In and of itself there’s nothing innovative about time travel in fiction, but depending on how it is approached, this familiar plot device can help authors open up new lines of inquiry into various issues. Parhelion makes an excellent example. When the protagonist of the novel encounters a police officer who seems displaced in time, she discovers that she may have the opportunity to stop the tragic crime that took her sister’s life. But is it the right thing to do? Putting aside the usual discussions of the dangers of altering the past – the protagonist isn’t anyone significant enough to change the course of history – the novel instead explores the ways in which we are shaped by past experience. If you were to alter your past, would you still be the same person you are today?