In the Circle of Time

This is volume #2 in a series of three; I read #3 (The Mists of Time) a couple of weeks ago and have yet to read volume #1. Very obviously, I am Just Not Doing It Right.

To be honest, between these two books at least, it doesn't matter that I've read them in the wrong order: the two are complementary accounts of the same tale. In Mists we follow the adventures of future girl Lara Avara as her gentle people, who have relocated from Nepal (or thereabouts) to Scotland after a climate-change-induced collapse of civilization, deal with a local and more primitive (i.e., more 20th-century in their thinking) bunch, the Barbaric Ones. Part of the tale is bound up with the arrival from 1979 or so by time warp of the children Robert and Jennifer. show more Circle is the relevant part of that tale as seen not by Lara Avara but by Robert and Jennifer (mainly Robert).

"Just a rehash?" I can here you think. "What a bore!"

In fact, the effect was enchanting, as bits and pieces of the other story blossomed out, giving me a fresh insight into both stories. I'm becoming a bit of a Margaret J. Anderson fan . . . show less

Sorry. The only thing young me would have found of interest here is that the contemporary children visit a (post-apocalyptic) future, and, luckily, encounter the culture (descended from East Indians) that has eschewed both violence and technology, rather than the culture that clings to violence as a way to attempt to cling to a life that includes machines.

But the book still reads more like fantasy than SF, with flaws and implausibilities in the predictions of the future. And there's too much (imo) emphasis on family stories, explorations of loyalty and friendship... but without any real feeling of authenticity or depth... That is to say, those humanistic themes were only cursorily developed.

I do have the sense, though, that there's show more something I'm missing. So, I'll round my 2.5 star rating up to three. show less

Slowly the mist gathers around the circle of ancient stones, where Jennifer and Robert have been digging. A deathly silence hangs over everything.
Then, the mist finally clears, and they can't believe their eyes--Robert and Jennifer have somehow been transported into the future! Will they ever get back again? Or are they trapped there forever, prisoners of the terrible stones of time?