| The reviewer's words... | Thoughts of the author... |
| My review of Verse Three, Chapter One. | I always hold my breath when I see those words. |
| This is one of the most original concepts I have ever read in a novel in my life. The book chronicles the lives of three ordinary people and their travels through the Multiverse. Joseph Kondor, a young US Army soldier, Robert Elvis Slade, an auto mechanic, and Lauren Hastings, a middle-aged housewife. | That's a good beginning; no argument there. |
| Forgive me for being rather brief, I do not want to give away any important plot points, as that would definitely take away the enjoyment to the next reader of the novel. | I know as an author I always wonder whether a reviewer, or even a promoter, is giving away too much. It's good to see the reviewer is sensitive to that. |
| Kondor is a down to earth individual, atheistic, believing that everything can be dealt with through science and logic. He believes that even the most unnatural of circumstances he faces have to have a rational explanation. He fights with the weapons of the Army (M-16-A1, service automatic pistol) and his considerable cunning. He seems to enjoy the challenges of helping people and serving his fellow man. | That describes him pretty well, given the brevity. |
| Robert Slade, my personal favorite character of the three, is a resourceful mechanic, and also quite cynical. In his travels, he seems to enjoy keeping people guessing about his intentions, by using modern sayings and witticisms to less-advanced people. He believes himself to be a descendant of the ancient Norse warriors, and is fighting to get acceptance into their heaven. He is intelligent and very sharp. He begins the book armed with the tools of his trade, (wrenches, screwdrivers, other car repair tools) but quickly learns to use other hand to hand weapons such as swords and daggers. The sharpness of his blades is matched only by his own personal wit and courage. He is an imposing fighter armed with even the most simplistic of weapons | A lot of people like Slade best. I think his stories are in some ways the funniest and most light-hearted, despite also being very action-packed. He's probably the swashbuckler of the group. |
| Lauren Hastings, this character is a bit of a contradiction of herself. On one hand, she is a born-again Christian, but she also fancies herself to be a bit of a sorceress. She possess remarkable psychic ability which she uses in combat with her enemies, and also learns bits of magic from other worlds. She has incredible faith in God which she also uses in combat, and to give her strength for combat. I did find it quite ironic that she uses both God and witchcraft, as the two are generally thought to be a contradiction to each other, but it does make for an intriguing character. She is a very formidable opponent to her adversaries, and a loyal ally to her friends. | This is difficult. I would agree that Lauren is a born-again Christian, but I don't believe she's ever described with those exact words. She is also the most magical, doing many incredible things with supernatural and psionic power, but I don't think anything she does is what the Bible would call sorcery or the Wiccans call witchcraft. She does play the part of a sorceress when dealing with her enemies, mostly for effect. |
| The only real complaint that I have is that some of the firearms in the book were rather poorly researched. At one point, Lauren Hastings uses a pair of revolvers that fire a fifty-caliber machine gun bullet. These are an impossible caliber for a handgun. To the uninitiated, I suppose it would sound very imposing and formidable, but it would be quite impossible. A few other problems with the weaponry are mostly just technicalities that are not worthy of mentioning here. Only someone versed in modern weaponry would be able to catch these mistakes, so they should not retract from the reading value of the average person. | The reviewer has discussed these with me in more detail and offered advice for future books; none of the mistakes appear to be fatal at this point, although the one he mentions here is a bit difficult. |
| All in all I was quite impressed by the novel. It was entertaining and quite thrilling at times. The battle sequences are well written, and you can almost see yourself as a witness to the action. Just about every chapter ends in a cliffhanger, which only serves to add to the desire to read the book. It is uniquely written, and is something I intend to read over and over. I am looking forward to the next installment, which I understand should be going to print shortly. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever considered time travel theories. | That's a strong endorsement in my book. The second novel is indeed moving forward through the grist mill; to say it has gone to the editor on a page that may remain posted on the site until long after the book is in print is a bit foolish, but suffice it that there is every reason to think the second will come to press, under the title, Old Verses New. As to time travel theory, a lot of parallel dimension theory does touch on time travel, but I don't think this is really a time travel book (despite my proclivities toward and reputation in that area). There is a fascinating bit of temporal gameplay set up, but it's not resolved until the next volume. |
The original review was published on the reviewer's site. The reviewer had contacted the author about the possibility of getting a copy, and so was added to the reviewer list. He describes himself as a fan of science fiction of all kinds, a member of a Star Trek fan club, and someone who likes to think about the "what ifs" of life. He says, "This book goes into great detail about the 'What Ifs' that make our life interesting." There is contact information on his site.
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