The concept of time has been a subject of intense debate and profound intrigue almost from the beginning of… well, recorded time. Is time a human invention to keep us on track? That’s the logical take. But what if time was truly a mystical force, protected by the gods and powering all that is good and beautiful in our world?
Flavia Brunetti explores that wonderful possibility—and raises a dreadful scenario—in her debut fantasy novel, THE WEB OF TIME (Blue House Literary; May 20, 2025). Unfolding in Rome, Tunis, and Tripoli, this imaginative, lyrical work follows several characters—some mortal, some not—whose lives and fates intertwine in often startling, consequential ways. They all (like everyone everywhere) depend on the Web of Time, which has been spinning quietly since the dawn of creation, keeping the universe from slipping into chaos and sustaining three Great Portals: Kindness, Art, and Language. Threads from this web naturally rearrange themselves as humans change their minds, fall in love, suffer losses, make great discoveries and terrible mistakes, build empires and cause them to fall. Even when portals close from the world, the web continues keeping time, marking history. Until the unthinkable happens. Time doesn’t just stand still—it starts erasing itself, and pieces of history begin vanishing.

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