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The Gate of Time
1st edition paperback, vg++
165 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
18 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Philip José Farmer
620 books882 followersPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 10, 2010
I won't even begin to pretend that I'm an expert or even barely knowledgeable with formatting or the like. This is the first review I've written on the site, and I discovered the site yesterday. I thought the site is a great idea and a perfect way to store information about the books I've read, the books I want to read and the like.
I've just finished Two Hawks from Earth (October 10, 2010). I read the Berkley paperback version dated July, 1985. This appears to be the first paperback in this form. There was an Ace hardback from 1979 and the book, in different form, was published in 1965 as The Gate of Time.
This book at heart is an adventure yarn in the spirit of the fantasy pulps of the 30s through the 60s-70s. The book is entirely plot/story-line/action driven with little or no characterization. The book draws you along, assuming that you are interested in SF/fantasy, and in particular the concept of time travel, parallel universes and the like. Don't expect anything "deep" with regard to the SF background as to why it may be possible to enter a different world: this is simply a plot device to get a modern (in this case, modern means a WWII-vintage individual) person into a somewhat different stream of time, and explore the possibilities from there.
Not to beat around the bush, if you are a Farmer fan, and I am, read the book. It is a quick, easy, engrossing read.
To be clear, this is not one of Farmer's best works--this is no To Your Scattered Bodies Go. At times the writing seems hurried. Certain chapters seem to cry out for massive expansion, other chapters don't necessarily advance the book as quickly as I would've liked. But if you are a fan of this type of "pulpy" SF, you'll be used to these types of criticisms, and you'll forgive Farmer for matching the standard of the industry rather than exceeding it.
In a sense, there is a parallel here to the Tiers books, as the "gate" concepts used in Tiers are used in Two Hawks From Earth as well. One can almost sense the concepts and thoughts whirling around in Farmer's mind between what he accomplished in this book and in the Tiers books, which after all first date from around the same time.
The paperback has a nice Boris Vallejo cover dated 1978. There is also a 3 paragraph forward from Farmer dated '79 in which he notes that he's added about 10,000 words to the book, and clearly implys that he was unhappy with the text of the version that had been published nearly a decade and a half previously.
I've just finished Two Hawks from Earth (October 10, 2010). I read the Berkley paperback version dated July, 1985. This appears to be the first paperback in this form. There was an Ace hardback from 1979 and the book, in different form, was published in 1965 as The Gate of Time.
This book at heart is an adventure yarn in the spirit of the fantasy pulps of the 30s through the 60s-70s. The book is entirely plot/story-line/action driven with little or no characterization. The book draws you along, assuming that you are interested in SF/fantasy, and in particular the concept of time travel, parallel universes and the like. Don't expect anything "deep" with regard to the SF background as to why it may be possible to enter a different world: this is simply a plot device to get a modern (in this case, modern means a WWII-vintage individual) person into a somewhat different stream of time, and explore the possibilities from there.
Not to beat around the bush, if you are a Farmer fan, and I am, read the book. It is a quick, easy, engrossing read.
To be clear, this is not one of Farmer's best works--this is no To Your Scattered Bodies Go. At times the writing seems hurried. Certain chapters seem to cry out for massive expansion, other chapters don't necessarily advance the book as quickly as I would've liked. But if you are a fan of this type of "pulpy" SF, you'll be used to these types of criticisms, and you'll forgive Farmer for matching the standard of the industry rather than exceeding it.
In a sense, there is a parallel here to the Tiers books, as the "gate" concepts used in Tiers are used in Two Hawks From Earth as well. One can almost sense the concepts and thoughts whirling around in Farmer's mind between what he accomplished in this book and in the Tiers books, which after all first date from around the same time.
The paperback has a nice Boris Vallejo cover dated 1978. There is also a 3 paragraph forward from Farmer dated '79 in which he notes that he's added about 10,000 words to the book, and clearly implys that he was unhappy with the text of the version that had been published nearly a decade and a half previously.
August 31, 2008
A kind of mix of Sword & Planet with other types of heroic fantasy. The adventures of a Native American hero on an alternate Earth.
May 9, 2021
Ne najbolje od Farmera, ali interesantna avantura na nekoj drugoj Zemlji.
April 5, 2011
Wow, amazing speculative fiction in an ultimate what if novel. Two Hawks from Earth explores the idea of how earth might have developed had north and south america stayed below the ocean. At the same time it has a really alternate universe story as a a character crosses from our universe and has to battle a nazi in a arms race to arm the alternate universe. amazing amounts of detail and research went into the history and culture of this other earth, and at the same time there is a swashbuckling tale. Very cool.
March 1, 2018
aggiornamento vecchio libro letto chissà quando
February 27, 2023
I got a sense of this book contained unused remnants from Riverworld series, but was still an excellent read.
August 24, 2023
For lovers of Burroughs and the alternate worlds sub-genre, this is a must for you! Farmer builds out this world quite well and demonstrates how different men react in this situation. It's quite good.
Roger Two-Hawks is an Allied pilot who accidentally flies through a 'gate' into another reality. One that is radically different from his. He finds and fights his way through this version of a world war to eventually find a personal peace. While his skills are valuable, it is his knowledge that makes him a threat to his enemies and his allies who are most likely going to assassinate him once his usefulness is over.
While trying to escape one enemy, he meets a German pilot who was ready to shoot him down as they arrived in this new world. They become cautious allies and occasional enemies throughout the rest of the book.
There is a twist near the end that throws a wrench not in the story, but right at the heads of the readers. It draws further on alternate worlds and is one of those "Why haven't I seen this before?" moments. The idea is more common today, but still works as a shock to the reader.
So why four instead of five stars? A rape scene that added nothing to the story. The fallout from the scene could have easily been tied to other actions. Sexually explicit content is part of much of Farmer's works, but it just didn't work here.
Still, it's a far sight better than most of what is published today.
Find it. Buy it. READ IT!
Roger Two-Hawks is an Allied pilot who accidentally flies through a 'gate' into another reality. One that is radically different from his. He finds and fights his way through this version of a world war to eventually find a personal peace. While his skills are valuable, it is his knowledge that makes him a threat to his enemies and his allies who are most likely going to assassinate him once his usefulness is over.
While trying to escape one enemy, he meets a German pilot who was ready to shoot him down as they arrived in this new world. They become cautious allies and occasional enemies throughout the rest of the book.
There is a twist near the end that throws a wrench not in the story, but right at the heads of the readers. It draws further on alternate worlds and is one of those "Why haven't I seen this before?" moments. The idea is more common today, but still works as a shock to the reader.
So why four instead of five stars? A rape scene that added nothing to the story. The fallout from the scene could have easily been tied to other actions. Sexually explicit content is part of much of Farmer's works, but it just didn't work here.
Still, it's a far sight better than most of what is published today.
Find it. Buy it. READ IT!
July 8, 2024
Roger Two Hawks bails out of his plane, and finds himself on a primitive planet, where his technical skills make him seem like a wizard.
Today, so many people don't know how to do much of anything, they wouldn't last ten minutes on a world like this.
Today, so many people don't know how to do much of anything, they wouldn't last ten minutes on a world like this.
August 6, 2023
alternative earth adventure
Quite interesting alternate Earth type story of a soldier whisked into another version of the war he was caught up in. Quite a bit of impressive linguistic , historical and geopolitical research was evident but unfortunately, these being possibly my least favourite subjects, I’m afraid it was rather wasted on me. Not the authors fault of course, as I vaguely recall Riverworld with affection, but despite these rather bloodthirsty adventures I find I prefer my SF to be based much further from the horrors of our current home.
Quite interesting alternate Earth type story of a soldier whisked into another version of the war he was caught up in. Quite a bit of impressive linguistic , historical and geopolitical research was evident but unfortunately, these being possibly my least favourite subjects, I’m afraid it was rather wasted on me. Not the authors fault of course, as I vaguely recall Riverworld with affection, but despite these rather bloodthirsty adventures I find I prefer my SF to be based much further from the horrors of our current home.
Read
March 19, 2023The concept of this book was amazing. Could have been executed better.
August 16, 2009
The scene is World War II. Native American Bomber Pilot Roger Two Hawks, off course on a mission to bomb the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania, has a mid air collision with a German plane over enemy territory. Along with Pat O'Brien, turret gunner, he is the only person to successfully manage to get a parachute open and descend to the countryside.
Hawks felt something odd just before the crash, however, and that oddness is reinforced when Hawks and O'Brien land. The people are all wrong, with technology distinctly primitive (~World War I era) by even backwater Rumanian standards. What's more, they speak a language that Hawks recognizes as a derivative of an Iroquois tongue.
Hawks, as a reader of science fiction and comic books has figured out what has happened. Somehow he and the gunner have wound up in a parallel history. One where the Siberian tribes that would have gone to America (only a chain of islands here), instead rolled west and vastly changed subsequent history. But events quickly sweep up Hawks along, as this world has a World War on a scale similar to his own going on...
Two Hawks from Earth is the story of Roger's quest to make his way through this world, and find a way to get back home. Along the way, his skills in this slightly technologically backward world are much in demand. And, of course, like any good adventure novel, there is always the love interest.
Some of the science (especially the ethnography) is outdated and flat out wrong. Given that, though, Two Hawks from Earth does what Farmer wrote very well--action and adventure, with a protagonist making his way in an unfamiliar world.
I read this book years ago in its bowdlerized and shortened edition (The Gate of Time) and I wondered if the re-read would hold up to my memories. I noticed the differences in the text, but the basic premise of the novel and the writing still held up for me.
I enjoyed it heavily. Fans of Farmer should not miss this reprint of a long-out-of-print novel, and fans of Alternate History novels will appreciate this as well. Its not a door stopper that people such as Turtledove put out, Farmer keeps the pace crackling and the novel and story never get dull.
Sometimes you can go back into your reading past and come away delighted again. I certainly was in this case.
Hawks felt something odd just before the crash, however, and that oddness is reinforced when Hawks and O'Brien land. The people are all wrong, with technology distinctly primitive (~World War I era) by even backwater Rumanian standards. What's more, they speak a language that Hawks recognizes as a derivative of an Iroquois tongue.
Hawks, as a reader of science fiction and comic books has figured out what has happened. Somehow he and the gunner have wound up in a parallel history. One where the Siberian tribes that would have gone to America (only a chain of islands here), instead rolled west and vastly changed subsequent history. But events quickly sweep up Hawks along, as this world has a World War on a scale similar to his own going on...
Two Hawks from Earth is the story of Roger's quest to make his way through this world, and find a way to get back home. Along the way, his skills in this slightly technologically backward world are much in demand. And, of course, like any good adventure novel, there is always the love interest.
Some of the science (especially the ethnography) is outdated and flat out wrong. Given that, though, Two Hawks from Earth does what Farmer wrote very well--action and adventure, with a protagonist making his way in an unfamiliar world.
I read this book years ago in its bowdlerized and shortened edition (The Gate of Time) and I wondered if the re-read would hold up to my memories. I noticed the differences in the text, but the basic premise of the novel and the writing still held up for me.
I enjoyed it heavily. Fans of Farmer should not miss this reprint of a long-out-of-print novel, and fans of Alternate History novels will appreciate this as well. Its not a door stopper that people such as Turtledove put out, Farmer keeps the pace crackling and the novel and story never get dull.
Sometimes you can go back into your reading past and come away delighted again. I certainly was in this case.
December 31, 2008
Farmer has always been my favorite oddball in the speculative ("What If" sci-fi) fiction genre. This one doesn't let me down either... and I've just found out (after owning many of his books for over 25 years) that he is a Hoosier!)
Roger Two Hawks is an Iroquois that has managed to move up through the ranks and become a bomber pilot in WWII. His plane is shot down over the Ploesti oil fields and he feels a sudden, sickening lurch just as a Nazi fighter plane hits his wing. Once on the ground, nothing makes sense and he finds himself in a Europe that is far different. A great tale of "what if North America never existed and the AmerInds never migrated?
He does a marvelous job. I'm going to recommend this book to a friend that is part Cherokee.
Roger Two Hawks is an Iroquois that has managed to move up through the ranks and become a bomber pilot in WWII. His plane is shot down over the Ploesti oil fields and he feels a sudden, sickening lurch just as a Nazi fighter plane hits his wing. Once on the ground, nothing makes sense and he finds himself in a Europe that is far different. A great tale of "what if North America never existed and the AmerInds never migrated?
He does a marvelous job. I'm going to recommend this book to a friend that is part Cherokee.
August 15, 2013
Well worked out alternate-Earth story. Imagine the planet Earth with no Western Hemisphere. Now imagine that, because there was no Bering Strait to anywhere, the ancient nomads turned west toward Europe, instead of east into North America. This is setting for Farmer's very well thought-out novel of what European history would have been like with invasions by people whose culture and language would have been the basis of Native Americans if there had been an America. Also, a Europe without all the plants and animals which originally came from the Americas (horses, rubber, etc.) A good adventure story with a realistic ending. I recommend it.
April 5, 2016
A Kindle download via The Burgomeister, The Gate to Other Dimensions would have been a more apt title for this one. Loaded with gratuitous violence and heady alternate-world history (too much!), our protagonist Two Hawks is alpha male extraordinaire who can out-gun, out-knife and out-tackle Stallone, Willis, Seagal and Schwarzenegger in their primes. Nifty ending, thus the 2 stars, but I forgot said protagonist's name twenty minutes after finishing the book. Yes, I had to reread the first few pages for this review.
July 19, 2007
An enjoyable action/sci-fi novel about travelling through parallel universes. Two Hawks reminds me of Harrison Ford's character in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The lone, rugged explorer, versed in many different languages, and easily adaptable to his unfamiliar surroundings. My first Philip Jose Farmer book. Bonus: Cover art by Boris Vallejo
January 25, 2009
Entertaining as a historical artifact - it's interesting seeing how quickly an author can go from being progressive for his time to sounding anachronistic. Farmer was ahead of the mainstream in recognizing the sorry deal Native Americans got and the degree to which historical accident which afforded Europeans the upper hand but was still unable to have a strong, first-class female character.
October 13, 2009
World War two pilot flies through a rift in time/space and lands on an alternate earth, where history took a major turn.
Neat idea and Farmer has thought through his alternate history, but the book tends to just wander around. The ideas are good, so you go along with it for awhile, but it drags after awhile.
The ending was clever.
Neat idea and Farmer has thought through his alternate history, but the book tends to just wander around. The ideas are good, so you go along with it for awhile, but it drags after awhile.
The ending was clever.
September 27, 2012
Meh. This was recommended to me as a time travel book. It wasn't. It's an alternate history or alternate universe story. Again, it won't challenge your brain. The only reason I liked it less than The Green Odyssey is that it was about war - just not that interesting to me.
November 19, 2011
( Universos Paralelos )
July 27, 2012
A pretty good WWII parallel. Accidental meetings between characters
are pretty coincidental.
are pretty coincidental.
September 15, 2013
The concept behind this book held great promise but the brutal torture and cold blooded characters sucked all life out it.
February 29, 2012
Grade C-.
May 11, 2012
Interesting idea - bit dated
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews