The Heart of Time

Several months ago I made a decision to begin making donations on a regular basis to comic book kickstarters to help more indie comics enter the world, not much but just a little something to help. Sadly, I then lost my job almost immediately and that plan went out of the window,

Though not before I donated to the campaign for the Heart of Time, a light hearted time travel story by Sarah Millman, a creator I had the privilege to meet at True Believers.

Well, this week I received the fruits of my donation in the post (and fortunately my dog didn't do much damage).

The Heart of Time by Sarah Millman, with a
couple of other goodies which came with.

For those not in the know, the Heart of Time tells the story of Amelia who, along with her pug Gertrude, has adventures through history on the back of a time travelling scooter, on the way picking up a Victorian inventor who tries to repair her mode of transport.

Well, I've now read the whole book from cover to cover and I've gotta say that I really do like this book, as it's such a sweet and charming title with a real subtle humour and gorgeous, bright and cheery art. As I looked at every page, taking a moment to just sit back and look at the page as a whole, I couldn't help but smile at the sheer optimism that seemed to just shine from them. It's yet another refreshing story which doesn't need action to be enjoyable (they seem to be making more and more).

As for the story, it was a quaint tale, but what really intrigued me were some of the time-travel influenced plot points which were only touched upon here. These were something to do with other, more nefarious time travellers as well as the hint that a bike wasn't actually needed to time traveller (I'm trying to be vague here as I don't want to give out spoilers (though I suspect I already have)).

However, there is one issue with the Heart of Time which I struggled with and that was the personality of main character Amelia, who came across as very brash and stand offish. Of course, while hints are given as to why she is this way and she may mellow in future instalments but for me, now, it seemed a little difficult to get behind her as a protagonist, preferring to speed on to the Arthur moments.

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that, overall, Heart of Time is still a lovely book and I'm glad that I made a donation/investment towards its creation. I look forward to more of this story because I really wanna know more about that villain guy.