Through the Triangle

by C.P. Stewart

Science Fiction was one of my early literary loves. When I was young, I devoured it book after book after book. Robert Heinlein was probably the first Sci-Fi writer that I followed. Of his works, Stranger in a Strange Land was and remains my favorite. Valentine Michael Smith, born and raised on Mars was my first literary crush. I have read several compeis of Stranger to tatters, and given several copies as gifts over the years.

Ray Bradbury. I still love Bradbury. The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine. I love all of his books and stories, and have never really accepted him as a Sci Fi writer, he is so much more. I reread Bradbury with the same affection and expectation of delight that I had the first time.

It has been a while since I have found a Sci Fi writer that I have enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I know that they are out there, but I haven't found one that speaks to me. Meanwhile I have moved on and fallen in love with other writers, different genres.

I confess to having a special place in my heart (and on my shelves) for books and stories about time travel, Atlantis and Lemuria. Then there are the paranormal-like occurrences of the Bermuda Triangle. Very addictive for me.

Recently, it was my pleasure to receive a copy of Through the Triangle from the author C. P. Stewart.
Admittedly, I requested a review copy due to the fact that the author was somewhat local. I was slightly intrigued by the blurb that came along with the offer of the book, but that alone would not have been enough for me.

All too often I am disappointed by the offers of review copeis by new authors. This was not the case here. I have not been as drawn into a Sci Fi novel for a very long time. The characters were full and three dimensional.

The Oblique View, Captained by Mason Bankowski takes us on an adventure the likes of which I have not enjoyed for a very long time, We have aboard this small fishing vessel Jake and Nathan Myers. A broken father and son team where dad is looking for ways to reconnect. There is Juan, wiser than he should be for his years, and an experienced hand to Mason. The enigma of the journey is Manny. There is something about him...

We are offered so much more than the usual fare of the compass spinning or something vanishing without a trace. We are offered a story. An alternative future of our very own country. The descriptions of the electronic wonders alone were fascinating, but along with them we are shown the many faces of human nature. Could something like this actually happen here? I have to ask, why not?

You have to read this one. This author has a lot to offer and I am left hoping for more from him in the not too distant future.

The Doomsday Book

by Connie Willis

A historian by training, adventuress by nature. That describes Kivrin, the young woman whose dream is finally coming through as she is sent to study life in the year 1320. The middle ages is a time fraught with danger, especially for a woman alone. Kivrin shrugs this off as she prepares to be a part of something that she has dreamed of for years.

Nothing can go wrong. There are checks and cross checks and redundancies everywhere. The net has been used before and often. So often that Gilchrist, the arrogant, self serving unprepared and untrained man in temporary charge of the facility seems fine with foregoing some of the tests and checks.

Kivrin is all too willing to believe him, and to take the risk to live her dream. Nothing can go wrong.
She has made preparations down to the last detail of proper clothing, and language, She even made sure that her nails were worn and broken by volunteering at a local archeological dig before she leaves.

The archeological dig that was nearly the undoing of everyone for miles around.

Kivrin herself and Baldri the tech assisting at sending her to 1320 are both infected by a bacteria that has survived the tomb they helped to uncover.

Not only does Kiverin arrive at her destination infected, but something else has gone gravely wrong. People are dying in the time she left and the time where she is now living. Was it her? Did she bring this upon them?

I admit to an affinity for time travel stories. Who would not want to see what it was like when the Pyramids were being built? Who would turn down a chance to see a time before they were born, a simpler, happier time?

The characters in this story were realistic, complicated and human. People doing the best that they can to have the best that life can offer them. They lived and loved and worked together in communities 700 years apart, but not so different after all.

This is a story filled with dreams, with anguish and fear. But it is also a story of love and hope and strength. I was captivated by the characters and the tale. I couldn't put it down, until I finally learned how the story ended.