The Man Who Saw Seconds

The Man Who Saw Seconds by Alexander Boldizar is a new scifi thriller that questions power and authority. The novel focuses on Preble, a man with the unique ability to see five seconds into the future. At first, Preble appears to be a typical power-fantasy scifi guy  — with his ability to see 5 seconds ahead, he’s a chess master and boxing champ, creating a protag who’s just a bit  stronger, faster, and smarter than everyone around him. But then, Boldizar uses this character to examine power structures and control.

I was most interested in this one because the time ability felt like a good wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey scifi, but in this case, the story is more about power. Preble is riding the subway home when a cop decides he’s looking at him aggressively and decides to harass Preble for it. Despite his 5-second advantage (and, you know, existing in a society with cops), Preble somehow doesn’t see that asserting his rights NOT to have his bag searched will escalate this, badly. His power kicks in when the cops try to shoot him.

The novel’s themes feel especially relevant in the current age, when every headline raises weird feelings of wait, how can they do that? Is that even legal? Is anyone gonna stop this? The book looks at this gap between what the law promises and what happens in actuality. It’s legal to look at a cop and legal to decline a bag search… but that leads to a shoot out. It’s not legal to waterboard a toddler, but can Preble stop them through other legal means, or will this escalate, too, to something even worse?

The Man Who Saw Seconds raises questions about government overreach, authoritarianism, and legal systems. At certain points in the novel, Preble has to use his power and fight his way out, because doing things the legal, proper way isn’t working. This starts from the original conflict, when making too much eye contact with a cop leads to a shootout, and continues as a theme throughout the novel.

Preble’s friend Fish adds both drama and humor with his ongoing snarky anarchist commentary. Sometimes Fish felt a little over-the-top, in a comedic way, but I also liked these two besties. Opposites often attract in relationships, and this devoted family man and his sarcastic anarchist friend felt like this type of pairing. And a lot of us have a responsible side and a DGAF side, don’t we, which makes it easy to care about these two.

These two novels have wildly different plots, of course, but the themes  in The Man Who Saw Seconds reminded me of classic dystopian literature, particularly my recent read of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. Like We, The Man Who Saw Seconds considers what constant surveillance does to average citizens, and questions the reach of government.  In We, the narrator loves the OneState (at least for most of the novel…), but the book is fundamentally questioning social institutions. Here, it’s mostly the character Fish who distrusts, well, everything, but the overall atmosphere of questioning vibes and a harsh social structure felt similar.

Preble’s power leads to all the questions and social considerations, not necessarily a different society.  The justification for pursuing Preble at all costs in the name of national security felt like a suitably scary fictional villain, and also a bit too believable and plausible. The novel asks the reader to consider what makes a person a threat to others. Is it security with weapons and orders, it is Preble’s power, is those orders and the overall systems themselves?

The Man Who Saw Seconds has gotten positive attention from Locus magazine, which highlights the book’s blend of specfic and political themes. It’s been noticed on Tim Pratt’s top 10 for 2024 roundup, noting that “You wouldn’t think a few seconds of precognition would be that formidable a power, but the author makes a compelling case for how someone could pretty much take over and/or destroy the world if they leveraged the skill properly. The protagonist just wants to live in peace with his family, but that world won’t allow it.”

The Man Who Saw Seconds is also nominated for a Locus Award this year. You can vote for the Locus Awards here. Locus mag subscriber votes count extra, but anyone with an interest in scifi can vote.  It’s on the 2024 Recommended Reading List, along with some other real winners in the recent scifi space.

Ultimately, The Man Who Saw Seconds is a scifi thriller that raises social questions without easy resolutions. The fast pace of the book’s action and the sarcastic, anarchist comments from Fish keep the novel fun, even while darker themes and questions power the story.