Escape From Yesterday by Fred Petrovsky
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full length (220 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

The ultimate time travel adventure! ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW follows Den, a seventeen-year-old who has been a servant in Castle Kuthalds all his life. Den struggles with sexual awakening, and finds himself drawn to Oshana, the Vizier’s strong and alluring daughter. When this forbidden love is discovered by the cruel and obsessive Vizier, he becomes enraged. The Vizier incarcerates Den in the notorious Zakaz prison, and begins a campaign of murdering a generation of his subjects. To set things right, Den is brought to an ancient underground civilization of monstrous shape-shifters that sends him back in time. The plan fails, and Den is transported to an even earlier time. But during both visits to the past, Den inadvertently interacts with himself. This sets in motion a series of perilous escapes in three separate time periods—three different Dens, Oshanas, Umbras, and Viziers.

What a complicated web through time travel, a feeling of constant suspense, this book inspires. Den is a young servant put in unjust circumstances. He works in a castle and makes the mistake of kissing his leader’s daughter, the Vizier’s beautiful, innocent girl, Oshana. This mistake lands him in prison and on death row. You’d think things could not get worse. But they do.

As readers we are led down a complex path where time splits off. Luckily, time maps at the beginning of the chapters help to keep us on the right path.

Den runs into many unsavory people, such as Minister Umbra, the evil Vizier’s advisor. Umbra is not exactly who he seems.

Den, like all the castle’s servants, has a disability. This comes into play in the story and has an effect on the plot at times. He is surrounded by others with different types of physical or mental challenges. His friend, Modo, is sweet and loveable and naïve to the world’s evils. The way Den interacts with him and at the other extreme, with the malicious persons, brings out his heroic tendencies. Den meets many new people as well. We read about his struggles and how he comes to his decisions, and this pushes him to be someone he didn’t know he could be. It is easy to root for this character as we watch him grow. He is moved by the sacrifice of others.
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There is a fantasy element to this story, besides the time travel situation. There are mythical creatures, The Walapai, who are responsible for the time travelling. They seem evil, and Den must discover more about them and their unusual talents. As a race that lives underground, they have the power to help or to destroy.

Because Den had kissed the ruler’s daughter, destruction was forced upon the land by that angry father. The Walapai send Den back in time with the hopes that he will prevent himself from kissing the girl. Den messes up, big time, so goes back again, further. The complications that occur are intricately entwined with each branch of time. It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and watching at the different corners connect to form a coherent picture. The time maps help to keep readers in line with the connections, and one surely feels smarter after reading this story and keeping it together in the mind.

Den’s sense of honor and duty to himself and others makes him likeable. He risks himself to save his helpless friend. He gets to make decisions for himself for the first time. When he’s defiant, readers can cheer him on. When he, a good character to start, grows even more, we admire him. What’s it like to be a hero? Is it worth it? We get to hear his ponderings on this.

His future self teaches him things, but his younger self can teach his future self things as well.

The secondary characters are thought-provoking and have unexpected traits, such as the compassionate castle executioners.

There are twists and turns, an unpredictable story with many surprises. There are characters whose actions sometimes take us by storm. The story gets more and more complex, as Den keeps meeting other versions of himself.

Logan helps him escape from those who are hunting Den, but he’ll have to give up “everything that brought meaning and identity to” his life. Would it be worth it? It’s interesting to see when the earlier Den sees what the later Den had done and read the different perspectives, and when he sees himself from a distance.

The story is not a light read, but it is thought-provoking with characters who are worth reading about.