Title: Time’s Eye
Author: Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 346
Rating: 3/5
Considering the names that are attached to this, I was expecting something a little better. The same is true when it comes to the plot, which includes an epic battle between Ghengis Khan and Alexander the Great with Rudyard Kipling casually looking on. With stuff like that, you’d expect something pretty spectacular. And this book just fails to deliver on that.
It’s a shame, because there are a few good ideas scattered here and there throughout it, but it’s just not enough to rescue the book and to make it anything above average. The two most remarkable things about it are the names attached to it as authors and the fact that the blurb sounds so good. Then you start reading it and discover all sorts of pacing issues and other little niggles that just don’t make it much fun to read.
I picked this one up going cheap in a charity shop, and that’s honestly the only reason why I can imagine myself recommending it. I actually planned to read all of Stephen Baxter’s work after being impressed with The Long Earth books that he wrote with Terry Pratchett, but this left me feeling unsure about whether that’s such a good idea.
Still, I’ll crack on with more of Baxter’s stuff, and I’m sure I’ll also get to more of Clarke’s. I just won’t be prioritising this series, and I don’t think you should either. Sure, it’s fine for what it is, but no more than that, and if you’re looking for something that’s going to blow your mind or make you rethink everything you thought you knew about sci-fi, this isn’t the one.
Overall then, this was something of a disappointment, but I am at least glad that I was able to tick it off my list. Now I’m already looking forward to my next one, which I’m hoping I’ll enjoy it a little more. I guess we’ll see!
