Member Reviews
This was a story about time travel, but it was presented in a very unique way. Ten time travelers were sent through a portal to try and help their society find the cure for premature, and rapidly accelerating old age. Their society was technical, militaristic and opportunistic. The concepts of joy, happiness, love, imagination and spiritual experience had been forbidden by their society for many years.
These ten explorers had names that revealed their character: Grubb was a biologist, Grim was a psychologist, Bubbles was a talkative young person, Twist was a corrupt politician, Stare was a technician who continually stared at screens, along with other crew members.
The explorers go through the portal and arrive on a deserted island, which they escape from on boats, and they land in Acronos, a place where plants and trees vibrate and sing, dogs talk, and a giant fish sings rhymes.
Will the Grippers find a cure or will they be stranded in a magical land?
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion of the book.
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This fantasy/dystopian/metaphysical novel follows the adventures of the "Eye of Time Exploration Team", which is sent via time-travel, on a mission to discover the Secret of Un-Old-Age and thus rescue their prematurely aging citizens and save their civilization.
This book was not for me. I wasn't particularly fond of the writing style, which seemed remote and provided more expositions and descriptions than showing the reading what was going on. I can't say I was particularly fond of any of the characters either. The "Eye of Time Exploration Team" memberes were a particularly obnoxious, obtuse, self-centred lot. This team of 10 people somehow never completely interact with each other. The team ends up in Acronos, which (to me) came across as an immitation version of Alice's Wonderland. All the poetry/lyrics did not appeal to me either. The ending was also a bit disappointing - you never know how the mission ended or what happened to the team members. However, the concept of the "Seven Harmonies" and how they effected (pr failed to affect) the team was interesting. The "Seven Harmonies" may be of use to those interested in metaphysics and self-improvement.
In short, the concept was interesting, but the execution was lacking.