The Alexander Inheritance by Eric Flint, Georg Huff & Paula Goodlett

The Alexander Inheritance by Eric Flint

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An overall interesting and good book about a huge 21st century cruise ship that gets, for the lack better explanation, magically transported from said 21st century to the 4th. Some dates would make things easier to understand, especially since I didn't do things like include A.D. and B.C.

I'm not actually sure what date it left 'our' time, but somewhere around 2016 (or, at least, some time after 2011 since there is a comment made about an event that had occurred in that year) A.D. is the origin date of the cruise ship, and something like 323 B.C. is the arrival date (an exact year was mentioned, I don't recall what that exact year was, give or take a few years, the boat of 5000 passengers (and however many crew) arrived a few years after the death of Alexander the Great.

I kind of had the impression that the wife, Roxane, and baby Alexander had been more or less killed immediately, but she's still alive when the cruise ship arrives. Though she's in something like 'protective custody', a playing piece for the generals fighting over the empire Alexander had made. Also alive are a bunch of Alexanders former Generals, plus his half-brother Philip (who falls somewhere in the Autism spectrum) - and Philip's 17 year old wife (with Philip being somewhere in his mid-thirties I believe). Cleopatra also plays a part, though no I'm not referring to the one who ruled Egypt and 'did things' with Caesar. I'm referring to Alexander's last remaining full-blood sibling, his sister.

And a cruise ship full of other people.

While enjoyable I did have a few problems with the book. Mention of health came up, including a couple of references, I'm sure to reassure people, about how the people aboard the 21st century cruise ship weren't carrying anything that would endanger 'the natives'. But, part of the mentioning of the health involved noting that the ship arrived back in time and then used up a good significant portion of their medication treating passengers and the like. And seriously? 5000+ 21st century AD humans and not a one has anything that would adversely impact 'the natives' of the 4th century BC? Heck, one of the crew members was shown basically humping every native he could find - unless this was a new development in his life, he likely was doing that in the 'modern' world - and he had no types of illness or the like? Really?

One of the interesting things that occurs during the course of the book is the cruise ship appearing off Trindad. The ship is observed as it approaches. By a trader. And I'm immediately reminded of a nonfiction book I read recently. About a lost city found in, if I recall correctly, Guatemala (or Honduras?). A city from a civilization that doesn't even have a name of its own because they had been overshadowed by the others, the Mayans and the like - a city that died and was 'lost' because of the Europeans arrival. And the speculation that the reason that it died - even in it's remote location - is because the various city-states and the like weren't cut off from each other. And it's known that Columbus, with ill crew members on board, had visited the coast of Central America - and that there were native traders there at the time - who spread the disease that helped wipe out a good many natives. And here we have this book showing a 21st century cruise ship coming in and a native trader watching it.

The kind of flippant - 'they didn't have anything bad health wise, unlike Columbus' - was annoying.

Another issue: sex. I was perfectly happy to just watch everything unfold as events unfolded, content to let relationships not be delved into. But then the authors decided to start having people circle each other, then engage in 'relations' behind. Not graphically. No, that's not the issue. And even one relationship wasn't the issue. It's how there kept being these couplings pop up and . . . every single bloody one of them was heterosexual in nature. Every bloody one of them. There was a joke tossed out about the time period and the people, something like 'well, they are Greeks and you know what they are like in sexual matters' but . . . that's the only non-heterosexual thing in the book. The joke. As I said, I'd have been content but for the fact that many different couplings suddenly started popping up late-ish in the book. Some of them kind of 'well, we are both here, and I assume you'll go with me because we are close in age' ((view spoiler)[thinking here specifically of that smug Captain assuming that that woman near his own age . . well, let's just move on (hide spoiler)]).

Last problem? My understanding is that this, along with the one where a prison got sent back in time to the dinosaur era, were just stand-alone's. Related, but stand-alones. And this book? Doesn't really have an ending. Hell, it ends with almost a break in action (a ship that might cause 'issues', due to who is on the ship, approaches the cruise ship and . . . book over). (That ending, by the way, was after about 30 names got mentioned "this person from x; that person form y; Q from xx" etc. - in a way that's 'okay' in that a convention occurred, but . . . none of the people named really mattered beyond giving more glimpses of the period and the convention itself was kind of overlooked).

Right, so. It's funny, in its way, but I felt 'closer' to the people of the ancient world than those being held up as being from the 21st. Quite frankly I preferred those sections that dealt directly with the 'ancient people's and less with the 'modern people'.

Rating: 4.35

July 10 2017



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Pitfall: A Jurassic Romantic Adventure by Kelli Jae Baeli

Pitfall: A Jurassic Romantic Adventure
by Kelli Jae Baeli
Pages: 297
Date: September 9 2014
Publisher: Lesbian Literati Press

Review
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Read: June 18 to June 21 2015

Time Travel, archaeology, dinosaurs, lesbians, displaced in time, and more.

Pitfall is the name of a cave in New Zealand. A Dr. Veronica Hill excavated that cave and found a "Flinstone's phone", as one janitor called the item. An artifact that looked human made from the Jurassic era. Dr. Hill loaded up bones and artifacts and headed back to the states to examine them closer.

The book opens, though, centered on the janitor I briefly noted before. One Jonna Clarke. Jonna's cleaning in the basement and spots the good doctor over next to specimens examining them. She sweeps back and forth near Dr. Hill. Dr. Hill screams at her, asking what she is doing and why she is there. One thing leads to another and it turns out that this isn't actually their first encounter. For a drunker version of Dr. Hill had made out with Jonna that past weekend. So. You have that going on.

Meanwhile Jonna's spotted that Flinstone's phone. And, being a naturally curious person, wanders close enough to it to nudge it. Veronica pulls her away but not before the device was activated. When the two awaken again, they find themselves slumped over on the dusty ground. Thousands of miles away. In New Zealand.

That part is relatively quickly realized. Since they apparently appeared in Pitfall cave. The place Veronica had just been excavating, so she recognizes the place.

Relatively quickly after that they realize that, not only have they traveled in space, they have also traveled in time. 145 to 150 million years ago. To the time of the dinosaurs.

And, so, the book unfolds from there. Two lesbians back in time. With something of a tentative relationship. Jonna having a massive chip on her shoulder re: education, and being seen as "dumb". Veronica tends to only want and have one night stands. Which is a little hard when you are on a planet with only one other human on it. Oh, and dinosaurs are wandering around. Can't forget the dinosaurs.

Reasonably interesting book. Dragged in a few places here and there. Considering that "lesbians teleported back 150 million years" is a little over the top to begin with, the bouncing around that occurs near the end is even more over the top.

The characters grew on me, though. And the plot, while absurd, was solid enough. I suppose my only real problem has to do with the impact of injuries and what happens to them when a person teleports/time travels. But, bah.

The Wandering Traveler by Sam Ryan

The Wandering Traveler
by Sam Ryan
Pages: 288
Date: April 24 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: Dynasty Saga (2nd in series)

Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 18 2015

I only really have two notes:
1) heh. Apparently my vague feeling in the first book re: arousal of main character was correct.
2) the fantasy element was a lot more notice-able in this book, though, except for certain scenes, still subtle.

and then:
I liked the book. I'd recommend it. I wish book three "The Gloriousness of Being Straight", or whatever the title was that I saw in the endnotes, was already available for me to immediately read. I'm actually sad about that. That it isn't available for me to immediately read.

oh and:
Since it was mentioned in the end-notes, I'm not exactly sure what was meant by the "180 change in the main character's personality". I mean, the story opens one and a half years after the first book. After much adventure. And travel. And stuff. Like rape. So, um, personality should, at the very least, alter a tiny bit, yes? Heck, just living as a 17 year old in the real world, and then suddenly living a year and a half in a world where 17 is not only an adult, but is three or four years older than most people are when they are considered to be adults in this other world would alter a person's personality. And that's without adding the experience gained from traveling around having adventures.

The Heavenly Fox by Sam Ryan

The Heavenly Fox
by Sam Ryan
Pages: 225
Date: January 27 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: Dynasty Saga (1st in series)

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 17 2015

This is one of those books that kind of defy genres, or labels. It's a displaced in time story, something of a time travel story. But no scientific explanation is given, and time travel stories in and of themselves, by their very nature, unless heavily loaded down with science fictiony elements, stretch the science fiction label. So this book isn't science fiction.

There is a long tradition of displacement in time, of people displaced in time, I mean. The guy who had a nap and woke up ages later (Rip van Wrinkle), the guy who suddenly found himself back in King Arthur's time ([book:A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court|162898]), etc. Somewhat by definition those have a fantasy element by their very existence, but still, it's not exactly what is normally thought of as "fantasy."

Well, this one does have very very minor touches of fantasy in the story itself, beyond the displacement in time element, so a certain "light fantasy" label could be applied.

It's supposedly set back in time, though the oddly knowledgeable 17 year old does not recognize the place by looking on maps, and does not recognize the people. Who appear to be have a mix of Asian traits. Nor does she recognize, it appears, the concept of the seven kingdoms. Though I did. There was a period in ancient Chinese history when seven kingdoms competed against each other.

Even so, there is no specific reason to believe that mention of Seven Kingdoms in the book, refers to the seven kingdoms that were conquored to create China. Especially with men having no authority at the top levels in the book. There were some rather powerful warrior women back then, though, in real life - well, at least one springs to mind. Pre-China wasn't ruled by women, though (a counter to that, I guess, is that history got rewritten a lot in ancient China, to the point that the first Emperor literally destroyed every history that existed before him. Basically saying - history begins now; so it's vaguely possible history was rewritten and that there actually was a time of female rule in ancient China, however unlikely that might seem today).

People go in and out of fashion. I've no idea if Sun Tzu would have been known in 200 B.C. China, though I suspect he would have been. Though that was 300 years after he was around. Still, it's vaguely possible he was in a low point in 'popularity' at the time and so it is not, in and of itself, a clue that this isn't ancient China simply because several teenagers didn't recognize the name Sun Tzu (most of the women in the book, it is easy to forget, especially as they are groping and more each other, are actually younger than the main character's 17 years of age).

All the above just means - I do not even know if I could call this historical fiction. As elements suggest someone traveled back in time to the warring period in ancient China, but that person could easily enough been thrust far enough forward into a post-apocalyptic world to confront a mixed-Asian culture that's about at the level of the warring period in ancient China. So this might even be a post-apocalyptic book for all I know (though there is even less evidence of that being the case).

Well. That was a lot on how I can't really figure out how to place this book on the shelves. Probably too much.

Story-wise: there are points here and there wherein things kind of dragged, and or events seemed to oddly jump, but otherwise it was a quite interesting and good story.

Character-wise: The characters . . . hmms . . seemed, on somewhat vague recollection, to be mostly well-rounded. I liked Lymee, and Alia, and all the rest. The poly-sexual nature of the time was an interesting thing to confront, especially from the view point of a "modern" woman falling in love with someone but being unable to act on it because the person they loved, couldn't have a monogamous relationship. And that "modern" woman wouldn't allow herself to be in a position of being in anything but a monogamous relationship.

Sex wise - it was somewhat oddly injected. Somewhat naturally, but still oddly. There was a layer of eroticism spread throughout. Scenes of bathing, scenes of groping, etc. While at the same time someone looking specifically for that, for graphic sex, would probably be disappointed. I guess. At some point I kind of suspected that part of the fantasy element of the story was some kind of . . hmms . . . spell/pheromones/something that was impacting that woman from the future (Lymee), because she just kept getting more and more aroused as the book unfolded, but that was just a stray thought as I read.

A strange book. A good book. So interesting that I got the sequel before I'd even completed 25% of this book. And yet, not a five star level book. Just . . . something kept it from getting there. Probably not even a 4.5 book, if we had 1/2 stars here, but a good solid 4 star book.