I found this novel completely accidentally: I'd aimed to reread a Richards novel, picked up the wrong one, looked online for the name of the one I actually wanted and, boom. A new one of his I hadn't seen appeared.

This was brilliantly done, like much of the material this man produces. It was interesting to me that we don't see to what the title refers until quite a way in; this is unusual because in his other novels, the idea behind the story emerges early on. this was compounded by the revelation as to the the big practical use for the scientific discovery, which itself isn't made obvious until even further in. So we're sort of left hanging on, as this story unfolds, having an idea of what's coming because of the book jacket but then being walloped over the head with a new idea on top of that, which was super.

Richards took a great deal of care and effort to explain things, about the nature of time especially, the afterword is, as ever, well worth reading. Even with twists familiar for any of his previous readers, this was an exciting, scientifically intriguing thrill.