time travel Archives - Page 3 of 3

Yzabel / February 25, 2014

Review: Hollow World

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

The future is coming…for some, sooner than others.

Ellis Rogers is an ordinary man who is about to embark on an extraordinary journey. All his life he has played it safe and done the right thing, but when faced with a terminal illness, he’s willing to take an insane gamble. He’s built a time machine in his garage, and if it works, he’ll face a world that challenges his understanding of what it means to be human, what it takes to love, and the cost of paradise. He could find more than a cure for his illness; he might find what everyone has been searching for since time began…but only if he can survive Hollow World.

Review:

(I got a copy of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I couldn’t help but think “Crapsaccharine World” as I was reading this book. Hollow World and its inhabitants seem to be the pinnacle of perfection for the human race (no diseases, instant transportation through portals, you can get whatever you want manufactured on the spot, no need to work…)—a sweet, sweet world, right? And yet, as soon as you scratch at the surface, you start wondering where’s the catch. It gets you questioning a lot of values, a lot of things we’d deem as “perfect”, and in turn, it also sheds another light on the villain’s beliefs (yes, there is a villain, but I’m not about to spoil it further).

I really liked “Hollow World”. I admit had a hard time wrapping my mind about the “suspension of disbelief is needed” part, but this might be, paradoxically, because of the foreword put in by the author. (I’m contrary like that, I suppose; I didn’t have any problems when it came to do it with H.G. Wells, but tell me to do it and I start noticing it too much.) But mostly, this story left me with a satisfied feeling. I appreciated how it was about time travel, yet in terms of changes inner and external, not in terms of theories, going back and forth, etc. (Those are hard feats to master, and a lot of TT-related books fail in that regard, in my opinion.) From the beginning, it was made clear that it was a one-way trip for Ellis, our “hero”, and that he’d have to make the best out of what he’d get once in the future.

Ellis: this character was a challenge, in a way, because he was everything I’m not (male, older, married, lived through the death of his child, very likely American conservative middle-class, and various other elements that make it a little harder to identify with). However, the author managed to make him a likeable person. He was flawed, he didn’t always see what was in front of him as clearly as he could have, but he evolved throughout the story; challenged with a completely different world, he had to come to terms with the fact that his former beliefs, his life, were more comfort-choices than something he really believed in. In that, I can only commend this character and his evolution.

Pax: he (let’s say “he”, because “it” would be demeaning to me, if closer) was such a beautiful person. Adorable and human to the core, in that everything about “him” seemed to be based on sheer human features, devoid of anything “polluted” by gender. Of course, everyone in Hollow World was supposed to be like that, but for me, Pax really epitomised those values. “He” seemed to be one of these people who manage to make beauty bloom in everyone, no matter how flawed.

Antagonists: Let’s call them “villain and followers”. Their plot wasn’t so complex in itself, yet it stemmed from thought patterns that, all in all, were logical, considering what had prompted them. Ellis and this antagonist were like inverted mirrors of each other, walking on similar paths that revealed who they truly were on the inside.

More than time travel, “Hollow World” is about differences, acceptance, humanity, and discovering one’s true self. And this made it beautiful.

Yzabel / October 7, 2013

Review: Dream of Time

Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Each night, when Robin drifts off to sleep, she finds herself dreaming about the life of a woman in the Victorian age. She soon realizes it’s not a dream at all, but she is truly slipping into San Francisco’s past.

While living two lives — one as a mom in the modern day, the other as a proper young lady at the turn of the century — she discovers *how* she’s being sent back to a bygone era is only the first mystery. A much more important question is *why* she’s there.

With the help of a rookie police officer, Robin takes off on a spellbinding adventure, sifting through a century’s worth of clues to untangle the past — and to put love to the test. History, though, proves itself a worthy opponent, and she comes to experience firsthand how destiny can be kind and cruel in the same stroke.

Review:

(I got a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

A pleasant enough book, though it might be considered as lacking in certain aspects of time travel, and perhaps character development, too, depending on what you expect.

I really liked the details of 1900 San Franciso, how Robin had to get used to her “life in the Then”, without all the commodities we take for granted nowadays. Some things she gets used to it fairly quickly, yet she definitely needs help with others, and this made the story more believable: had she been able to adapt too easily, it wouldn’t have been interesting.

I also enjoyed the links to articles, pictures of items of clothing, and various other visual tidbits throughout the text. Since this was an ebook, and I was reading either on my computer or tablet, it was very easy to navigate to the aforementioned links (although I admit I only did it once I was done with a chapter, in order not to disrupt my reading). It may not seem like much, but it was a nice add-on, and one you can tell the author enjoyed putting in.

Last but not least, the manner in which some threads tied together at the end was interesting. Some may say it was the easy way out, but I think it fit well enough; I’m not sure there could’ve been a truly happily-ever-after ending, and the one we got here, though bittersweet, still felt appropriate to me.

What I’m less sure about is how Robin took in what was happening. In some ways, she reacted very sensibly, but in others, it felt as if she was too oblivious to what seemed to me like sheer evidence, especially since she had access to much information in the Now. I had the feeling that she should’ve been looking for specific clues more quickly, and instead “wasted” her time on others. Of course, keeping in mind that I was a reader comfortably installed in her chair, and not living through such events as described in the book, it’s easy to say! This is why I’m not totally sure if the heroine’s reactions were logical or not: with everything going on, her basically living two lives (and she did a good job not breaking out after the first few days), maybe it wasn’t so surprising at all.

Another element that may have been a little confusing was the matter of paradox, which is something very, very tricky to toy with in stories revolving around time travel. There were a couple of instances where Robin discovered some clues sent to her through Jennie, acted accordingly, yet didn’t ensure that said clues would be sent to her future self, which should thus have ended as a paradox loop.

I found a few typos/missing words here and there, but nothing too jarring nor distracting in the long run. Those few qualms notwithstanding, I can say I enjoyed this novel.

Yzabel / February 6, 2013

Review: The Timekeeper’s Son

The Timekeeper’s Son by Mike E. Miller

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

What would you do if you could start your life over again? What if you didn’t have a choice?

That’s what happens to Andy Meyers. He has all the normal trappings of life: a beautiful wife, a nice house, and a good job. But all that vanishes when he wakes to find himself reliving his own childhood. He is suddenly nine-years-old again, and he is poised to reenact a terrible chain of events that altered his life forever.

But that’s just the beginning. Things get even more complicated when Andy discovers an impossible note. Someone knows he has come back. Someone who doesn’t want him to change anything. And they will stop at nothing to keep him from it.

As Andy starts to unravel his own past, he begins to find that things are much different than he ever imagined. His family has a secret. A secret so big that it could change everything.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #590 in the Making Connections group, in exchange for an honest review.)

Overall an interesting book, along the idea of “what would you do if you could go back to the past and change something.” It avoided falling into a lot of clichés I expect of such a genre (for instance, “let’s go back in 1938 and kill Hitler”), while also addressing the matter of time paradox, in that, of course, whatever gets changed in the past will affect the future, and so the ‘old’ life the character would like to go back to wouldn’t exist anymore, not per se, at least.

The backdrop provided, that of the Timekeepers’ organization, was interesting, and I liked the trigger to time-travel that was revealed later on in the book. It was shocking, yet also logical in a way.

I was less thrilled at the second part of the book, though. I found the Timekeepers to be perhaps a little too… naive?… in their dealings. As if they should’ve been able to expect and do more, but didn’t. Instead, Andy was the one who seemed to understand the most, when he was actually the one who should’ve been the most clueless. (Granted, he was the main character, and a main character who doesn’t *do* anything and only lets things happen would be boring. It’s just the behaviour of other characters that seemed somewhat contradictory to me.)

No matter what, I do think there’s potential to the world created here. I would probably be interested in reading the next installment, especially if it were to reveal more about the Timekeepers and how they work exactly.

Yzabel / January 11, 2013

Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry who met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry was thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. In the face of this force they can neither prevent nor control, Henry and Clare’s struggle to lead normal lives is both intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Review:

This book is pretty difficult to rate; I’m not even sure if I want to give it 2 stars or 3, because there are quite a few things in it I liked, and quite a few things I found hard to stand.

Like with some other books I read in the past months, I think I was expecting something else—something shorter, too: some parts I could have done without, because they didn’t bring much to the story as a whole, and felt like they were just delaying the unavoidable. Conversely, I wish the author had spent more time tackling a few problems that should have arisen regarding Henry, especially since she described other issues that came with his chrono-deficiency.

Those very issues were something I appreciated reading about, even though they made Henry hard to like in parts, because they raised interesting questions. For instance, Henry’s coldness at having to regularly steal, pick locks, mug other people, and so on; however, if one had had to do that for his/her whole life, wouldn’t s/he have ended up distancing him/herself the same way? (That, or ending up dying young because of too many scruples.) So, it didn’t make the character very likeable, but it was still a logical development for me. On the other hand, I felt like too many other problems were left aside, such as “how did he manage to hold a steady job like he did?” Also, the setting seemed a little too one-sided (middle-class people, with some annoying clichés).

I’m also shared regarding relationships in this book, more specifically Henry’s and Clare’s. While Clare’s love for him is logical enough, considering she’s known him all her life, Henry’s develops a little too fast (“it’s OK because she’s seen my future self, so I suppose it’s going to happen anyway” is just a tad bit far-fetched). And I found Clare too passive and dependent.

Truth be told, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting from this novel. It wasn’t bad, but it left me with a lingering feeling of frustration.

Yzabel / October 18, 2012

Review: Dark Tidings

Dark Tidings by Ken Magee

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

What happens when ancient magic meets the internet? One thing is certain, modern life will never be the same again.

A thousand years ago, a young thief, Tung, and a disgraced wizard, Madrick, are thrust together in an executioner’s dungeon.

In the darkness, Madrick reveals an incredible secret about a legendary spell. The great spell helps them escape their prison cell… and eventually their century.

Catapulted into the present day, their lives collide with Michael, a computer hacker who plans to destroy the world’s largest bank. But sinister people are tracking their every move and they will stop at nothing to steal their spell.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #421 in the Making Connections group, in exchange for an honest review.)

The premise of this book made it look like the kind of story I could enjoy—magic and technology mixed with a hefty dose of humour—and enjoy it I did. Granted, I thought the two storylines would converge much sooner; instead, they do after a while only, and at first I wondered when that would be. However, when the author brings them together, it all makes up for it. Besides, Tung’s and Madrick’s antics in their own era provided for very fun moments, that made me laugh a lot; not to mention I have a soft spot for such characters with a definite ‘loser’ streak, yet are able to get through their problems in the end.

The overall plot flew nicely and fast enough, with magic of old intertwined with conspiracy theories and modern means of action. The ending, while a cliffhanger and reminding me that there is a sequel, was of the kind I’d find brilliant—from the moment the characters made their decision, it spelled (pun intended) something grand and terrible in the making.

There were two things that bothered me in this novel, though. The first was the style itself, that I found at times a little too dry and descriptive, thus keeping the characters at a distance from the reader, so to speak; there were plenty of inserts such as “little they did they know at the time that…”, and while those were, in a way, in line with more traditional “tales formatting”, I’m just too keen about that. Also, I’d have liked to see more of Tung’s and Madrick’s reactions to the modern worled (the way things went, they just seemed to adapt much too quickly, in spite of a couple encounters and mishaps, and I think this removed some potential for more funny situations and interactions).

Still, I’ll probably pick the second installment along the way, as I want to know more about what the three heroes left behind.