I love it when I find one of these really obscure indy books that is very well written. This one does not deserve its obscurity. It is the story of anI love it when I find one of these really obscure indy books that is very well written. This one does not deserve its obscurity. It is the story of an old woman who thinks she can still order from 1947 Sears catalogs and she actually can. It is the story of a young woman who starts doing the same thing and gets rather carried away. If this was shortened it could easily be a Twilight Zone episode. I think that was in the mind of the author too because there is actualy one instance in which the main character makes reference to her Twilight Zonish life. If you want an explanation for strange happenings this might not be the book for you, but the fact that the strange occurrences are never explained has a lot to do with the fact that it is so reminiscent of the Twilight Zone. Read this book and recommend it around. It really should have more exposure....more
This is hard science fiction right on the cutting edge of physics, cosmogeny and cosmology just like I like it. The plot concerns an interstellar war This is hard science fiction right on the cutting edge of physics, cosmogeny and cosmology just like I like it. The plot concerns an interstellar war with an unfathomable species and presents some interesting twists and turns because both sides can accomplish time travel and thereby can receive actionable information from the future. Just give some thought to how that would effect strategy and tactics. To me, though, the most interesting premise of the book is what is actually something of a subplot. It is a subplot told in a series of flashbacks and these flashbacks flash back about as far as is conceivable. It turns out that an entire civilization rises, flourishes and begins to die all in the first nanosecond after the big bang. The beings that make up this civilization almost go into despair as baryonic matter begins to coalesce because that means the end to all of them. However, they get to work trying to survive the next stage in cosmological evolution. They have a certain amount of success too, but they would never have succeeded without primordial black holes. That is closely related to a statement in the book that says that the universe teems with life, even in the black holes and even in the singularity itself. To me this is fascinating stuff....more
I was in a mood for a fantasy so I picked up this one. I chose it more or less at random and I suppose this is what I get for selecting my reading matI was in a mood for a fantasy so I picked up this one. I chose it more or less at random and I suppose this is what I get for selecting my reading material that way. This is only secondarily a fantasy. First and foremost it is a romance. One of my criticisms of fantasy is that it tends to be a bit too formulaic, but romance is usually many times more formulaic than fantasy. If you believe the formulas of romance apply to your own life then you should be very happy when the object of your affections scorns you and rejects you because that means that you will liv happily ever afterward with that person. Or, if you meet a person of the opposite sex whom you absolutely cannot stand and want nothing to do with then you can pretty much count on happily ever aftering with that person. Another formula is that if anyone finds out that you feel attracted to someone and especially if your own family finds out then the object of your affections will be in great danger of falling victim to violence, possibly death. Shades of Romeo and Juliet, it is that last formula that applies to this one. This kind of story is not really to my taste and I nearly gave it two stars. The reason I nearly gave it two stars rather than one is because it is not without some redeeming qualities. It does contain entertainment value. However, now that I have finished it I am giving it three stars. That is because toward the end of the book both of the protagonists are nearly burned at the stake and must be rescued. The male protagonist is rescued just as the flames are beginning to lick at his body. That gave it enough excitement and increased my interest enough that I decided to give it an extra star....more
**spoiler alert** This is a clever novel. For a good long time it reads like an historical novel set in World War II, but it seems to gradually morph **spoiler alert** This is a clever novel. For a good long time it reads like an historical novel set in World War II, but it seems to gradually morph into a novel of alternate time lines. Note that I said "seems to." After reading for some time one realizes that it has been a novel of alternate time lines all along and that is a point that makes it so clever. Even as an historical novel, though, it works quite well, at least until the time comes that one can no longer pretend that it is an historical novel. As clever as it might be, though, its culmination in the prevention of the John F. Kennedy assassination and what the author thinks would have subsequently happened is a bit trite. That historical event seems to be a focal point for writers of alternate history and alternate time line stories. I would have thought that as well as the rest of the book is written that the author could have come up with something more original to focus on for the climax. Nevertheless, the book as a whole is very enjoyable....more
This is one strange book, strange like a dream. In the literature of the fantastic strange happenings in a small town is a common theme, but in this oThis is one strange book, strange like a dream. In the literature of the fantastic strange happenings in a small town is a common theme, but in this one the strange is taken another step. The entire book is like one continuous dream. For example, there is an instance in which the protagonist gets out of bed and walks through his house in his underwear. He is interupted on his way back to bed by a visitor and he never gets back to bed. He also never gets a chance to get dressed. He also ends up out and about in the town with no mention of his getting dressed and, in fact, never getting the time to get dressed, but no one comments on his being only in his underwear, so he is presumably dressed. This could have been only an oversight on the part of the author, but soon afterwards he finds himself being chased by a vicious dog and climbs atop a car to get away. On top of the car he wishes he could fly and then he jumps off and flies away. That is just like a dream. One outlandish situation suggests another and off we go into another outlandish situation which will be followed by another at the slightest suggestion. This is only one example though. Others include dogs that die and will not stay dead, meetting various versions of oneself at various stages of life, dead people who talk, time travel, space aliens with the powers of gods and so forth. The entire book is weird from start to finish and it is amazing how nonchalantly the protagonist accepts all this wierdness which is mostly happening to him. Do not be fooled though. Even though it is like one long dream that does not mean their is no plot. The plot is involved in the protagonist's trying to figure out what is going on and with a sense of urgency. In the end the urgency does seem to turn out to be kind of moot, but the urgency is still there to keep the suspense and excitement going....more
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