Customer Reviews

Twice Upon A Time

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Philip A. Nero is not only a very fine, eloquent writer, an artist who knows how to imbue his story ideas with poetic, atmospheric prose while at the same time challenging the reader to accept the fantasy aspects of his seed idea, but he also has the gift to tell a page-turner story that manages to address very important issues about the senseless atrocities of war, the sociological progression from the activist attitude of the 1970s to the passive stance of the greedy couch potato mentality so evident today. It is a lot of territory to cover in one novel, but Nero doesn't 'fiddle around': Nero grabs us by the collar and challenges us while he entertains us. It is a feat.

Col. Ellis Ellis is a career military man whose beginnings in his choice of vocation began in Vietnam, a war he participated in as a field soldier and in which he lost friends and witnessed atrocities. His life has been shadowed by an incident that for years has remained an ill-defined episode. The time is 2003 and Ellis is in an accident which serves as the entry for the story: somehow he climbs though a cave, which on the other side of the tunnel is the year 1970! This element of time travel supplies the matrix of the story as Ellis is introduced to a group of young hippies who are living the life he lived just prior to going to Vietnam. Among the group of free-love activists is a young woman Sarah with whom he falls in love - despite the fact that he is a much older 'non-hippie' type. 'Ellis had always felt there were specific days in each person's life that played most significantly in shaping personal destiny and decision-making. He called them the formative handful.' Now, thrust back into 1970, Ellis seeks a way to change the sad fates of his soldier friends and perhaps change the way in which the war affects these new friends whose lives are yet to be altered. Knowing history in retrospect Ellis finds ways to influence these free but lost souls by sharing unique moneymaking schemes to provide secure futures for them all. He informs his new friends of his time travel and even manages to discover the dark secret that has prevented his finding a real love: Ellis had been one of the National Guard soldiers who accidentally caused harm at the May 4,1970 Kent State University tragedy, an event he recreates vividly. By using his information about the past, and by becoming guided by the power of informing his now contemporaries about the products and philosophical/political events of their 'future' as well as his discovery of real love, Ellis makes changes before he 'returns' to the present.

Nero wisely places much of Ellis' background in the understanding of the new groupie he has joined. 'In escaping his abusive father, Ellis hid in the military where the abuses were justifiable and, at least from his prospective, far more subtle. He had even managed to suppress the death of an intimate friend, perhaps the most intimate relationship he had ever allowed himself. And when it all had caught up with him, some bizarre loophole in the lows of the cosmos put the whole thing right before him again.' 'Most warriors in those jungles wear peace symbols in place of or next to the flags on their uniforms. They don't know what they are really standing up for, so they stand up for each other, and all they really care about is keeping each other alive. Most have absolutely nothing against the people who are trying to kill them. It all makes for an insane situation.' This is some of the most powerful anti-war writing in books and Nero balances it with a wise observation about the not too different mentality of the current greedy Americans who put most everything else that has to do with changing the wrongs of the world many notches below accumulation of technological things that lock their minds in prisons, unavailable for true concern for fellowman or the environment.

The book covers a lot of territory in a brief 264 pages, creating an exciting adventure, a novel of warmth and humanity and comedy as well as a platform for challenging thought. Nero creates characters so vividly we could recognize them from old photographs from the 70s and he weaves them throughout the book into a successful tapestry of fascinating ideas and incidents. For this reader this is by far the most successful 'time travel sci-fi' book before the public. And Philip A. Nero is an author to watch closely. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 08

Nero has written a good time-travel novel, with a few worn-out subplots (accumulating money by betting on horse races and sporting events, with the results known, for example). A U.S. Army colonel and Vietnam veteran goes back to 1970 and is confronted by hippies, the new drug culture, and the Kent State Massacre. An unlikely love story, with the fifty-something colonel hooking up with a college coed, is thrown in for good measure. All in all, a good read though.

I began reading Twice Upon a Time to kill a few minutes before heading out to xmas shop and could not put it down. From the beginning the characters intrigued me. Maybe because I'm a baby boomer and could relate to the times, or because I love a good scifi read, who knows, but the story line grabbed me and would not let go. Mr Nero brings each character to life and I wanted to know more about each one. He did not disappoint. My only question for the author is when is your next novel (if there is one) going to be available? Thank you for the heart warming story. I ordered several as xmas gifts.

"Twice Upon a Time" is a fun, interesting, and thought-provoking book, with elements of mystery that keep the reader turning the pages far into the night. The opening is delightful, from the main character's name -- Ellis A. Ellis -- to his quirky father. The setup of the story and the introduction of characters and situations is done quickly and concisely, yet carefully, to bring the reader right into the main story after a very few pages of opening. Readers in their 40s to 60s will really enjoy the look back at 1960s college life and attitudes. The humor is the best kind -- understated, and therefore memorable. Along with the obvious adventure, love story, mystery, and just plain fun, there are the larger aspects of poignancy, loyalty, regret, bitterness, and determination to make things right, even if that means changing the past and giving up...but that would be giving the story away. A surprise ending that is sad yet happy leaves the reader thinking long after the cover has been closed. This is definitely a book to buy for yourself and you friends and family.

Phil Nero has given us a terrific read in "Twice Upon A Time." I couldn't put it down. Ellis A. Ellis, a career Army man, lands back in time and is able to confront his future...again...from the vantage point of the past. It's a great book that you'll read until the Sun comes up. Ellis represents all of us, and examines through one man how each of us can look at who we have become and who we truly desire to be. Read this book!