Children of the Chronotron

"Children of the Chronotron" by S. J. Byrne is a science fiction story laid down in the early 1950s about the last immortals on Earth, the Xlarnans, who are on the brink of destruction and send an emissary through time to try and save themselves. The book starts with the Xlarnans, who used to be really advanced, struggling because their world is falling apart. To fix this, they build a Chronotron machine that controls time and lets them send someone back to the past. Then, the story jumps to 1952 where we meet Henry and his uncle on a plane ride together, which mixes typical teenage problems with the big reveal that there are bigger, more powerful forces at work. A strange alien shows up and messes with their world, causing confusion and doubt about what will happen to them and what it all means for their time travel journey. As Henry grows up, he faces huge, important questions, which makes for an exciting story full of mystery.