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Title: Time's Eye (A Time Odyssey)
ISBN: 034545247X
Author:
Arthur C. Clarke
Stephen Baxter
Publicate Date: 2005-03-01
Publish: 2005-03-01
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.92
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.39
Amazon Merchant Price: $7.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Interesting Premise, but Not Such a Good Book
The premise is fascinating, some of the events described are delicious, but all in all, it just doesn't have the zing I used to get from an Arthur C. Clarke novel. After awhile I found myself speeding through the pages just to get to the end. I don't think I'll read the other two books in the series.
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2: Not quite up to my Arthur C. Clarke expectations...
Time's End is the result of a collaboration between Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.
There is a alien spawned, sudden discontinuity (a "lack of continuity, logical sequence, or cohesion") in time on Earth. This results in a patchwork of geological eras and the subsequent landforms; an Earth's core/mantle and climate attempting to adjust; and a mixture of human civilizations.
The human drama stems from an area near today's Afghanistan, with the discontinuity resulting in a mixture of Greek and Mongolian armies (led by Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, no less), a year 2037 UN observation team, a 19th century or so British garrison, proto-humanoids, and a few cosmonauts. As you might expect, they either get along, or they don't. And don't count out ancient warriors... they haven't forgotten "fighting in the trenches."
I understand this is one book in a series or future series. This is the only one I've read, and I've read this book twice over a period of perhaps a decade. This second time also left me perplexed. There are no answers regarding the reason for or the identify of the aliens (if they are indeed aliens... could this be a futuristic human spawned event?) behind the discontinuity. In other words, it didn't sit well with me as a stand-alone. This is only a problem if the reader has a clear understanding that it IS a book in a series. I think it was supposed to be able to stand alone, but the questions left behind (the origin of the orbs, the future of Seeker and Grasper, and the development of new civilizations, gods, and alliances) were unresolved.
As a Sir A.C.C. fan, I expected more.
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3: More Baxter, less Clarke
This isn't the best Arthur C. Clarke book that you could pick up. For all you ACC fans, you know what one of his books feels like - he manages to inspire you with his imagination that usually calms you down with his perfect illustration of wondrous, near magical events.
This book is not that.
With the exception of a few notable interesting events, this book is completely unrealistic and dead boring, even for a sci-fi book with an incredible plot (space-time on earth rearranged like a jigsaw puzzle). I doubt how much effort ACC put into this book. It has nothing like the beautiful descriptions he gives in his other short and long stories. There is one event in the book where the main female character looks through her binoculars at a glacier in Northern India / Pakistan and sees two nearly-human creatures in the distance slowly looking back and the glint off the binocs and she feels a deep subconscious connection with them from some point deep in time - this is one of the few better real ACC 'moments' in the book. I'd recommend you look at other ACC books and not this one.
The authors manage to make the Mongolians (one of the main groups in the book, the other being the troops of Alexander) look completely uncivilized, little removed from animals - their description of the Mongolians across the book is just plain disgusting, made especially so by the contrast with the description of the 'noble' Macedonian/Greek hordes of Alexander, who have a better sense of morality. No idea why they ruined this. This is my biggest issue with the book. It started off fairly well - then got down to something frustratingly annoying - one of those books where you could skip a dozen pages and not have missed a thing.
Never really liked my favorite authors collaborating with others - the outcome typically tends not to be that great - this book is like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew working together - less than captivating, quite average.
Btw, I picked up this book after really wanting to finish all of ACC's books after he passed away recently.
I would strongly recommend that you read his other books like Rama, 2001 (the book) and other short stories before you read this.
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4: Perfect and fast, as promised!
Amazon pulls through again with fine service and good products. The added bonus: all are delivered in a timely fashion for a reasonable price! Long Live Amazon!
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5: Times Eye
Typical A.C. Clarke work. Well done. Fast paced. The way what happens in the story, (sorry no spoilers here), you believe it could happen. It's also a splendid example of a what if book, if your into history at all you will like this book.
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