Time Is Irreverent

By: Marty Essen

Narrated by: Michael Fell

An irreverent, liberal, twisty time-travel comedy!

What if you could make a change to history that would eliminate the Spanish Inquisition, American slavery, World War II, global warming, and an egomaniacal US president who thought he was smart enough to drop nuclear bombs here and there without negative consequences? What if that change also made the United States and five billion people poof from existence? Would you do it?

When alien time travel specialists, the Krichards, learn of President Handley's game of dodge-the-mushroom-cloud, they race to Earth to investigate. For them, the question of whether it's worth it to change history is easy to answer, but they will only proceed if the human they deem best qualified to represent Earth agrees to make the change. Erasing Handley's nuclear annihilation will require a quick jump to AD 31 to correct an error in history. If the Krichards select a brilliant scientist or an elite athlete for the task, Earth may be in good hands. Instead they select Marty Mann, a mildly successful travel writer whose only superpower is not taking life too seriously. What could possibly go wrong?

Spanning from the Cretaceous period to 2056, Time Is Irreverent is a hilarious, thought-provoking satire, with unpredictable twists, colorful aliens, huge dinosaurs, a smokin' hot lesbian from the future, and a cameo from Jesus Christ himself!

Publisher's Warning: This book is intended for a liberal audience and features satirical content that may not be appropriate for Donald Trump supporters or those who are offended by views that challenge traditional religious beliefs. Common side effects include wide smiles, sudden laughter, and occasional snorts. Listener discretion is advised.

©2018 Marty Essen (P)2018 Marty Essen

Critic reviews

“Highly recommend. It’s fun, clever, cool, witty, surprising, political, sexy, everything a sci-fi book should be. And as someone who’s also written a sci-fi-time-travel-humor novel, I love that Marty Essen doesn’t break the time rules he sets up from the start – so many sci-fi authors do, and as far as I’m concerned, that's just lazy writing. Not the case here! Yes, his characters learn and adapt and grow, but the foundation of his rules remain intact always. To repeat: fun, witty, surprising, sexy. Highly recommend.” (Jeff Abugov, writer, producer, director, and Golden Globe Award, Peabody Award, and People’s Choice Award-winner)

“[Time Is Irreverent is] a delightful romp that scores solid satirical points about religion, human nature, sex, the Trump administration, and a great deal more.” (Tom Flynn, Free Inquiry magazine)

“Ironic, original, hysterically funny, deftly crafted, and an impressively entertaining read from first page to last, Time Is Irreverent by Marty Essen is an especially and unreserved recommended for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of dedicated science fiction fans that Time Is Irreverent is also available in a digital book format.” (Midwest Book Review)

Give it a chance don't be a prude

What a great fun little book. It's got everything, Aliens, love triangles, Time Travel, Space Travel, Road Travel with Music and even a T-Rex. This was a great little listen and Michael Fell knocked it out of the park with his narration. This book is definitely not for everyone and the reviews and author clearly state it. Be that as it may some people are just too prudish but if you could take the time to pull your head out of your closed ears and try something new you may find an enjoyable read. I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Lighthearted fun

This story is a political and social commentary of our present wrapped in an adventure. Don't worry about our bleak prospects though, a team of colorful and easy-going extraterrestrials are here to help our hero change the future! Travel blogger Marty has a great time, finally finds women he can relate to... and there are dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are rad!

It's a charming book that will make you root for Marty and his friends. If you're not a firm denier of global warming, this book should keep a smirk on your face throughout, as it did on mine. Narrator is pretty good, too. Give it a read :)


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Did not Click with the Messenger

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

This book comes with a disclaimer that it is not for Trump followers. I don't have issue with this or the underlying theme of the book - taking care of the environment and each other in a respectful manner. However, I just did not relate to the MC Marty at all. I grew tired of his constant desires for conquests of women, alien women and lesbian women - and all were "hot" - and the treatment of women in general. The humor, for me, was cute but nothing laugh-out-loud hilarious. I did not buy into the concept that religion was the root of all evil. While I liked parts of this book and the overall message - I did not really click with the messenger.

Lots of Fun!

I started with the second book and loved it. So, I listened to these in reverse. It didn't make any difference in the enjoyability. I really enjoyed the story and the narrator. Both were great!

Think of an ELO album cover...Guitar spaceship...

I thoroughly enjoyed Time is Irrelevant; particularly that I can listen and choose how invested I want to be. I listened using only the story to go by; thus, this book was light-hearted and humorous. There are several layers and I plan to listen to it again using current events to enhance the backstory and situational awareness of people, politics, religion, etc.

The main character, Marty Mann, finds himself aboard an advanced, interstellar spacecraft whose inhabitants unwittingly display their emotions, using their eyes in an exceptional way. With names that cause Marty to stifle laughter, he chooses to give each “alien” a name whose looks & personality match a popular rock ‘n roll artist he prefers. Marty is taken on the trip of a lifetime, from being eye to eye with dinosaurs, riding around the solar system with a sexy alien who drinks too much, to being “accidentally” dropped back to earth in a separate timeline. So many wonderfully, unique adventures that I couldn’t believe it when the book ended.

Michael Fell is the Perfect narrator too! He is extremely adept at switching character voices. I never had to rewind the audiobook to figure out who was talking. I hope the author, Marty Essen, is almost finished with the sequel. There is a sequel, right? In the meantime, I’m looking forward to listening to this audiobook again. There are so many layers to grab on to, and I don’t want to miss a thing!

I was given a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.

I was pleasantly surprised

I had a certain amount of trepidation after receiving some warnings from the author, but it was unfounded. I enjoyed the often quirky characters, and the comedic approach to space and time. I also need to mention that I requested this novel and received a copy, I have left this review voluntarily.

Humorous and Irreverent

Time Is Irreverent. I enjoyed this book and found it to funny and irreverent. Humour is so difficult what one person finds to be hilarious another finds to be drivvel.
In my humble opinion this book is no masterpiece or future classic sci fi. But it is good if it suits your sense of humour.
Narration is good and clear ,
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

Loved it......

But I’m an atheist, polyamorous, environmentalist who also happens to be a gun enthusiast..... not that there are any guns in this novel. Lol
Anyway.... I LOVE time travel books. This had some really funny moments. Some they can’t do that moments and some holy crap moments.
I can’t wait to see what they change next! The fake Trump (because the Handly reference is no doubt him) is just as big of an idiot and egoist as the real one. The environment matters, life matters. Ultimately the message is take care of yourself, your neighbor and the world.... why is that so hard? Because of a million things but also because of greed and religion.
Prepare to be entertained and leave reality at the door.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.

Hilarious look at history

A megalomaniac is the President of the United States, and has already begun dropping nukes on the world. So naturally, time traveling aliens want to help us humans not destroy the Earth. To do that, they enlist Marty Mann to go back in time to essentially nullify religion and promote scientific, logical thoughts.

Obviously, this book isn't exactly friendly towards religious believers, especially the religious right. But it's great fun for those with a more liberal viewpoint. Marty is a fun character to see the world through, and you'll meet an interesting cast of characters from all times and places.

**I was provided with a promotional copy, at my request, and have voluntarily left a fair and honest review**

An Absolute Blast to Change the Course of History

Marty Mann is an average guy in 2020 in a world ruled by a crazy president and is being taken over by the Christian Right. Sound familiar? A group of aliens has been watching Earth and come to the conclusion that something in history went terribly wrong and needs to be fixed. They beam Marty aboard and offer him the chance to change things by going back in time to AD 33 to make sure that Jesus' message is not corrupted in the future by a greedy church and people mistaking Jesus intentions for hatred of others not like them.

Marty agrees, but the a jealous alien sends him to the future instead, where he rescues a lesbian from her evangelical extremist family. She returns to the ship with Marty to make another attempt to save humanity.

Irreverent, crazy and lots of fun. Everything that can go wrong does. Essen's humor is sprinkled throughout the book as well as commentary on what is going on in America right now. I for one would go crazy if I couldn't find some humor and laugh daily at the craziness going on daily in our country over the last two years.

Michael Fell was a good narrator for this, letting the humor through, but knowing when to pull back in the more serious situations.

I look forward to reading/listening to more of Marty Essen's books!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.