Tagged: time travel
September Sky by John Heldt
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
When unemployed San Francisco reporter Chuck Townsend and his college-dropout son, Justin, take a cruise to Mexico in 2016, each hopes to rebuild a relationship after years of estrangement. But they find more than common ground aboard the ship. They meet a mysterious lecturer who touts the possibilities of time travel. Within days, Chuck and Justin find themselves in 1900, riding a train to Texas, intent on preventing a distant uncle from being hanged for a crime he did not commit. Their quick trip to Galveston, however, becomes long and complicated when they wrangle with business rivals and fall for two beautiful librarians on the eve of a hurricane that will destroy the city. Filled with humor, history, romance, and heartbreak, SEPTEMBER SKY follows two directionless souls on the adventure of a lifetime as they try to make peace with the past, find new purpose, and grapple with the knowledge of things to come.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that I’ve noticed about time travel novels is that oftentimes the protagonists will try to change history but will usually fail. But what if they succeeded after a fashion? John Heldt explores that far more interesting possibility in September Sky as a sort of side dish to the main course: the journey of Chuck and Justin in the past in a bid to find a purpose in their lives.
As with John Heldt’s Northwest Passage series, his new American Journey series has one thing that really stands out: its characters. He’s able to create fascinating and realistic characters that can be strong but are also very human because they have their weak moments. Chuck has problems reconnecting with the son he ignored because of his career while Justin has problems coping with his latest romantic debacle and the fact that he doesn’t even really know his dad. Both of them can be incredibly selfless like Justin in the last huge event in the book but both can be selfish because they fall in love and want to take the women they love back to the future when they leave, assuming that their time is far better. What will they do in the end? The answer may surprise you but when I look back on their actions, it completely fits in with how they developed and grew as characters throughout the novel. It’s a rather satisfying journey to see two directionless men find love and possibly even a purpose in life. Chuck and Justin as well as Charlotte and Emily all stick out to me as memorable characters. And even though the book focuses on the journey of the two men, Charlotte and Emily are both three dimensional characters with problems, motivations and strengths of their own; they’re not just there as romantic subplots.
Of all the things that surprised me in this book, I think the world-building was the most surprising. The Northwest Passage series had time travel in various locations, yes, but it was never really explained in all that much detail. Here in September Sky we actually meet someone who has harnessed the power of time travel and can go back to the past at will (with some important limitations, mind you). We get a sort of explanation of how it works which was actually quite satisfying even if it’s not exactly the most scientific ever; it’s based on science and is completely speculative. Still, it was actually fascinating and a main source of conflict for Justin and Chuck because they had to have their individual ‘keys’ back to the future or else they would be stuck in 1900 forever.
The plot was not very fast-paced in the beginning but the characters and the events were so interesting that it didn’t matter. As the novel goes on, however, the pacing just keeps increasing until you just can’t put the book down. And trust me when I say that John Heldt certainly hasn’t lost his capacity to surprise his readers. Just when you think you know how things are going to happen, he throws a wrench into the works and you’re left guessing until the very end of the novel. These plot twists don’t come out of nowhere, however. When you look back on how the characters develop and how their actions tend to drive the story it makes sense. It’s just hard to see the twists when you’re reading September Sky the first time around. And trust me when I say that this is a book you’ll want to read over and over and over again. It’s just that good.
Here in September Sky, you have everything that you can ask for in a time travel novel: a little bit of science and imagination, some romance, great characters and an unpredictable plot. You can’t ask for anything more! Even though the book has a satisfying conclusion, if you’re like me you’ll be left eager for the next installment in the series to see how John Heldt is going to get his other time travelers into the past. Will we meet our mysterious professor again? Or are there other people out there who know more about the past than they’re letting on? I can’t wait.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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The Messenger by Pamela DuMond
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Do you remember the first time you fell in love?
Read The Messenger (Mortal Beloved, Book One) and feel that beautiful—again.
Sixteen-year-old Madeline’s meant to fall in love with Samuel in every lifetime. But she meets him for the first time when she accidentally time travels into the past—hundreds years before she’s even born!
Their relationship is forbidden—Samuel’s half Native, Madeline’s white. Every rendezvous they share must be secret. Each moment they spend together tempts the odds that they’ll be discovered and brutally punished. But their love is fated—they musk risk all.
Danger intensifies when Madeline learns she’s in the past not only to fall in love, but also to claim her birth right as a Messenger—a soul who can slip through time’s fabric at will.
Deadly Hunters, dark-souled time travelers, crave Madeline’s powers and seek to seduce or kill her. Can Madeline find her way back to the future in time to save herself and Samuel?
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
If I had to describe The Messenger in one word it would be ‘disappointing.’
The prologue started off promisingly enough, with a girl (obviously the main character) running through the woods in a panic. Okay, that sounds cool; let’s get on with the main event! My excitement dampened throughout the first few chapters because of the pretty stereotypical “main character who has lost her parent in a horrific accident years ago” but I soldiered on. When I got to when Madeline time-travelled I got pretty excited because I like time travel stories, which is why I requested this book in the first place. Then that point in the story is where the true disappointment set in.
It’s hard to enjoy a book when you absolutely cannot stand the main character and I couldn’t stand Madeline. I just wanted to reach in and slap her across her loud mouth. Constantly. Okay, she’s a little disoriented when she travels back in time, I’ll grant her that. But once she gets on her feet and realizes “I better play along with these people or they’ll call me a witch and hang me” she then proceeds to act like a modern stereotypical American teenager. She blurts out things at inappropriate times, uses modern slang (!) and generally acts like she wants people to start lynching her. I get it, not all teenagers are smart and would instantly adapt to the 1600s. Calling such a transition a culture shock would be quite an understatement. But really? Using the word ‘whatevs’ is definitely not going to ease people’s suspicions about you. Ugh.
Aside from a narrator that really is Too Stupid To Live, the book’s premise isn’t all that bad. Sure, it’s not the most original but the whole Messenger angle was sort of interesting. Special people go back in time to right wrongs and/or meet their destiny. Hunters try to prevent this. Unfortunately, Pamela DuMond never really gets into fleshing the whole story of the Messengers out because Madeline’s stupidity gets her mentor accused of witchcraft. Even the little knowledge Samuel has isn’t really enough to satisfy my curiosity. I know this is the first book in a series but even that doesn’t really excuse the fact that we get more questions than answers. So I give Pamela DuMond marks for potentially awesome world-building, but I can’t honestly say much about it because we didn’t learn all that much about it.
The plot is okay, but it’s also nothing to brag about. It’s not fast, but not too slow and it was interesting enough to keep me reading even though I began to really loathe Madeline. My only real complaint about the plot was that while some things were focused on too much, other things were neglected, like the growing attraction between Madeline and Samuel. Yes, they spend some time together but in those interactions I really wasn’t feeling the sparks fly. It just kind of felt contrived by the author because of course all YA novels have to have some romance.
Overall, the book would not be a bad book if not for the fact Madeline is just a really horrible main character. Sadly for us, though, we’re pretty much stuck in her head the whole time so there is no escaping the fact that The Messenger fell flat on its face. It had so much potential and did not live up to it.
I give this book 1/5 stars.
My Interview with John Heldt (3)
John Heldt is the author of the now-finished Northwest Passage series (The Mine, The Journey, The Show, The Fire and The Mirror). This five-book series was his writing debut and they all focus on time travel and romance during some very exciting times in American history. Read on to see our discussion about men writing from women’s points of view, saying goodbye to a series and what he would do differently now that’s he’s finished the series.
1. You’ve lived and breathed the Northwest Passage series for years. What’s it like to say goodbye to the series?
Like other authors who have parted with a series, I have mixed emotions. I’m excited about starting a new series but sad to see this one go. I grew attached to the characters and their stories and believe I could have done more with them. One of the things I enjoyed most about writing The Show and The Mirror, in particular, is that I was able to build on a previous book. I look forward to doing more of the same in future series.
2. Of all of the times you could have set The Mirror, why did you specifically choose 1964?
I chose 1964 because it offered opportunities that other years did not. Like 1941 in The Mine, it was a transitional year that was firmly rooted in two distinctly different decades.
Though music, fashion, and cars from the late fifties were everywhere, so were signs of coming change – particularly social change. With a presidential election, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Civil Rights Act, the Mississippi Burning tragedy, and the Beatles’ first North American tour, the year was also historically significant.
3. In the series you decided never to go into the nitty-gritty scientific explanation for time travel. Why?
Writing novels involves making choices, setting priorities, and acknowledging limits.
I decided at the start I would treat time travel as fantasy, rather than science fiction, because I wanted to put the focus on people and not machines. The thing I liked best about the Back to the Future series was not the DeLorean or the flux capacitor but rather how Marty McFly interacted with his ancestors. I wanted readers to see themselves not as scientists who volunteered for a highly technical time-travel mission but rather ordinary people who involuntarily traveled back in time by stepping into the wrong gold mine or restroom or haunted house.
4. Three out of five of the books you wrote have predominantly female viewpoints.
As a male writer, was it challenging for you to write from a female POV? What was
challenging about it?
For the most part, it wasn’t challenging at all. I grew up with sisters and female friends. I have a wife and two daughters, including one who is the same age as the twins in The Mirror. I’ve known strong, articulate, and resourceful women my whole life. Writing about such women in the Northwest Passage series was relatively easy. That said, I made a point of enlisting the help of several women in preparing each of the novels. Their assistance in making sure I got things right was invaluable.
5. Can you give us a hint about any future writing projects you’re taking on?
I have already started work on the next project, a five-book series of time-travel novels that will be structured much like the Northwest Passage series. My protagonists will interact with their ancestors in the not-so-distant past of twentieth-century America. The difference is that the protagonists in the new series will pass through a common time portal and travel beyond the Pacific Northwest.
6. Looking back on the series, was there anything you would have done differently either writing-wise or marketing-wise?
Yes. I would have written The Mine, The Show, and The Mirror as a trilogy and written
The Journey and The Fire as a separate series. I would have also paid more attention to point of view and description issues in the early books and perhaps made better use of advertising options in the first year. For the most part, however, I would have done things exactly the same. It’s been fun.
Anthology: Forbidden Future by The Masquerade Crew
(Cover picture courtesy of Masquerade Tours.)
What becomes of mankind in the future? Is life better or worse?
Forbidden Future by James Wymore
When a time machine technician working the graveyard shift gets divorce papers from his wife, he decides it’s time to take the machine for a ride—no matter the consequences.Jump by Jon Bradbury
Jesse Kendall thinks he’s seen it all. He’s about to see more.Road Trip by Matt Mitrovich
Four friends drive to a college party and take an unexpected detour into the future.Cacotopia by James Lauren
Kayne Adamson went into suspension to await a cure, but never imagined how long his sleep would last or the world he would awaken into. Is it really the utopia it first appears to be?Society by Terra Harmony
Take a ride on the Energy of the Future where society gets a fresh, clean start—no matter who they have to leave behind.The Mountains Haven’t by Kade Anderson
Something is very wrong in the downtrodden town of Dignity and only the town’s Watcher, Julia, can see what it is.Between Utopias by Michael Trimmer
After being saved from a fatal heart attack by being transported to the future, David must choose from two opposite utopias.
[Full disclosure: I have had a close working relationship with The Masquerade Crew and its leader, Mark Lee, for a year. I was going to become one of the editors of this anthology until circumstances not under my control interfered and I had to drop out. With that said, this review is, as always, honest.]
I’m not a big anthology reader, but I really did love this one. For one, I love science fiction and secondly I do love a good short story. And believe me, there are some awesome short stories in here.
I’ll be totally predictable and say that my personal favourite was the anthology’s namesake: Forbidden Future. The main character was well-developed and interesting and the future he was thrust into was somewhat believable. And the ending was tragic and yet hilarious, but I can’t explain too much or that would spoil the awesome surprise. I won’t critique each short story, but on the whole I could relate to the characters and the futures were interesting. It’s hard to fit a whole new future into just a short story, but these authors were pretty awesome and managed to achieve it. Some futures were fantastic, others terrifying. There was a good balance in the selection of the stories because no two really predicted similar futures.
The one thing I had a gripe with was the editing. This is The Masquerade Crew’s first anthology and some of the editing was, admittedly, a little rough. There were basic typographical errors that should have been caught and I’m hoping they’ll be corrected in any subsequent editions. I don’t think there were enough to really distract from the story, but they are there and they are noticeable.
There’s a little something for everyone in Forbidden Future. There’s stories that get very technical for those fans of hard science fiction, but there’s also more character-driven stories for people like me who don’t necessarily understand a great deal of science. Yet in all the stories the main characters are interesting and characterization certainly wasn’t sacrificed in the world-building process. Each author had an unique voice and so did their characters.
Overall I’m pretty happy with the anthology. It never really had a weak story that I just wanted to skip through; all of the stories here were pretty strong. I look forward to future anthologies by The Masquerade Crew. And with the anthology on sale on Amazon for $.99 until December 7th, where can you go wrong?
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
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My Interview with John Heldt (2)
John Heldt is the self-published author of The Mine, The Journey, The Show and now The Fire, all books in his Northwest Passage series about time travel. Every single one of his books has a fascinating combination of history, romance and humour. Read on to see John and I discuss writing emotional scenes, researching and a possible continuation of his originally planned five book series.
1. There are some very emotional scenes in The Fire. How do you as a writer strike a balance between touching and melodramatic?
I enlist the help of others, that’s how. What is just right for one person may be too sappy or too dry for others. By getting the perspectives of beta readers representing both genders and a variety of ages, I’m usually able to determine whether an emotional scene needs to be rewritten or left as is. Continue reading