Customer Reviews

The Second Mission

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Second Mission reveals the unintentional journey of a modern man, Alan Fisher, into time. He is an accidental and unwilling participant in humankind's second greatest adventure. Sophia, the actual time agent, became his reluctant guide. She had trained ten years to become Sophia, a Greek woman of 399 B.C. The second mission was her mission, and she did not want to share it with anyone. Now she was responsible for her mission as well as the survival of the interloper, Alan. They were linked together for better or worse in the second most important mission of mankind. For one year of history, 400 to 399 B.C., in the city-state of Athens in the place now called Greece, neither Alan nor Sophia could return to their own times.

Alan discovered the purpose of the second mission was observation and verification-to record the words and death of Socrates. This was the second most important historical research to future generations. Although Sophia would share little information about the future with Alan, he discovered the purpose of the first mission, and that information changed his life forever.

Alan Fisher, marooned in time, turned into Sophia's greatest hope for success and, because of the first mission, Sophia became Alan's greatest hope of spiritual deliverance. The first mission changed Sophia's world, and the second mission would also change the future of mankind.

Great book for introducing philosophy and ancient Greek culture to folks who would not normally read about such topics. Alford's storyline and plot twists keep the reader interested throughout. Excellent for students. Looking forward to his next book!

The time travel concept of this book was good, although the writing was stiff (obviously the author's first novel with all the inherent shortcomings). The story was okay until it became obvious that this was written to advance a very Christian point of view. I don't mind a little religion, but this was preachy and too obvious. In parts it read like a tract that folks hand out when they are standing on your doorstep. And of course the author totally ignores the time travel paradox at the end -- if the inventor of time travel is removed by time travelers, how can time travel have been invented for them to do so? -- explaining it to have been God's will to have worked it all out. (I guess that's the ultimate deus ex machina!) Skip this one for a lot better works by Jack Finney and Jack McDevitt.

Alan Fisher, a 20th century engineer, is accidentally whisked into the past when Dira of the 31st century is sent back (as Sophia) on a mission to record the events leading up to the death of Socrates.

The narrative in this story is excellent - I really felt like I was experiencing 399 BC. The dialog and character development progress very well as the story evolves. Alan himself undergoes significant spiritual growth in the process.

The book contains a significant amount of transcription from the writings of Plato as dialog. For those who are fans of philosophical discussions, this book is a goldmine. There is also a transcription of the play "The Clouds" by Aristophanes.

I was pleased to discover the book does not have a fairy-tail ending in which everything works out perfectly. Without giving the ending away, let me just say that there are consequences to the accidental inclusion of Alan on the mission.

An enjoyable story - one that I highly recommend.

This is a highly entertaining read. It gives a fascinating account of Greek life and especially the oratories of Socrates. It fills in the history you wished you would have remembered from your high school studies! Interesting to read, a delightful novel!