his novel is volume one in a series to be called "A Time Odyssey." To clarify its relationship to the previous works of the two authors, the term "orthoquel"—an orthogonal sequel or prequel—has been coined. The work thus bears thematic links to both Clarke's Space Odyssey trilogy and Baxter's recent Manifold series.
A short opening chapter follows a hominid female named Seeker and her daughter Grasper as their existence on the plains of Asia some 2 million years ago is interrupted by an instant transition to a new composite era neither our exact past, present nor future. Similarly, we witness the same fate befall a host of other characters. In the year 2037, while patrolling Afghanistan in a helicopter, U.N. soldiers Casey Othic, Bisesa Dutt and Abdikadir Omar experience the same wrenching distortion. In 1885, reporters Josh White and Rudyard Kipling, covering the military campaigns in the North-West Frontier of the British Indian Empire, are equally deracinated from their familiar setting. And finally, in orbit above Asia, a three-person crew departing from the international space station in a Soyuz lander are stolen likewise.
All these characters have experienced the Discontinuity, a phenomenon accompanied by the presence of innumerable Eyes: small hovering golden globes seeded everywhere, as if to record the chrono-chaos. Occupying the same geographical space in different eras, the protagonists have been shuffled into one amalgamated artificial period. The entire Earth has in fact undergone the same mysterious procedure, so that it is now a patchwork of small regions from all eras. This blending of different climates has played havoc with the global weather, and the accompanied mixing of core portions of the globe has disturbed the planet's vital protective magnetic shields. But these physical problems are minor compared with the cultural ones. How will the tossed-together, contentious inhabitants of various eras ever recreate civilization?
Bisesa and her comrades quickly hook up with the British soldiers at their Victorian fort, to which Kipling and Josh are attached, and achieve a partial understanding about what has transpired. (Seeker and Grasper are captives there as well.) Using the helicopter's radio, the "moderns" identify the only two extant radio signals: one from the Soyuz capsule and an enigmatic one from the site of ancient Babylon. The astronauts—Sable, Musa and Kolya—eventually land, but are swept up into Genghis Khan's court. Meanwhile, the nearby Alexander the Great and his vast army hook up with the Brits and the moderns. In Genghis Khan's camp, the megalomaniacal female ex-astronaut Sable has convinced the Khan to head toward Babylon, whither Alexander and friends are also bound. Two deadly opposing teams are thus aimed at the one site that just might hold the key to the Discontinuity, and the reins of future power.
Aliens test the remnants of humanity
Like the dissected and reassembled Earth which is its main conceit, this book itself blends a number of modes into an intriguing and entertaining hybrid. First there is the notion of a time-slipped environment, explored previously in such books as Fred Hoyle's October the First Is Too Late (1966) and Gordon Dickson's Timestorm (1977). As might be expected, Baxter and Clarke apply a rigor to their extrapolation that is exemplary, delving into the paradoxes such a shuffling might entail, such as their elderly Buddhist monk in his monastery, who lives with his younger self. Second, there is the popular alternate-history-style tale, in which famous figures—Kipling, Alexander, Genghis Khan—get to follow paths different from those which schoolbooks record. Third, there is the post-apocalyptic riff, where a handful of courageous survivors try to maintain and rebuild a technological culture. Fourth, there's a component of the standard historical novel, with an emphasis on military exploits, in which the reader is treated to a re-creation of vanished ways. And lastly, Clarke and Baxter factor in the alien-intervention theme much beloved by both.
All these strands are expertly woven together with what I tend to identify as Baxter's characteristic sturdy prose, strewn with his typical illuminating similes, which cast superscience miracles in easily empathizable terms. I doubt that Clarke supplies much if any of the writing here, probably devoting more of his share of the work to the conceptualizing, and perhaps to the construction of the parallels with 2001, such as the pre-history point of view of Seeker and the spacetime-gate, monolith-like aspect of the Eyes. But the lack of actual Clarke's text is not necessarily a bad thing. With Baxter's solid characterization and penchant for steady action, this book rollicks along enjoyably, very much like what might be another one of its models: Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series. Surprising twists and turns insure that the reader will fail to outguess the sly authors.
Those who enjoy this book are advised to seek out Michael Bishop's award-winning story "The Quickening" to see this theme treated at short length.
