My wife and I are reading a book together right now. It's about this guy who travels through time against his will. That part in itself sounds like a lot of other time travel stories. There have been TV shows on a similar theme. Quantum Leap and the new show Journeyman to name just a few. But, this story is a little different. The time traveller, Henry, travels through time because of a medical condition.
Henry and his wife met each other for the first time at two different times. Yes, you read that correctly. When Henry first met Claire as a young adult, Claire had already met an older Henry when she was younger. And, by the time the young Henry meets Claire, Claire already knows a lot about Henry. They have been friends for years, and yet, he just met her. This book has some interesting time paradoxes. It's a fun read.
The back cover says that this is the first book by the author, Audrey Niffenegger. The title of the book is The Time Traveler's Wife. Check it out. It's a good read.
Look at me!
A Different Type of Time Travel Story - The Time Traveler's Wife
I read Teen Fiction Too
I like to read all kinds of books. Sometimes I like the super complicated techno-thriller (such as Michael Crichton books). Other times I like to slow it down and read something ... lighter. So, yes, I read teen fiction from time to time. Several times in the past I have been reading a huge series and read a small book in between two large books to give my brain time to calm down, resetting itself.
Tanith Lee has written scores of books for young readers (and older readers too). So far I have only read one of her books, Piratica. It's the story of a teenager (of course, in a teen book) who becomes a pirate. What's interesting about her journey is she is a girl to start with. Not many girl pirates. Second, she's the captain of a ship. Probably even fewer of those going around during pirate days. And, third, her crew consists of less than a dozen (nine, if my memory serves me). By the way, most pirate crews consisted of at least 50 guys if not many more.
As Art Blastside, the teenage girl pirate captain, travels around the world, she not only encounters a real tangible treasure but another treasure in which she was truly in search of. Check out Tanith Lee's Piratica. Also, there is a sequel creatively entitled Piratica II. I haven't read it yet, but I have checked it out from the Library. It is the next book on my list.
And on top of it all . . . Amnesia
On one of my recent trips to the Library, I picked up a couple of books by Davis Bunn - The Lazarus Trap and Imposter. I've read The Lazarus Trap and I am working on Imposter.
The Lazarus Trap is a thrill ride. The main character wakes up not knowing a thing, not even who he is. But, as his memory begins to return, he wishes he could leave his past in the oblivion of amnesia. Everything has been taken away from him, and the last unaccomplished thing on his enemies' list is to take the only thing he has left - his life.
Some authors can transport their readers to a world that does not exist with the ease of a few words. In The Lazarus Trap by Davis Bunn, a careful mix of illustration, metaphor and visual description is a part of that special mix, a recipe that is sure to delight the senses.
Computer Personality Solving Crime
After I had read several alternative history novels, I began to get tired of the detail and wanted something different. I like Sci-Fi, so I went to the library and browsed that section. I didn't find anything that looked good, so I looked at the mystery section. I had never read a mystery. I like watching them on TV. One particular book caught my attention - Access Denied by Donna Andrews. I checked it out from the library and fell in love with the story and the concept.
What makes this series wonderful is that the main character isn't even human. No, she's not alien in the extraterrestial sense, either. Turing Hopper is an Artificial Intelligence Program (abbreviated AIP throughout the series), which means that she is basically a computer program, a supped-up EXE file. The nature of her existence is even more intricate than what she is but what she has developed into. Somewhere along the way she gained sentience. She has feelings like a human ... or so she thinks. She tends to think like a computer but endeavors to emulate humans. This creates interesting situations.
The only problem was I wasn't reading the first book in the series. I was reading the third book. So, if you would like to read the series, I would suggest that you start with the first book, You've Got Murder. I'm finishing up the series right now with book number two. I read them in this order: 3, 1, 4, 2. I know. I'm kinda weird. That's OK. I'm looking forward to book number five.
Alternative History Novels - Eric Flint
I've read several books from the 1632 series, a mixture of alternative history and time travel. An entire town in West Virginia is mysteriously transported to the year 1631 and plopped down in what is today central Germany. So, you get a mixture of old world with 21st century American ego ... an explosive combination.
This is probably true with a lot of alternative history stories - I'm not sure since I've only read Turtledove and Flint - but Flint's stories have sections that are dripping with detailed history. I referred to this in an eariler post. The upside to this, of course, is if you wanted to know about 17th century politics (among other things), the 1632 series by Eric Flint is a good place to start.
From pretty much the outset the Americans have the sole goal of directing the course of this new reality. In particular they want to avoid a Germany we all are familiar with, the seeds which can be traced back to the 17th century. I wasn't aware of that part of Germany's history until I read the book. See, you can still have fun while learning.
In fact, I know a lot more about the 17th century now than I did before. I don't know about your World History class, but my 10th grade Honors World History course didn't go into a lot of detail about the 17th century. There was too much history to cover in one year. However, reading about it for entertainment has been a nice way to soak it in. You become familiar with historical characters in a way no history book could deliver.
Of course, reading alternative history or even a true history narative means reading through a lot of guess work, conjecture if you will. But, since most of the alternative history authors I've heard about have degrees in some form of history, I would venture to guess that their guesses are better than mine would be. Maybe.
More on the 1632 series later.
Alternative History Novels - Harry Turtledove
In part one of this series, I introduced the genre of alternative history, and I gave the names of two authors I have read recently. Let me tell you a little about Harry Turtledove. (I'll consider the other author, Eric Flint, in another entry.) A simple Google search will provide you with a good deal of information on Harry Turtledove and his novels, 60 or so to his name and pen names.
What information that is harder to find is about his style. Yes, you may see reference to Alternative History, Sci-Fi, etc ... but that isn't style - that's genre (and subgenre). Here's my impression of his novels. First of all, let me say I've read two types of his novels. One type I would call his true alternative history, meaning he deals with events that have either already occurred or would have occurred by our time in the alternate reality. The other type is a future alternative style, dealing with a story line that wouldn't take place until the end of the 21st century (a set of novels I will discuss in further detail in future entries).
As of today, I have read 8 of his true alternative history novels, and they all have followed the same pattern. There are scores of characters - 25, 30 or more of them. You follow most characters through the length of the book, and if it is a series, you get to know some characters through the entire series. Many of his books deal with war time, so some characters become casualties of war. Before he kills them off, though, the author ties you in emotionally, their death meaning all the more so to the story.
I didn't get lost among the long list of characters. Harry Turtledove does a good job of keeping track for you. Each chapter is seperated into several sections of usually equal length, each section from the point of view of one of the characters. The character's name is usually found at the beginning of the section. This may sound like a no brainer, but it's important that it's there because I have read some books that quickly lose me because I don't know who is talking, so to speak.
Another nice feature that comes with Harry's long list of characters is the pace of the story. Since there are so many individual story lines that must be addressed, there is little boring time, meaning that almost every page has something to say that is worthwhile to the major story line. You learn just what you need for each character, not much more.
Stay tuned for more on Harry Turtledove.
Alternative History Novels
I enjoyed History class in school, but I never thought I would read it for fun. Once again, though, I find adult perceptions are really different from the teenage variety. Don't get me wrong - real history books aren't any more fun now than they were then. In the past year or so, however, I have read three alternative history series. This is a different take on your standard history lesson: an author tackles the age-old-question "What If?" by retelling history ... differently.
Nevertheless, I must say that these novels are not for the faint of heart. With Eric Flint, for example, I skipped or scanned major sections of one of his books because it reminded me too much of a real history book, and besides, it turned out not to be super important for the rest of the story.
- What if Germany would have won World War I (or WW2)?
- What if the Roman Empire never fell (or implode)?
- What if an alien race attacked humans during World War Two?
- What if modern Americans were mysteriously transported to 17th Europe?
Every one of these questions have been discussed in story mode at one time or another, but the last three questions were subject matters of the three series I read recently. Harry Turtledove and Eric Flint were the authors (Turtledove considered two of the three questions).
Stay tuned for more in upcoming blog entries.
