Kinda a mix of historical fiction and sci-fi, was pretty entertaining with a good idea behind it.

This would be my typical go-to book for my sci-fi fix. It contains science, fiction, well described characters, and even some historical fiction. However, it seemed to me that the motives by which the characters were moving was lacking. I cared for the main characters, but could not understand what drove them forward. With the supporting characters there were no problems, but for the main ones it was lacking. Also, if you ever imagined what an army battle between Genghis khan vs. Alexander the Great would be like then this is your book. The authors did an excellent job building up to this climax and the result did not disappoint. All in all, a solid book but not one that makes me want to continue the series since I didn’t feel invested in the main characters.

I like stories that involve time travel, which is what first caught my interest in this book, but it takes a lot of suspension of belief to get through this book (and series).

Fascinating premise that Time has been unraveled and stitched back together leaving people of different cultures and eras to interact and create a new world together. Dragged a bit in the middle and I wondered what would happen when things dragged for so long. Alexander the Great and Genghis Kahn clash with 19th century Brits, 21st century UN peacekeepers, and fledgling-intelligent human-apes. Much of the last third was a great battle with war strategies as the focus. The main characters were well-rounded. This is book one of a series, so it ends in ways that fit that genre.

When two sci-fi heavyweights come together you know something good is about to happen. It's like with cooking - if you add good fresh ingredients then even if you fuck up a little, the result is still going to be at least half-decent. The latter is the case with this novel as well - its foundations are good and even the execution isn't half bad, but it's just not particularly memorable or gripping.

It felt like the authors nerded out - "who would win in a fight between a bear and a tiger" type thing - and forgot about the other aspects that make a story work.

Still, the historical accuracy etc. was fascinating and I really have no substantial complaints. Almost rounded it up to a four but decided against it.

2 Brits bemoan the lost of their empire which was and will always be the greatest.... or that seemed to be the slant of the book to me.

This is an intriguing story blending together science fiction concepts like time travel with actual history. It has a ring of alternate history to it, but it's certainly more than that.

The story unfolds much the same as [b:2001: A Space Odyssey|70535|2001 A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348775483s/70535.jpg|208362] with a look at some apes, Seeker and Grasper. This book has been described as A Space Odyssey, but instead a Time Odyssey, which the series name obviously suggests. So the parallels to that great series are several in number and fun to discover.

This is the story of several groups of humans from a different time in history all meeting up in one glorious climax, real time unknown. Readers are treated to meeting Kolya, Sable, and Musa up in a space station; Josh and Ruddy in late 1800s India; Bisesa, Casey, and Abdi in a crashing UN helicopter somewhere near India; Alexander the Great; and even Genghis Khan. Surrounding this unlikely (impossible even) cast of characters are mysterious metal orbs that are unmovable and unpenetrable. I pictured them set up in a concise grid all over the world bigger than a human head but smaller than an exercise ball.

Arthur C Clarke is one of my favorite authors. Of Stephen Baxter's work, I have only read one novel, and it was so long ago that I remember almost nothing about it. I have no doubt these 2 authors had a good time with this concept. If you like science fiction, then you probably like history too (at least, in my experience), and a time travel novel is a great device that brings these 2 concepts together: real history and science fiction.

The characters are unfortunately a little flat. The evil characters are evil, and the good characters are good, sort of like a James Cameron movie. We aren't given much background on anyone, and at the same time, none really stand out. I felt also that the 2 female characters were not well developed at all. One is a good nurturing mother figure, and the other is has .... shall we say loose morals. The male characters aren't much better.

But how much fun to have Genghis Khan's nomads and Alexander the Great's conquerors meet together in Babylon! I definitely enjoyed the historical aspects of this novel, and that balances out the lack of characterization for me.

A good 3 star book, and I will be reading the next in the series.