What would happen if the UK Civil Service had access to TIME TRAVEL!?!?! It's a brilliant idea for a novel and is written with a seemingly-real understanding of the number of forms, systems, emails, and subterfuge needed to set up such a premise. It is perfectly observed - both in terms of the protagonists' lived experience and their trauma.

Along the way it touches on Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, moral relativism, and whether people can be absolved of their involvement with The Empire.

What starts as a fish-out-of-water comedy (how does a Victorian officer feel about Grindr?) slowly morphs into a terrifying confrontation with cold-blooded bureaucracy. It is a story about how people find themselves moulded into the shape of their own oppressors, and how love can spring from nowhere.

It is a delightful tale, well told, expertly researched, with just the right balance of humour and tension. I'm tempted to knock off half a star because of its mention of What3Words - but that would be most ungallant.

I'm only teasing a little bit! It is impossible to do a good Time Travel story. The closest I've experienced is "This Is How You Lose the Time War" which, similar to TENET, has sort-of-spies chasing each other through time.

Most sci-fi movies are an excuse to advertise the prowess of the special effects team - and TENET is no exception. Even on a TV screen, it is blisteringly clever the way they seamlessly interweave the forwards and backwards running shots.

The plot... Well, no spoilers, but if you seen any time travel film you'll guess what's going on about two minutes before the film reveals it. I actually think that's the mark of a good screenplay - the audience should feel ever-so slightly more intelligent than the protagonists.

And, again, like every other time travel film there is some thundering exposition to get through. Having Michael Cain read from cue-cards directly into the camera isn't exactly the best use of his talents - but it gets the job done without too much fuss.

A word on the sound design. It'll give your subwoofer a good workout - explosions and a thumping soundtrack. I know a lot of people complained about the mumbling dialogue - but I didn't find it worse than any other movie. Maybe turn the volume up on the centre speaker and kill the bass a little if you're worried.

As a James-Bond film - all gadgets and bloodless violence - it's a success. As a spy-thriller - hunting the McGuffin - it's flawless. As a sci-fi film - with extensive temporal shenanigans - it's a mind-bender. As a social object - to get you chatting about what really happened - it's a triumph

Definitely worth experiencing.

What if Quantum Leap was an Agatha Christie novel? That's the basic plot - but, in this, Sam is only leaping between characters in the same story.

The whodunnit plot is brilliantly worked out - and has the requisite number of twists-and-turns. But the quasi-time-travel requires the reader to keep an extravagantly large cast of characters in their head and flip back and forth to make sure they've understood who, what, where, when, and why. In the end, I gave up trying to keep everything straight in my head and let the last half of the book carry me along.

It's the sort of novel that invites comparisons to Donnie Darko - and will undoubtedly become a central social-object in some communities. It spawns fan-theories and fan-art in equal measure - creating a life outside the novel for both characters and readers. It is an intense, and highly structured read which might cause you to start arranging Post-It Notes on a wall to fully understand its genius.

Without giving too much away, it does ask some important questions about how we keep secrets and whether they consume us. Holding on to grief and rage and revenge is toxic. It comes to a satisfying conclusion - leaving no loose ends, but a cracked door open for a sequel.

In the end, I'm not sure if it is as clever as it thinks it is - or if I'm not as clever as I think I am. But, either way, it is a gripping - if overly ambitious - novel.

Wherever the historians go, chaos is sure to follow…

Dispatched to Victorian London to seek out Jack the Ripper, things go badly wrong when he finds the St Mary’s historians first. Stalked through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel, Max is soon running for her life. Again.

And that’s just the start. Max finds herself in a race against time when an old enemy is intent on destroying St Mary’s. An enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself.

Very very very very very silly! I loved the first book in this series, Just One Damned Thing After Another, and this follows the successful formula to the letter.

Time travelling historians bonking all over time and having sassy, sexy adventures. It's a curious mix off office-romance-revenge and running-through-history adventures. Paradoxes are cheerfully glossed over - as are historial exactitudes. Weirdly, the opening sub-plot never develops past the first few chapters. It just kinda fizzles out.

It's a little slapdash - characters appear without much fanfare and conversations are hard to follow. But, you know what, that's part of the charm.

It's a fast-paced and funny book which doesn't take itself too seriously. An absolute tonic.

The first book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History.

This is stupid amounts of fun! A roaring adventure through time. Doesn't bother getting hung-up on paradoxes - or science - but goes straight for the heart of history. Historians!

Specifically, historians fightin', drinkin', and shaggin' their way through the space-time continuum.

There are several points where the book could have ended satisfactorily, with suitable cliff-hangers. But each subsequent chapter brought more fun. I'm not sure I have the energy to read all 9 novels in one sitting - but I'm looking forward to rejoining the gang on my next holiday.

Like a good many of you, I was completely unaware of Íñigo Melchor de Velasco, the 7th Duke of Frías. But then, how many of us know the person we are destined to become?

Looking at the picture, staring into those familiar eyes, I felt like I was looking into a mirror. A mirror which showed the future. I wanted to snap a picture but I had run out of film - these were the days before digital cameras. By the time I had found a shop selling the right film for my Kodak, the museum had closed and I was left wondering if I would ever find the painting again.

Last weekend, I took another step on the path which will lead me to time-travel. I now have evidence that I will become a master of time. I shall bend the fourth dimension to my will!

Hanging in an almost forgotten corner, behind a wall, is the most extra-ordinary painting. It is that of a minor 17th century Spanish noble. Quite unremarkable except for one unique feature. It is a painting of me.

Staring at it was like looking in a mirror.

At some point in the future, I shall travel back to the past...

Here's a comparison with slightly more detail.

You need to imagine my face tilted down slightly - and my hair over both shoulders. There can be no doubt that this is a photo of me.

How I end up governing the Spanish Netherlands is a mystery to me. I'm searching the painting for clues I would have expected to have left myself - but I can find none.

What confuses me is the paradox of time-travel choice. Do I go back to the 1600s because I've seen this painting? If so - why did I choose to go originally? All very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey... stuff...