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Burning Man: Time Ranger Series
Late in the twenty-second century, teams of Time Rangers travel back in history to capture Time Runners, renegade time travellers who endanger the future by changing the past. This time, weapons from the future have infiltrated the American Revolution. After successfully apprehending a Time Runner bent on advancing medicine in 1634 France, Commander Sawyer struggles with the knowledge that all he’s known and trained for might be a distortion of the truth. With his loyalties and morals thrown into chaos, he’s not prepared when weapons from the future appear in New York, 1776. He, along with Lt. Hawk, Specialist Perry and Lt. Commander Sangtiago, and the crew of the RSV BlackOut, are thrust into another Historical Contamination Act. One that may have consequences spanning beyond 2199. Their present, their future, and all the citizens of Utopia living in 2199 are at risk of complete destruction. What lines will Sawyer and his team cross to save Utopia’s future? And which future will they save? Don’t miss the previous novel in the Time Ranger series, Nexus Point … " This time-travel thriller kicks off an exciting new series that lovers of the genre will relish. ”
BookLife, EDITORS PICK
BookLife, EDITORS PICK
371 pages, Paperback
Published May 22, 2023
About the author
K. Pimpinella
5 books13 followersA writer of many years, K. Pimpinella is now breaking into the world of original fiction with 'Nexus Point', a scifi action-adventure, time-travel novel which came out January 2021. Besides writing, she works as a paramedic for twenty years and enjoys snowboarding, hockey and horseback riding.
WINNER
2021 Canada Book Award
WINNER
2021 Canada Book Award
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 25, 2023
The Burning Man again follows the main character of Kai Sawyer a Time Ranger in the year 2199. Sawyer and his team are back in their rightful time having returned from a very difficult mission in which Sawyer was taken prisoner by a Time Runner in early 17th Century France, and whilst there, tortured and experimented on. Sawyer is genetically enhanced, known as a ‘Spawn’, giving him increased strength and speed over other humans. He also had an AI inserted in his head, but when he was in France, the Runner who had captured him, using rather primitive tools, extracted it.
He then made Sawyer fight for him in ever increasingly dangerous unarmed combat, sometimes to the death. To make Sawyer fight, he used a drug on him that ramped up his anger, so that he could not resist the urge to fight.
Now that he has been rescued, and is trying to recover, Sawyer finds himself struggling to re-adjust back to normal life, as well as to kick the addiction he has formed to drug that makes him angry.
However, he and his team have uncovered dangerous secrets in the past, secrets that could threaten the safety of Utopia and the future of the human race if not acted upon.
When Sawyer has his AI returned to him, he gets several surprises. First, he has new super soldier upgrades. He was better than humans before, but with Thor adjusting his skills, he is now capable of short bursts of being twice as good as any known person alive. But it also comes with a clandestine upgrade, and he suddenly finds that he has new skills he never had before. But where did they come from? Who is adding things to his AI that he knows nothing about?
Armed with these new skills, and the knowledge of not only the threat to humanity, but the corruption that is embedded with the Rangers itself, Sawyer and his team start to work out how to move forward.
However, there are other players at work here, Aurora, Sawyers ‘Girlfriend’, who is actually more an arrangement that works well for both of them, is not happy. She wants a boyfriend who is exceptional – and currently Sawyer is a mess, a recovering drug addict who can’t get his act together. He is useless to her, but, she needs him, and therefore, he has to be snapped back into shape.
His crew need him to, they need him to run a mission, this time to not long before the time gate was originally built and discovered. When Santiago is sent along as a baby-sitter though, Sawyer is angry that he is being second-guessed. But his team look at him as being not able to lead.
And so begins the adventure (no spoilers), as Sawyer, Hawk, Santiago, Perry and their medical specialist Brodeur try to not only apprehend someone who is tampering with the very thing that created the Time Rangers, but they also have to uncover what is happening in France, as well as uncover what is happening with the Rear Admiral and the current Time Rangers – before there is an end to Utopia and all that remains of Humanity in the future.
In the middle of all of this Sawyer is struggling desperately with his own humanity, who is he? What is he? Is he a real person? If he was grown in a lab, what does that actually make him? And if he can be modified so easily, does that actually make him human at all?
Working behind the scenes are a multitude of others, Aurora, Sawyers pretend girlfriend is an addition to the main story, as we get to see a lot more of her actions working in secret behind Sawyers back. This shows us the relationship she has with her Dad, how she is being used.
There are also several other plots that I won’t give away spoilers for.
This is a fascinating series, there are so many aspects to the story that make for a truly exceptional read. The research into the past, each element of history makes for a really great story, as Pimpinella has made a brilliant effort to be as accurate as possible. The future part of the story is very believable as well, with the technology having organically grown through technological means. It makes the world-building of the story fully immersive, captivating and engaging.
The character work continues to be outstanding. Sawyer is a powerful, gritty and riveting character. His desperation at trying to learn who and what he is, how he came to be, all whilst trying to survive previous abuse at not only the hands of his Father, the Rear Admiral, but now a delusional Runner in the past, who has used both future and past methods of torture to elicit what he wanted from Sawyer, with no regards for how he was shattering his victim’s mind. The portrayal of Sawyer and this damaged person, suffering from PTSD, is powerful and gritty.
Along side Sawyer, there are a slew of other characters, including of course Sawyer’s team, with Hawk, who continues to be a standout in this series, the brilliant Santiago, and the intriguing Perry. Each of these characters brings a different aspect to the story, Hawk his best friend, but also his nemesis in a way. Santiago, someone who Sawyer cares for, and there is something deeper there, but he feels threatened by her at the same time. Perry, a sort of Father figure, but he is lacking any real spine. And Aurora, the sort of girlfriend who treats him like crap, but she has her own demons, and as we delve into her backstory, we understand why Aurora is who she is, her story is just as tragic and intriguing.
This is a fascinating Space Opera Sci-Fi, an absolute MUST READ, and one of the few sequels that is as good if not better than the original. Can’t wait for Part 3!!
He then made Sawyer fight for him in ever increasingly dangerous unarmed combat, sometimes to the death. To make Sawyer fight, he used a drug on him that ramped up his anger, so that he could not resist the urge to fight.
Now that he has been rescued, and is trying to recover, Sawyer finds himself struggling to re-adjust back to normal life, as well as to kick the addiction he has formed to drug that makes him angry.
However, he and his team have uncovered dangerous secrets in the past, secrets that could threaten the safety of Utopia and the future of the human race if not acted upon.
When Sawyer has his AI returned to him, he gets several surprises. First, he has new super soldier upgrades. He was better than humans before, but with Thor adjusting his skills, he is now capable of short bursts of being twice as good as any known person alive. But it also comes with a clandestine upgrade, and he suddenly finds that he has new skills he never had before. But where did they come from? Who is adding things to his AI that he knows nothing about?
Armed with these new skills, and the knowledge of not only the threat to humanity, but the corruption that is embedded with the Rangers itself, Sawyer and his team start to work out how to move forward.
However, there are other players at work here, Aurora, Sawyers ‘Girlfriend’, who is actually more an arrangement that works well for both of them, is not happy. She wants a boyfriend who is exceptional – and currently Sawyer is a mess, a recovering drug addict who can’t get his act together. He is useless to her, but, she needs him, and therefore, he has to be snapped back into shape.
His crew need him to, they need him to run a mission, this time to not long before the time gate was originally built and discovered. When Santiago is sent along as a baby-sitter though, Sawyer is angry that he is being second-guessed. But his team look at him as being not able to lead.
And so begins the adventure (no spoilers), as Sawyer, Hawk, Santiago, Perry and their medical specialist Brodeur try to not only apprehend someone who is tampering with the very thing that created the Time Rangers, but they also have to uncover what is happening in France, as well as uncover what is happening with the Rear Admiral and the current Time Rangers – before there is an end to Utopia and all that remains of Humanity in the future.
In the middle of all of this Sawyer is struggling desperately with his own humanity, who is he? What is he? Is he a real person? If he was grown in a lab, what does that actually make him? And if he can be modified so easily, does that actually make him human at all?
Working behind the scenes are a multitude of others, Aurora, Sawyers pretend girlfriend is an addition to the main story, as we get to see a lot more of her actions working in secret behind Sawyers back. This shows us the relationship she has with her Dad, how she is being used.
There are also several other plots that I won’t give away spoilers for.
This is a fascinating series, there are so many aspects to the story that make for a truly exceptional read. The research into the past, each element of history makes for a really great story, as Pimpinella has made a brilliant effort to be as accurate as possible. The future part of the story is very believable as well, with the technology having organically grown through technological means. It makes the world-building of the story fully immersive, captivating and engaging.
The character work continues to be outstanding. Sawyer is a powerful, gritty and riveting character. His desperation at trying to learn who and what he is, how he came to be, all whilst trying to survive previous abuse at not only the hands of his Father, the Rear Admiral, but now a delusional Runner in the past, who has used both future and past methods of torture to elicit what he wanted from Sawyer, with no regards for how he was shattering his victim’s mind. The portrayal of Sawyer and this damaged person, suffering from PTSD, is powerful and gritty.
Along side Sawyer, there are a slew of other characters, including of course Sawyer’s team, with Hawk, who continues to be a standout in this series, the brilliant Santiago, and the intriguing Perry. Each of these characters brings a different aspect to the story, Hawk his best friend, but also his nemesis in a way. Santiago, someone who Sawyer cares for, and there is something deeper there, but he feels threatened by her at the same time. Perry, a sort of Father figure, but he is lacking any real spine. And Aurora, the sort of girlfriend who treats him like crap, but she has her own demons, and as we delve into her backstory, we understand why Aurora is who she is, her story is just as tragic and intriguing.
This is a fascinating Space Opera Sci-Fi, an absolute MUST READ, and one of the few sequels that is as good if not better than the original. Can’t wait for Part 3!!
August 3, 2023
Alternate History Meets Sci-Fi
I don't love past time travel because the time paradox elements drive me insane. However, I love the premise of this series--time Rangers whose job it is to go into the past and stop people who are intentionally trying to disrupt the timeline. I also love watching Pimpinella explain how our history was actually influenced by the heroes and villains of the future.
I don't love past time travel because the time paradox elements drive me insane. However, I love the premise of this series--time Rangers whose job it is to go into the past and stop people who are intentionally trying to disrupt the timeline. I also love watching Pimpinella explain how our history was actually influenced by the heroes and villains of the future.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews