WINNER OF BEST NOVEL IN 2016 NEBULA AWARDSFINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL IN THE 2017 HUGO AWARDSPatricia is a witch who can communicate with animals Laurence is a mad scientist & inventor of the two-second time machine As teenagers they gravitate towards one another sharing in the horrors of growing up weird but their lives take different paths When they meet again as adults Laurence is an engineering genius trying to save the world-and live up to his reputation-in near-future San Francisco Meanwhile Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze the hidden academy for the magically gifted working very hard to prove herself to her fellow magicians & secretly repair the earth's ever growing ailments As they attempt to save our future Laurence & Patricia's shared past pulls them back together & though they come from different worlds when they collide the witch & the scientist will discover that maybe they understand each other better than anyone