'The Accidental Time Machine' by Joe Haldeman

A few years back I read Joe Haldeman's 'The Forever War' based squarely on the wonders of Amazon's recommendation. In this particular case, however, Amazon got it a little sideways and because of the book's focus on war and incredibly strange use of timelines, I didn't really enjoy it.

Fast forward about two years and I'm staring at my Kindle's ad-plastered screensaver flaunting the cover of 'The Accidental Time Machine'.  The fact that I bought the book says two things; A.) I must have a terrible memory because it didn't even cross my mind that I might have ever read anything by this guy before and, B.) Amazon knows how to pry money out of my wallet with pin-point precision.

While it's now clear that I'm going to need to work on B, I'm glad that I didn't automatically make the connection between these two titles. Where 'The Forever War' was dry and boring and, in my opinion, confusing for the sake of causing confusion, 'The Accidental Time Machine' was fun and well-paced with likeable characters that made sense from beginning to end.

I guess I'll need to rethink my general rule of striking author's from the to-read list that have previously delivered lukewarm titles. While it won't have me lifting the ban on certain authors anytime soon, it might bring on some interesting surprises like this one. 

Bottom Line: 'The Accidental Time Machine' is worth the read. It's a solid science fiction and a fun read to boot.