Shipbuilder (The Time Travel Journals, #1) in Marlene Dotterer Hosts a Titanic Discussion about Shipbuilder

Dec 31, 2012 R.S.A. rated it really liked it

I received this book as part of a giveaway on the author's blog. I rarely review books, but I was moved enough by 'Shipbuilder' to do one.

I'll just jump right in and say that I loved the movie 'Titanic' and I've always been fascinated by this tragedy, but after all this time, I did not expect there was anything new to be said on the issue. I was so wrong. This love story that crosses time itself worked to not only cast the disaster in a new light, it gave me tons of insight into a time and a soc I received this book as part of a giveaway on the author's blog. I rarely review books, but I was moved enough by 'Shipbuilder' to do one.

I'll just jump right in and say that I loved the movie 'Titanic' and I've always been fascinated by this tragedy, but after all this time, I did not expect there was anything new to be said on the issue. I was so wrong. This love story that crosses time itself worked to not only cast the disaster in a new light, it gave me tons of insight into a time and a society that I never thought about before.

I'm not a fan of endless treatises in a fictional work about the mechanism of time travel, so this book was just my speed. It's more about people and history and though the science is credible, it doesn't suck the air out of the book. The way I see it, spending pages and pages trying to convince me of the authenticity of something that doesn't exist isn't necessary for every time travel story. Give me just enough so I don't get thrown out of the story and I'm fine with that.

When Casey and Sam arrive in Ireland, their struggles to find a way to simply survive really affected me. I loved that they didn't magically teleport and immediately find someone who would understand and help. Quite the opposite, in fact. They had to be crafty, hard-working and resourceful, and even that wasn't enough. No, until Casey runs into the kind and generous Thomas Andrews, she and Sam are failing miserably at staying out of the poorhouse. But Tom changes everything, and our girl falls for him.

Casey pretends to be a boy to get a job, and the problems she endures to keep up her deception create real tension for her and others. This world is dangerous for any woman on her own, so karate trained or not, she endures some harrowing moments. Worse, Casey's an open sort and I was so annoyed with her for talking about being an atheist in a religious time, but the conflict really brought the problems of Protestant / Catholic Ireland into sharp relief, so I'll forgive the author for that.

The book's not perfect, of course. I felt that while Casey's well drawn, I had no real instinct of who Sam was before the garden. Sure I liked him, but he was bit flat, much like Thomas Andrews in the beginning. The problem there is that in order to honour his historical records, the character comes off a bit stiff at first, a bit too perfect. But once we get into the relationship between Tom and Casey, and start heading for that climax in the middle of the ocean, he turns into a real person and the book goes full steam ahead.

I know I loved a book when the climax made me shed tears. I was worried and tense as if I hadn't seen the movie. The way the author cut back and forth at the end between a rising crisis and a waiting game was brilliant. The epilogue was a bit flat for me, but we needed it. And yes, by the end, you do want this story to go on. I want to know what other changes the world saw because of Sam and Casey and I can't wait for the sequel.

This is a self-published book, but unlike some I've read, grammar and editing issues never threw me out of the story. The book is both physically beautiful and an easy read. It's a shame that the author couldn't find a publisher for such a good book, but I'm certainly glad she decided to give an audience the chance to find it. I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who loves time travel stories, love stories, or alternate histories. Somehow, Marlene had the skill to blend all three into something new and special. Writers like this don't come along every day.

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