Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hokey Title -- Heckuva Tale, June 29, 2000
Cpl. Calvin Morrison of the Pennsylvania State Police goes out to arrest a killer, stumbles into a lateral time machine, and falls suddenly into the feudal princedom of Hostigos, which is not in another world, but right in the middle of Pennsylvania. Hostigos, ruled by a benevolent prince with a beautiful daughter, faces the short end of a war of extermination. Morrison has a chance to display his leadership ability, utilize his knowledge of military history, rescue the princedom, and wed the princess (who could never be mistaken for the stereotypical damsel in distress). But can he do it before he is hunted down by the Paratime Police? He did, after all, manage to shoot a Paratime Policeman when he stumbled into the lateral time machine.Piper explores the ramifications of alternate universes and parallel time lines, and makes good use of his knowledge of Renaissance military science in crafting a fast moving, entertaining novella. He should have written a novel.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Successful castaway in quasi-feudal Pennsylvania, October 10, 2001
As a lifelong fan of time travel and alternate timeline stories, I first read this yarn when it was serialized (as "Gunpowder God") in ANALOG in 1964. I came across it recently at a university book sale and decided it was time to reread it, and I wasn't disappointed. Calvin Morrison, a Korean War veteran and the son of a minister, is a corporal in the Pennsylvania State Police (an organization for which Piper evidently had a high regard). While preparing to rush a bad guy holed up in a farmhouse, he's sideswiped by a passing Paratime Patrol transtemporal vehicle and gets bounced into an alternate Pennsylvania countryside where the Aryans of India went east instead of west, occupying what did not become China and then crossing the Pacific. Morrison is extremely adaptable -- it apparently takes him only an hour or so to accept what's happened to him and that he's not going back to his own world -- and quickly finds himself "Lord Kalvan," chief advisor and war leader to Ptosphes, Prince of Hostigos. All in all, this is a delightful exercise in military and geopolitical fantasizing . . . though it seems odd that people who get scooped up willy-nilly and dumped in ancient Rome, or wherever, always seem to possess all the political, historical, and technical knowledge to set themselves up nicely. Of course, if the displaced person were an overweight fries-cooker at Burger King, or a Mary Kay saleswoman, there wouldn't be much of a story! This is by far the best (and longest) of Piper's Paratime stories. If you liked Sprague De Camp's _Lest Darkness Fall,_ you'll love this one!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, March 27, 2000
By A Customer
This book is the start of an exciting series. The sequel by Carr and Green is very true to form of Piper's writings. There is a third book coming out around Dec 2000. "Kalvan Kingmaker" to order E-mail Carr at otherwhen@aol.com
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