The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

by Claire North
Category: "Fiction - S. F./Fantasy"
Pages:405
Year of Publication:2014
Date Added:04/18/2024
Date Read:09/24/2025
Notes:Harry is one of a group of people who repeat their lives over and over—they die and are reborn on their original birthday in all the original circumstances, except that they remember their past lives. A group of these people, the Cronus Club, is formed to help members cope with life among ordinary people and to send messages to past and future members (young people telling old people who will be able to tell other old people when they're young again). After several lives filled with attempts to find meaning and relevance, word comes to Harry from the future that things are changing and the world is ending. He discovers that a man named Vincent, whose life largely overlaps his own, is building a device that will answer all the questions in the universe. To do this in his lifetime, Vincent is sending information about future technology into the past and killing Cronus Club members who might stop him. (They can only be killed by killing their mothers when they're in the womb.) Harry sets out to find Vincent and, in one life, is drawn to join him in his task. But when Harry realizes the full scope of the project he wants out. Vincent tortures him to attempt to find out his origins so he can kill Harry's mother, but Harry holds out. He spends another two lives pretending to have forgotten about the project while quietly seeking for Vincent's origins so he can be killed and the world can be saved.
My Rating: 6

Reviews for The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Review - First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, The

Interesting concept fairly interestingly done. I enjoyed it during the early chapters when the state was set and at the end when it became an espionage/chase story. The middle bogged down some for me. Obviously there was no room for God in this fictional world. Also obviously, a technological machine that could reveal all the information in the universe is nonsense. There were some other logical flaws I think, but I didn't take the time to work them out to be sure. I read it fast and found it interesting enough once.

Reviewed by Roger on 2025-09-24 13:38:20

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