Meridian Series, Book V: Golem 7
Nordhausen is back with new research and his hand on the neck of the new terrorist behind the Palma Event. Now the project team struggles to discover how and where the Assassins have intervened to restore the chaos of Palma, and their search leads them on one of the greatest naval sagas of modern history--The hunt for the battleship Bismarck. Unique among the series, this volume makes for an enjoyable read all on its own, even if you haven't read the first four books. Yet series fans will appreciate how it neatly concludes this five volume set, though the author ends with a deep hook that promises more to come! It is finally answered in the novel Paradox Hour, Volume 16 of the popular Kirov Series. In that volume the two time travel universes penned by the author unite, and now move forward as the Kirov Saga continues.
About the book:
While the project team struggled to counter previous alterations of the time line, the Assassin Cult has again managed to reverse their earlier intervention aimed at preventing the Palma Event, and the team runs out of time, (literally) and fuel before they can tackle that problem again at the end of Book IV. Now they struggle in the post Palma world, where the West coast of the US is still barely holding itself together after the disaster that wiped out much of the eastern seaboard. Professor Nordhausen again identifies the man responsible for the plot, and the terrorist's genealogy leads the team right smack dab into the middle of WWII. While seeming an odd link at first, the premise is clearly explained and we are soon launched into the midst of the great naval chase that became the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck.
The title Golem 7 refers to an industrious grouping of Kelly Ramer's search Golem programs, who seem to be well ahead of the others in uncovering alarming variations in the history. By some means the Bismarck was not sunk on its maiden voyage, and now the team must sleuth the course of events in that campaign to find out how and why, and try to put the ship back in its watery grave before its fifteen inch guns wreak havoc on British convoys, and the time continuum as well!
This volume presents a new approach in the telling of the story. The same crisp and informative dialogue is used here to set the parameters of the history and mission, but the main weapon used by the project team this time is information. After identifying the key Pushpoints involved, the author then launches into a convincing and exciting alternate history retelling of the campaign, where all the little details in the history are keenly elucidated and one comes to feel that the history itself rested on the most precarious stack of small, inconsequential events. These live history scenes alternate in groups with the more familiar chapters set in the Berkeley Lawrence Lab facility, as the author shows us results on a live stage peopled by the real historical figures instead of having his team members just talk about it in the lab. In those scenes, the team tries to understand how their interventions have affected the history we have just witnessed on stage, and try again with another intervention until they get the change they are hoping for. As it turns out, the Bismarck is one slippery fish to reel in! In fact, after reading this you will come to feel that it was sheer luck that the British managed to sink the German ship at all, and wonder if someone actually was operating in time to control these odd events--a possibility darkly hinted at by the conclusion of the novel.
The details here, some ferreted out of individual ship logs and eyewitness reports, are astounding. If you like naval sagas, as the author clearly does, you will love Golem 7. The treatment of the live history scenes, while unique, reads much like a C.S. Forester novel, and that is a compliment, to be sure.
Genre: Science Fiction
Nordhausen is back with new research and his hand on the neck of the new terrorist behind the Palma Event. Now the project team struggles to discover how and where the Assassins have intervened to restore the chaos of Palma, and their search leads them on one of the greatest naval sagas of modern history--The hunt for the battleship Bismarck. Unique among the series, this volume makes for an enjoyable read all on its own, even if you haven't read the first four books. Yet series fans will appreciate how it neatly concludes this five volume set, though the author ends with a deep hook that promises more to come! It is finally answered in the novel Paradox Hour, Volume 16 of the popular Kirov Series. In that volume the two time travel universes penned by the author unite, and now move forward as the Kirov Saga continues.
About the book:
While the project team struggled to counter previous alterations of the time line, the Assassin Cult has again managed to reverse their earlier intervention aimed at preventing the Palma Event, and the team runs out of time, (literally) and fuel before they can tackle that problem again at the end of Book IV. Now they struggle in the post Palma world, where the West coast of the US is still barely holding itself together after the disaster that wiped out much of the eastern seaboard. Professor Nordhausen again identifies the man responsible for the plot, and the terrorist's genealogy leads the team right smack dab into the middle of WWII. While seeming an odd link at first, the premise is clearly explained and we are soon launched into the midst of the great naval chase that became the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck.
The title Golem 7 refers to an industrious grouping of Kelly Ramer's search Golem programs, who seem to be well ahead of the others in uncovering alarming variations in the history. By some means the Bismarck was not sunk on its maiden voyage, and now the team must sleuth the course of events in that campaign to find out how and why, and try to put the ship back in its watery grave before its fifteen inch guns wreak havoc on British convoys, and the time continuum as well!
This volume presents a new approach in the telling of the story. The same crisp and informative dialogue is used here to set the parameters of the history and mission, but the main weapon used by the project team this time is information. After identifying the key Pushpoints involved, the author then launches into a convincing and exciting alternate history retelling of the campaign, where all the little details in the history are keenly elucidated and one comes to feel that the history itself rested on the most precarious stack of small, inconsequential events. These live history scenes alternate in groups with the more familiar chapters set in the Berkeley Lawrence Lab facility, as the author shows us results on a live stage peopled by the real historical figures instead of having his team members just talk about it in the lab. In those scenes, the team tries to understand how their interventions have affected the history we have just witnessed on stage, and try again with another intervention until they get the change they are hoping for. As it turns out, the Bismarck is one slippery fish to reel in! In fact, after reading this you will come to feel that it was sheer luck that the British managed to sink the German ship at all, and wonder if someone actually was operating in time to control these odd events--a possibility darkly hinted at by the conclusion of the novel.
The details here, some ferreted out of individual ship logs and eyewitness reports, are astounding. If you like naval sagas, as the author clearly does, you will love Golem 7. The treatment of the live history scenes, while unique, reads much like a C.S. Forester novel, and that is a compliment, to be sure.
Genre: Science Fiction
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