Native American Heritage Month
Mishari Zambrano asked this question about A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1):
Can someone explain the time travel rules please? I hate time travel plots but loved this book and want to know what I'm getting into for the second one.
Martha 1. If a time-traveler goes to a time where they already exist, they will replace themselves. This will happen even if their previous incarnation is in…more1. If a time-traveler goes to a time where they already exist, they will replace themselves. This will happen even if their previous incarnation is in a different place: the old incarnation will disappear from where they were and reappear wherever the new version of themselves is.
1a. If a time-traveler goes to a time before they're born, they'll appear as a brand-new person to those around them, i.e. they *won't* replace someone.
1b. The time travelers will look like they do in the future they're coming from, not like their old version (if any).

2. Time travelers will remember both versions of history.
2a. Obviously, they will only do so *after* they've done the time traveling. This means that if they replaced themselves, the old incarnation will still have their old memories.
2b. The people who interact with time travelers will only remember the 2nd version of history.
2c. It follows from 2a and 2b that a person who was replaced by a time-traveler will have different memories of the recent past than their friends.

3. It is possible for time-travelers to change history; in fact, they always do so, to a small extent (see above about how the people they interact with only remember that version of history). However, time is resilient, so the changes will be subtle. Nevertheless, time travelers need to be careful not to make too many waves.
3a. Material changes to history will only really show up after the point where the time traveler went back from. As in, if someone travels from 2009 to 1590 and writes a letter, it would probably not be possible to find that letter in 1960.(less)
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A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness (Goodreads Author)
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