Broken Time [Paperback]

Maggy Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

Siggy Lindquist is a janitor at The Institute, home to the galaxy's deadliest criminals. When two of the most dangerous inmates take a twisted interest in Siggy, she becomes caught in a potential war between two races--a war that only a forgotten secret from her past can prevent...

Broken Time is...

"A mind-bending story from a talented new author...taut, tense, compelling."--William C. Dietz, author of By Blood Alone

"A stunner of a novel from a talented new author. The book is a marriage between Silence of the Lambs and Slaughterhouse Five, with all the chills of one, and mindbending time shifts of the other. The characters live, breathe, dance and inspire terror through Thomas's skillful writing. A great book, one I couldn't put down--a rare treasure indeed."--Michael A. Stackpole

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451457854
• ISBN-13: 978-0451457851
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,247,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My books have been published under three pen names: as Maggy Thomas, I wrote BROKEN TIME, which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick award. As Emily Devenport I wrote SHADE, LARISSA, SCORPIANNE, EGGHEADS, THE KRONOS CONDITION, and GODHEADS, and short stories that were published in ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF MAGAZINE, ABORININAL SF, and the FULL SPECTRUM anthology. As Lee Hogan I wrote BELARUS and ENEMIES. My books have been published in the U.S., the U.K., Israel, and Italy. Currently I write exclusively under my Emily Devenport pen name. I just published two e-books, THE NIGHT SHIFTERS and SPIRITS OF GLORY. You can read them on your kindle -- look for them on amazon! I also review music, books, and other odds & ends on amazon as Emily Hogan. Author Central features sites for all of my pen names -- forgive me if this is confusing. Sometimes a writer has to wear several hats (all of them weird). I'm still writing novels and stories, as well as blogging. My goal is to record audio books that can be sold electronically and listened to on iphones, ipods, etc. I live in Arizona with my husband, artist/writer Ernest Hogan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A curious and wonderful story, October 18, 2000

By 

Hank Schwartz "banjo & SciFi" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Broken Time (Paperback)

This strange story about the growing up of Siggy Lindquist is curiously enthralling.

It takes place in a universe so crowded that anybody of less than stellar abilities and accomplishments is relegated to brutal menial labor on distant outposts of "civilization".

It is at one such outpost that Siggy meets the main protagonists of this tale. Beware that some of the details of her time at the Institute for the Criminally Insane are extremely grotesque and distressing.

Despite my reservations about these vivid descriptions, I found the plot and its characters to be totally involving and fascinating. I liked Siggy immensely and was pleased and touched by her ability to cope and to grow beyond the circumstances that often threatened her. I found the humans, the "speedies" and the rest of the other-than-human beings to be very well realized and so intriguing that they still pop up in my memory and welcome further contemplation.

A good story, good actors well drawn, strange twists and unusual space and time concepts, an exciting and gratifying ending.

I rarely feel that a book is worth 5 stars, but this one got to me and wouldn't let go.

Highly recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serial Killers, Speedy Aliens, and an Indomitable Heroine, March 26, 2001

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Broken Time (Paperback)

I was up until 2 A.M. this morning because I had started reading "Broken Time" after dinner and couldn't put the book down until I finished it. The heroine, Siggy is your basic B-average high school graduate who needs to go off-world to find a job (jobs are very scarce in this future universe), and ends up working as a janitor at the Institute for the Criminally Insane. Siggy grew up in the midst of a galactic cold war that occasionally turned hot, and the technologically superior Enemy is still trying to decide whether or not to exterminate the human race once and for all. It doesn't help our side one bit, when a serial killer who thinks he's the Antichrist is turned loose in alien territory.

All of Maggy Thomas's characters came to life for me, even the alien 'Speedies' and the serial killers in 'Monster Row'. Her heroine, Siggy is open, friendly, and smart, and teaches ballroom dancing just for fun. She is neither passive nor timid, in spite of the fact that she doesn't know what she really wants to do for a living (how many of us did at her age?). She doesn't back down from murderers, sadistic guards, or even angry aliens. Notwithstanding her lowly status, Siggy never gives up on her determination to find the Lost Boy, teach the Speedies how to dance, and make the Galaxy a safer place for humanity. What she does flows naturally from who she is.

"Broken Time" has a strong plot that bubbles along with enough future-tech gobble-de-gook to keep us geekish readers happy trying to deconstruct the theory behind 'time pockets' and artificially speeded-up humans. And there are enough loose threads at its end to make me hope for a sequel.

Maggy, don't disappoint me. I want to read more about the indomitable Siggy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Broken Time, May 15, 2000

By 

"rnfrankie" (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Time (Paperback)

This book was one that I did not want to stop reading, but had to go to work. It is such an excellent story. The heroine is believable ....the story is an original "mind bending" Sci Fi.

Seldom can one just pick a book by an unknown author and truly enjoy the story. I consider myself most fortunate to be one of the first to have read her. This book is highly recommended.

I am extremely impatient for her next story....I want it available NOW!