Timescape

In 1998 the world economy is failing due in large part to ecological collapse. Scientists experiment with sending a message of warning, via tachyons, to the past. The message is received by scientists in 1963 among controversy as to its authenticity. That's the science fiction part of the book, a relatively small part. The story gets bogged down in interpersonal conflicts and social vagaries in the lives of the scientists, their colleagues, department heads, and funding sources. It just goes on and on.

I almost abandoned this book about two thirds of the way through. It has too much extraneous social drama. If I wanted that, I would have read a romance. In the end, though, it picks up.

Timescape explores the concept of time and the classic paradox. If only Benford had had an editor who could have nixed the soap opera. It would have been a much better science fiction book and about two hundred pages shorter.