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Loading... The Reality War Book1: The Slough of Despond (Volume 1) (edition 2012)by Tim C. Taylor
Work InformationThe Slough of Despond by Tim C. Taylor
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways. This was an interesting and entertaining book. The characters are well-developed, the plot believable and the prose engaging. Unlike many e-books, this book is very well edited - I did not pick up on any errors. I enjoyed this book very much and will be obtaining the second book as soon as I am able. Tim Taylor's Reality War #1- the Slough of Despond is a tightly scripted puzzler of a novel that follows the lives of two "men" who are destined to change not just history, but fundamental reality. The two "men" in question are Radlan Saravanan, a man from our future, and Karypsic, a member of a race of lizard-like people in a Saurian-reality that is a shadow of our own. Both Radlan and Karypsic play key roles as their two realities become intertwined and jostle for supremacy. But these two men's struggles are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, as players from far flung futures (the most prominent being the enigmatic joker and general wildcard named Senator Greyhart) show up to influence (and undermine) events. Taylor does a great job of juggling the technical detail of a quantum fuzziness gone mad, temporal shifts, and a fractal, jigsaw plot line- weaving a smart, complelling storyline. Although I do have to admit that, on a couple of occasions, I found myself a bit sidetracked by some of the side-plots. It could have used a little tightening here and there. This story also examines the human side of events as both Radlin and Karypsic struggle between love, and their duty to the future of their species. For Radlan in particular, this plays out in stark detail as it soon becomes apparent that he must choose between his love for the lovely Amanda Devonshire and the safety of humanity. Be warned however that if you prefer heroic leading men , you may be in for a bit of a let down. Radian is a passive guy and duty prone. Karypsic is domineering, possessive, and smug. Both men lean more towards the anti-hero model. If you want to find true heroic presence in Reality War, you will need to look to Jill Smith (Radlan's take-no-BS daughter ) and Kalichee, Karypsic's wise wife. For me, this is where the real heart lays, and I hope there is more of those two characters in the sequel. All in all, the Slough of Despond is a solid read that examines some complex and smart issues and I recommend it to fans of sci-fi and speculative fiction This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways. The Reality War Book1 is about the time travel Radlan Saravanan, and about how his life starts to intermingle with the people in the past he has been assigned to work in. His assignment is protecting inhabitants from the future in the witness protection program. Since the time he is working in is in the past and the assignment lasts for many years he begins to get involved with a woman What will happen if he gets really involved…will it change history? It is a time paradox; will it affect the past or the future? He decides that he can’t be that important and goes for it…but what happens if the woman is important? I loved the complexities of this epic novel.The book flips from different times and planets in space. One chapter you are in the future and on a different planet that is at war with earth. Then you back on earth in the past where you learn that the aliens are here unknown to earthlings. The book made me feel like a true time traveler and I loved it. The only complaint I have…which really isn’t a complaint…was that the enemy is too likeable…but perhaps that is what the author is going for? Which side has the right to live? The story is very smooth and moves along at a good clip. I enjoyed that the book is taking place in England (the author is from England) and how some of the phrases or words that he uses I haven’t ever heard before…I feel that it makes the book more interesting. You can’t go wrong with this book and wait until you read Book 2, The Reality War Book 2: The City of Destruction. It just keeps getting better. This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways. As the title says, this isn’t just a time war. It’s a reality war – one to preserve all of human existence and not just a particular human history.Now, I don’t usually try to diagram time travel stories out. Playing with paradoxes is, in many time travel stories, the point. And that’s somewhat true here. Taylor -- with talk of quantum entanglements, high and low probability universes, time-shielded artifacts and records kept as a reference point for what the characters should remember, and paradoxes likened to flaws incorporated in the crystal of reality – rhetorically shores up my sense of disbelief enough for the story to proceed. Interestingly, the plot opens and hinges – at least in this, the first installment of a two part story – on that old story chestnut: love at first sight. Time agent Radlan, 1,000 years down time from his own home and stationed in the English village of Elstow in 1992, weirdly falls in love at first sight with local woman Amber who comes to him for financial advice, which is what he ostensibly provides in his cover job. Radlan is less sanguine about the effect of critical time paradoxes than most of his other fellow time travelers, so he doesn’t want to get involved with a local from our time – except he finds out that somebody has been mucking about in her body chemistry and that she will, quite literally, die if he leaves her. Who has been mucking about in Amber’s life and why? What requires the witness protection services that Radlan and his peers offer to people from the future? Why does the cheerful and manipulative Greyhart, from way down the time line, take such an interest in Radlan? Why does a democratic movement threaten Earth’s future? Taylor gives an answer to these questions and a lot more mysteries that crop up. We get aliens too and a cliffhanger ending. One interesting notion that Taylor introduces early on and clearly exposits is the idea that Radlan and his contemporaries have, courtesy of genetic engineering, a high degree of conscious, individual, real-time control over their “autonomic” functions, pheromone production, and brain chemistry. They also have a form of telepathy which is really communication via microwaves. That produces a society with some significant differences in social interactions to those of us abos in their past. It also plays a key role in the story. Taylor skillfully mixes a plot of temporal paradox, manipulation and mystery, with the psychologically realistic plotting of Amber and Radlan’s attraction to each other and the twists and turns their lives take. And, yes, the title is a takeoff on Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progess, but you really don’t have to have read that first. Taylor lays out the connections for you. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesThe Reality War (1)
In 1992, Radlan Saravanan runs a small business out of a Tudor cottage in the sleepy English village of Elstow. But Radlan was born in 2951, and when he falls in love with a local girl, he has to choose between running from his own people and condemning his lover to die. He makes the wrong choice. Travelling into the past, falling in love... it turns out he was meant to do these things. He's been manipulated all along, but now he's slipped his handlers, and Time is no longer following the right script. Other versions of history vie for dominance, and our reality is losing. In 1992, Radlan Saravanan sparked The Reality War. The Reality War is a two-novel series inspired by The Pilgrim's Progress, an allegorical novel by 17th century author John Bunyan. It is both an action-adventure series, and a spiritual journey made by two people, mirror images of each other from rival realities. No library descriptions found. |
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The Slough of Despond is the first book in the Reality War series by Tim C. Taylor.
Plot: [Admittedly, I didn't get very far with this book, so my plot description might be off.]
Radlan is a time traveler fom 2992 who has been placed in a small town in England in 1992, a critical time junction. As his cover he works as a financial advisor. When one day Amanda comes into his office, there is an instant connection between them, that is furthered by Radlan accidentally sharing a nanotechnological hormone package with her. As Radlan scrambles to get things and himself under control again, while dreaming about lizard people, he soon finds that he has to make a decision betweent duty and desire.
I read about the first 80 pages or so of this book and I debated quitting with myself after the first 30 pages or so. It just really didn’t work for me.
Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/the-reality-war-book-1-the-slough-of-d... ( )