The fury out of time [Import] [Unknown Binding]

Lloyd Biggle (Author)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 257 pages
• Publisher: Dobson (1966)
• ASIN: B0000CN2MK
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Traveller From the Future?, December 22, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fury Out of Time (Paperback)

The Fury Out of Time is a science fiction mystery. Major Bowden Karvel is a retired Air Force officer and astronaut. Discharged for disability at the age of 36 with an artificial leg and a bitter attitude, he is lonely, bored and drinking too much. He is living in a trailer park outside Hatch Air Force Base and just marking time.

In this novel, Karvel has gone to Whistler's Country Tavern for a little company, although Ma Whistler forces him to eat some breakfast as well. After an argument, Whistler sets out an umbrella table and two chairs in the backyard area called a garden. As he is watching the magnificent view of the nearby valley, something starts knocking down trees in a widening spiral and soon pushes Karvel off his feet. As Karvel lies bleeding twenty feet away and the table sails off down into the valley, Whistler comments on the lack of noise.

Although called a tornado for convenience, the phenomenon is definitely not a weather condition nor anything else previously observed. Karvel orders the base personnel at the tavern to start rescue efforts and alerts the base itself. Then he drives out to view the origin of the fury and finds a dullish-black ten-foot sphere in a hollow. Nearby he finds an impossible butterfly.

The first part of the novel describes the efforts and evidence that finally convinces the authorities that the sphere is a time machine. Eventually Karvel gets into the sphere and travels forward in time. There he finds an advanced society, but also some inconsistencies.

This novel presents some interesting concepts and characters. As with most of the author's other science fiction works, the protagonist of this story is presented with a mystery which he must solve. The puzzle itself is as fascinating as the strange cultures Karvel encounters along the way.

The ending ties up all the loose strings and leaves Karvel with many options. Furthermore, he has time to decide what to do with the rest of his life, but we will probably never know which option he selects.

Highly recommended for Biggle fans and for anyone else who enjoys SF mysteries and strange cultures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, great ideas, April 29, 2009

By 

Paul Magnussen (Campbell, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Fury Out of Time (Paperback)

This was one of my top ten SF books of all time when it appeared, and I'd still put it in the top twenty, even with so much published since. I could hardly wait to see what happened next, and it goes through all sorts of unexpected twists and turns before arriving at a very satisfying ending. Mr Biggle writes easily and naturally, with a touch of ironical humour.

Disabled Air Force Major Bowden Karvel is hanging out with some friends at a local tavern, when he sees trees starting to fall in the valley below, in a widening spiral of destruction. At the centre is some sort of spherical vehicle, with some sort of human pilot in it -- stone dead.

Where did it come from? The capsule itself is the only clue, and the only way to find out where it came from is for a live pilot to take it to its point of origin...

Books that really drive are rare, even among best-sellers (some obvious examples are the James Bond and Modesty Blaise tales); but in Science Fiction they're even fewer. This, however, is a prime example: others include The Stars My Destination (aka Tiger, Tiger), Galactic Patrol and The Man in the Maze.

This is my favourite story by Lloyd Biggle Jr.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fury Runs Out of Time (or at least out of book), August 1, 2000

By 

Jim Sizer (Lancaster, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fury Out of Time (Paperback)

Lesser Biggle, but still head and shoulders above most of what is being written these days. The first section of this book (100 pages or so) are a deft a skewering of governmental response to a crisis situation (and without veering into stereotypes) as you will find anywhere in print. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for other authors competing for the same book dollar), Biggle does not maintain this level for the balance of this volume. Still there is plenty here to make you laugh out loud at one moment, and set the book down to think for a spell the next.

The biggest problem this book has is that Biggle manages to write his way into a corner. Worse still, having gotten there, he simply stops--whether from lack of further ideas, publication deadline, or sequelitis this reviewer does not know. Still, while Biggle's fury may have run out of time, lucky readers who buy this volume can rejoice that this book is (at long last) back in print!