In the distant future, a group of scientist try and use a disgraced time travel technology to solve the murder of a well-known general. In 3324, Earth has changed in a lot of ways. But one thing that hasn't changed is mankind's inability to prevent war. A hundred years before, a war had destroyed nearly 90 percent of the world's population. But that didn't keep war from breaking out again between the technologically superior Oku and the Rasakans. After a bloody war that killed tens of thousands of people, The Rasakans won, thanks in part to the Oku commander General Zane. He convinced the Oku they couldn't win the war and after the truce, Rasakans considered him to be an important way to keep the Oku population under control.
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When he's murdered, the Rasakan military desperately wants to uncover the identity of the murderer. They decide to restart the Oku retrospection program, technology that allows someone to visit someplace and observe the events unnoticed. But the only Oku still alive who knows how to do it is Merit Rafi, a well-known freedom fighter during the war and the last remaining Forensic Retrospectionalist. But she doesn't want to cooperate and in fact wishes that she had died when the rest of her fellow fighters had been executed.
As she prepares for the leap back, she starts uncovering a lot of facts that only confuse her emotionally. It's not clear how the Rasakans were able to overwhelm the superior Oku forces. She also believes that Zane is responsible for tipping off the Rasakan military about the location of the last Oku stronghold, which led to a massive defeat. And she's confused to learn that the position of Prioress - the top Oku religious figure - is now being held by Lena, a former schoolmate who washed out of the Retrospectionalist academy. When she meets Lena, the Prioress is wearing the expected veil and religious garb. But she seems different and untrustworthy in some way Merit can't identify. Lena was having a relationship with General Zane and seems to want to solve the murder. But what other game is she playing?
When Merit travels back to the time just before Zane's murder, she discovers Lena already there. Lena pulls a gun, and tells Merit that she's waited for this moment since she was washed out of the academy. She's the one who tipped off the Rasakan military and helped ensure their ultimate victory. And she now has control of the Retrospection machine and plans to use it to control both Rasakan and Oku populations. She's already poisoned Zane and plans to kill Merit and blame the former freedom fighter for the murder. But Merit manages to overwhelm Lena and kill her. She is initially confused, since she believed that you couldn't change the past and she knew she had seen Lena in the future. But then she realizes that it has been her underneath the Prioress garments during their first meeting. She sets the machine to return with Lena's body in it, knowing it will be destroyed. She follows through with Lena's plan to make it seem as if she had killed the General. But now everyone will think she is dead. And she plans to continue pretending to be Lena and use her power to bring the Oku population back to life. Her final step is to put on Lena's clothes and "discover" the General's body, bringing everything back full circle again.
Best part of story, including ending:
It is a complex and often confusing story. The ending wraps up everything very nicely, but the first half of the story is convoluted and a bit difficult to follow.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene is the one in which Merit realizes that all the facts she thought she knew about the war and the General were lies. Learning the truth frees her and that strength allows her to overwhelm Lena and save her life.
Opinion about the main character:
Merit Rafi is not an easy character to root for. She's unpleasant, angry and behaves erratically. But somehow she still manages to be sympathetic and it's nice to see how much her character changes over the course of the book.
