by
Gerard Klein
A poorly written novel of time travel and the morality of intervention, this book features barely sketched characters, simplistic dialogue, and a fuzzy but intrusive philosophy.
Reviewed by David on October 15, 2000
Genre: Science Fiction (Time Travel)
Synopsis: In a far future, a small set of super-competent agents are periodically sent out throgh time machines. Their mission is to steer the events toward stability, while eliminating potential rivals to the all-enclosing Federation without disrupting the future.
One of the best such teams runs into strangely advanced interference when they attempt intervention on a pastoral planet of Ygone. Their attempt to survive, and to investigate the source of interference leads them to question some fundamental assumptions about time tavel, intervention, and free choice.
Full Review: Neither the time-traveling agents nor the dilemmas associated with time-traveling manipulation is novel. However, rarely have these ideas been explored more poorly than in this sketchy, unexciting novel full of clichés.
Klein can do better than this; this novel is a waste of time.
Overall: 3.5; Plot: 3; Characters: 2; Style: 3; World-building: 3; Originality: 4;
Copyright date 1972, Donald A. Wollheim (DAW), August 1967, Mass market paperback, 128 pages
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