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Loading... The Travelerby John Twelve Hawks
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Pretty interesting combination of spirituality and science fiction. (  )bumpish | Jul 5, 2009 |   Good adventure reading - I was able to believe most facets of the story as it unfolded, but the different realms were a bit of a stretch. (  )hellion | May 30, 2009 | The world we know is simply a safe simulacrum, designed to keep everyone ignorant of the true ambitions of a secret cabal that's fought against by a small and dwindling alliance of mystics and warriors. At the opening, a girl of 12 is abandoned by her father in the path of a bunch of drunk and belligerent Arsenal fans—just after he's tied a Chelsea scarf around her neck. Since the girl, Maya, has been trained in weaponry and combat techniques from an early age, she makes quick work of the hooligans but also retains a touch of resentment for old dad. Years later, we find that Maya and her father are what's known as Harlequins, an ancient order sworn to protect the Travelers, mystics who can travel to other planes of existence and are inexplicably threatening to the Tabula, the evil ones who run the world governments and have cemented their hold on the human race. Like Jedi knights with a perennially bad attitude, Harlequins are deadly and ostensibly good, though hardly nice people to be around. The exception is Maya, of course, an engagingly spunky heroine who signs up to protect a couple of brother Travelers from being taken to a Tabula-run experimental laboratory. With the whole mythology he has created here (including an African-American sect who worship a long-dead Traveler and are obliged to assist Harlequins), the first-time author sets up a sharp premise that's sure to get readers through his darkly thrilling first half. But, after the extent of the Tabula's power becomes clear and Maya is sent running from one end of the country to the next, barely evading capture time after time like in any second-rate thriller, the freshness and originality here fairly disappear. And that's even before it gets saddled with a half-baked antiestablishment mysticism that draws a layer of gauze across all the proceedings. As if Carlos Castaneda and Robert Ludlum had collaborated for a surefire bestseller. (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2005) juntaobrien | May 25, 2009 | A dystopian tale of a near future in which a small organization, the Brethren, seeks to control everyone by technology. Of course, a few people fight back against this control. It starts slow, but picks up speed once the world is set up. ( )gaialover2 | May 21, 2009 | It starts quite slow while Twelve Hawks sets up the world and characters. However, once the ideas are in place, it quickly picks up speed and becomes difficult to put down. I particularly enjoyed that he utilizes a heroine instead of a hero. ( )gaialover | May 21, 2009 | 0.085 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 038551428X, Hardcover)A world that exists in the shadows of our own.A conflict we will never see. One woman stands between those determined to control history and those who will risk their lives for freedom. Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The twenty-six-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins—a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers. Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have inherited their father’s gifts, have always protected themselves by living “off the Grid”—that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern society. Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers. The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula—ruthless mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A colossal battle looms—one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time. Moving from the back alleys of Prague to the heart of Los Angeles, from the high deserts of Arizona to a guarded research facility in New York, The Traveler explores a parallel world that exists alongside our own. John Twelve Hawks’s stunningly suspenseful debut is an international publishing sensation that marks the arrival of a major new talent. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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