Kane Looks Back: The Didymus Contingency

[“Kane Looks Back” is a series of posts where my editor, Kane Gilmour, will focus on some of my past novels that you might not have discovered yet. Now read on… –Jeremy]

I’ve known Jeremy for a decade now. I first found his work through the hardcover of Pulse (2009), which I loved. I quickly found Jeremy’s other books and fired an e-mail off to him asking if the earlier books would ever be out in hardcover, because I’m a hardcover guy. Even now, with several hundred books on my Kindle. Still prefer the hardcovers. Over time we corresponded a lot, and then I did some freelance editing for him, and eventually became his full-time editor. I revised the edits on The Didymus Contingency in 2011. I think Jeremy ended up adding maybe a chapter or two’s worth of content during that edit, technically making it a ‘revised edition.’ But three years later, I saw that the tenth anniversary of the book was coming up, and I lobbied Jeremy hard to let me have another quick crack at the book, cleaning it up even further, and creating an ‘Author’s Preferred Edition’ and releasing it in hardcover—finally, for the first time.

I should note for those of you who have NOT read the book and who might know nothing about it: It’s a book about two guys who invent time travel, and they go back in time view Jesus—and either prove or disprove the stories about him. Now, I’m not a staunch Christian. I was raised Episcopalian, but only half-heartedly. By the time I was ten, I was mostly done with church. By eighteen, I was interested in Asian religions and philosophies. By the time I met Jeremy, I was a fully non-practicing anything. But when I read this book, I loved it. I knew so little about the Bible that Jeremy had to tell me which scenes in it were straight out of that book. This story takes those tales and spins them out in an action-adventure narrative with a whole lot more going on behind the scenes with time travel and assassins. My point? Even if you’re not a Christian or well versed in biblical stories, you’ll love this fast-paced action-adventure story, which is bursting with all the feelz.

Now, when I edit a book, I read through it three times. Preparing for the 10th Anniversary Edition, I was going through it for the fifth or sixth time. I *still* enjoyed it. I was still thrilled. I still hoped certain things wouldn’t happen, and then they did (like the last five times). I still got teary at times. So, don’t let the religious subject matter put you off. This non-practicing secular guy read and loved every minute of the book—and six times!

The hardcover IS actually available, even though it’s often listed as “Temporarily Out of Stock” at Amazon. I’ll bet you could still order it from them if you wanted. Barnes & Noble has it online as well.

And here’s the thing that gets me the most: after reading Jeremy’s idea of what to do if you invented Time Travel, I still, all these years later, can’t think of a better first trip, than going back 2000 years or so to see whether the story of Jesus actually took place the way the Bible says it did. Kill Hitler? Wouldn’t be my first trip through time. Go back and invest in Microsoft or Amazon or Apple? Yeah, eventually. Pre-warn my past self of things? Of course. But first? The very first trip? More than Buddha or Mohammad. More than any historical figure. Yeah, I’d want to go see *that* guy. I’d want to see the tales as they happened. The walking on water? All of it. Now that the idea is in my head? I can’t think of a single better use for that first trip.

The Didymus Contingency – Tenth Anniversary Edition (2015) is available in hardcover, paperback, as an e-book. The Origins Edition (2011) is available as an audiobook, narrated by R.C. Bray.