Split Second, by Douglas E. Richards

[Adam]

A physist invents a means of traveling back through time, the only downside is that it only works a fraction of a second. What use is a time machine that only moves by seconds? But when people start targeting him because of what he's invented it becomes clear that something more is going on.

This is my pick for Reader's Choice. I love time travel stories, especially the ones that get in and play with the mechanics. I'm not too impressed so far, but I'm hoping it gets better once the action starts. Should be interesting.

[Adam]

112 pages. 112 pages before the concept advertised on the cover is even hinted at. Almost a third of the way through and we are only now getting any mention of time travel.
Oh, never mind the technobabble (in an email to someone you want to peer-review), I invented time travel, how are the kids?
It wouldn't be so agrrivating if it didn't feel like the author was so pleased with themselves about it. This had better be going somewhere. If I have to sit through another hundred pages before anything happens I will be pissed.

[Sophie]

Oh my, you're courageous to continue with this ;)

[Adam]

I will not let this beat me. I'm just upset that the awesome story the blurb advertised is nowhere to be found. How did this become a best seller? It's been nothing but exposition and lectures on movies the author likes. I don't need you to tell me these guys are crack military agents, how about spending that time convincing me of that instead?

Not to mention that they haven't provided a single reason why everyone is going to all this effort. It's an untested theory that one guy mentioned in an email, not even a working prototype. It did come close to something that would actually be of use before discarding it out of hand. How is it so hard to put some effort in?

[Zaz]

I think the "best seller" thing can happen when people who never read the genre discover the book (like The Girl in the Train which has nothing new for an average thriller except a journal format... wow). But well, Twilight and 50 Shades are bestsellers, so we really shouldn't focus on this, sometimes you are not one of the mass.

Anyway, misleading summary is horrible, even if I often find the story very different from the blurbs. Good luck for the rest!

[Adam]

Pretty sure this book gave me a literal migraine. I'm going to finish it, but at what cost?

[Adam]

Another 90 pages before anything relevant happens. The main characters are really inconsistent. They get stumped by basic concepts such as time in general (which shouldn't be hard to process) and the concept of light speed, and yet supposedly grasp the mechanics of Many Worlds theory and branching timelines because they saw a few movies. Things that should be fairly easy to state take several pages to explain because the author wants to explain a full history every time, but when it comes to anything that might actually be relevant to the subject, it is always "there's no time to explain that now."

The concept behind the whole espionage thing finally gets explained around p.200, and it is actually pretty brilliant, but it is delivered so stupidly that I'm surprised it even got that far. Not to mention the whole point of the story is rendered moot because, apparently, someone else already figured it out elsewhere.

[Sophie]

Adam, I just started The Fold and at 30% it has already explained the concept, hinted at the difficulty of the plot and totally gripped me ;) I'm sure it can be less of a disappointment to you than Split Second.

[Adam]

I've finally finished it. Man, did I pick the wrong book. This was TERRIBLE. Reading should be a relaxing experience, not leave you so tense you feel like punching someone. I still have to write up a review. I have some choice words to say about it, however, right now, they are mostly four letters long and starting with F.

This was without doubt one of the worst books I've ever read. I really need to find a good book to make up for this. It had some good ideas burried in a mound of pointless crap.

Sophie wrote: "Adam, I just started The Fold and at 30% it has already explained the concept, hinted at the difficulty of the plot and totally gripped me ;) I'm sure it can be less of a disappoint..."

Thanks, I think I might start in on The Fold or something by Robert A. Heinlein. Something with actual time travel in it.

[Sophie]

The Fold is more about teleportation than time travelling, but the topic (folded dimension) is really interesting if you're interested in science.

[Adam]

Still, it should be good to check out. I'm still trying to de-stress myself from reading this. I just need something that can tell a coherent story for a change.