An Excellent Read, With a Few Provisos...

books:


	• Against the Tide of Years S. M. Stirling Roc, 1999 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 69 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

An Excellent Read, With a Few Provisos...

This novel, the second in Stirling's trilogy of modern Nantucket mysteriously sent back in time to the Bronze Age, continues the story begun in Island in the Sea of Time. As with the first book in the trilogy, this book is fantastic - with a few provisos.

The novel is set eight years after the Event that sent Nantucket three thousand years into the past. Over those eight years, Nantucket has become the Republic of Nantucket, with a democratic Council, Town Meeting, and a protectorate over Alba - the "White Isle", bronze age England. In the meantime, renegade Coast Guard officer William Walker has escaped to Greece with the help of his ally Isketerol of Tartessos, and built a tyranny based on modern technology in Agamemnon's Mycenae. Ultimately, both sides know that, in the long run, war is coming; the novel deals with the events that are leading to that ultimate conflict.

From the scenes of the Nantucketers building an alliance with Shuriash of Babylon, to images of explorers led by Peter Giernas crossing North America in the late Archaic period, to the land and sea battles in Africa and on Nantucket itself, Stirling again shows he can build an entire past world in satisfying, rich detail. However, master though he is, Stirling stumbles a bit in this second novel in a few ways that detract from the book.

First, as other reviewers have noted, there's the matter of times. Stirling tries to show, through flashbacks, what Walker has been doing through the time between the Event and the "current" events on Nantucket. Unfortunately, the dates he uses clash with the time frame set in the first novel, and don't always mesh with each other. A minor error, but crucial to the novel's plausibility.

Second, Stirling's characters tend towards being - all of them, even the villains - logical rationalists. The problem is that people rarely operate logically in the real world, and the people of the past would have relied far more on belief in magic and the supernatural than people of the modern day. While at least some of this is evident in the scenes from Babylon, particularly the revolt provoked by an unintentionally introduced smallpox epidemic, I'd like to have seen a bit more emotion from the principal characters, given the circumstances.

Third and last, the growth of Tartessos, the ally of Walker, as a "modern" power isn't fleshed out as well as it could be. The reader is presented with Isketerol as king, in a modernized Tartessos, at the novel's start; given that the first book ended with him transporting Walker from Alba as a fugitive, I found this "presentation" rushed and not as convincing as it should have been.

However, these bobbles are relatively minor in what is, on the whole, a worthy successor to the first novel in the trilogy. Against the Tide of Years is a great read, and leads well towards the final showdown.

for more information click here

The Middle Child

This was entertaining, the research was extensive, the antagonists were exhausting and the protagonists were ethical to a fault (can ethics be a fault?). Like all second children this one had issues. There were lots of loose ends to be resolved in the next book, a "filler" feel to some of it as story lines were beefed up for the climax and that wonderful middle book introspection by the main characters as some of them got to take a breathe and consider their future. That said, there were some great battles, some exciting new plot lines and bunches and bunches of reasons to grab the next book and see what happens. My only suggestion... PROVIDE A MAP. Holy cow, we're all over the world here and I get confused easily.

for more information click here

Uneven quality

I started reading the Sea of Time series after I read the later 'Change' first trilogy. I can tell Stirling's writing has improved between the two series.
But,back to Against the Tide of Years. Stirling's weakest points are his characters and his descriptions of the natural environment I generally skip the latter as they are nothing more than tedious enumerations. He could learn a lot from Poul Anderson's evocations, which are shorter, but brimming with atmosphere.
The characters, unfortunately, you cannot escape. Most are settled in their ways and reading Marion Alston's thoughts for the umpteenth time is not very entertaining.
Speaking of Marion, her love affair and relationship with Swindapa is very awkwardly presented. I'm not one to skip erotic passages, yet in this book I always felt embarrassed when the lights went out in the Commodore's cabin or her room. As a side note, Stirling's romance and sex presentation has improved a lot with 'Dies the Fire'. But there is still plenty of room for improvement.
I like the action sequences and the overall evolution of the plot. Also the realistic technological evolution, although I feel some more creative contraptions should have emerged from the Island's shops.
In this aspect, Leo Frankowski's 'Conrad Stargard' series shines in comparison. I'd rather lead the Christian Army rather than the Nantucket Marines any day :) Conrad started with nothing and built ...well, let's not spoil it for everyone.
And if we're comparing the two series, Leo's zany books offer a lot more humor, zany characters and sensuality. Too bad he started slipping after the fifth book in the Conrad series.
You got to hand it to Stirling. He's a lot more meticulous and thinks of the finished product versus going off on amusing, but sometimes failing, tangents, a la Frankowski.
Overall, I give the book a 3 out of 5 stars.
Pluses: scope, details and battles.
Minuses: characters and descriptions.

for more information click here

Alternative History for History Buffs

A fun read for those who are interested in History of Civilization. It reminded me of the old Saturday Night Live skit, "What if Sparticus had an airplane". The writer obviously did his research, especially into indo-earopean languages.

It's the 2nd of a Trilogy

As with the previous book in the series, intriguing and well written. A bit of a Return of the Jedi bit here- things don't finish in this novel (unlike the first one), and not everything is going well for the heroes at the end of the book. You have to have the 3rd in the trilogy at the ready. Stirling again makes you interested in the characters and their lives. He balances many different plotlines and characters very neatly. His research is precise and accurate. And he provides a lot of anthropology and cultural development- not just battles and action. I recommend this book for those who have started the series, for they won't be disappointed. I recommend this series for those who've not yet started it, as it is excellent alternative history.

Some minor drawbacks: the time schema confusing. At the beginning of every chapter are a number of dates, with months and years, some in parenthesis, and I couldn't really figure out what the author was trying to communicate with this. Also for some strange reason there's no Israel. Although history indicates at this time that Samuel is wandering around as a prophet (1200 BC), and the empire of David and Solomon have already occurred, for some reason Stirling has decided that Moses is just about now leaving Egypt. But since the entire Middle East is thrown into turmoil in this book, perhaps that whole event doesn't happen, including the Jewish nation, the oppression by the Romans, Jesus . . . And the book is less recommendable than it would be otherwise do to a number of rather strange, highly aberrant gratuitous sex scenes.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Against The Tide Of Years continues the adventures of the Nantucket residents who have been transported through time to the Bronze Age. In the years since their arrival, the fledging Republic of Nantucket has strived to better the primitive world in which they now exist. Their prime concerns are establishing a constitution and handling the waves of immigrants from the British Isles. But a renegade time traveler plans his own future by forging an empire for himself based on conquest by modern technology. The Republic has no alternative but to face the inevitable war brought on by one of their own....

Praise for Island In The Sea Of Time:

"...one of the best time/travel alternate history stories I've ever read, period. Stirling combines complex, believable characters, meticulous research, and a fascinating setup to produce a book you won't want to--and won't be able to--put down." --Harry Turtledove, bestselling author of Guns of the South

"...unquestionably Steve Stirling's best work to date, a page-turner that is certain to win the author legions of new readers and fans. I wouldn't be surprised to see it on a few awards ballots either." --George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones

"A well thought-out time travel scenario with a few interesting differences from most books in the genre." --Kliatt

"Stirling has surpassed his previous work in the creation of a compelling cast of characters and does a fine job of conveying both a sense of loss and hope." --Science Fiction Chronicle

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Alternate History Fiction Part II (4.42 to 4.00 star) 9/09/5
SciFi Books worth the time: A work in Progress
best science fiction i've read
great sci fi books
Kirkes Sci Fi #2

tide

Deeper Water (Tides of Truth Series, Book 1)
Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed ...
High Tide in Hawaii (Magic Tree House 28)
Between The Tides
The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II

search for books
against the, against, tide, years

Impressum / about us