15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent 5 Book Series, August 7, 2000
This review is from: The Cross-Time Engineer (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)
I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.
This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.
I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 star time travel books.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfying, if shallow, November 6, 2001
This review is from: The Cross-Time Engineer (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Very decent sci-fi / time-travel / alternate timeline treatment. If you're at all technically minded, and if you can look past the author's rather abysmal treatment of anyone of the female persuasion, you'll probably enjoy this as a nice break from something deeper and harder hitting. It's fun and diverting to imagine what one expert engineer who (unlike most of us technical rabble) actually knows how things work could do with 13th century technology, culture, and a great deal of luck.
The first 2-3 books of this series are by far the best, as near the end the author seems to loose a bit of interest - or at least creativity - and begins to engage some serious Deus Ex Machina plot elements with Conrad's friends in the distant future. Still, worth a read to those not offended by the "women are property - and they *love* it" garbage scattered throughout.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful tale of fantasy, history and science fiction!, December 4, 2000
This review is from: The Cross-Time Engineer (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I started reading this series with the second book the High-Tech Knight and only realized that I missed the first book after reading the third. It doesn't matter though as Frankowski's writing holds up very well throughout this series right up until the last two books which accelerate quickly downhill.
This book tells the tale of Conrad Stargard's (nee Schwartz) inadvertent journey back through time to medieval Poland. He there finds himself put upon to use his preponderant knowledge of engineering (and future events) to change the course of history. While he enjoys the comforts of the time (ahem) he also works to improve the lifestyle of all the people that surround him. In the process of making friends he also makes several enemies which engenders more than a few exciting moments.
The mixing of the future and the past makes for a tantalizing tale of fantasy, history and science fiction come together. This book starts it all and is well worth the effort to obtain as the information given here is referenced in several of the following books.
I have every single one of these books and excepting the last two books (Lord Conrad's Lady, only average, and Conrads Search for Rubber, which really should be avoided at all costs) they are all exceptional works.
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