Wonderful sci-fi story!

Great, original story with believable characters mixed with difficult science like theory of relativity, quantum theory and time travel. The idea of the mantisal is brilliant and the explaining of the science through the character of Saphothere is well done.


From the jacket:
In the fourth millennium, the Heliothane Dominion rules triumphant in the solar system. But some of its enemies have escaped into the past, where they are still capable of wreaking havoc across time. By far the worst of them is Cowl, an artificially forced advance in human evolution - more vicious than any prehistoric beast.

Innocentle embroiled in this galactic conflict and fleeing for her life, Polly finds herself dragged back through time, era by era... towards the very dawning of life on Earth. Meanwhile her relentless pursuer, Tack, discovers that the 'tor' fragment imbedded in his wrist is of crucial value to the mysterious Heliothane - a truth that is soon brought home to him with bloody abruptness. As a twenty-second-century, vat-grown, programmable killer employed by U-gov, he is no stranger to violence, but his harrowing journey into the Heliothane's lethal universe is only just beginning...

All the while, the torbeast, Cowl's pet, is growing fast and dangerous and shedding its scales wherever its master orders. Scales that are themselves organic time machines designed for bringing human samples from all ages back to Cowl.

Then the beast can feed...

Thanks! but wasn't this a ring? I can't see any list, or am I totally mistaken :)

Great book! Loved the characters. Took some time getting used to the two timelines :) but then reading was fast.

Thanks for sending this one!

I'll make this a bookray:

rebeccaljames - Cincinatti/Ohio - can ship US
efs300 - Bedford/New Hampshire - USA -can ship int.
...you?
Plinius - Holland - end of ray

RELEASE NOTES:

I just received this book today. I have a couple of other books to read before this one. I hope to get to it in a couple of weeks.

I mailed this book out to efs300 this morning.

Arrived in New Hampshire today, am in the middle of another bookray book so I should be starting it soon.

I enjoyed reading this book but for some reason it took me a long time to get through it. I usually enjoy time travel books and that is what this book is all about. It did get a bit complex at times but I enjoyed the characters of Tack and especially Polly. This book is on its way back to The Netherlands to plinius via surface mail. Thanks again 1972Galadriel for starting this bookray. US Customs Form # LC813174165US

a bad memory gives rise to exciting surprises! Thank you for sending efs300!

very entertaining story! I enjoyed meeting all the people from different times. As Saphothere (?) never found the time to recite the poem, I'll paste it here:

Jabberwocky

Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


Thanks for sharing! The book travels back to Gala this weekend.

At the bookcrossing meeting in Rotterdam today 1972Galadriel recommended this book to me. And since the name of the writer and the title did ring a bell the book is now on my TBR pile!

It seems I wasn't the only one who liked the book but didn't finish it very fast. I loved the beginning of the book, especially Polly's backstory and her adventures. But somehow I couldn't keep my attention by the later parts of the book. I think I've missed a lot, so before I let this book free I'll read the parts in italic on the beginning of each chapter again. I'm sure it will make sense now.
It was a very nice book; modern SF can be great!

hey I know this one already :-)

Oh no, seem I forgot to journal when it got to Finland (thanks for the persons that made this possible) but also when I finished reading the book. Loved reading the book, like most SF anyway. Will get the book moving soon towards an SF-gettogether in Finland!

Kirja vapautuu BookCrossing-pöytään, ainakin ensin Sokoksessa. Voi olla että matka jatkaa Jyväskylään asti...

Found the book at Finncon in Jyväskylä. Looks promising!

Wow, what a novel! It wasn't the easiest book to read, but it was worth it. I enjoyed reading it; it was very exciting. I too liked both Polly and Tack and I kept visioning those future (super)humans like elves. :-) There was a bit too much fighting/violence in the book, though, it was repetitive and boring so I skipped some of the fighting scenes. I also wondered why Asher had named those timetravelling parasites "tors", as the novel was published by Tor. Coincidence or not? :-D Thanks for registering the book, Twinfather; Asher was a new author for me and I'd like to read more by him.

Cowl will travel next to a Bookcrosser who won it in my 10th BC anniversary raffle in the Finnish forum. I hope she'll enjoy the book too!

The book is in the mail!

The book is here, thank you so much Thalasse! :)