Time's Eye (Time Odyssey)
by Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter
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Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen BaxterEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-01
ISBN: 034545247X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Time's Eye (Time Odyssey)
Book Review: Latter-Day Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
As a long-time Arthur C. Clarke buff and fan of The Light of Other Days, his first Stephen Baxter collaboration, I had high hopes for Time's Eye and was not disappointed. It came out in 2003, when Clarke turned eighty-six - an age when most artists have long since ceased to make quality work. He may have needed a collaborator, but Baxter is ideal - the writer probably most in his style today. Together they made the best entry in Clarke's canon since 1987's 2061: Odyssey Three or even 1982's 2010: Odyssey Two. It is nothing less than one of the greatest science fiction novels of the last few decades and one of Clarke's ten best - high praise indeed. One should of course read Clarke's classic masterpieces first, but this is well above most of what he put out after the 1980s and a boon for his many fans - an unexpected latter-day jewel in his incomparable crown and another co-triumph for Baxter, one of SF's most talented current writers.
As the Time Odyssey subtitle suggests, the novel has crossovers with the famous Space Odyssey books, which will attract and delight their millions of fans. It is not a sequel - is indeed not even set in the same universe -, but there are several similarities and a good number of references. Such a thing is always risky - not only almost always failures but often veering near self-parody. The authors admirably manage to make it interesting and entertaining; the parallels seem respectful and worthwhile rather than rehashed material from (an admittedly legendary) has-been. The prime similarity is the large role of The Firstborn, the mysterious forces behind many Space Odyssey events. Long-time fans will be glad to see them as they are one of SF's most intriguing creations and can probably never be overused. Their role here is similar, and they maintain the mysterious allure that makes them so fascinating. The chief difference is that, where their Space Odyssey purpose is initially benign and later at least neutral, here it is deliberately hostile. As the title hints, they deal now in time rather than space, and the famous monolith is replaced by the titular Eye - another puzzling and utterly absorbing creation.
It cannot be overemphasized that Time's does not recycle the Space Odyssey books; it is vigorously fresh and original - a vivid independent creation that deserves to stand near those eternal masterpieces. Its main charm is that, like those books at their best and all Clarke at his height, the sheer imaginative reach is astounding and utterly absorbing - mind-bending, thought-provoking, and simply fascinating. I will not give away details because constant surprises are the chief joy of reading the book. Suffice it to say that Clarke's unmatched imagination - doubtless with significant Baxter assistance - is in full swing. The grand, sweeping story is masterfully plotted and deftly executed, keeping us in constant wonder and suspense and never ceasing entertain. A wealth of historical references is put to great use, actually becoming integral to the story and not used as mere window dressing as so often in SF time stories. The time element itself is also put to excellent use; time travel and its variants are of course SF clichés, but this manages to exploit a new angle, adding significantly to the subgenre.
Characterization is also very strong. Clarke has always been criticized here, and Baxter may have helped significantly; Time's in any case has one of the most interesting and varied casts of any Clarke book. The characters are far from the cardboard cutouts so unfortunately common in SF; we are deeply engrossed in their actions and truly feel for them in a way very rare in the genre. Their interactions and conflicts are also unusually engaging.
Time's main strength, though, is common to all of Clarke's best work - its mind-expanding panorama of intensely imaginative wonder. It can be easily appreciated on a very simple level as a truly cosmic adventure, but deeper themes resonate. Classic Clarke themes like the universe's vast scale, its endless possibilities, and its essential mystery, especially as related to the possibility of life and its implications for our place in the overall scheme, are brilliantly and vividly dramatized. It had been a long time since a Clarke work engaged these perennial themes so overtly and strongly, and seeing it again was a great joy. To make things even better, the vibrantly descriptive, highly poetic prose characteristic of Clarke at his best is here as it had not been in so long that many despaired of its return. Simply put, this belongs in or near Clarke's top tier, which is all that need be said.
As so often with Clarke, the ending is a cliffhanger, and many important threads are left dangling; there are indeed more questions than answers. The series continued in two more books that answered most of these, and anyone who reads this will of course want to read them, but it is important to be warned that they are far less good. The next book, Sunstorm, is a major disappointment - perhaps Clarke's worst. Firstborn, the third, is much better but well below Time's. Clarke completists will of course want them, and Firstborn is worthy and the series itself worthwhile, but Time's is his last great work. It later became clear that Time's was the last book he was able to work on significantly, which explains the drastic quality drop. Fans can only be glad that three more books (partly) flowed from his unmatched pen, but this is in many ways his last hurrah. We must be grateful considering his age when he worked on it and the many great works he had already given, but there is of course a certain sadness in it. It is very hard not to lament, but we must remember Clarke's essential optimism and cherish Time's as the last true monument from what may be SF's premier writer. There will never be another Clarke, and Time's will remain valuable in addition to its great inherent worth as a powerfully stirring reminder of just how great he was. It is essential for all his fans - and, indeed, anyone even remotely interested in SF.
Summary of Time's Eye (Time Odyssey)
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is a living legend, a writer whose name has been synonymous with science fiction for more than fifty years. An indomitable believer in human and scientific potential, Clarke is a genuine visionary. If Clarke has an heir among today?s science fiction writers, it is award-winning author Stephen Baxter. In each of his acclaimed novels, Baxter has demonstrated dazzling gifts of imagination and intellect, along with a rare ability to bring the most cerebral science dramatically to life. Now these two champions of humanism and scientific speculation have combined their talents in a novel sure to be one of the most talked-about of the year, a 2001 for the new millennium.TIME?S EYE
For eons, Earth has been under observation by the Firstborn, beings almost as old as the universe itself. The Firstborn are unknown to humankind? until they act. In an instant, Earth is carved up and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the planet and every living thing on it no longer exist in a single timeline. Instead, the world becomes a patchwork of eras, from prehistory to 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants.
Scattered across the planet are floating silver orbs impervious to all weapons and impossible to communicate with. Are these technologically advanced devices responsible for creating and sustaining the rifts in time? Are they cameras through which inscrutable alien eyes are watching? Or are they something stranger and more terrifying still?
The answer may lie in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037?three cosmonauts returning to Earth from the International Space Station, and three United Nations peacekeepers on a mission in Afghanistan?have detected radio signals: the only such signals on the planet, apart from their own. The peacekeepers find allies in nineteenth-century British troops and in the armies of Alexander the Great. The astronauts, crash-landed in the steppes of Asia, join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. The two sides set out for Babylon, each determined to win the race for knowledge . . . and the power that lies within.
Yet the real power is beyond human control, perhaps even human understanding. As two great armies face off before the gates of Babylon, it watches, waiting. . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke may be the greatest science fiction writer in the world; certainly, he's the best-known, not least because he wrote the novel and coauthored the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He's also the only SF writer to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize or to be knighted by Her Majesty Elizabeth II. This god of SF has twice collaborated with one of the best SF writers to emerge in the 1990s, Stephen Baxter, winner of the British SF Award, the Locus Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award. Their first collaboration is the novel The Light of Other Days. Their second is the novel Time's Eye: Book One of a Time Odyssey.
As the subtitle indicates, Time's Eye is the first book of a series intended to do for time what 2001 did for space. Does Time's Eye succeed in this goal? No. In 2001, humanity discovers a mysterious monolith on the moon, triggering a signal that astronauts pursue to one of the moons of Jupiter. In Time's Eye, mysterious satellites appear all around the Earth and scramble time, bringing together an ape-woman; twenty- first-century soldiers and astronauts; nineteenth-century British and Indian soldiers; and the armies of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. The characters march around in search of other survivors, then clash in epic battle. It's not until the end that the novel returns to the mystery of the tiny, eye-like satellites (and doesn't solve it). In other words, the plot of Time's Eye is a nearly 300-page digression, and 2001 fans expecting exploration of the scientific enigma and examination of the meaning of existence will be disappointed. However, fans of rousing and well-written transtemporal adventure in the tradition of S.M. Stirling's novel Island in the Sea of Time will enjoy Time's Eye. --Cynthia Ward
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