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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed by yet another postponed conclusion (no WOW payoff), March 9, 2008
This review is from: Navigator: Time's Tapestry, Book Three (Hardcover)
I have been a longtime fan of Stephen Baxter's books, and have been particularly impressed by his ability to give mind-bending WOW payoffs for each novel. However, I have been progressively more dissatisfied by the Time's Tapestry alternative history series. I keep reading them, hoping for some WOW, but have been disappointed once again by Navigator. It seems we must wait until the end of the series (if even then?) for some resolution to the time meddling interference of the Weaver or Witness or whoever. I have to wonder that after an amazingly prolific writing career, or perhaps because of pressure from his publisher for increased book sales, that what once would have been a single book with a splendid WOW conclusion has been split into four (or more?) shorter books that lack the punch of novels earlier in his career (Timeships comes to mind here).
The prior review gives a good summary of the threads of Navigator, so I won't repeat that here. My only summary impression is that it has the flavor of a historical travel-log, but is not great science fiction. As a result I have learned something of the history of those span of centuries and now have a better appreciation of what the lives of people might have been like, although the portions relating to the Spanish Inquisition are quite gruesome (and probably true) and I found that rather unpleasant.
I have to wonder if the overarching theme of the conflict between Christian and Islamic cultures has been inspired by events since 9/11 and the Iraq war. The book does give a western person like myself better understanding of the distinctly positive cultural contributions of the Islamic world. It makes the prospect of global war between cultures that some advocate seem even more stupid. I have no idea if this idea is intended by the author.
To conclude, I would recommend that someone other than a dedicated Baxter fan postpone starting down the Time's Tapestry road until the next book comes out in July 2008. If readers then find it has a WOW payoff, then, yes, go ahead and dive into the series. I have to admit, however, that my enthusiasm for Baxter has been dampened.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A darker turn of events for Time's Tapestry, January 29, 2010
The third book in Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series, Navigator is striking in how it differs from the first two novels in the series. Although the historical detail is still present, the setting is different, the characters highly different, and a great deal of complexity is introduced into the mystery surrounding the entity called "The Weaver" and his/hers/its manipulation of time and history.
Some similarities do remain. Like its predecessor, Navigator begins in Great Britain, with a prophecy uttered by a now-dead woman playing a major role in shaping the story. That is where the similarity in setting ends. Unlike the first two novels, Great Britain is little more than a side-show in this book, returned to on a handful of occasions - the major events take place in Spain, as the muslim kingdoms left behind by the spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries are slowly crushed, their populations driven out and replaced by Christian conquerors.
Baxter also continues the pattern he did in the previous two books, with separate "slices" of time in chronological order each containing their own character arcs, dealing with the issue of the prophecy. The characters continue to improve, although most of them are much darker and less sympathetic than their earlier counterparts (particularly the brutal and fanatical Joan and Grace). At the heart of many of their motivations lies religious hatred and intolerance, shaped by years of war between Christian and Muslim. One major difference, though, lies in both the number of arcs (there are fewer of them, and the book is dominated by three arcs in particular), and the fact that the characters of the last character arc in Conqueror are also the characters of the first story arc in Navigator.
Perhaps most interesting of all, the mystery of "The Weaver" and its interventions in time becomes drastically more complex and puzzling. The characters in the book come to understand that there is more than one force meddling in the past, and some are capable of more than sending prophecies through the mouths of women - they send objects, knowledge of powerful weapons, and even people back in time. Baxter in particular dwells on a number of historical "what-ifs" that are avoided by the interventions in time, such as a Islamic conquest of Europe that creates a world nearly united in Islam by different outcome at the Battle of Poiters (in the early 8th century), a Mongol conquest of Europe, and a massive future war between the New World and the Old.
Some of these historical scenarios seem questionable in veracity; many historians, for example, have downplayed the traditional importance placed on the Battle of Poitiers (particularly since Islamic armies returned north of the Pyrenees later in southern France and were driven). The "New vs Old World" scenario seems far-fetched (although there is a reason for this that becomes clear in the fourth and final book), and although the Mongols were highly dangerous and heavily influential, it is important to not over-emphasize their capabilities. Moreover, the drastic move from a subtler, mysterious prophecy to much more specific and dangerous information (such as weapons from the future) doesn't pan out too well; it and many of the developments come across as silly and unrealistic rather than threatening and possible. While alternate history doesn't need to be 100% justified, it does at least need to be -likely-.
This book is, in many ways, much darker, with far more of an emotional gut punch - hardly surprising, considering its subject material and setting (the reconquest of Spain by Christians after centuries of Muslim rule). Although the key framework continues to be the prophecy (now prophecies) of those trying to shape the past from the future, their secrecy beings to unravel, with some well-done and not-so-well-done outcomes written. Although inferior to the second book (arguably the best in the series), Navigator is a fairly interesting novel that drew me and kept me until the end.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great thought providing alternate historical epic, January 2, 2008
This review is from: Navigator: Time's Tapestry, Book Three (Hardcover)
I Musta'rib AD 1085. In northern Spain, English teenager Robert wants to become a holy warrior until he meets and falls in love with intelligent Muslim Moraima. At the same time, scholar Father Sihtric and the Vizier of Cordoba hate their symbiotic relationship as the Christian is forced by the Moors to build God's weapons from the Eadgyth of York prophesy he possesses while the Vizier is forced to rely on the priest to obtain the wine he needs to quench his alcoholic dependency. These two enemies work together on their personal needs, but will do anything to keep Robert and Moraima apart; as cross religious love has no place under God.
II Crucesignati AD 1242-1248. The Christian crusading armies force the Muslim Subh to flee Seville where she hid her shame of a Christian ancestor circa the late eleventh century. At the same time Joan the Christian fled the Christian Holy Land kingdom Outremer when it fell. Each possesses a segment of a prophecy that when combined will make God's engines drive the infidels out. When these two women meet, hell has come to Spain in the fury of these two enemy combatants.
III Navigator AD 1471-1492. A new power has surfaced in Spain at a time when the Christian's Crusade against the Muslims proved successful. The middle class sees things more from an economic opportunity perspective than a godly viewpoint. This has led to a new religious fervor from within as the Spanish Inquisition weeds out heretics especially from the middle class. Talk is focused on womanizing Genoa baboon Columbus as he wants to sail west to reach the East instead of journeying through Islam. He might be the Dove named in a recently discovered prophesy or another heretic needing a fiery lesson.
The third Time's Tapestry (see EMPEROR and CONQUEROR) covers the century between William's victory and Columbus' trip. The book is divided into three stanzas that accentuate the changes in fortune of the prime groups especially the fall of the Moors and the rise of the Christian middle class. Stephen Baxter continues to make his case that those who sit on their past glory by introspection lose over time to those who look beyond barriers for opportunities. A terrific tome that provides readers with a great thought providing alternate historical epic.
Harriet Klausner
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