Living in the Future

Living in the Future is the third book in The Traveler Series, which began with Variation Seven and continued in Strange Times. Travelers are the men and women who possess timebands -- cybernetic devices that allow the wearer to travel in time and change history. There are only twelve timebands and twelve Travelers, and those individuals have divided themselves into two rival factions, each with a different view of what the destiny of mankind should be. One group is attempting to steer humanity toward a bright future where it colonizes the stars, and the other is determined to work toward the extinction of the human race before it can infest the galaxy like spreading plague.

Two of these Travelers, Ruthie and Miles Terwilliger, have made a surprising discovery: their young daughter Miranda can also travel through time, but she can do it without a timeband. Since Miranda is still only a toddler, her parents worry about how they will be ever be able to find her if she wanders off into another century. But they soon have a more urgent dilemma to solve. Their adversary Sarah Rickert has rewritten the outcome of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has been banished from the White House, and General George McClellan has installed himself as dictator of the United States. This sets off a reality wave, unmaking the history of all the succeeding centuries and transforming the world that Ruthie and Miles knew into an unrecognizable horror.

The team of Travelers, led by their wise mentor Caesar, goes into action to undo what Sarah has wrought. But unknown to them, one of their own members has gone rogue, and the reality wave he seeks to unleash will cause even greater havoc to the timeline of history. Ruthie and her friends must use the astonishing power of the timebands to repair the cracks in history and steer humanity away from the dark future known as Variation Seven.

Living in the Future is the third book from author Mike Manolakes in the Traveler Series, the story of Ruthie, her friends and foes, and the alternate histories they create. The Traveler Series will take readers on a trip through worlds that never were: a United States corrupted by an oppressive military dictatorship, or a North America where armies of Native Americans sweep the British colonies from the continent. For readers who enjoy exploring the various “what ifs” of history, Living in the Future and the Traveler Series will provide unexpected twists and turns as Ruthie discovers the unexpected potential in the power that the timeband gives her.