I really enjoyed reading this book. The ruling hierarchy of the post 27th century future is divided between the Timers and the Eternals. The Timers are the regular people living on earth. The Eternals are an elite group who travel in time and are responsible for trade between different times and for adjusting the realities in each time. In one century, for example, the Timers have developed a cure for cancer, the Eternals field applications from other centuries for this cure, they determine if administering the cure will result in a negative, positive or neutral outcome on the future and then decide on whether the century with the cure can sell the cure to the centuries without the cure. In addition, the Eternals are constantly monitoring and adjusting the reality of each century in order to avoid wars or other cataclysmic events. If they see some kind of negative reality approaching the Eternals make adjustments to the current reality to avoid the negative outcome. Within the Eternals they are divided by rank: the highest rank is a Senior Computer who are people that have the skills required to calculate and execute the changes to reality; Technicians who are responsible for doing the field work required to come up with suggested changes to realities which are then verified and executed by the Computers; Observers who are just responsible for monitoring the realities; and Maintenance who are responsible for the upkeep of the time travel machines called Kettles.
The story is focused on a Technician called Harlan and a Computer called Twissell. Harlan is a Technician prodigy who has been selected from the ranks to serve as Twissell's personal Technician and Twissell is the most senior living Computer. Harlan breaks the Eternal's code by falling in love with a super hot Timer, the story develops around his efforts to secure his love interest in the world of the Eternals. But it is more than a science fiction love story as it is eclipsed by a much bigger battle between the forces that want to continue with the current Eternal hierarchy and those who want to tear it down. I would be giving the story away if I described it in more detail.
This is an outstanding book that all of you will enjoy, even those of you who typically don't enjoy time travel themed science fiction.
3 comments:
Damn, that sounds amazing. I'll have to pick it up – once I get through the couple hundred other books from my father's library. It reminds me of The Big Time by Fritz Leiber – not in the specifics of its story so much as how both authors come up with original takes on time-travel and what it means to live in and outside of time. Great cover design too. You should get that tattooed on your ass.
That does sound cool. Asimov had such a "managerial" mind. He has these crazy science fiction concepts, and then a really nice structure of bureaucracy and management (as you described here) to organize it all. I love how everyone gets a title. Also the idea that economies can be managed between times. Very cool.
Thanks for the covers, too. Those books are gorgeous. It's amazing that the guys painting those covers made a working wage from such complex pieces of art.
Thanks for the great review. I generally don't read too much of the grand masters like Asimov or Heinlein I guess because they became kind of self-indulgent later in their career. This sounds like a good one though.
Great cover by Richard Powers! If this is your scan could you send it to me?
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