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Sailing Time's Ocean
A Transcendent Time-Travel Novel From the notorious penal colony of Norfolk Island to Greenpeace's encounter with the H-bomb, characters come unstuck in time, struggling to get back home while they face truths about their innermost selves. Terence M. Green combines his famed attention to human foibles with an ever-widening perspective that ultimately expands to cosmic proportions in this moving, literate exploration of what it means to be alive. Bonus Book Club discussion guide bound in.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2006
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About the author
Terence M. Green
25 books9 followersGreen received a BA in English in 1967 from the University of Toronto, an MA from University College, Dublin, and a BEd in 1973 from the University of Toronto. He is the author of 8 books (7 novels and a short story collection) and is a 2-time World Fantasy Award finalist and a 5-time Prix Aurora Award finalist. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Danish, Polish and Portuguese.
Green is a lecturer of Creative Writing at The University of Western Ontario. He is married to Merle Casci and is the father of three sons.
Green is a lecturer of Creative Writing at The University of Western Ontario. He is married to Merle Casci and is the father of three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 12, 2024
This is science fiction for a few pages at the start, a few pages in the middle and a few pages at the end but even then only soft scifi at best. Another reviewer used the phrase "well written and thoughtful" which is exactly what this is, but that's all it is.
Apart from the sex scene which seemed to drag on and on while I was skipping ahead through it, I didn't particularly dislike any of this tale but neither did I find anything to particularly love about it.
Apart from the sex scene which seemed to drag on and on while I was skipping ahead through it, I didn't particularly dislike any of this tale but neither did I find anything to particularly love about it.
May 22, 2020
Starts off exciting, and it's a real page turner. However, even though it's rather short (weighing in at 250 pages or so), the last part is drawn out and falls quite flat. The characters are not that well fleshed out either - especially the Major who doesn't sound anything like one.
Oh well, it was rather enjoyable, but it could have been much better.
Oh well, it was rather enjoyable, but it could have been much better.
February 16, 2019
I have always enjoyed Green's well written and thoughtful works.
January 13, 2011
An incredibly detailed and well-researched novel, not since Papillion by Henri “Papillion” Charriere have the horrors of penal colonies been so vividly portrayed.
The year 2072 finds a rising Inca civilization, whose spiritual leader has discovered how to send people through time. Fletcher Christian IV, a direct descendent of his Bounty mutineer namesake, is given the opportunity to travel in time to Pitcairn Island of 1972. During the transition an unexpected disturbance in the space-time continuum causes Fletcher to switch places with a prisoner of the Norfolk Island penal colony in 1835. The prisoner, Bran Michael Dalton, is suddenly transplanted to Fletcher’s intended destination. An unexpectedly free man, Dalton attempts to cope with the strange workings of 1972, while Christian is forced to endure unbelievable torture and humiliation as a prisoner on Norfolk Island.
What sounds like a fairly standard premise of being lost in time and trying to find your way home becomes transformed into something more in the hands of author Terence Green.
In addition to the well drawn fictional characters of Fletcher Christian IV and Bran Dalton, Green skilfully incorporates real life person David McTaggart into the mix. McTaggart’s historical stand against French nuclear tests in the South Pacific play a pivotal role in the novel and set in motion the events that displace both Bran Dalton and Fletcher Christian in time.
On the surface Sailing Time’s Ocean is about time travel and penal colonies but what makes it a gripping read is the complex characters and their personal relationships that form the heart of the novel. Norfolk Island’s commandant, Major Anderson, is not simply portrayed as a strict disciplinarian, but rather we are shown a father and a husband who lives for his work, but still cares deeply for his family. Similarly Christian’s relationship with his wife Liana, and later his dealings with his fellow prisoners and Major Anderson serve to humanize him and help the reader connect with him and ultimately the story. While the story may have science fiction elements to it, it’s the human drama and Green’s elegant prose that carry the day.
As a time travel novel Sailing Time’s Ocean avoids hitting the proverbial reset button or taking the easy way out with a ‘Hollywood ending’. Instead Green holds the course and acknowledges that interfering with the space-time continuum is a messy business and that there are no easy outs or quick fixes.
Note: Sailing Time’s Ocean is a reprint of Terence Green’s novel – Children of the Rainbow, which was previously published in 1992 by McClelland and Stewart.
This review was original published on Andy's Anachronisms http://www.timetravelreviews.com/book...
The year 2072 finds a rising Inca civilization, whose spiritual leader has discovered how to send people through time. Fletcher Christian IV, a direct descendent of his Bounty mutineer namesake, is given the opportunity to travel in time to Pitcairn Island of 1972. During the transition an unexpected disturbance in the space-time continuum causes Fletcher to switch places with a prisoner of the Norfolk Island penal colony in 1835. The prisoner, Bran Michael Dalton, is suddenly transplanted to Fletcher’s intended destination. An unexpectedly free man, Dalton attempts to cope with the strange workings of 1972, while Christian is forced to endure unbelievable torture and humiliation as a prisoner on Norfolk Island.
What sounds like a fairly standard premise of being lost in time and trying to find your way home becomes transformed into something more in the hands of author Terence Green.
In addition to the well drawn fictional characters of Fletcher Christian IV and Bran Dalton, Green skilfully incorporates real life person David McTaggart into the mix. McTaggart’s historical stand against French nuclear tests in the South Pacific play a pivotal role in the novel and set in motion the events that displace both Bran Dalton and Fletcher Christian in time.
On the surface Sailing Time’s Ocean is about time travel and penal colonies but what makes it a gripping read is the complex characters and their personal relationships that form the heart of the novel. Norfolk Island’s commandant, Major Anderson, is not simply portrayed as a strict disciplinarian, but rather we are shown a father and a husband who lives for his work, but still cares deeply for his family. Similarly Christian’s relationship with his wife Liana, and later his dealings with his fellow prisoners and Major Anderson serve to humanize him and help the reader connect with him and ultimately the story. While the story may have science fiction elements to it, it’s the human drama and Green’s elegant prose that carry the day.
As a time travel novel Sailing Time’s Ocean avoids hitting the proverbial reset button or taking the easy way out with a ‘Hollywood ending’. Instead Green holds the course and acknowledges that interfering with the space-time continuum is a messy business and that there are no easy outs or quick fixes.
Note: Sailing Time’s Ocean is a reprint of Terence Green’s novel – Children of the Rainbow, which was previously published in 1992 by McClelland and Stewart.
This review was original published on Andy's Anachronisms http://www.timetravelreviews.com/book...
September 7, 2016
This is a terrific story. I'm so caught up in it that I can ignore nearly everything else.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews