The Third Rule of Time Travel

De: Philip Fracassi

Narrado por: Abigail Reno

Rule One: Travel can only occur to a point within your lifetime.
Rule Two: You can only travel for ninety seconds.
Rule Three: You can only observe.
The rules cannot be broken.

In this riveting science fiction novel from acclaimed author Philip Fracassi, a scientist has unlocked the mysteries of time travel. This is not the story you think you know. And the rules are only the beginning.

Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time—to any point in the traveler's lifetime—and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.

After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella—their only daughter—and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.

Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.

As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.

©2025 Philip Fracassi (P)2025 Orbit

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A page-turning adventure with a mind-bending conclusion."—Les Johnson, futurist and space technologist

"A novel of frighteningly plausible science fiction, Fracassi blends deft character work with suspense to create a story that’s simultaneously focused in its approach and massive in its implications. Part Crichton, part Blake Crouch, part Bradbury, and all Fracassi. Chilling and unpredictable, The Third Rule of Time Travel further demonstrates why Fracassi is one of the best writers working today, regardless of genre.”—Tyler Jones, author of Midas and Burn the Plans

"[Fracassi is] especially skillful at creating, and sustaining, suspense.”—The New York Times

This guy is one of the best writers out there

Story telling like none other and constantly keeping you on the edge. Phillip knows how to craft one hell of a story!

Everything I love about SciFi

This story had the perfect blend of adventure, humanity, horror, existential dread and wonder. I’m a firm believer that the best SciFi takes us into new technologies and possibilities only to show us a mirror of ourselves. This fits that mold perfectly. The heart-wrenching and horrifying moments didn’t pull punches. Thoughtful writing takes us on a satisfying journey.

A great story weighed down by a poor performance

To be clear, the story is very good. Not great but very good. There is a lot to explore and unpack but, I feels rushed at the end. I won't spoil anything but if you have seen the Abyss, you know what I'm talking about.
I am not a fan of this performer at all. She wasn't able to differentiate her male voices at all. The all sounded the same. This made listening to the story more challenging and took away from the overall experience.

Unique time travel story

Fracassi has become one of my favorite authors and when there is a new book coming it's one the few authors I'll preorder. His books flow well, are easy to get into and never disappoint. This book was no different. Excellent narration as well.

Couldve been so much more

I feel like this story could've been much better had the main character been more believable. I dont want to spoil the book for anyone but I thought the author should have done a little more research into how startups work and how, if the main protagonists were really that smart enough to invent time travel, they'd be their own startup CEOs, rather than working for a moron CEO. I also though the main character is not believable - she is a bad ass, intelligent alpha type person - yet cant control her emotions sometimes... Its not how real people in positions of power like her would act.