Tag Archives: historical fiction

Book Review of “Time and Again” (1970)

time and again

© James Pyles

This review requires some explanation.

Spoiler alert: Before I get going, just be warned that there are tons of spoilers in this review. If you want to be surprised, stop reading after the break.

I originally saw the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time on cable TV within a year of it being in the theater. I became a fan of Christopher Reeve after seeing him in Superman the Movie (1978) and it was a pleasure seeing him in a very different role.

I was looking up the movie (not Superman) online a while back and came across a reference to the book upon which it was based. That would be Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson. Matheson is best known (to me anyway) for his novels I Am Legend (1954) and The Shrinking Man, both of which have had movies made from their material.

So, what does all this have to do with reviewing Jack Finney’s 1970 novel Time and Again?

The Christopher Reeve movie, Matheson’s book, and Finney’s book all have to do with a unique form of time travel, that a person can be hypnotized or so conditioned to believe that they belong in a certain place and year that they are actually transported there.

I read Finney’s rather than Matheson’s book because it was supposed to be a superior treatment of the subject.

Stephen King called it “The great time-travel story” and even science purest Carl Sagan said that it was among stories:

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Every 30th of May

brooklyn bridge

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

She always manifested first for her life was the cause. Mist rose under the Brooklyn Bridge that May 30th as the twelve appeared. The people who were present either were unable to perceive them through a lack of faith or chose to ignore what they considered the impossible.

After all this time, those few who could see them but didn’t know what they were thought them to be performers in some macabre cosplay. When they tried to approach any of them, they wavered and vanished. The ghosts of the bridge’s tragic past were sentinels and did not speak cautionary tales.

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Iconic

icon grill

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Time traveling tourist Glinn Tanning staggered into the restaurant dressed in surplus fatigues and dragging a canvas rucksack in his right hand. It contained a couple of canisters of pepper spray and the makings of several Molotov cocktails.

“Where are the protesters?” he complained to the bored looking woman behind the counter.

“We’re closing soon,” she said. “Didn’t you see the sign?”

“Where is everyone? Isn’t this December 1st?”

“It’s the last day in January,” she said. “You’re late.”

He checked his wrist-mounted chromotron. “Damn. Eight years late. I knew I should have had this thing adjusted before I left.

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“Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel, Volume II” Available Today!

guide to time travel

Cover art for the anthology “Rush and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel, Volume II

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

This is it! Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel, Volume II is available starting today in both digital and paperback format.

The anthology contains my science fiction short story “The Joker and the Thief.”

Here’s a little something to whet your appetite for the whole story:

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Book Review of “Hacking Galileo” by Fenton Wood

hack

© James Pyles

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

I became aware of Fenton Wood (a pseudonym) when he reviewed my SciFi/Fantasy novelette Ice on twitter (but alas not on Amazon or goodreads).

Curious, I took a look at his twitter/X account, which led me to his e-book Hacking Galileo.

It had fabulous reviews, an interesting premise, and was reasonably priced, so I downloaded it onto my Kindle Fire.

The first words you read in the book after the usual preamble stuff is “This is a work of fiction.” Wood then goes on to explain the inspirations and influences for various parts of his story, the background of some of the technical details, when he “cheated,” making certain events happen at a slightly different point in history for the sake of the plot, and how security at Cray Research and Bell Telephone Company weren’t quite as lame as he depicted.

That’s really important because the rest of the book is written from the point of view of a man who, in the 1980s, was part of a teenage hacker group, really just a bunch of high school friends in Palmdale, California, who performed acts of hacking from the interesting to the fantastic.

The main character Roger O. Miller (ROM, see what he did there?) is writing and recounting events that happened thirty years ago where he and his three friends actually saved the world from destruction by an alien space probe. There’s a lot of build up to get to that point, but almost all of it is fascinating.

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Review of “Tales of the Southwest” Mentions My Short Story

About six months ago, I mentioned that my short story “The Strangers” was being published in John Green‘s anthology “Tales of the Southwest,” available at Lulu.com.

It’s now also available on Amazon, but that’s not the best news. One of the reviews mentions my story and me by name.

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“A Mighty Fortress” Is Now Available!

mighty fortress

Promotional image for the Immortal Works anthology “A Mighty Fortress”

It’s here! A Mighty Fortress (A Mormon Steampunk Anthology Book 4) from Immortal Works and is now available for immediate download to your Kindle device. Read for free using KindleUnlimited, or purchase at the modest price of $1.99 USD. At Amazon UK, that’s £1.51.

Here’s the official announcement on Facebook.

Features my short story “The Deseret War.” Here’s a summary:

Once Stephen Isaac Eddington converted to Mormonism in his native London and realized the severe persecution the Church was enduring in the United States, he knew he had to use his unique skills to help defend the faith. But to do that, he would have to steal an incredible invention devised by his scientist mentor who had recently perished, and the greedy and corrupt tycoon who had financed the venture. Eddington and his ill-gotten technology arrived in Utah well ahead of the U.S. Army troops who the President commissioned to remove Brigham Young from power and establish a new Governor over the Utah territory.

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Tower of the Black Prince

tower

Image of “The Tower” Tarot card found at biddytarot.com/

Sir Edward, the Black Prince, was startled to stupefaction at discovering himself suddenly removed from the cries, blood, and gore of the Battle of Crécy. Father had left the field intentionally, gambling on his son’s ability to win the day. Now sorcery had stolen victory from him and placed him where?

Her hideous screams followed her all the way down from the top of the tower as she fell, their last echo dying as she struck the earth and stone with a sickening “thump.” She bounced once, which almost made him laugh to his horror, then she ceased to move at all.

The night, for it was night here, was illuminated by flashes of lightning, rolling thunder causing him to tremble. His sturdy mount, white mane and noble stature, struggled against the bit and reins, trying to escape the macabre scene, but he was in control…barely.

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Pre-Order “A Mighty Fortress” Which Features My Short Story “The Deseret War” NOW!

mighty fortress

Promotional image for the Immortal Works anthology “A Mighty Fortress”

By now, most of my regular readers know that my short story The Deseret War is going to be published in an Immortal Works anthology.

I just heard that A Mighty Fortress: A Mormon Steampunk Anthology Book 4 is available for pre-order NOW for automatic delivery to your Kindle device on February 18, 2020.

That’s less than four weeks away. Here’s a summary:

Once Stephen Isaac Eddington converted to Mormonism in his native London and realized the severe persecution the Church was enduring in the United States, he knew he had to use his unique skills to help defend the faith. But to do that, he would have to steal an incredible invention devised by his scientist mentor who had recently perished, and the greedy and corrupt tycoon who had financed the venture. Eddington and his ill-gotten technology arrived in Utah well ahead of the U.S. Army troops who the President commissioned to remove Brigham Young from power and establish a new Governor over the Utah territory. Now, instead of the Church being a mere pawn at the hands of the government, he provided them with mighty weapons that would not only protect the Church, but establish a brand new nation. However, even Eddington couldn’t anticipate the heavy consequences of his actions.

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UNRAVEL: A Crime Microfiction Anthology is Available Now!

unravel

Cover image for the Black Hare Press crime drabble anthology “Unravel.”

My “drabble” or exactly 100 word short tale “Death Visits Mexico” was just published by Black Hare Press and is available in Unravel: A Crime Microfiction Anthology on Amazon. The theme for the “Unravel” anthology was dark, criminal mysteries, and so I took a tale I’d crafted a few years back and re-edited it to meet the publishing requirements. It’s historical fiction set in 1947 where Jewish private detective Moshe Katz is about to deliver justice to a war criminal in a particularly dramatic way.

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