Splinter Effect

The thing is, you can’t change history.

You can study it. You can add to it, clarify it, or re-interpret it, but what happened is over and you can’t go back. It is what it was, what’s done is done and, as in the new novel, “Splinter Effect” by Andrew Ludington, if you try to alter it, you could be done, too.

For as long as he lived, Robert “Rabbit” Ward would regret what happened in 455 CE in Rome. He’d never forget the look on Aaron Kahan’s face when he had to leave him there.

Usually, in Rabbit’s work as a time-traveling archaeologist for the Smithsonian, assignments went smoothly. He’d go through a decay point, find a specific artifact, stash it somewhere safe, return through another decay point, and retrieve the item.

Easy-peasy, except when it wasn’t.

Like when he couldn’t pull Aaron back in time, leaving his protege in ancient Rome.

That tarnished Rabbit’s career, but it didn’t ruin it; what hurt was being robbed in Macedonia. Rabbit had a competitor and she was smart. Smart enough to track him through time, smart enough to steal an artifact before he could fetch it, and that was what was harming his career. His supervisors told him that he needed to find his own backers for the next project but no matter who paid for the journey, there were rules.

No one could return to the exact same time. Decay points only lasted just so long and had to be hidden. And then there was the danger of the Splinter Effect, in which big changes made to history would cause a splintering of time. One history would go this way, the alteration would go the that, and the traveler was stuck in unfamiliar territory.

But never mind that.

Someone wanted a priceless menorah that could be found in Constantinople, 535 CE, and Rabbit was their man to get it – despite political unrest there, danger, and the fact that Rabbit wasn’t the only time traveler on the search…

Don’t feel one bit alone if you think “Splinter Effect” is confusing with a capital “C.” You may want to quit it about every other page at first, but don’t. Things smooth out, plot lines start to make sense, and it takes a while before things twist nicely and you’re glad you stayed.

Just so you know.

Oh, and you’ll want a very basic knowledge of ancient history, too, so there’s that.

Try even to describe this book to someone, and you may struggle. Author Andrew Ludington’s tale is part action thriller, part mystery, history, espionage, romance, science fiction, it’s a stew of genres that will appeal to a variety of readers, especially those with wide tastes and a love of a few I-didn’t-see-that-coming threads.

Yeah, there are those here, and they’re quite tasty.

Take this book to your book club, but cautiously. It might throw readers of tamer books off-course but if you’re someone who loves the unexpected, “Splinter Effect” is something different for a change. “Splinter Effect” by Andrew Ludington, c. 2025, Minotaur Books. $28, 309 pages.