I love time travel books. Not sure why, but I've always been drawn to books and films with this theme. What I liked about this novel: the leading charI love time travel books. Not sure why, but I've always been drawn to books and films with this theme. What I liked about this novel: the leading characters were unique and well developed (and mostly quite likable.) I loved the detailed descriptions of old Manhattan (disclosure: I grew up there and knew every street and landmark that still exists today so it was of particular interest to me. If you never lived or visited there, it might not hold the same appeal.) What the novel lacked was a believable time travel explanation (I know that sounds like an oxymoron - it's sci fi after all) but I like time travel books to have an element of believability (HG Wells in a machine, for example.) In this case a secret government agency is spending millions to develop a method to travel back in time, yet two untrained characters are able to do so without any training whatsoever. But I was able to suspend rational thought in order to enjoy a very well crafted story with some exciting moments and a lot of fun. I do have a slight peeve with the ending. Without giving anything away, I was totally confused at what happened because it referenced a conversation from an early chapter of the book which I had totally forgotten, it was just a paragraph or so in length. Fortunately some fellow GR members' reviews helped enlighten me and I skimmed backwards to see what I missed. Overall a 3.5 rounded up, negative for believability, but positive for a great plot and wonderfully descriptive settings....more
It might be a bit unfair of me to even rate a book in a genre that I'm not particularly familiar with (and now I know I'm not fond of.) Although I fouIt might be a bit unfair of me to even rate a book in a genre that I'm not particularly familiar with (and now I know I'm not fond of.) Although I found portions of this book and story interesting, I thought the characters, some descended from Norse gods with magical powers, would be fascinating. Instead I found them one dimensional and, at times, plain boring. Let's take our heroine, Freya, who desperately wishes to become a warrior and has a history which would make her most formidable. The only thing I found formidable in her persona was her whining ability to complain, her first class cursing, and a pretty insatiable lust after one other character. And that leaves me to the romance side of this story. I just didn't get it. There was no explanation about why the two characters were even attracted to each other. There were some pretty steamy scenes that were borderline smutty, but even the language describing these encounters was repetitious and I didn't find them too scintillating (but I must confess, I didn't skip them either! :) The dialogue is often stilted, ostensibly because that's how they would have spoken in those days of yore. Then they switched it up and spoke (& cursed) as if they lived in the 21st Century. I'm steering clear of spoilers here, but I will tell you the novel ends abruptly because it's the first in a series. I came close to making this a DNF entry in My Books, but I stuck it out till the end, and for me that was a mistake. ...more
I chose this out of the slim Amazon First Reads pickings for January. Had I realized it was fantasy/supernatural I would probably not have picked it uI chose this out of the slim Amazon First Reads pickings for January. Had I realized it was fantasy/supernatural I would probably not have picked it up since I don't traditionally enjoy those genres. It turned out this was a really fun outing if you can suspend all belief and just roll with it. You'll be able to read the plot synopsis elsewhere. Suffice it to say, it's the highly unusual characters both good and pure evil that make this a fun read, as well as the author's witty commentary and dialogue. The plot didn't ever make much sense to me, having finished I am still unsure of why some felt threatened by Benny. You'll love Spike and Harper (& the names of virtually every character are fun by themselves.) The tale jumps between flashbacks mostly to Benny's boarding school days and then the present adventures by our three heroes (along with a rabbit and whippet.) I found myself a little bored with the flashbacks and wishing that they'd get back to the present. But they do help tell the story. Overall it's 3.5* with a round up for the humor. ...more
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