
And I assumed the communications part would be the main part of the story, but we really didn't get a lot of it. Also the storyline in Athens was very hard to get into and only at about 40/50% we got to know what her mission even is...And in general there was not much going on and the characters were also very bland. It basically just read like two idiots stumbling around, which was not really fun to read. Also the Anna chapters were kinda unnecessary throughout the book (except for the last one) and her texting really cringed me out (also no teenagers texts like that). The only aspect I really liked were the Tinys. Also there were a lot of plotholes and unanswered questions, which really annoyed me, and I don't really understand how it got published like this.

[JennaJustReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. It had a lot of interesting ideas. I think the writing was OK and some of the characters were really unique - like the tinys. But it just got a little too convoluted and hard to follow. The different timelines were OK but there were some plot holes (like how could they be in the lucid dreaming at the same time when they were in different times and places? That's a time difference nightmare!). And I wasn't sure what Anna's story had to do with Hazel and Echo's.

The narration was excellent and I would listen to this narrator again.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the alc.

[Fanna]

anything with time travel is right up my alley - reference to bodies definitely intended

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars
A wild imaginative ride. Honestly at first I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. It took a little bit for me to get into the story. I kept going because I wanted to know more about these characters—who they were, what they were trying to achieve and if they could pull it off. The book jumps between three POVs at different time periods. Echo sent back in time to Ancient Greece, Hazel sent forward in time and Anna in Pandemic London. Tying the three together is their desire to save the planet.
The author does an amazing job at creating three very realistic time periods. There is no romanticizing the past or the future. Ancient Greece is often a burial world full of societal limitations. The future is desolate and lonely with only an AI and robots for company. And London is a limited world in lock-down with a teenager having friend/boyfriend troubles.
I quickly became highly invested in all the characters and had to know how it turned out for all of them—including the non-humans. I think most readers know how rare this is as with multiple time periods there is usually one that is less interesting. Not in this book . There were parts at the end that almost made me cry. For all the mind spinning time travel the end was incredibly sweet and satisfying.
I was provided a copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The audio book we very well produced, it was easy to tell when we changes characters added by the author breaking them up by chapters. This is very important when dealing with different timelines. The voice actors did great job with the characters and AI making all of them sound different. I highly recommend the listen.
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Tor Books!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

From my library's new purchases. In The Forest on the Edge of Time, two women, one trapped in the deep past and one in the far future, struggle to change the course of history. But Hazel's arrival broke the time machine, and Echo is one woman in the hostile world of ancient Athens--is it possible to change the timeline enough to avert total ecological destruction?

While I like time travel stories, this one felt static and slow-moving. Due to the mechanism of time travel, both women have lost their memories and only remember their purpose in brief fragments. Their narration is mired in the struggle to remember the past. Meanwhile, Hazel smashed the Kairos Project's mechanism and killed its two caretakers with her arrival and spends her days unproductively sniping with the habitat AI. And Echo is stranded in Ancient Greece passively tagging along after a Lydian healer with very little idea what she's meant to do. Instead, she's swept along by the inevitable tide of plotting to kill the tyrant of Athens, with minimal agency in the proceedings except for being physically there. The women are connected by a series of dream sequences where they mostly fail to communicate. All in all, it does not make for scintillating reading.

Interesting concept, soggy execution. For excellent time travel, I'd suggest Bradley's Ministry of Time.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A time travel story about trying to save the world from destruction by changing earlier attitudes.
We meet Anna, a 13-year-old climate activist stuck inside with her mother during the COVID lockdowns. The world really does need help. Interestingly, the author posits returning to Greece, around the time of Socrates and the Pythagorists, to change human understanding. There’s a time traveler in the future, trying to guide the time traveler in Greece (some 2000 years previously) via lucid dreaming. It’s quite interesting but also a bit muddled. Best for those who like time travel, Ancient Greece, family dynamics, climate fiction, magical realism, cute robots, and snarky AI.
Several narrators are listed for the audiobook but, except for the teen girl, they sounded very similar to me. Still, I enjoyed the narration and am happy to have listened to the audiobook. 3.8 rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #TheForestattheEdgeoftheWorld for review purposes. Publication date: 3 February 2026.

[Kayla Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combine time-travel with climate change and add a dash of ancient philosophy, and you've got The Forest on the Edge of Time. This story has a unique narrative, bouncing between Ancient Greece and the far-off end of the world. With Anna in the past and Hazel in the future, communicating only through dreams, they must work together to save the timeline. This is a very original take on a time travel story, though I did have a hard time at first with the switches between Hazel and Anna. I think that anyone looking for a climate-driven science-fiction narrative would thoroughly enjoy this story. While I did enjoy this story, especially Hazel's tiny robot helpers, there was something slightly lacking. While I understood the overall plot, Hazel and Anna's backstory felt slightly incomplete. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ALC Review
The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride
Release Date: February 3, 2026

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the advanced audio of The Forest on the Edge of Time.

✨Synopsis:
Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos, Echo and Hazel are sent through time to prevent an ecological collapse, only to end up in vastly different worlds. Echo becomes a healer’s assistant in Ancient Athens, caught in dangerous politics and philosophy, while Hazel finds herself as the last human alive on a polluted island, watched over by tiny robots and an AI she doesn’t trust. With memories missing and their minds connecting through shared dreams, the two begin unraveling a truth that could either save humanity… or erase it.

Tropes:
✨Time travel
✨Parallel timelines
✨Amnesia
✨Dream connection
✨Ecological sci-fi
✨Female-led sci-fi

✨My Thoughts:
I’ve fully entered my sci-fi era, so when I saw this one, I knew I needed to listen to it. The way time travel was handled felt really fresh and clever, and I loved slowly uncovering how all the characters and timelines connected. It was one of those stories that makes you want to keep going just to see how everything fits together.

The narrators did an amazing job bringing the story to life, and the audio format really worked for this one. If you like thoughtful sci-fi with emotional depth and a unique approach to time travel, this is definitely worth checking out.

[Meghan JaMonkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was a chaotic unfolding. I always appreciate a good sci-fi that makes you question everything. The use of amnesia after time travel really amplified this story, so you get to experience the challenges together with the characters. The synopsis is pretty straightforward and covers the whole thing. Two members of a climate protection group travel in opposite directions through time to try to save the planet from complete annihilation. The stakes are high, and the relationships they build along the way make it even more important.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

[Amy Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jasmin Kirkbride's THE FOREST ON THE EDGE OF TIME is wonderfully ambitious. This is a book that believes anything could be possible, and in that way it functions as its own piece of time travel, rewriting the script of our future thinking to have faith in small, persistent, collective actions. The technology is fantastically quirky and the emotion real... I like how well Kirkbride captures the way banality and sustained effort are just as key to transformative breakthroughs as genius is. Lovely book.

[Izzy Boudnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOR, I love you! When will you start giving me ARCs?!

I blew through this in two days, even though it was technically a very complicated quantum mechanics time travel wibbly wobbly book. I’m not sure what was so entertaining about this, but it was! There’s just something about the unexpectedness of sci-fi that will get me every time. There was humor, suspense, and heartfelt emotion in perfect amounts. Would recommend to any sci-fi geek and anyone who gets emotionally attached to robots (me).

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars...This premise seemed like it would be my thing...I love time travel stories...but I just couldn't get into this one. The writing style just didn't draw me in and I never connected with the characters. I didn't HATE it but I can't say I really enjoyed anything about this one either and it definitely won't be memorable for me.

[Meredith]

Felt like a mid but maybe interesting read, if a bit repetitive. Until the teen section. At which point I wanted to throw it across the room. DNF’d

[Kim Freimoeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Forest on the Edge of Time" by Jasmin Kirkbride is a thoughtful, character-driven time travel science fiction novel that blends emotional connection with ecological urgency.
What landed first for me was the way the story approaches time travel. Rather than focusing on spectacle or paradox-heavy mechanics, the book centers its science fiction firmly in character and consequence. Two women displaced across time begin to uncover who they are and why they matter, and that slow unraveling gives the story its shape. The premise is intriguing and carries real emotional promise.
The story explores memory, identity, family, and responsibility, gradually widening its scope to include the future of the world itself. The contrast between timelines works well, especially in showing how different eras shape the characters’ understanding of survival and choice. There is a strong undercurrent of climate consciousness running through the narrative, and the book clearly wants to ask what we owe one another across generations.
What worked for me was the emotional intent and the conceptual framework. The ideas are solid, and the characters are sympathetic enough to keep me invested. There are moments that feel genuinely poignant, where the personal and the speculative align in meaningful ways.
What held the book back for me was pacing and narrative cohesion. The middle sections, in particular, slowed the momentum, and the dual timelines occasionally diffused tension rather than sharpening it. I often felt like the story was circling its most compelling ideas instead of fully committing to them. While the payoff is thoughtful, it did not quite land with the impact I was hoping for.
I give "The Forest on the Edge of Time" 3.25 stars. I recommend it to readers who enjoy reflective science fiction, time travel stories rooted in character, and narratives that engage with environmental themes. I would not recommend it to readers looking for fast pacing, high-concept twists, or tightly wound plotting. This is a book driven by intention and heart, even if the execution does not fully come together for me.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that for most of the book I did not like Anna’s POV as I did not understand why we needed it given how Echo and Hazel were connected. But when I finally understood why that POV was so important, I was so happy. When all of the pieces across the 3 POVs came together, I was so excited. This is so carefully crafted and well done. The stakes were high for Echo and Hazel, but even higher for humanity and the timeline should Hazel and Echo fail and I really enjoyed that level of tension that was brought to the plot.

Listening to the audiobook was overall great. I was not a big fan of Hazel’s voice (but I think the voice was just fine - it's just the way my brain is processing it), but otherwise I really enjoyed the pacing of the narration and Echo and Anna’s narration.

Thank you to @torbooks for the eARC and @macmillan.audio for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

[Geonn Cannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that literally lost the plot. I don't know what the logic was to have both main characters get Swiss cheese brain (to use Quantum Leap vernacular) but it led to the book coming across as two idiots flailing around trying to figure out what to do and who they were. It was slow, repetitive, and it felt like it was the halfway point before the story even really started moving. A good premise that I felt started falling apart on page 1.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this science fiction novel that deals with the mess we have made of the Earth, a daring plan to both change the past and the future, the reasons why people do good things, with a lot of weird things happening along the way.

I have loved science fiction for most of my life. I loved the aliens, the UFO's the going to new worlds and new civilizations, and all that stuff. I was still in my apprenticeship of reading science fiction when I found that beyond the cool monsters and ray guns there was something that science fiction was hiding, a spirit that we as humans could do better. Stories about fireman destroying books, television shows featuring bright futures, pointing out things that we wrong with society and offering solutions. These were the stories I was drawn to, though I still love my big space operas. Which is probably why I enjoyed this book so much. A familiar trope, offering big problems, big ideas, and best of all a really creative way of presenting the story, one that I couldn't put down once I started. Best of all I have a new author that I will be following. The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride is a novel of the now, the past and the future, a time travel story that is fresh and new, about a world we are destroying.

The book begins in chaos. Two people are desperately trying to keep technology from coming apart. Bulbs are bursting, current is going everywhere but where it is supposed to. The two jump forward together, but find themselves in different places, and times. Hazel, at least that might be her name, awakens in a lab, with dead bodies, and a group of robots maybe awaiting Hazel's arrival. Hazel has little memory of what is happening, but knows there is a reason for being here. Hazel is brought before an AI, who puts the unreliable in unreliable narrator, who tells Hazel her memory has been disrupted by time travel. Hazel is in the future, the last human on a dead, polluted Earth, but this is part of the plan. Echo, who also jumped, if that is her name, awakens somewhere, making contact with a local speaking an ancient language, but an understanding of who she is, and why she is there. And that Echo must hide who she is. Echo is in the past, also part of a plan, to create a new philosophical school, one based on keeping the environment safe, from what is coming. Only by dreaming can Echo and Hazel meet and share what is going on, as they try to solve the mystery of what is going on, and how they can save the future.

A really good book that starts right from the first page and never really lets up. Even the quiet moments, the periods where the characters are getting over time travel, or the revelations they are facing, are filled with information, and reasons to keep flipping pages. Kirkbride is very good at doling out information, revealing things carefully, never infodumping. Kirkbride's use of temporal travel and the side and after effects is interesting, and handled well, much more than just a simple plot point. The characters including Anna who is younger character existing in the time of COVID are all unique and well-developed. There is a lot going on, from ancient history, philosophy, weird science, language, brain conditions. And of course about environmental failure. All of which Kirkbride does a very good job of explaining, and even better makes entertaining.

This is the first of Jasmin Kirkbride's works I have read and I really enjoyed it. The story, the tech the ideas, were fun, thoughtful and have stayed with me. A book for those who love deep science fiction with great ideas, and a message. I look forward to more by Kirkbride.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three timelines racing together to save the world: a traveler in a future dystopia enters a dreamspace to communicate with a traveler to 514 BCE, meanwhile a teen in 2020 London worries about the shape of the future. In ancient Athens, Echo is on a mission to establish a school of philosophical thought to change the world for the better. Hazel, her identical twin, grasps at dreams and works with a computer assistant to determine whether or not the work Echo is doing is working, feeding her the mission from the future. Anna, a teen in a London under lockdown, struggles with normal teenage drama, until she starts to feel her own grasp of time start to crumple.

In an SFF time travel book, I need three major components to work together: 1) the time travel has to be sound 2) the reason the time travel happens and/or missions that occur in time travel have to tie to the function of the time travel and 3) I always need it to have strong character development. (And for the second time this week, I'm wishing for more Connie Willis...) The Forest on the Edge of Time hit two out of three of those marks, and I think this makes for a very strong debut novel.

I really like the functionality of the time travel, with the communication between Hazel and Echo in the dreamscape. Any time you have a time travel plot that may change the outcome of the future, you risk running into technicalities, and I think Jasmin Kirkbride does a good job of avoiding those. While the goal may be to set a better climate future for generations, throughout the book they speak of it as "the mission" and "saving the world" and I didn't quite connect with the reasoning behind the mission and the perceived solution. It's pitched as climate fiction, and while it is in part, that feels like a small sliver of the scope of the book. The character development worked well in each of the three timelines, with strong friendships and important growth.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Billie Fulford-Brown, Frankie Porter, and Shakira Shute. Despite having three timelines, the narration was straightforward to listen to because each section has a different feel to it. If you are a big audiobook reader, you will likely enjoy the narration, but if you are not, I think reading this one in text is a good approach.

Thank you to Tor for an eARC and MacMillan Audio for an ALC. The Forest on the Edge of Time is out 2/3/2026.

[Emma Cathryne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The highest compliment I can give a book is that I've never read anything like it before. The second highest compliment I can give a book is that it made me cry. This did both! More importantly, it also obeyed Emma's 4 Rules for Very Excellent Time Travel Fiction which are 1) the book must be a blend of at least three genres (here, historical fiction, science fiction, and climate fiction) 2) romance is not the primary genre label (but should ideally be present) 3) the book contains minimum one satisfying time loop 4) the book understands that the "how" of time travel is much less important than the "why".

The last rule is especially resonant in Jasmin Kirkbride's debut novel, elevating the central conceit from a science fiction mystery to a beautiful, thoughtful treatise on love, family, grief, and faith. The basic premise follows three young women: a computer programmer catapulted into a distant future populated by robots and characterized by near total ecological and societal collapse, a teenage girl living in present-day London during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a mysterious amnesiac hurled backwards into a fraught sociopolitical period of ancient Athens. The three disparate stories slowly coalesce into a philosophical examination of the butterfly effect, and the power of small, human actions to impact the course of history.

I was reminded strongly of two of my favorite books from recent years: Station Eleven and Cloud Cuckoo Land. In a time where the future of humanity feels increasingly bleak, I can't help but be drawn towards dystopian fiction that maintains a resolute undercurrent of revolutionary optimism. The masterworks of the "hopepunk" genre, as exemplified first by these books and now by TFoTEoT, do not ignore or refuse to engage with heavy, difficult concepts. They don't serve the reader the escapism offered by cozy fantasy, but nor do they give into the overpowering pessimism and sense of hopelessness than can occasionally pervade grimdark or dystopian fiction. Instead, they offer a poignant comprise: acknowledging dark future and painful realities, but relentlessly centering the transformative power of connection, collaboration, and plain old stubborn hope.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

I love a good time travel story, and this one felt so fresh! We meet two time travelers: Echo, who is in 514BC Athens, and Hazel, who is in an unspecified future year in basically an unspecified place, but she's all that remains of humanity. They're supposed to work together to try to prevent the future that Hazel is in from happening- basically, they're trying to prevent humans from, well, destroying humans. It tracks, obviously. I found this to be such an interesting take on time travel, and it appealed to my logical side- obviously, it would make sense to have someone in the future to let the folks in the past know if their tweaks are working!

The two can communicate in a dream-state, which did confuse me a little, but it's fine. The robots helped Hazel figure it out, frankly they helped her figure a lot out, while Echo had some friends in Greece who were aware that she was a time traveler and were there to help her with the mission. First, I loved learning about the Greek time period! There were so many fascinating events and people I'd not heard of before and I had so much fun learning about it. Second, I loved the characters themselves- some who were real, some who were fictional, all who were well developed. I also enjoyed Hazel trying to interact with the clankers  robots and AI, and them her.

There's a third point of view, located in London in 2020, that of Anna. I was very unsure of her role in things, but it did eventually make sense. I think maybe her chapters could have been a little less frequent, but again, not a dealbreaker. And I promise all things will be answered in time! (Get it? In time?)

Bottom Line:  I really enjoyed this high stakes take on time travel, the characters we met along the way, and how it all connected!

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this through a Goodreads giveaway; the following is my honest review. I had hoped to finish and post in time for the books release in February, but life got in the way so I’m just now getting to hype up this book.

I struggled on the rating and settled at a 4.5/5, which I’m rounding down on Goodreads because as much as I liked it, it’s not quite the 5/5 I think of with my favorite books. This book has an amazing premise that it executes well. I’m a big fan of the “feather pillow science” as it calls it, things like the Warhammer 40K ork technology working because the orks believe it should. See also: the Four Beasts in Goddess of Victory: Nikke being able to create a Queen by treating it as a ritual instead of a science experiment (the author may not appreciate being compared to a fan service mobile game, but please believe me that comparing your writing to that of Nikke’s is actual a very high compliment from me).
I am also a big fan of genre fiction that goes out of its way to get things right about overlooked topics. A time travel story that teaches me about some Greek history and ancient schools of philosophy is definitely my jam. And it’s woven into the narrative in such a compelling way that you are really rooting for the obscure philosophy and people you know are doomed by history. I wouldn’t read a non-fiction book on these topics, and might not even be able to handle a straight up historical fiction novel set in this period, but throw in some timey-wimey tension and I’ll there for it.

I really loved Echo and Hazel and they felt so real and grounded to me. Frankly I would have been happy if the book had just been those two points of view, but I understand the aim in adding a third one. That’s really my one critique of the book: Anna’s sections felt like slamming on the brakes between exciting chapters with Echo and Hazel. All in all, that’s not bad for a debut novel. I’ve already recommended The Forest on the Edge of Time to all of my friends and hope this book does well and leads to more adventures from this author.