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Title: Patton's Spaceship
Author: John Barnes
Publisher: Harper Prism
Year: 1997
ISBN: 0061056593
Description: 321 pages; 18 cm.
This is the first installment of the Timeline Wars series by respected SF author John Barnes. Mark Strang is a survivor of a brutal terrorist attack carried out by the mysterious Blade of the Most Merciful, a terrorist organization with apparently no goals and objectives, other than to kill as many people as possible.
His mind is shattered by the attack -- which took the lives of his wife, his mother and brother, and leaving his sister a triple amputee. It's not until months later, after another attempt on his father's life, that he "comes round" and regains his sensibilities. The incidents cause him to give up his career as an academic, and to become a bodyguard.
We find that the Blade are more than what they seem. In fact, they are a front for an evil group of interdimensional travellers who are bent at conquering the Earth. Strang, and a group of interdimensional agents set out to foil the attempts of the so-called "Closers" -- here on this Earth, and on a million others.
The book starts off gritty and exciting. Strang comes across as a superman, but a very human and vulnerable one. However, as the book (and the series) continues, a lot of what made the character and the concept interesting seems to evaporate into formulaic action. I love time travel/alternate history stories, and this series had a lot of promise.
Score: 78 out of 100. Good action, good initial characterization, okay plot. Still, In the end, I found it a little disappointing.
