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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
From Time to Time this is a pretty good book..., Mar 5 2004
...but overall it's a disappointment.
I enjoyed Finney's original "Time and Again". This "sequel to a sequel" (I think that's what the author's note called it) was uninspired and made me wonder if the original was as good as I remembered.
I expect that most writers of historical fiction and historical fantasy devise characters and plot first, and then do their research. As I listened to this audiobook I had the distinct impression that Mr. Finney chose a time period (1911-1912), did some research, and then devised a plot to use as much of the research as possible, whether or not it made any narrative sense.
For example, long sections of text described vaudeville in much more detail than made any sense for a subplot.
I also had difficulty in believing the characters' motivations, actions and dialogue. For example, the main character travels back to 1912 and immediately hooks up with a pretty young lady because he is so "completely alone" in the world. Well, if I'd just left a young wife and 4-year old son in 1887 New York City, when I arrived in that same city only 25 years later I think I'd see how they were doing first. (Then maybe I'd buy a drink for the pretty young lady.)
Anyway, Finney's research was interesting and there were some good moments in the book. Enjoy!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tempted to look for the Beekey Bros. warehouse...., Dec 28 2002
I reread both this novel, as well as, the original _Time and Again_, in order at the same time. I was amazed at how well the two books flowed into each other almost seamlessly. I noticed no lack on continuity or deterioration of narrative or style. Simply put, I loved the first book, and this sequel is every bit as good.
Of course, I might be biased here. Finney develops a theme that I've toyed with for years, namely, how much better the 20th century would have been for the vast majority of mankind if WWI never would have occurred. Think about it, no WWI means no Soviet Union, no Nazi Germany, no defacto American Empire.... Moreover, there most probably would have been no overriding pressure to develop an atomic bomb. Things would have flowed along much more orderly and civlized lines. For that matter, Palestine would still be under the firm control of the Ottoman Empire.
It is somewhat eerie to read the main characters discussing the first book. Several times I have been tempted to search Manhattan for a Beekey Bros. warehouse....
As for those that hold that it is totally unbelievable that the government could ever establish any thing as preposterous as The Project, well, I guess they never heard of a little military intelligence project called Project Stargate with a directive to develop mental techniques to transcend time and space. Of course back in 1970 when Finney wrote the first book there was no Project Stargate- or at least no public knowlege of it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not nearly as good as Time and Again, Jul 28 2002
Time and Again was good because if you accepted the single premise, that one could be self-hypnotized into going into the past, the rest followed logically.Here, the reader is called upon to suspend his disbelief almost continuously. That the seemingly airtight way Time and Again was ended could be reversed, for example. That Morley, given being sent to 1912 to prevent World War I and save his son, would not instead look up his 1912 self (surely still alive and not yet sixty) or at least Julia, and have them find a way to save his (their?) son. That would be an insurance policy in case Si failed in his mission, and Si is bright and curious enough to come up with this or a similar scheme--after all, it is not unlike the plot resolution to Time and Again. Even though Finney was dying as this was published, I still have the feeling that the book is a setup for a never-written third book of a trilogy. The final chapter seems unresolved. Possibly, it was due to Finney's illness. But he was a great, if underrated writer--but this could have been better. Maybe he was writing to augment his estate. I also feel that there is an excess of detail, that Finney is sort of showing off with the level of his knowledge (or research) about the past. Take the play to which a chapter is devoted, or the dances, etc. Just an offhand thought--isn't Si sort of wasting himself in the 1880s by working as an illustrator? Why isn't he trying to invent the zipper or writing Gone With The Wind or doing something else that will assure his and his family's financial security?
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by Jack Finney
