The Time Traveler's Wife

The premise involves a man, Henry, who has crono-displacement disorder. This causes him to involuntarily slip from the present to points in the past or future. There tends to be some order to the places that he goes. (He often ends up in the same place at different times.) Though he has the free will to interact with the events in different time periods, the course of action is already set. Thus, his actions in the past can't change the future. They are in fact already part of the future that he is coming from.

This provides a solution to the 'past change' dilemma of time travel. It also provides a good set up for a love story. Henry and Claire each meet each other for the "first time" with one person knowing what the future has in store, while the other is oblivious. They also get to have a kid who travels around and has adventures with her dad, even after he is dead.

Unfortunately, the writing is very confused. The end strays heavily and drags on and on and on and on. The tone also bounces around from schmaltzy sentimentality to excessive vulgarity. The time travel approach leaves some plot points that seem to be only partially covered. It also suffers from a confused morality and scientific explanation. Perhaps the best part of the writing was the detailed descriptions of Chicago.