Published: Sep. 06, 2011
Words: 24,264 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781466034914

Short description

A science fiction novella. Codrin has money, even status. A professor, no less. Not bad considering he’s only a Shreb. Until one day he loses it all, and has no choice but to gamble his family’s fate on a one-way ticket across the Gate to a new life on another world. Except something is wrong with the Gate… "excellent and provocative" - Ian Watson

Extended description

A science fiction novella.

Codrin has money, even status. A professor, no less. Not bad considering he’s only a Shreb. Until one day he loses it all, and has no choice but to gamble his family’s fate on a one-way ticket across the Gate to a new life on another world.

Except something is wrong with the Gate…

“Like some hybrid of Van Vogt and Charles Harness, Tim C. Taylor surprises us with worlds at strange angles to ours, and to each other, in a delicious piece of writing which ramps up excitingly through time distortions, grief, conflict, and peril, to paradoxical revelation. An excellent and provocative read.” — Ian Watson, award-winning author, scriptwriter for the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and seminal Warhammer 40K novelist.

Tags

scifi, steampunk, time travel, novella, timetravel, isolation, dimension, stain blossoms, greyhart

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Reviews

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Review by: Grant McHerron on May 12, 2012 :
An interesting short story that has promise but I think squeezing everything into a novella has removed the 'zing' so while I enjoyed the story, I wasn't eager to return to reading it after any interruptions. In hindsight, it feels like the author is playing around with some ideas which wound up spinning off into his "Reality War" series. The result is a tangential leap into a whole different story environment towards the end which, combined with a lot of concepts being squeezed into a small space, means I never really got into the story.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Natasha Inconnue on May 05, 2012 : (no rating)
This seems like a well-written book with what could be an interesting plot line but I didn't find the characters engaging enough to get very far into the story.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Bill Thibadeau on April 23, 2012 :
I was quite interested in this novella as I started reading. The storyline of the gate was a great premise that unfortunately failed to go anywhere. I wanted there to be more of a story but that would have meant a novel instead of a novella.

I do not think very much of the character development. I never felt anything for any of the characters.

The ending left we waiting for the ending to happen. It just ended. I was expecting to see a single page that said - ....continued in the next installment.... but that didn't happen.

Did I enjoy the story? Yes I did but was left wanting more. I think the author has skill and I will endeavor to read other works by him.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: norma peruzzotti on Jan. 28, 2012 :
This is an interesting idea for a short story.really I liked it a lot and the reading left me with desire for more.
I liked the way the author opens the mind and heart of the principal character.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: lesleymc on Jan. 25, 2012 :
Received this Time Travel SyFy novella free from LibraryThing and was looking forward to reading it however I was just getting into the story and interested in the characters when it ended all too soon. Very descriptive and atmospheric but as it stands I felt too much was left unanswered, plenty of scope for a sequel. Would make a good read if fully developed into a novel. 3 stars for the story so far.....
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: LS W. on Jan. 23, 2012 :
The first chapter was slow, but I don't like to quit once I start a book. After that, the book got really good. The concept of the gate and all that went on was really cool. The rest moved quickly. I didn't want to put this book down. But then the ending happened and it wasn't at all like I expected. There was so much build up in this book and then - to me, I felt it stopped before it was ready.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Gyula Meszaros on Jan. 23, 2012 :
I found the concept compelling, and I was curious when I started to read. The story went well for a while, but at some point the author lost me, and by the end I couldn't follow what is happening. From a solid story of discovering the secrets of two worlds we arrived to a symbolic wandering inside of the Gate.
I can appreciate the work put into this book, but it could be so much more. Even being a short one, there were plenty of possibilities crying to be included.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Randy Stafford on Jan. 22, 2012 :
Vagueness and mystery can be dangerous tools for a writer, concealments for laziness, muddled thought, pointless obscurity, an inability to solve the problems of a story’s construction. But when an author uses them well, they can paradoxically make a fictional world seem almost as real as ours.

Taylor’s story is the latter case.

The set-up for this story blends the old and the new as political refugee Codrin leaves the regime of Jastrevech for the Free States. While he departs via a high-tech dimensional gateway, he is greeted by musket bearing soldiers. And, almost right away, a malfunction of the gate puts an end to Codrin’s plans to have his family join him in a few months. Time, in the worlds of the Free States and Jastrevech, begins to proceed at very different rates.

The pleasures of the mysteries Taylor unveils prohibit me from saying more. And, while the answers he gives are tantalizingly incomplete, one gets the impression there is a well-formed and real cosmos behind the glimpses we get. And I liked the way the names and political history of Jastrevech evoked an Eastern European flavor. Codrin’s journey – metaphorical and real – is well depicted. While Taylor cites other fictional inspiration, Codrin’s plight reminded me also of Poul Anderson’s classic “Flight to Forever”.

Taylor has promised to return to this universe, and I am certainly interested in seeing more of it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Randy Stafford on Jan. 22, 2012 : (no rating)
Vagueness and mystery can be dangerous tools for a writer, concealments for laziness, muddled thought, pointless obscurity, an inability to solve the problems of a story’s construction. But when an author uses them well, they can paradoxically make a fictional world seem almost as real as ours.

Taylor’s story is the latter case.

The set-up for this story blends the old and the new as political refugee Codrin leaves the regime of Jastrevech for the Free States. While he departs via a high-tech dimensional gateway, he is greeted by musket bearing soldiers. And, almost right away, a malfunction of the gate puts an end to Codrin’s plans to have his family join him in a few months. Time, in the worlds of the Free States and Jastrevech, begins to proceed at very different rates.

The pleasures of the mysteries Taylor unveils prohibit me from saying more. And, while the answers he gives are tantalizingly incomplete, one gets the impression there is a well-formed and real cosmos behind the glimpses we get. And I liked the way the names and political history of Jastrevech evoked an Eastern European flavor. Codrin’s journey – metaphorical and real – is well depicted. While Taylor cites other fictional inspiration, Codrin’s plight reminded me also of Poul Anderson’s classic “Flight to Forever”.

Taylor has promised to return to this universe, and I am certainly interested in seeing more of it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: trish earl on Jan. 20, 2012 :
Great science fiction story. Easily read in an afternoon. Definitely recommend.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Heather on Jan. 08, 2012 :
As a big fan of science fiction, I was excited to receive this story to review. It is about a professor named Codrin who feels forced to make a decision cross the "Gate" into another world in which he hopes to eventually bring his family.

The premise sounds really promising, and I think it may pay off if this was a novel instead of a novella. I had a hard time feeling anything for the main character, Codrin. I felt that everyone in the book lacked surprise at what was happening around and to them and were too fast to "accept" the miraculousness of what was going on. The idea of what the Gate is was a neat idea that I wish was more fully realized.

Mr. Taylor obviously has a knack for writing and I would like to read some of his other work, especially if it a novel where he can further explore his ideas and give more depth to his characters.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

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