Courttia Newland’s new novel presents us with a dystopian multiverse imagined at thrilling scale. It begins with a slyly counterfactual timeline ... how thoroughly its extraordinary narrative has been imagined by Newland ... An afterword explains the novel’s prolonged gestation, and how it flummoxed some publishers ... despite all its action, A River Called Time isn’t a page-turning blast-a-thon; the excitement lies largely in its ideas about power and personal responsibility. As our hero finds himself pursuing contradictory goals with equal reluctance – a terrorist in one timeline, a state propagandist in another – the multi-dimensional pyrotechnics of the novel serve as a potent metaphor for the guilty dislocations of class-crossing in an unjust society.

Imaginative fiction rubs shoulders with a naturalistic impulse to create the world of the Ark, an alternate reality in which African cultural influences represent the status quo. Rooted in a decolonised narrative style where every turn of phrase brings forth the weight of its cultural implications, A River Called Time is a deeply thoughtful, surprising and rewarding read ... The curious combination of naturalistic and mystical styles, too, overcomes its initial peculiarity to evoke the quasi-dystopian society of the Ark. The strangeness of this imagined world, moreover, moves the reader to consider the strangeness of their own, a mark of high-quality speculative fiction ... it shows us the literary, cultural and historical import not only of the story but also the 'making of' that story.

... an expansive speculative novel ... The book’s methodical storytelling reveals the particularities, personality, and lore of its world ... Involving spirituality, colonization, and quantum realities, A River Called Time is an immersive speculative novel set in a dystopian city that’s facing an uprising.

Excellent scripts they are, too, and there is something televisual in the way Newland pitches his new novel: lots of visual description, busy with incident and plotty twists and turns ... A River Called Time reaches forward into a near-future alternate reality. If there are aspects of this worldbuilding that don’t entirely work, then maybe that reflects the broader influence on fiction of TV. Newland is certainly not the only contemporary writer trying to reproduce the immediacy and kinetic hustle of visual drama; but TV and novels tell stories in quite different ways, and sometimes that difference jars ... Newland gives his dystopia an extra spin by making it an alternate history. In this world European interactions with Africa, stretching back to Ancient Egypt, were treated as opportunities to learn and mingle, not to exploit and enslave. As a result, magical African abilities (squashed in our timeline, the implication is, by the horrors of colonialism) have flourished, becoming a kind of world religion ... The story is readable and absorbing ... His dialogue is good, as you might expect, but the descriptive prose is sometimes over-fruity. The desire to avoid cliche is commendable, but sometimes effortful stylistic ingenuity backfires ... Such moments are symptomatic of a writer straining for effect – aiming, perhaps, for a televisual vividness rather than resting content in more literary restraint. Vivid writing is better than bland writing, no question. But good writing is best of all.

This is a splendid and complex book with many layers and is written superbly well. Courttia Newland is able to write a flowing and interesting story that intrigues and grips the reader so much that you have to keep reading just to see what will happen next. I have never read a book quite like this before; I loved the twists to the story and genuinely could not guess the ending or what the truth is that Makriss discovers about The Ark.

The characters in Britain Newland’s thoughtful experiment reinforce that what makes Blackness a space for liberation are its historical anchors and visions for a more equal world. In other words, a Blackness devoid of history and struggle, is no longer Black. Blackness means understanding the psychology of oppression and using that knowledge to create greater compassion and empathy ... Markriss teaches us this, as we witness his rebellion against the corporate, media-controlling society and towards a small, vibrant community of outsiders and freedom fighters.

In an alternate London in which colonialism never existed, the Ark holds the promise of salvation, but at what cost? ... Newland explores a noncolonial London that adopted African beliefs and values, juxtaposing this alternate—yet also flawed—London with our own. On the heady levels of twisting timelines and spirit planes, this novel excels, revealing Markriss in all the worlds he traverses. There is little time left, however, to explore his connection to other characters, including the pivotal women in his life and Nesta. This is an ambitiously imagined book that, by removing the European lens on African cultures, creates a new reality that allows us to question how we view our own. Complex and multilayered, this novel opens the door to the possibilities of noncolonial worlds.

Newland smoothly incorporates elements of Egyptian mythology into his layered, multicultural world, and though the climax feels somewhat unearned, the fragmented timelines and multiple versions of Markriss are skillfully handled. This is sure to please fans of thought-provoking speculative fiction.