Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: Pocket Star
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:  3 Stars

Sideswiped is the pre-novella for Kim Harrison’s new series, and while the series stars Peri Reed, this pre-novella focuses on Silas with only a small glimpse of the soon to be main character. The idea behind releasing a short before the first novel, I am sure, was to let the readers get a taste of this new world she’s created. It’s a vastly different world from her Hollows series, and takes a little getting used to over all.

The main characters in the novella fall into two main categories at their University that is the setting, Drafters – who can ‘go back’ in time to fix something anywhere from ten seconds to a minute – and Anchors – who help the Drafters remember what they changed and for why. Without an Anchor, the Drafter doesn’t remember any of the time they changed – first version or the second.

Over all, the premise is interesting. I’m intrigued by the ability, and I’m intrigued by this new world Kim is trying to share with us. But I’m really unsure about some aspects of the ability. I don’t understand why the Drafter remembers nothing in the time that they’ve changed – it doesn’t make sense that they’d just have this serious hole in time when they’re the one changing time. And I’m not entirely sold that this is an awesome ability when most can’t shift more than a few measly seconds.

The story itself, Silas’s whole reason for being at the University and studying, is because he’s trying to prove that Drafters don’t actually go BACK in time to change things, but side step into a parallel universe and draw that start back with them (ultimately creating a parallel universe for those moments in time to subsequently draft them into the current time, so they can fix something).

We do meet Peri in this novella, as a secondary character, though it doesn’t give me the greatest impression of a character that I’m ultimately supposed to want to continue reading about. She’s from money, all of the characters you meet are because the label dropping for who they’re wearing is large in this book, and because of who her guardian is, she gets away with basically anything she wants to because he can get her out of it. Over all, I feel like she’s a spoiled brat that can’t do wrong. I’m not sure that’s the intention, but that’s what I took away from her personally.

Did the novella make me want to read The Drafter?

Yes. Which I guess, in the end means that it did its job.

I’m interested enough, and hoping more of the abilities actually get explained, that I’m willing to give The Drafter a shot. I’m hoping that things get flushed out a little better in the full novel, and I’m hoping that I come to get to know Peri and like her as a character I’ll want to follow. But right now, all I know is I’d read another novel/novella about Silas, because his backstory and emotions connected me enough that I really like his character.

Have you read Sideswiped? Leave your thoughts on the novella in the comments!