Interesting Scifi Alt History With An Atypical Subject. I’ve read a couple of truly phenomenal alt-history/ time travel books over the years where someone in the present (or in this case, future) is sent back in time to one specific era or event to try to save someone or stop someone else who is trying to harm that person. Specifically, books like Randall Ingermanson’s City of God trilogy (wherein time travel is developed in an attempt to go back and murder the Apostle Paul before he can begin his missionary journeys that ultimately spread Christianity beyond the Israel/ Palestine region) and Jeremy Robinson’s The Didymus Contingency (wherein time travel is developed specifically to attempt to disprove the Gospels and which was the very first book from Robinson I ever read and created a lifelong fan that has now followed him for nearly 100 books). Also TV shows that tend to get cancelled far too early such as *UPN*’s (now we’re getting *really* old!) 7 Days or the more recent Timeless from NBC. (Though the TV shows, by their very nature, were less focused on a specific person or event in the past.)
So those references, assuming you’ve ever heard of them (and most likely, sadly, you haven’t), give you an idea of what to expect here. Here, time travel has been developed and is apparently being used for at least some other purposes at times, but the specific mission of the book is singular: Prevent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination that in our world happened on the titular date.
The scifi elements of a future near dystopian state are done well, as are the later similar elements I’ll not discuss because they veer more into spoiler territory. Similarly, the alt history elements here really bring the real historical elements to life in ways that those who still remember this era will likely appreciate. This is the point where this book is *most* similar to Ingermanson and Robinson’s works, as this is also where those books truly shine.
The difference here, particularly as a native of the borderlands between Appalachia and Atlanta who was born several years after the real-world assassination of King but even whose parents remember it, is that there are many people with actual living memories of the period in question and even at least some who were either directly there or nearby at that moment. Such people could speak to how this book handles that era even better than I can, but again, from my own perspective, this book really does bring its subject period and the real-world people it tells fictional tales of to light in ways that the actual factual historical books never quite can.
The *one* problem someone with a fairly balanced view of history will have, that others may not share depending on their particular circumstances, is that MLK is pretty heavily deified in this book, actively proclaiming him as the most important figure in US history. I’m not going to downplay his significance at all – he truly was *a* great and important figure in US history. But he was also a human, and all humans are ultimately flawed creatures that make greater and lesser mistakes. Here, the book could likely have been at least a touch stronger had it deified King less and humanized him more, similar to its treatment of King’s close friend Ralph David Abernathy – who plays at least as large a role in this tale as MLK himself does.
Ultimately though, this is truly a strong tale of its type, one that works well in pretty well all facets of the tale. While I suspect it could be one that becomes perennially discussed more in February (Black History Month) than year round, I could absolutely see it being discussed then the way David McAfee’s vampire books (beginning with 33AD and being another scifi/ alt history, but without the time travel element) are so perennially mentioned (by me at least 😉 ) around Halloween.
Very much recommended.
This review of 4.4.68 by Desmond T. Lewis was originally written on March 10, 2026.