Review of Hive by D.L. Orton

Time travel, like any subgenre of science fiction, shifts in response to the anxieties of our time (pun intended). These days, a lot of time travel focuses less on visiting the past or fixing one’s personal past and more on the existential anxieties we have about where humanity is going. Travelers, a Brad Wright series on Netflix, capitalized on this idea quite expertly. Hive, by D.L. Orton, reminds me a lot of Travelers. Except in this novel, there isn’t an entire program of time travellers being sent by a quantum Director. There’s just one man: Diego. I received an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Diego and Isabel live in a biodome—are, in fact, the last two humans alive, to their knowledge. The dome’s systems are failing, murderous microdrones hunt for any weakness, and Isabel is dying. They determine they can make one last attempt to jump back in time, and Diego goes, risking it all to pass a message to his past self—and give him and Isabel a chance at happiness they could never have in this timeline.

Hive is apparently connected, in a multiversal way, to Orton’s previous trilogy, Between Two Evils, and the fourth book of this series will be the fourth book of that series too. I admire this ambitious scope and love it when authors take big swings like this. I’m given to understand it’s OK I haven’t read the previous trilogy but want to note that up front here so readers know where I’m coming from.

When it comes to books that are both science fiction and thrillers, especially set in the near future, I’ve noticed that they often fall flat for me. Lifers or The Third Rule of Time Travel are recent examples of this phenomenon. Initially, I chalked this up to the thriller side of the equation—I just don’t really enjoy this genre! Yet now I am wondering if it’s more so the science fiction that lets me down? (Both of those books have significant issues with characterization, however, which Hive mostly manages to avoid.)

Like, as a thriller, Hive is fine. Orton has an excellent sense of plot and pacing, with some exciting action-oriented sequences. The stakes consistently increase, putting the protagonists in new levels of danger, right up until the end.

The science fiction parts of this book, honestly, feel like background noise. It’s a little like The Peripheral in that regard, with the time travel seeming more like an interesting footnote in a plot that is otherwise about politics and survival. Indeed, Orton and Gibson’s frameworks have a key similarity: in both cases, time travel is more about moving between parallel universes rather than altering one’s own past (thereby avoiding paradoxes). Whereas Gibson maintains that two-way communication is possible, Orton has elected for a far more elaborate, dramatic way of travelling via a space-time bridge.

But like … most of the ideas here feel very standard to me. Microdrones. Biodomes. The disasters Diego and Isabel have to avoid are fairly predictable, realistic worries about where our future could be going. There is very little on the science fiction side of the equation here that feels new or interesting to me—so if you are coming to this book hoping to be wowed by that aspect, you might be disappointed.

Also, a lot of the minor characters—especially the antagonists—are incredibly one-dimensional. Isabel’s ex is a great example, as is Agent Johnson, who is quite the stereotype of a busybody government official. Diego and Isabel, thankfully, are notable exceptions. Their romance is actually very touching, and you know I, as an aromantic person, don’t give out this compliment lightly! Getting to watch their romance rekindle through both of their eyes, and seeing how far it goes even as the world around them starts to fall apart, is really something.

The other part of the book I found disturbingly enticing was simply how realistic Orton’s depiction of the United States falling apart was. Comms crumble, and with them goes government services. Honestly, no notes.

Hive feels like a book I have read before. This is both a compliment and a critique. On the one hand, it is a solid work of science fiction and a compelling thriller. On the other hand, it didn’t feel like it broke new ground for me in any way. I think if you are a bigger fan of thrillers or second-chance romance, then you will probably love this book. As it is, I thought it was fun, and Orton definitely knows how to keep a reader engaged—but I am not sure how much of this will stick with me over time.