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The Becket Chronicles #1
Finding Time
Finding Time
A medieval society. A modern man.
War, deception, violence.
Some things never change.
Some people take their history very seriously. A successful nineteenth-century businessman, Alexander Becket was a wealthy, eccentric, and determined to live in the style of medieval kings. His community of dedicated followers evolved into an exclusive little country. Named for its founder, Becket grew in size and prospered, but never much beyond the year 1450. Almost 170 years later the country was paradoxically thriving, yet remained essentially unchanged.
Charles Hepburn set out into a forest one day to do some solitary hunting. When he lost his way, he fully expected to be found immediately. After three days, hopelessly lost and resigned to his fate, he stumbled inadvertently into Becket.
What follows is the story of his opportunity to stay. The people he meets and the friends he makes along the way are what ultimately determine whether he'll settle in Becket, after his ideals are challenged by war, deception, and violence.
A medieval society. A modern man.
War, deception, violence.
Some things never change.
Some people take their history very seriously. A successful nineteenth-century businessman, Alexander Becket was a wealthy, eccentric, and determined to live in the style of medieval kings. His community of dedicated followers evolved into an exclusive little country. Named for its founder, Becket grew in size and prospered, but never much beyond the year 1450. Almost 170 years later the country was paradoxically thriving, yet remained essentially unchanged.
Charles Hepburn set out into a forest one day to do some solitary hunting. When he lost his way, he fully expected to be found immediately. After three days, hopelessly lost and resigned to his fate, he stumbled inadvertently into Becket.
What follows is the story of his opportunity to stay. The people he meets and the friends he makes along the way are what ultimately determine whether he'll settle in Becket, after his ideals are challenged by war, deception, and violence.
472 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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9 people want to read
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August 1, 2016
I love to check out books by local authors and Finding Time by Jason A. Grunewald is one that I really wish was more well-known.
On a solo hunting trip, Charles manages to get completely lost, but by sheer chance finds himself right in the middle of what looks like a Renaissance Faire in the middle of nowhere. Basically, he's walked right into the middle of a country called Becket that operates as if it were 14th-15th century England. As Charles recovers, he learns the country was created by very rich and eccentric businessman in the mid-1800s. Alexander Becket, the founder, was obsessed with that time period and the lifestyle. He bought up a lot of land and he and his followers created the "country" of Becket in order to live out their dreams. Of course, Becket has ties to the outside world because it isn't completely self-sufficient, but it is as isolated as possible in order for the historical fantasy to work. Not very many "Outsiders" just happen to find their way in on their own and Charles is the first in many years.
When Charles meets with the King and court, he gets the wonderful opportunity to stay in Becket. He would rather stay than be asked to leave since he didn't really have much of anything going for him in the real world and he has no real connections there. He's offered the opportunity to stay on as the Prince's tutor, as he was a teacher Outside, a role he's very interested in, but he is taken on by the King's Champion, Robert, the Duke of Northumberland. Robert easily recognizes Charlie's potential and expects that with plenty of training he'll be knighted within a year.
Although Charles is a modern man living in a medieval society, he really finds his place among the people of Becket much more so than he was ever able to Outside. But Becket isn't perfect, the country is at odds with itself and outright war is just around the corner and Charles is forced to figure out where he stands.
I truly enjoyed Grunewald's writing style, his character development, and world-building. Telling the story from Charlie's modern Outside perspective is a great way frame the story and make it really stand out. I really became attached to Becket and its people! The ending was very bittersweet and does an excellent job of setting up the next installment of the series entitled Wolfe Trap.
There were a few topics that I wish would have come to the forefront though. One being more information on Becket's relationship with the modern Outside world and how much the common people of Becket know of it. It's very clear that the nobility and or important figures in Becket's society know, but what of everyone else. There were also times when I wished for better roles for some female characters in the confines of the medieval times they're inhabiting. As a modern man, I was hoping there would have been more on this from Charles, but there's sadly too little in my opinion. One other topic I wish would have been explored is the question of whether anyone from Becket has willingly left to fully rejoin the modern world. It would have also been beneficial for the author to have included some maps of Becket and had gone into more detail on the size of the place. I these topics and more are broached in the sequel.
Definitely check this out if you enjoy A Song of Fire and Ice books and the film Timeline, or liked the concept of the movie The Village.
Also reviewed here.
On a solo hunting trip, Charles manages to get completely lost, but by sheer chance finds himself right in the middle of what looks like a Renaissance Faire in the middle of nowhere. Basically, he's walked right into the middle of a country called Becket that operates as if it were 14th-15th century England. As Charles recovers, he learns the country was created by very rich and eccentric businessman in the mid-1800s. Alexander Becket, the founder, was obsessed with that time period and the lifestyle. He bought up a lot of land and he and his followers created the "country" of Becket in order to live out their dreams. Of course, Becket has ties to the outside world because it isn't completely self-sufficient, but it is as isolated as possible in order for the historical fantasy to work. Not very many "Outsiders" just happen to find their way in on their own and Charles is the first in many years.
When Charles meets with the King and court, he gets the wonderful opportunity to stay in Becket. He would rather stay than be asked to leave since he didn't really have much of anything going for him in the real world and he has no real connections there. He's offered the opportunity to stay on as the Prince's tutor, as he was a teacher Outside, a role he's very interested in, but he is taken on by the King's Champion, Robert, the Duke of Northumberland. Robert easily recognizes Charlie's potential and expects that with plenty of training he'll be knighted within a year.
Although Charles is a modern man living in a medieval society, he really finds his place among the people of Becket much more so than he was ever able to Outside. But Becket isn't perfect, the country is at odds with itself and outright war is just around the corner and Charles is forced to figure out where he stands.
I truly enjoyed Grunewald's writing style, his character development, and world-building. Telling the story from Charlie's modern Outside perspective is a great way frame the story and make it really stand out. I really became attached to Becket and its people! The ending was very bittersweet and does an excellent job of setting up the next installment of the series entitled Wolfe Trap.
There were a few topics that I wish would have come to the forefront though. One being more information on Becket's relationship with the modern Outside world and how much the common people of Becket know of it. It's very clear that the nobility and or important figures in Becket's society know, but what of everyone else. There were also times when I wished for better roles for some female characters in the confines of the medieval times they're inhabiting. As a modern man, I was hoping there would have been more on this from Charles, but there's sadly too little in my opinion. One other topic I wish would have been explored is the question of whether anyone from Becket has willingly left to fully rejoin the modern world. It would have also been beneficial for the author to have included some maps of Becket and had gone into more detail on the size of the place. I these topics and more are broached in the sequel.
Definitely check this out if you enjoy A Song of Fire and Ice books and the film Timeline, or liked the concept of the movie The Village.
Also reviewed here.
Displaying 1 of 1 review