Sleator captures a fine sense of place in Strange Attractors. Especially remarkable is his portrait of a place where time is in chaos, speeding up, slowing down, and rippling, even storming through the earth.

The novel begins in a fairly ordinary home, in the suburbs of an American city, where Max awakens thinking today is yesterday, with no idea how he has lost a day of his life—especially a day that he had been looking forward to. He visits a home that is almost empty, meeting a scientist named Sylvan and the scientist's daughter Eve, and he visits an apartment full of clutter, meeting—surprise!—scientist named Sylvan and the scientist's daughter Eve. Pay attention; each place holds clues as to who is who.

From his mundane life, Max is spirited to North America in 33,019 B.C., a great empty grassland spotted with trees...