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Title: Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling ISBN: 0-451-45675-0 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: March, 1998 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (96 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent potboiler
Comment: The above is not meant to be faint praise. I prefer a good potboiler to a thoughtful but meandering book.
This is a very entertaining novel which I read mostly in 2 sittings. It certainly has much less padding than the Turtledove World War books. I hope the later books don't spend 100 pages on background like the Turtledove books do.
I think some of the negative reviews can be explained by a culture clash between the audience for military fantasy and general SF. Considering the crypto-fascist leanings of much of the former genre I find complaints about Sterling's "liberal" agenda a bit rich.
I thought that making the hero a career military woman, black, divorced, battered, an estranged mother, a Southerner, and gay was a bit too much baggage for one character. That said I liked the Marian Alston character.
You could see the lesbian love affair coming a mile away, but it was cute.
The "multi-culties" go to Central America plot line was obnoxious, though I do see why Stirling felt he needed it to give the Guard troops some battle experience before they hit the Bronze age.
The martial arts stuff was a bit silly, too (I would have preferred more siege engines ;}).
The Alice Hong character seemed like merely an excuse for some hot and kinky sex scenes. Why can't the good guys have hot sex? Also, I think the editor should have noticed the Asian dragonlady stereotype (probably bubbled up from Stirling's subconcious memories of some B films) and nixed it.
BTW, the Nantucket constitution in the story follows the Swiss model in so far as citizens get to keep their weapons after compulsory military service. Hardly anti-gun-rights.
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent book for people who don't like to nitpick
Comment: I read - A LOT. I have a soft spot for alternate history/fantasy books and have read many. With that said, I must say that this book was the best I have ever read. Great character development, 3 dimensional people, well thought out and executed. Were there cliches? Yes. Were there some "unbelievable" moments? Yes. Could you see some things coming a mile away? Of course. But let's get real, people. The self-professed "experts" who have written reviews here must be pretty miserable people. To spend so much time nitpicking and pontificating about small details as a reason to not enjoy this book is plain silly. We read to enjoy a story. Nothing will ever be 100% historically accurate.
I enjoyed the various characters (and most especially enjoyed the character of Capt. Alstom). I am a straight white male (the EXACT antithesis of her character) and yet I couldn't get enough of reading about her. And the way the innovative folks of Nantucket (and William Walker) used their brains to solve problems was a fun read.
As always, these types of books makes one daydream about what he or she would do if this situation happened to them. And that is what I find so fun about books like this.
So enjoy the read, people - and don't let the nitpickers discourage you.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent alternate history
Comment: When the entire island of Nantucket is thrown back into the bronze age, the islanders have a problem. Their technology depends too much on imports from the now-vanished mainland. And even feeding the island will be tough--with no grains closer than England. Fortunately, a coast guard training square rigger was caught up in the time event and so the island isn't helpless. But even contacting the bronze age civilizations of Europe, let alone the stone-age cultures of the new world, has its problems. Plague for one thing as the time travellers replicate the European accidental genocide of the Native American population. But the bronze age savages of Europe are tough--and are good enough sailers that they could reach the new world if they knew where to look--and learned what a treasure-trove an entire island of 20th century technology can offer.
The island has a chance if everyone pulls together and police chief-turned political leader Jared Cofflin and coast guard captain Marian Alston do their best to ensure that everyone does so. Unfortunately, human nature rarely allows pure altrusim. In the case of Nantucket, there are those who want to carve out their own kingdom and those who want to prevent the re-creation of western culture. Either could be dangerous. Together, the two forces might just scuttle any hopes for survival--let alone return to the days of the hot shower.
Author S. M. Stirling writes an exciting story. A small city like Nantucket has close to the critical mass needed for modern civilization, but lacks the raw materials that are essential to our lives. As the time travellers contact other people, their risk grows. Stirling personalizes Cofflin and Alston, making the reader care about these characters and their attempts to recreate order in the midst of madness. Fans of military SF will enjoy the battle scenes as the Nantucket residents create effective military technology without access to gunpowder or smokeless powder.
I especially enjoyed Stirling's descriptions of the celtic war bands. With echos of Homer and the Germanic invasions of the late Roman period, the war leaders were proud, generous to followers, and quick to adopt a new military technology. Stirling also hinted at some interesting philosophical questions by setting modern (mostly Christian) people in a world centuries before Jesus, Mohammed, or Plato would be born.
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Title: Against the Tide of Years by S. M. Stirling, S. M. Stirling ISBN: 0451457439 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: On the Oceans of Eternity by S. M. Stirling ISBN: 0451457803 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 10 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: 1632 by Eric Flint ISBN: 0671319728 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Peshawar Lancers by S. M. Stirling ISBN: 0451458737 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Drakon by S.M. Stirling ISBN: 0671877119 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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