Island in the Sea of Time [Mass Market Paperback]

S. M. Stirling (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 1, 1998 | Series: Island

It's spring on Nantucket and everything is perfectly normal, until a sudden storm blankets the entire island. When the weather clears, the island's inhabitants find that they are no longer in the late twentieth century...but have been transported instead to the Bronze Age! Now they must learn to survive with suspicious, warlike peoples they can barely understand and deal with impending disaster, in the shape of a would-be conqueror from their own time.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A cosmic disturbance transports the island of Nantucket and its inhabitants over three thousand years back in time to the shores of a Stone Age America. In addition to coping with the day-to-day problems of survival and the trauma of losing all connection with the modern world, the residents of the time-stranded island find their lives complicated by the presence of native tribes across the water. Stirling's (The Ship Avenged, Baen, 1997) imaginative foray into time travel should also please fans of alternate history. A good selection for most sf collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A perfectly splendid story…endlessly fascinating…solidly convincing.”—Paul Anderson
 
“A compelling cast of characters…a fine job of conveying both a sense of loss and hope.”—Science Fiction Chronicle
 
“[Q]ite a good book…definitely a winner.”—Aboriginal Science Fiction
 
“Meticulous, imaginative….Logical, inventive and full of richly imagined characters, this is Stirling’s most deeply realized book yet.”—Susan Shwartz, author of The Grail of Hearts
 
“Utterly engaging. This is unquestionably Steve Stirling’s best work to date, a page-turner that is certain to win the author legions of new readers and fans.”—George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones
 
“One of the best time travel/alternative history stories I’ve ever read, period. Stirling combines complex, believable characters, meticulous research, and a fascinating setup to produce a book you won’t want to—and won’t be able to—put down. An outstanding piece of work.”—Harry Turtledove
 
“The adventure that unfolds, powered by Stirling’s impressive stores of knowledge and extraordinary narrative skill, is an enormously entertaining read.”—Virtual North Woods Website

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Roc; Reprint edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451456750
• ISBN-13: 978-0451456755
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.5 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft -- I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 105 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic time travel story September 22, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Don't let some of the reviews fool you--this book is not at all a politically correct screed. I have always really loved alternative history/time travel books, and have read tons over the years. This one is definitely among the top few, and my 5 star rating is a rare honest 5 star rating.

All the fun stuff--the anachronisms, the brilliant re-creation of modern technology in an ancient era, changing the course of history--are all here and done extremely well. With this book, Stirling has upped the ante for the entire genre. For example, merely shooting a "thunderstick" does not send the natives fleeing in terror. Stirling demands far more cleverness from his characters.

As for the complaints about the supposed political correctness, come on already! Every author imposes a point of view. I heartily disagreed with Stirling on some points, but he didn't lecture me, and it didn't detract from the story. It was far less clumbsy than say, Turtledove's Guns of the South (a favorite nonetheless), where he inexplicably has a female pretend to be a man so she can enlist in the Confederate army. You know what? There actually are some really ridiculously PC characters in this book, but they are portrayed as utter fools and losers.

I guess if you can't deal with a strong, positive lesbian main character, then stay away. But honestly, she is not used as a device to lecture the reader on how great lesbianism is. I am very quick to roll my eyes at such nonsense and never felt the urge to do so.

If you love this type of story, you have to read this book. A new classic of the genre.

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable September 10, 2004

By Jedidiah Palosaari VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Engrossing and fun to read. Stirling's style puts you in the story with the characters, as if this were truly happening. There are a number of alternative history/time-travel stories out there in which there is a lot of fighting, a lot of action and adventure, a lot of moments of surprise at the new people's amazing technology. But they take little advantage of the opportunity to explore new cultures and the clashes of people groups. Such is no the case with Stirling. He has long segments where he focuses on nothing but anthropology- and how to learn languages, and cultures, and respect of people groups, and the interactions of subcultures within Nantucket Island . . . This is what makes interesting reading. People that we can relate to, people that we want to be with, if we were to be thrown back 3000 years in time. Stirling seems to have copiously researched his cultures, time periods, and technology, in order to make everything appear as realistic as possible.

Stirling well balances out the need for the good guys to succeed with the need for drama, risk, and tragedy. It is not a morose book with no hope; it is not a surface book with no hope for despair. It is a very good read.

A bit less recommendable than it would be otherwise do to a number of rather strange, highly aberrant gratuitous sex scenes.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best I have ever read..... April 13, 2000

By goodoldmac

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Imagine a group of 20th century people suddenly transported to the bronze age, c.1250 B.C. That is the premise behind this book. The "moderns" are the inhabitants of the island of Nantucket, some 7000 of them and they are now forced to deal with the diffcultly of adapting to totally alien life style, not to mention avoiding starvation... Some of the other reviewers of this book have mentioned Stirling's liberal viewpoint, and I admit having as a main character a gay black woman was a bit of a jolt, and the concept of the island just "happening to have" people with nessary skills seems a bit far-fetched, but these are no more than ripples in a sea of smooth flowing narrative. I would have personally prefered to have seen more about the "Nantucketers" struggle to adapt to their new world rather than jumping into the actions of renagde William Walker, but I am aware that that would have slowed the book more...Now that all three books in the series are available I can say this is one of the masterpieces of the alternative history genre, from first to last....

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Promising premise, well-researched and well-thought-out alternative history, but too many words July 20, 2006

By Ian T. Brown

Format:Mass Market Paperback

The premise is obviously an improbable one: Nantucket is thrown into the bronze age, and a Coast Guard sailing ship just happens to be thrown back with them, providing them with a lifeline to the rest of the world. Stirling does a good job of exploring how a modern group of folks would deal with the hard work of integrating a formerly modern fragment of the global economy into the pre-modern world, and the excitement of exploration all over again. That aspect of the book deserves high praise. What doesn't?

The improbabilities pile up, from the ease of learning languages to the protagonist's habit of getting almost killed, blacking out, and coming to with the problem solved (or, at least, being rescued from the problem). Many have commented on the improbability of the Coast Guard captain being a black lesbian super-ninja babe, or the improbable evilness of the antagonist. Improbabilities are inherent in the genre, but at some point you might say "come on." Some are probably simply oversights: what are the odds, for example, that native bronze-age Americans would be virtually wiped out by exposure to modern diseases but native bronze-age Europeans would be unaffected?

Too many words spent on the battles. It's apparent that Stirling is influenced by O'Brian's "Master and Commander" books, and O'Brian spends a lot of time discussing the minutiae of action. O'Brian's a better writer, and can mostly get away with it. Stirling lays it on a little thick.

Many reviews have focused on the politics and age-appropriateness of the book. First, the politics: Stirling, obviously, has no problem with black lesbian super-ninja babes, but he attacks a number of "left" ideas, from gun control to whale rights. I wouldn't describe the book as a "PC drumbeat...."

Age-appropriateness: there's violence, sex, and sexual violence. The violence isn't unusual in the genere and not super-graphic. As I said, too many words are spent on the violence, but it would probably be a PG-13 movie. The sex isn't particularly graphic and would also probably be PG-13, although it seems mostly gratuitous (also, too many words). The sexual violence is mainly there to make the villains seem evil, and anyone too immature to put that into perspective shouldn't read the book (certainly R-rated - don't give this to your nine-year-old). Read more ›