The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman (The Grimm Legacy #2)

Leo gets the shock of his life when a miniature version of himself arrives in his room on a time machine with a gorgeous girl. Future Leo instructs present Leo to read H. G. Wells' The Time Machine. After reading the book, Leo searches for how and why future him appeared, and he finds his answer at the New York Circulatory Materials Repository (or something like that). There are a few special collections in the Repository, The Grimm Collection (or something like that), which was the subject of The Grimm Legacy, as well as several others including The Wells Bequest. The Wells Bequest contains objects from science fiction tales of the past (not new cyborgy type stuff-that's a different collection), including the time machine from The Time Machine. In the Repository, Leo meets Jaya (Anjali's little sister from The Grimm Legacy), and when an angry boy with a crush on Jaya threatens to use a nuclear weapon and destroy New York, the pair must set out on a trip through time to stop him.

This was a fantastic book, and in my opinion was even better than The Grimm Legacy, which is quite impressive coming for me because I'm a sucker for fairy tales and would usually choose them over science fiction. This was what I consider a semi-sequel because it takes place in the same universe after the events of the previous book and has several overlapping characters but is still able to stand on it's own. Of course it's better appreciated if you remember Jaya and all her adorableness from The Grimm Legacy, but even if you don't you can still enjoy this book and not feel too confused.

As soon as I found out about the other two special collections, I started salivating for semi-sequels involving them as well. I don't know if it's a bit too much to ask for, but I think that if Polly Shulman does write them, the four books together would make an awesome series collectively. I do feel like there's hope for it because I think that she mentioned them to hint at the possibility.

This book, compared to the Grimm Legacy, had a lot more action and a lot less sitting around and talking, which definitely added to the excitement. However, this difference can be explained by considering the personalities of the different narrators. Elizabeth was a lot more wary and was seen as the voice of reason by her friends, while Leo is a bit more impulsive and relies on his gut a lot more than Elizabeth did.

Every novel involving time travel has to deal with all the paradoxical elements involved with it, and this one did so with aplomb by not doing it. Shulman explained that each time machine had rules applying to the novel it came from and since H. G. Wells did not give any rules to his time machine, the characters could do anything with no explanation necessary. Usually I spend ages trying to determine what the rules of a book's universe are but the explanation here managed to explain it by not explaining it and strangely enough it was satisfying.

5 stars

 
Leo never imagined that time travel might really be possible, or that the objects in H. G. Wells’ science fiction novels might actually exist. And when a miniature time machine appears in Leo’s bedroom, he has no idea who the tiny, beautiful girl is riding it. But in the few moments before it vanishes, returning to wherever—and whenever—it came from, he recognizes the other tiny rider: himself!

His search for the time machine, the girl, and his fate leads him to the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books. Hidden away in the Repository basement is the Wells Bequest, a secret collection of powerful objects straight out of classic science fiction novels: robots, rockets, submarines, a shrink ray—and one very famous time machine. And when Leo’s adventure of a lifetime suddenly turns deadly, he must attempt a journey to 1895 to warn real-life scientist Nikola Tesla about a dangerous invention. A race for time is on!

In this grand time-travel adventure full of paradoxes and humor, Polly Shulman gives readers a taste of how fascinating science can be, deftly blending classic science fiction elements with the contemporary fantasy world readers fell in love with in The Grimm Legacy.