Subject: L.E. Modesitt Jr: Timediver's Dawn

From: [email-masked] (Dani Zweig)
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 92 00:42:25 GMT

"Timediver's Dawn" is a book that didn't need to be written.  Before
L.E. Modesitt Jr wrote such excellent books as the "Forever Hero"
trilogy and "Hammer of Darkness" (well, *I* liked it), he wrote "Fires
of Paratime" -- a journeyman piece, inspired by Norse mythology, about
a society of time travellers.  It wasn't a bad book, but it lacked polish.

"Timediver's Dawn" is a prequel to "Fires of Paratime," and tells the
story of the dawn of organized time travel.  Which is to say that it
goes on for pages or chapters about things that the original book
adequately addressed in a few sentences.

The book lacks focus, being partly a source of more information than
we need or want about time diving, partly the story of the boy who
becomes the first effective timediver (and who plays a secondary role
in "Fires of Paratime" many millenia later), and partly the story of
a society that comes apart at the seams.  I'd give it a miss.

(The only cover blurb is "Exceptionally Brilliant" -- A.E. Van Vogt,
but it's not clear whether this refers to the book, the author, or a
previous book, or is just a quote out of context.  The inside cover
has more blurbs, but they're for Modesitt's other books.)

-----
Dani Zweig
[email-masked]

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
 Are full of passionate intensity." -- W.B. Yeats