Bus Stop on a Strange Loop by Shaune Lafferty Webb is an Australian speculative fiction offering from Perth based publisher Winterbourne Publishing.
The Story
Two brothers Nicky and Ethan escape a collapsing dystopian future Australia, through the use Ethan’s “Bus”, a time machine of sorts. Intending to hide out safely in the past. Unknown to them they are followed. Are their actions a catalyst or a result? Such are the questions raised by time travelling paradox’s.
There they come across Olivia, a school teacher and orphan who seems strangely familiar. It becomes apparent to the three of them that their lives have, or will, or is it have, intersected before?
A workout for your brain.
At only 163 pages you could be forgiven for thinking that Bus Stop on a Strange Loop would be a quick easy read, devoured in an afternoon. You would be mistaken. What we have is an evocative, intense and dense book, whose prose demands constant attention. This is no 45 minute jaunt in a blue box, but a book that demands that the reader work to unpack the story, the connections and implications.
It’s a well sequenced novel and I found myself going back after having read it through the once to tease out the full significance of early scenes.
Recommendations
I found it demanding, which is not a mark against it. Those that enjoy their science fiction “harder' will enjoy it despite the time travel trope. It’s also a book that I think you could hang a “literature” tag on.
And finally, on reflection the tale would also work extremely well as an a low budget Australian indie film project.
This book was provided to me free of charge as part of Goodreads First reads initiative.
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