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.
Island in the Sea of Time
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Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
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.
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
“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
Product Details
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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.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
95 of 105 people found the following review helpful
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
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.
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
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....
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fun book
I enjoyed this book however I think it would have been better without the good guys-bad guys plot device. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Robert J. Frye
4.0 out of 5 stars
The OTHER side of The Change!
In this series, author, S.M. Stirling lets us know what happened to Nantucket itself when the CHANGE occurred. Read more
Published 2 days ago by JRTLVR
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent time travel/anthropological sci fi
Island in the Sea of Time starts with a ridiculous alien-space-bat premise, but what time-travel/alternate history novel doesn't. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Roxanne
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favorites
I couldn't put this book down, and couldn't wait to get started on the next book. It's one of my favorite books I've ever read. I loved the storyline and the characters. Read more
Published 1 month ago by TERENCE I PAQUETTE
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but
This was not an easy read for me. I've never read a book that I needed a dictionary so much. I'm not a sailor so what with all the jargon, TOO confusing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ESKI135
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stop. Purchase. Read this book.
This is the very beginning of a story arc that impressed me way back when it first published. Who knew that time travel and alternate history combined would work so well. Read more
Published 1 month ago by BHDude
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another side of the "Change"
This book explores a different effect of Mr. Stirling's "Change" series. What happens when Nantucket is thown back in time 3,000 or so years! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kenneth J.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking
Many of the reviewers I read have complained that this book is too long and technical. They need to keep to their graphic novels and leave wonderful books like this to the adults. Read more
Published 3 months ago by kbiesen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws, but a great book and a great series
I read this series a loooong time ago, but since I have become a published author myself in the interim, I have come to realize the value of reviews, so I am making a point to go... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rick
4.0 out of 5 stars
S.M. Stirling
Fast-paced but good detail, both on the characters and their surroundings. Loving these books and the Change series, which are actually part of the same series. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Violet4Kat
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