I'm sorry, but that elaborate building of nether-worlds and time travel and future shock doesn't really do it for me.
Some people are super serious about science fiction and fantasy books.
That's cool, and I respect all reading tastes, but I'm just not one of them. These books tend to feature real-life teen situations that are set off by just enough of the fantastic to make the story fun and fictional. The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price Grad student Andrea Mitchell is screwed. She signed on to be part of a revolutionary time travel project where scientists have opened a portal into the 16th century. But instead, she has been caught in a political power-play between the loyal but also murderous Sterkarms and the greedy corporate suits who are funding the study.