5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Time travel AND Dinosaurs?? Talk about Formulaic FUN..., February 27, 2007
This review is from: Thunder of Time (Hardcover)
I'll be the first to admit that yes, this story relies heavily on formula...but it's a formula that WORKS...so WHO CARES?? I was first introduced to James F. David when I discovered his original 'Footprints of Thunder' quite a few years ago in a Vancouver, Washington mall. It looked JUST interesting enough to get me through my then dry-spell of lame books I had been reading while waiting for something new to read by one of my already established favorite authors. It didn't take long to discover that 'Footprints' was something different. I was hoping for something that would fill the gap until Crichton released his sequel to 'Jurassic Park'...what I GOT was a dinosaur-themed novel that was ANYTHING but a copy of anything written by anyone else.
Jump ahead a few years. I have since read EVERYTHING by this amazingly talented and VERY creative author (my favorite of which is 'Before The Cradle Falls'--you HAVE to read it) and I had heard rumors that a sequel to 'Footprints' was a possibility. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. David a few years ago and I asked him about it, and he said that while originally he never had any plans to write one, after some interesting events, an idea sparked and it just MAY happen...well here we are several years later and I finally got my wish.
Two of my very favorite subjects in ALL of fictional literature is Dinosaurs AND Time Travel. David handled the time travel aspect with absolute style in 'Before the Cradle Falls' and wondered if he could manage to pull it off here with dinorsaurs, and I gotta tell you that, YES, he does. The idea behind how the 'Quilts' from the past intersected with the present as a result of nuclear detonations is unique and creative to say the least--and whether or not the science is even remotely accurate is not even on my radar as far as I'm concerned. I just want a story to entertain me, and that is EXACTLY what this story does. Again, the story really was formula in many parts, but you know what? I discovered that I didn't care. The overall story was so dang original that whatever formula that was used to convey it was just not that important...and while this bothered some readers, I found that to me it simply did not matter. The plot moves and moves F-A-S-T for most of the novel and taking us from Central America to the moon and back so quickly takes a careful hand, and for MY money, I believe Mr. David has written JUST what I wanted to read at just the right moment. For those who are overly critical of storylines, maybe you should skip this one...however if you can sit back and enjoy a novel for what it was intended to do (namely entertain), this is a wonderful discovery. I found that once again, I am anxiously waiting for yet another story from Mr. David. Unlike James Patterson who can produce a novel almost every time he sneezes, David works a tad slower--but the end results are far more enjoyable...which is fine with me.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too complex to be thrilling, too action-packed to be serious, June 25, 2008
Thunder of Time is the sequel to the same author's Footprint of Thunder, published a few years ago. Although it features a few characters of the previous book (Ripman and John), most of the other characters are brand new.
The story leads the reader through a heavily transformed Earth, a heritage from the first book's nuclear blasts, both from History (WWII, Cold War blasts) and from the US' decision to get rid of the time quilts. As a result, entire places are inhabited by dinosaurs on today's Earth. But since the events narrated in Footprint of Thunder, humankind has managed to somewhat get used to cohabiting with the mighty lizards. They are parked, nurtured, protected, grown and respected in giant natural reserves. To the extent that an extremist animal-right movement starts plotting on getting back to an Earth in which people would be living with animals on the same, equal basis. Noble thoughts, dire plans. In order to do so, they must take control of a secret research facility in Alaska in which the US government is working on a new energy that has the potential of modifying time and space. Also, their ideals are far from pure, in a typical human way. In their path, they will encounter a fragmented group of scientists, with very different motives, that have understood how evil the "back to the roots, let's happily live with our brothers animals" group's intents are. Where the first book was intently focused on the day to day survival struggle of a few human beings among dinosaurs, this book is far more science-related and embraces a far broader, global, all-encompassing perspective on the events unfolding.
Let's stop narrating the plot here and let's focus on what worked -or not- in the book.
Primarily, any book that features, like this one, an encounter between the two most powerful species that have ever inhabited the Earth deserves attention. Humankind Vs Dinosaurs. Intelligence Vs sheer Power. Thunder of Time delivers truckloads of confrontations. It becomes quickly clear that, in spite of their weapons, human beings are almost powerless against the mighty lizards. Their only skill is their brain and their capability to adapt. One of the opening chapters of the book features a very interesting action, set in Alaska. A dog-pulled sled is inadvertently confronted to a group of fierce Raptors in the cold of winter. This encounter is brilliantly written and, to some extent, is believable. In short, most of the gruesome encounters are appealing. It is so refreshing to see human beings struggling for their own survival in a place where they are no longer the ruling predator! A real lesson in humility.
Bits and pieces of genuine data on dinosaurs litter the book too. For one, I discovered -but is it true?- that some of the powerful giants' central nervous system could not get the input to a bite or touch of its tail to its tiny brain before an amazing 8 seconds... True or not, this characterizes the giants and could have been used to a greater potential by the author.
Also, with a few exceptions, the characters are well rendered. They have distinct personalities, mostly Ripman, Emmerett, John and Nick -all male characters. Female characters get a lower lever of "scrutiny" and lack personality depth.
But what bothered me most was the extent of the time travel complexity. After a while, it becomes difficult to follow the action in terms of causes and effects, with so many groups traveling in time -and space-, with distinct linear times. It is just too much. From a logical standpoint, I am not sure that the actions undertaken by each of the group, in each of the time eras, in each of the places -pardon the complexity of this sentence!- are truly compatible with each other. Plus, the electronic devices used by the characters as "maps" don't make any sense to me, nor is it clear how the computers used by Kenny could have survived so long in such a harsh environment. Beyond the complexity of time travel, the headline preceding each chapter are not welcome additions. They rarely add anything to the story, even slowing down the pace. It would have been interesting for the author to limit these statements to real citations, to put some further credence to his views.
It's not sure that this book is the actual end of the "saga". There might be a third one. I would buy it of course, but let's hope that the author puts less unwelcome complexity in his story and focuses more on the man-to-animal relationship -read Human Vs Dinosaurs instead...
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