The Time Manipulator's Son

by Rohini Singh

Powerful aliens hide on an asteroid floating above the planet Chyspah. Fearing for her child’s life, a widow breaks the laws of her people and makes contact with the leader of the planet. Her actions kick off a long series of strange occurrences and unexpected discoveries that lead three boys to solve their parents’ mysteries as they’re caught in the midst of the royal family’s fall from power. Daniel experiences bizarre episodes of time travel, while Anomar learns he was adopted—and that his real parents belong to a species of aliens with supernatural powers.

With the reluctant help of their timid friend Benardo, the boys dig deeper to find the truths hidden in their own lives. What they learn will change everything they thought they knew about themselves—and each other.

283 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2014

Reviews

[Steve's Book Stuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Time Manipulator’s Son is a richly inventive fantasy tale. Rohini Singh creates a complete world and peoples it with a fascinating set of characters. It’s a fun read - I finished it in two sittings - and one that moves quickly along.

The planet of Chyspath is part of the Zelrod constellation in the Zaphor galaxy. Above the planet, shrouded by a force field that makes it invisible to those below, is an asteroid that is home to a race of beings who have developed multiple superpowers and achieved immortality. The inhabitants call the asteroid “the Upper World”.

On the planet below are multiple races, including people from Earth. Many of the inhabitants of Chyspath came here unwittingly through rifts in space / time, but all are living together peacefully under one worldwide government.

Diante is a widow from the Upper World. Fearful for her newborn child’s life after the death of her husband she determines to protect him by secretly placing him on Chyspath with the family of the Supreme Leader.

The book follows the growth of her son and two other boys born on the same day. It’s a mix of fantasy, fairy tale, coming-of-age, and mystery. As the three boys - Amopar, Daniel and Benardo - come of age they must embrace their differences, come to grips with Daniel's emerging abilities to manipulate time, and unravel their families secrets and the mysteries they hide.

Author Rohini Singh is Trinidadian and she blends elements of the island’s culture into the story, adding a Caribbean feel to many of the scenes in the book.

You will easily get lost in the world that Singh creates, which, for the most part, is a good thing. But she does sometimes get carried away giving you background that, while it is really inventive and fun to read, doesn’t advance the storyline.

In one example she introduces the concept of “maxi taxis” that two of the boys will use to go to a rather seedy area so that they can consult with a fortune teller. But she fleshes out the idea of maxi taxis by telling you the many places they go, how they are color coded so that riders will know which ones to take, etc. etc. None of which really moves the story along.

Her writing style helps to make up for that shortcoming though. The book reads like a fairy tale. It's as if the story was being told by an adult, full of knowledge and wisdom, to a much younger and inexperienced reader. It has a certain “Once upon a time” naivety to it. That allows the author to get away with a lot more “telling instead of showing” than I usually have patience for.

RATING: Three and a half stars ⭐⭐⭐🌠

NOTE: I won a copy of this book through the weekly free book giveaway by Something Or Other Publishing. I am voluntarily providing this review.

[Anne Grove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

Auspicious narrative with a focus on young men coming of age in an interplanetary world. The author is extremely conscientious in her work. It's so reminds me of the star children, a series of stories that I would tell my son before he went to sleep at night. Loved the way that she combined the love of food and love of the mystical. More please!

[Erik Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, the title is not a teaser. Although the story doesn't revolve around time travel 100%, it does play a good part in the story. An alien family who has the ability to play with time and lives on an asteroid called "The Upper World" decides to give their son, Biddle to the Supreme Leader of the plant Chyspah; Flondumar and his wife Sholah who's own child died at birth. The family from the Upper World gives them their son because they fear that his life would be at risk if he were to remain in the Upper World. After they teleport back to the Upper World, Sholah renames Biddle; Anomar. Flondumar is reluctant at first because he fears that an outsider of the planet would hurt his political career as well as cause friction between him and the royal family. But as time goes on, he starts to love him as his real son. Once Anomar is able to speak and walk, Flondumar decides to home school him, in fear that his real identity would be revealed if he were to go to a public school. As Anomar grows older, Flondumar decides to take him under his political wing to get him exposed to the world of politics and to the planet's constitution in hopes that he will continue his adopted father's legacy. Once one of Flondumar's political opponents finds out about his son's home schooling, he criticizes Flondumar by saying how if he doesn't trust public education for his own son, why should the rest of the planet. Fondumar caves in and allows Anomar to attend a public school where he meets Benardo, who's eyes are the same color (this is consider abnormal on the planet) and Daniel who was briefly dead at birth but then resurrected. After the three become friends, they start to discover who they really are. But how will the planet and the royal family respond? Rohini Singh has really created her own world in this book. You do have to pay attention to all of the rules and what is considered to be normal in the book to get a better understanding on what's happening and what will happen when a certain character finds out something about the other. But that's one of the reasons why this book is so entertaining. She's also very descriptive in the settings, characters as well as the props that they handle. You really feel like you are in the future and in outer space with the characters. I enjoyed this book so much that I'm not surprised that it was rated a number one Hot New Release on Amazon and it was only published last month. And one more thing, I love the HAL like character from 2001: A Space Odyssey; CHRIS which stands for Chyspah Host Resource Information System. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away, it's not exactly like HAL, or is it?

[Melinda Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Manipulator's Son is one of the better coming of age stories that I have read. The characters are very relatable and you feel like you are part of the story. I like the fact that the characters are very diverse, and the earthlings are based on different cultures of the world. Especially the cultures that surround the author herself. The story comes to life in a way that makes you crave more and more. I really enjoyed reading this story. Rohini Singh is very good at making the reader feel for the characters, and she creates a world that is very enjoyable. The more you read the more you get engrossed in this tale of Biddle/Anomar. I liked the use of the coming of age of a young boy and his two friends, but at the same time in a fantasy world. This to me is truly a difficult task, because you want to create something that will keep your reader interested. Singh did just that, and she kept true to herself.
I really like that Singh describes that world in a way that makes the reader feel like you are a part of it. She has a way with making the characters really seem believable. They way that Biddle’s birth mom cared for him and insured that he was safe, was very telling of how a real mother would react to danger around their child. I felt for her, when she gave him to the couple that had lost their baby. With the good there also comes bad. My only really criticism of the story is that at the beginning it is very daunting to get through. All of the description and setting up of the story to me should be spread out a little more, but I understand why it was done this way. There is a lot of describing the world and what is going on, and that to me detracts from the story a little bit. Other than that, this book was amazing and it stands out among other books like it. After the first few chapters the story really starts to take off, and become a real page turner. The suspense and mystery really make this book shine. I am not really a person that likes stories about space, but this story really kept my attention. I would recommend that anyone read this story. It is a story for the young and older alike. Singh really has a talent for writing, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.