- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (July 22 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765318768
- ISBN-13: 978-0765318763
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #632,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Praise for The Time Engine:
“Engaging. . . . In such a boisterously populous imaginary milieu the narrative possibilities are endless. . . . Like L. Sprague de Camp in his prime, Sean McMullen is an exotic adventurer of authentic, if wayward, genius.”
“Engaging. . . . In such a boisterously populous imaginary milieu the narrative possibilities are endless. . . . Like L. Sprague de Camp in his prime, Sean McMullen is an exotic adventurer of authentic, if wayward, genius.”
--Locus
“A very enjoyable tale o f swords and sorcery, dragons and derring-do, with plenty of unexpected angles. . . . Inspector Danolorian narrates with a combination of gaucherie and self-confidence that the reader, along with nearly every woman he meets, should find endearing.”
--Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Praise for Voidfarer:
“Imagine Alexandre Dumas’s account of H.G. Wells’s Martians invading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld . . . . A vibrant, thoughtful, spectacular, adventure-drama.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Zany. . . . Fans of Wells’s masterpiece will revel in this fantasy.” –Publishers Weekly
“Sean McMullen’s back in his funny, rowdy, bawdy moonworld Verral. . . .Third in this series, after the lovely Voyage of the Shadowmoon and Glass Dragons, this volume has McMullen’s characters reprising H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and a series of love-and-sex mistakes that could’ve been lifted from Shakespeare . . . . One very fun novel.” –The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Vastly entertaining, McMullen’s book turns all sorts of fantasy tropes upside down in a fast-paced and humorous way. Fans of Terry Pratchett will likely get a kick out of this book, as will readers who are tired of seeing the same things over and over again in fantasy novels.” –Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“Zany. . . . Fans of Wells’s masterpiece will revel in this fantasy.” –Publishers Weekly
“Sean McMullen’s back in his funny, rowdy, bawdy moonworld Verral. . . .Third in this series, after the lovely Voyage of the Shadowmoon and Glass Dragons, this volume has McMullen’s characters reprising H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and a series of love-and-sex mistakes that could’ve been lifted from Shakespeare . . . . One very fun novel.” –The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Vastly entertaining, McMullen’s book turns all sorts of fantasy tropes upside down in a fast-paced and humorous way. Fans of Terry Pratchett will likely get a kick out of this book, as will readers who are tired of seeing the same things over and over again in fantasy novels.” –Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Product Description
Swords, sorcery, and time travel are a strange and dangerous mix
Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian saw his world’s future and did not approve. The inspector knew about time travel because he had once met his future self. What he did not know was that he would be abducted into the future, and wind up on the run with a constable who had shape-shifted into a cat. Danolarian would also find himself marooned in the ancient past, where he would have to recover his time engine from five thousand naked, psychopathic horsemen.
A faulty repair plunges him another three million years back in time, to a world of strange, beautiful people living idyllic lives in splendid castles. But things are not always as they seem. After being attacked, he learns from his unlikely rescuer that time travel is not entirely real. A furious Danolarian returns to his own time, planning revenge against the time engine’s true builders.
Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian saw his world’s future and did not approve. The inspector knew about time travel because he had once met his future self. What he did not know was that he would be abducted into the future, and wind up on the run with a constable who had shape-shifted into a cat. Danolarian would also find himself marooned in the ancient past, where he would have to recover his time engine from five thousand naked, psychopathic horsemen.
A faulty repair plunges him another three million years back in time, to a world of strange, beautiful people living idyllic lives in splendid castles. But things are not always as they seem. After being attacked, he learns from his unlikely rescuer that time travel is not entirely real. A furious Danolarian returns to his own time, planning revenge against the time engine’s true builders.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
McMullen Channels Wells and Heinlein, Aug 17 2008
By James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Time Engine: The Fourth Book of the Moonworlds Saga (Hardcover)
In McMullen's last novel, Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (The Moonworlds Saga), Wayfarer inspector Danolarian Scryverin and his friends defeated an invasion from the adjoining Moonworld, Lupan. Shades of H.G. Wells. In this sequel, Danolarian must cope with the time-traveling descendant of Riellan, one of Danolarian's constables. And if Eloi and Moorlocks make appearances, it's certainly not in ways you expected.
A hallmark of a McMullen fantasy is that no one is who they seem to be, and this time the mystery extends to the very events themselves. The ending resonates with some of Heinlein's later books, especially Job: A Comedy of Justice. And along the way most time traveling tropes get the McMullen treatment.
While McMullen is never so crass as to lay it all out, in this, the fourth book of his Moonworld series, the Moonworlds orbit the Lord World, Miral, much as Jupiter's Copernican moons orbit Jupiter. Verral is one of the Moonworlds, and while Jupiter's moons move through intense magnetic fields, Verral and its sister satellites' movements generate etherics, the foundation of Moonworld magic.
The mysteries and loose ends from the previous three books are mostly resolved, although there is still plenty of scope for more tales. Parts of the novel will make you laugh out loud. And some parts will stun you.
I recommend reading Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (The Moonworlds Saga) before this novel; events will make more sense. My only regret is that this is by far the shortest of the Moonworld stories, and the plot is much less complex as a result.
It's a mystery to me why McMullen, an Australian, isn't more popular here in the states. He is a first rate writer, and despite the homages to Wells an Heinlein, he brings originality, wit and charm to a fantasy genre that is stale and flat.
Recommended, with the suggestion you read Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (The Moonworlds Saga) first.
3.0 out of 5 stars
McMullen isn't trying, Jan 13 2011
By Evil Overlord - Published on Amazon.com
You've probably had occasions when a friend says to you "You know the one about the rabbi and the priest?" and you say "Yes." You're both kind of let down, and often the best thing is to at least recap the joke so that you both chuckle and move on.
That let-down feeling captures this book. A lot of it seems half-hearted; McMullen points vaguely in the direction of a joke, and lets it go at that. I'd like to give him credit for subtlety, for being one of the few writers who credit their readers with any intelligence, but here, McMullen lets go too early. We see what the joke is going to be, but it never actually happens.
The previous three in the series ended pretty well; this one doesn't tie up any loose ends, so don't buy it just for a sense of closure.
All that said... I found this book at a discount store, and I'm happy I bought it. At full price, I would not have been.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lightweight, but entertaining, Aug 14 2009
By Ramathael - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Time Engine: The Fourth Book of the Moonworlds Saga (Hardcover)
Short follow-up to Voidfarer, The Time Engine is not only less substantial physically, but is pretty lightweight in plot and characterization. Still an entertaining read, and probably the funniest in the series so far.
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