Life II by Scott Spotson

Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel

Setting: Earth around the turn of the twenty-first century.

First Sentence:  Max Thorning turned over the ancient book in his hand.

This novel is the first in Spotson's Life II Series.  He has written a sequel to Life II titled Bridge Through Time.

Time travel is a popular sub-genre of Science Fiction.  Authors often have their characters jumping between time streams, avoiding paradoxes, and encountering alternate realities.

Spotson's concept of time travel is quite different.  In his version of time travel, one can only travel back in time.  No jumping forward.  After jumping,  the time traveller must live his life forward again.  There is only one time line, but the traveler retains the memory of the first timeline.

Our main character, Max, is having a mid-life crisis.  He is unhappy with his current life and feels that he could do better if he had a second chance.  That chance comes in the form of an ancient tome which provides the directions to a mysterious apartment in Athens, Greece.

On a whim, Max chooses to take the jump into his past.

Almost immediately, he discovers how difficult it is to manage two lives.  One of which only exists in his mind.  His first life he calls Life I, and his new life he calls Life II.

When things don't turn out as he planned, Max tries to return to return to Life I.  Thats when he learns the truth.  He can never go back.  The pain caused by his decision follows him for the rest of his life.

With the help of some friends and loved ones, Max eventually learns a valuable lesson.

I liked this book.  Some parts were better than others.  But for me it was an easy read with a unique concept of time travel.

                                                                

The Chronothon by Nathan Van Coops

Genre: Science Fiction

Setting: A time when time travel is possible.

First Sentence: I feel very alive considering I haven's been born yet.

This novel is the second in the author's time travel trilogy.  The first book is titled "In Times Like These."  Although this is the second book of the series, the author intended it as a stand alone novel.  To help the reader, Van Coops provided one explanatory information, and a glossary of terms.

Time travel is real.

Our main character, Ben, has just been introduced to the culture of time travel.  Time travelers have developed a community of scientists and adventurers who travel and communicate between time lines.

Occasionally the time travelers stage a Chronothon.  This is an exciting race/ scavenger hunt through different places in time.

But this year is different.  Racers are dying.  Some have been murdered.  Some have been killed when the race route passes through a very dangerous time line.

Who is killing the racers?  Who has planned this dangerous game?  And, why?

Time travel has its problems: Avoiding paradoxes (multiple copies of people existing side by side in the same timeline), and creating new timelines (a change in history creating parallel time lines).

The author does a good job of describing his version of time travel and time lines.  But it sometimes gets a little confusing.

Over, all.  For me.  It was an okay book.