Product Description

The history of the planet Earth has become splintered, each splinter vying to become the prime reality. But there can only be one true history. The Doctor has a plan to ensure that the correct version of history prevails - a plan that involves breaking every law of Time. But with the vortex itself on the brink of total collapse, what do mere laws matter? From the Bristol riots of 1831, to the ruins of the city in 2003, from a chance encounter between a frustrated poet and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to a plan to save the human race, the stakes are raised ever higher - until reality itself is threatened.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #673628 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!
Another great book by Nick Walters, this time set in his home town of Bristol, which really shows - there's an excellent sense of place, even though the book takes place in an alternative reality. I've rarely seen a post-apocalyptic world brought to life with such conviction and realism. The characterisation is also very strong, especially in the case of Malahyde, who is never quite a villain and never quite an ally.

We see the effects of Sabbath's interference in Time Zero, yet unlike in recent books the story isn't bogged down in excessive, convoluted arc details, thus giving us the best of both worlds. The arc is advanced, yet the book also has a very strong plot of its own. It's also interesting to see Fitz opposing the Doctor, which creates the intriguing argument of whether or not the Doctor has the right to place the lives of those living in the alternate reality under those living in 'our' world.

The final few chapters have a real sense of urgency, though perhaps there's a little too much technobabble. Overall, though, the book is one of the best EDAs in ages, and leaves the reader waiting in anticipation for the next installment in the arc.

Did I like it? Did I not?
Yes, I did and no I didn't.

On the surface, it's a perfectly entertaining EDA. Alien-perpetrated science-stuff has happened. How to put it right? The companions are being arsey and the Doctor's in a pickle. So far, so good. But...

The characterisations - of the Doctor, mostly but Fitz and Anji too - are all over the place. When they hit the mark, the book takes off and you can overlook the confusing anomalies and inconsistencies of the plot. When the characterisations falter and fail - as they do rather too often - the plot seems to grind down along with them.

The whole thing feels rather badly thought through. Nick W. had a great idea but he just couldn't carry it off inside the confines of a 270 page EDA; this story needs far more pages to tell itself and the characters need more background, more rounding. We needed far more of Fitz's adventures in Totterdown to truly see him losing himself in that reality to the extent that he did. How did Anji grow so fond of the (to my mind) frankly appallingly self-interested murderer and hypocrite Gottlieb? It made no sense!

The Doctor, especially, exhibits his cold, clinical, `the needs of the many' side - occasionally balanced with conscience and warmth but just not often enough for it to feel like a flesh and blood characterisation; he wasn't complex enough - no one and nothing in this novel was complex enough.

In short, not enough space to tell this over-complicated tale. NW should have simplified the plot and expanded on the characterisation, or been much more sparing with the colour and the detail because in the end, you don't get enough of one or the other to satisfy on either count.