An exciting sci-fi adventure for young readers featuring space, robots and gadgets and time-pausing marbles. I was first drawn to The Girl Who Sold Time because of the vibrant cover. Upon reading the premise I was intrigued by the main character Violet and wanted to know more about the world. Violet searches for time marbles that allow the consumer to pause time for varying periods and allow them to move around uninhibited by anything, including gravity, while the effects of the marble lasts. But the forest Violet lives in is increasingly hostile to the few humans who remain, and Violet hopes she can unravel their mysteries to build something that will save humanity. I think that this science fiction story has a really novel concept that is strong enough to draw readers in but also has a lot of depth. The time marbles are an interesting concept at the beginning though I also liked the way that their purpose develops as the story progresses. Violet is a likeable main character who is strong and smart, but also inquisitive and changes as she learns more throughout the book. As a byproduct of her interest in technology and curiosity, V S Nelson has created a great fictional role model of a girl interested in STEM subjects, (an added bonus one of her key descriptors are her beloved brightly coloured skirts, preventing her from falling into a “tomboy” stereotype). And Jackdaw, her robotic best friend, is a delight. I think that The Girl Who Sold Time is an inventive sci-fi book for readers aged around 11 -13.
The year is 2417, and the few humans that remain live only to survive. Among these is 12-year-old Violet, who lives with her robotic best friend, Jackdaw, in a vast forest surrounding a space elevator. Travelling through the forest’s many villages, each built around the discarded shell of a gargantuan robot, Violet trades time marbles for tech. These time marbles, when taken, can pause time from seconds to weeks, allowing the user to move through frozen landscapes and travel great distances in an instant. But not all is right in Violet’s world. The forest, one of the last inhabitable locations left on the planet, is mutating, destroying the villages and killing those who live there. Using the tech she trades for the marbles, Violet hopes to build a machine to harness the time marbles’ power and reverse the mutation. After Violet discovers a marble that will pause time for a year, a stranger arrives in the village, desperate to possess the marble. To save humanity, Violet must unravel the mysteries of the time marbles and embark on a journey that will take her through the hidden depths of the forest and to the very top of the space elevator.
V S Nelson writes unconventional MG and YA supernatural and science fiction stories for those who enjoy something a little strange. He loves big ideas and fantastical concepts that take the reader into new worlds. V S Nelson lives in Winchester and, when not writing, works as a scientist.
