The Sixth Review of Hermes

Arguably, on the day of publication, the most important one of all; from someone who could live through into the 22nd Century.

Struan Tait

Cambridge 

Hermes by Emily Chance is a captivating exploration of humankind’s past and potential future. The story weaves together three distinct timelines: A.D. 50, A.D. 1050-1550, and A.D. 2050, each with richly developed characters and settings. The tale is an ambitious blend of historical fiction, speculative science fiction and philosophical musings, inviting readers to reflect on our evolution and its impact on the world. Hermes’ narrative spans three millennia by spotlighting the lives of three individuals separated by time but united in purpose.

Chance’s characters are cleverly placed at critical historical moments that showcase humanity’s cruelty and preoccupation with short-term gains. Hermes expertly demonstrates that altruistic decisions for Earth’s sustainability must be made to preserve life for future generations to come. The universality of suffering Chance’s characters experience transcends time, allowing for great relatability regardless of epoch. Indeed, the human spirit links her characters and shines through as hope that we may yet make the correct steps for our future.

Chance’s use of sci-fi elements is both restrained yet powerful – I could not put the book down on the subject of them and the endeavour to unite – yet their presence does not overcrowd the story. Hermes explores a wonderful ‘what if?’ story of discovery and the unification and evolution of humanity for which we all deeply harbour a desire. I highly recommend Hermes to anyone concerned with learning from our past to sustainably conserve our future.

Authors Response 

Two points I would make in response to Struan's review, for me the most moving one, because it is his future we are talking about.

  1. The choice of 1050 and 1550 was driven by the notion that the forces responding to the plea communicate through binary code and therefore the interventions are driven by the nicety of mathematics. As the recorder of the story I then needed to research how those interventions played out at the chosen points in time; that they were crucial, to use Struan's words, is a coincidence; it is left for the reader to speculate whether if other dates had been revealed would the messengers have had the same experiences?
  2. I took a lot of pleasure from Struan's remarks about his perception that the science-fiction elements were used sparingly. This is where my guide was John Wyndham whose best work always left the nuts and bolts surrounded by an aura of mystery. The reader can also ponder whether they perceive a change in the interventions, based on the early ones, as the story unfolds.

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