A father and son are thrust into a mysterious new reality when one of them unwittingly slips into the future in The Traveler, Joseph Eckert's tender family drama contained within an ingenious sci-fi adventure.
Scott Treder is a programmer who resides with his wife and their exceptionally gifted son, Lyle, in Madison, Wis. En route to work one morning, Scott suddenly time travels to the next day. Every morning afterward, an utterly disoriented and resistant Scott find himself slipping forward for ever-doubling periods of time. Scott misses large chunks of Lyle's youth, but their bond deepens as Lyle makes it his mission to rescue his father. Scott's time travel is powered by an unknown force far greater than anything the experts have seen. Lyle, who becomes a famous physicist, is Scott's only hope of stopping it. Meanwhile, people he encounters in the future who have heard of Scott can't decide whether he is a prophet or a charlatan.
Eckert renders his future worlds with bold imagery and imaginative high-tech props, such as an electronic dog belonging to Scott's descendants. As Scott's time travel accelerates frighteningly toward the end of times, toward the "Omega," he realizes that the true purpose of his ordeal is a mystical, awe-inspiring path to a "new beginning," with Lyle right by his side. The Traveler is a fantastical yet emotionally resonant saga reflecting on the mysteries of existence, the limits to understanding the universe's magic, and the sorrow of being separated from loved ones. --Shahina Piyarali