≡ [PDF] The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother No FriendVestiges of Time Venture Science Fiction Venture SF Books Richard C Meredith 9780099516903 Books

The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother No FriendVestiges of Time Venture Science Fiction Venture SF Books Richard C Meredith 9780099516903 Books

Download As PDF : The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother No FriendVestiges of Time Venture Science Fiction Venture SF Books Richard C Meredith 9780099516903 Books

The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother No FriendVestiges of Time Venture Science Fiction Venture SF Books Richard C Meredith 9780099516903 Books

I had high hopes for this "rediscovered classic" of alternate time line science fiction. It opens in what appears to be World War I of our history, and we quickly learn that the narrator is actually a secret agent planted in this alternate history to ensure the victory of the British Empire. He works for an alien humanoid race who have their secret reasons for ensuring particular historical outcomes. So far, so good. However, when the first alien appears to give the narrator his orders, we feel a certain repugnance at his description, especially since he is fully nude and much is made of his masculinity. (To what point?) Then a roundelay of assassinations are attempted, and there is the unmasking of a second group of time-liners who are at cross-purposes with the aliens. Many pages are filled with padding--kidnapping and escapes which could have come from a Young Adult adventure novella--while the plot slows to a crawl. The author's concept of alternate time lines is also faulty, since he describes them as being relatively few, and located in a linear array, from "West to East" (?!). In fact, if alternate time lines exist, there would be an uncountable infinity of them, and they would form an infinitely thick fractal bush. I confess that I stopped reading linearly halfway thru the first volume, and only skipped my way to the very end, which just made my head spin.

For a true classic on time travel and alternate history, there is nothing to beat the great Isaac Asimov's "The End of Eternity". That book is worth ten, nay a hundred, of books like this.


Tags : The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother, No FriendVestiges of Time (Venture Science Fiction) (Venture SF Books) [Richard C. Meredith] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. All three novels is the series in one omnibus volume.,Richard C. Meredith,The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother, No FriendVestiges of Time (Venture Science Fiction) (Venture SF Books),Time Warner Books UK,009951690X,PL00241629B,Fantasy,Science fiction

The Timeliner TrilogyAt the Narrow PassageNo Brother No FriendVestiges of Time Venture Science Fiction Venture SF Books Richard C Meredith 9780099516903 Books Reviews

I first read this book, all three books, soon after they were published. Though the concept has been done better in the years following the 1960s there is a certain consistency that flows between these books and attracted my young mind in my late teens and 20s. I remembered this author, particularly his other book ("We All Died at Breakaway Station") and felt the desire to reconnect with this work. It is a convoluted story that you need to pay attention to especially as you progress to the final book of the trilogy.
I have no specific complaint on this work; how the author presented his ideas was innovative at the time and if you try not to compare apples to avocados and accept how he presents his concept this work will give you plenty to think about and consider.
I had high hopes for this "rediscovered classic" of alternate time line science fiction. It opens in what appears to be World War I of our history, and we quickly learn that the narrator is actually a secret agent planted in this alternate history to ensure the victory of the British Empire. He works for an alien humanoid race who have their secret reasons for ensuring particular historical outcomes. So far, so good. However, when the first alien appears to give the narrator his orders, we feel a certain repugnance at his description, especially since he is fully nude and much is made of his masculinity. (To what point?) Then a roundelay of assassinations are attempted, and there is the unmasking of a second group of time-liners who are at cross-purposes with the aliens. Many pages are filled with padding--kidnapping and escapes which could have come from a Young Adult adventure novella--while the plot slows to a crawl. The author's concept of alternate time lines is also faulty, since he describes them as being relatively few, and located in a linear array, from "West to East" (?!). In fact, if alternate time lines exist, there would be an uncountable infinity of them, and they would form an infinitely thick fractal bush. I confess that I stopped reading linearly halfway thru the first volume, and only skipped my way to the very end, which just made my head spin.

For a true classic on time travel and alternate history, there is nothing to beat the great Isaac Asimov's "The End of Eternity". That book is worth ten, nay a hundred, of books like this.