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Quantum Leap #13
Quantum Leap: Independence
Leaping into the body of one of his own ancestors, Sam Beckett finds himself at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, where his actions depend upon whether the Beckett from the past was a Tory, patriot, or double spy. Original.
247 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 29, 1996
About the author
John Peel
447 books167 followersJohn Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 5, 2026
In order to discuss my feelings about Independence, I must first discuss what is likely the most famous time travel movie of all ... time: Back to the Future. If you asked a bunch of random people off the street what comes to mind when you mention it, among all the fun references to DeLoreans and Johnny B. Goode and Libyan terrorists, quite a few would mention the unpleasant business of Marty McFly's mother (unknowingly) having a crush on her own future son. I've known people who refuse to watch the film for that reason, and even as someone who otherwise adores it, I'll admit those scenes keep me from rewatching it when I'm in certain moods.
Anyway, do you reckon Back to the Future would be such a beloved classic if Marty also had a crush on his mom in return, despite knowing full well she's his mom, and Doc felt compelled to comment on how hot he thought that was?
Okay, perhaps that comparison isn't completely fair. After all, Sam Beckett finds himself attracted to his "great-whatever-grandmother" here and, as Al is quick to point out, you wouldn't actually be all that closely related to such a distant ancestor. Or, as he puts it: "Sleeping with her would be like sleeping with a fifth or sixth cousin twenty times removed." But therein lies the problem. If you have to argue that something isn't technically incest, you've already lost the battle of whether people will see it as incest! And this isn't something that quickly passes, either; a significant portion of this book is spent on Sam going around and around in circles arguing with himself. She'll try to entice him to join him in bed and he's so tempted, but he also knows it's so wrong, but she's just so lovely and he can't stop thinking about enjoying the pleasures of her body oh god I have to stop or else I'm gonna hurl all over my keyboard
As for the other half of this novel, the American Revolution stuff.... it's fine, I guess? I do appreciate that the author tries to portray the conflict with a bit more nuance than usual, as even America's favorite war, the one central to our national mythos, is still a WAR. In a weird way, I'd even say it conveys the idea that war is H-E-double-hockey-sticks better than the actual Quantum Leap TV episode centered around the famously divisive Vietnam War! Granted, this mostly arrives in the form of vague speeches that don't really mean anything, punctuated by the occasional confusingly described fight scene, but it's certainly preferable to the alternative.
Finally, I have to take a moment to clear up something about the author, since there are no fewer than two other reviewers on Goodreads convinced that this is THE John Peel. I have no idea what hypothetical sequence of events would have led to a British radio DJ being commissioned, as his sole writing credit, for a tie-in novel based on an American TV show. But, no, this is obviously a different John Peel, one with a long and illustrious career in the world of sci-fi-tie-ins. Still a Brit, but one who wrote a bunch of Doctor Who books, so it makes more sense that he'd get the call to work on another historical time travel franchise.
Now that I think about it, did they specifically seek out a British author to do the Revolutionary War book, to lend it a different perspective? Or was this plot, in fact, Mr. Peel's own idea? Either way, I do enjoy it when an out-of-place Britishism finds its way into the mouth of one of the modern-day American characters. There's something deeply funny to me about Al, of all people, casually deploying the word daren't.
Anyway, do you reckon Back to the Future would be such a beloved classic if Marty also had a crush on his mom in return, despite knowing full well she's his mom, and Doc felt compelled to comment on how hot he thought that was?
Okay, perhaps that comparison isn't completely fair. After all, Sam Beckett finds himself attracted to his "great-whatever-grandmother" here and, as Al is quick to point out, you wouldn't actually be all that closely related to such a distant ancestor. Or, as he puts it: "Sleeping with her would be like sleeping with a fifth or sixth cousin twenty times removed." But therein lies the problem. If you have to argue that something isn't technically incest, you've already lost the battle of whether people will see it as incest! And this isn't something that quickly passes, either; a significant portion of this book is spent on Sam going around and around in circles arguing with himself. She'll try to entice him to join him in bed and he's so tempted, but he also knows it's so wrong, but she's just so lovely and he can't stop thinking about enjoying the pleasures of her body oh god I have to stop or else I'm gonna hurl all over my keyboard
As for the other half of this novel, the American Revolution stuff.... it's fine, I guess? I do appreciate that the author tries to portray the conflict with a bit more nuance than usual, as even America's favorite war, the one central to our national mythos, is still a WAR. In a weird way, I'd even say it conveys the idea that war is H-E-double-hockey-sticks better than the actual Quantum Leap TV episode centered around the famously divisive Vietnam War! Granted, this mostly arrives in the form of vague speeches that don't really mean anything, punctuated by the occasional confusingly described fight scene, but it's certainly preferable to the alternative.
Finally, I have to take a moment to clear up something about the author, since there are no fewer than two other reviewers on Goodreads convinced that this is THE John Peel. I have no idea what hypothetical sequence of events would have led to a British radio DJ being commissioned, as his sole writing credit, for a tie-in novel based on an American TV show. But, no, this is obviously a different John Peel, one with a long and illustrious career in the world of sci-fi-tie-ins. Still a Brit, but one who wrote a bunch of Doctor Who books, so it makes more sense that he'd get the call to work on another historical time travel franchise.
Now that I think about it, did they specifically seek out a British author to do the Revolutionary War book, to lend it a different perspective? Or was this plot, in fact, Mr. Peel's own idea? Either way, I do enjoy it when an out-of-place Britishism finds its way into the mouth of one of the modern-day American characters. There's something deeply funny to me about Al, of all people, casually deploying the word daren't.
July 3, 2023
Nothing to say that hasn't been said already. Sam Beckett leaps into the body of an ancestor in the year 1776. I could imagine Sam and Al saying all the dialogue within this book, with the exception of a few curses. I also couldn't picture Sam killing a few people throughout, as I don't believe that was part of his moral standards.
To simply knock them out, I can see, but to instantly shoot someone before they fire first and then have Sam think to himself, "I had no choice" felt very out of character, but it was still a good read, compared to what I have read from the series so far.
I will say, I get that it had to be done, but there were too many instances where Sam was growing attracted to his great great and so-forth Grandmother and had to keep telling us, the reader that he can't partake in anything because it would be incest, regardless of the fact he's in someone else's body.
Anyway, I would recommend for a quick July 4th read---though Sam doesn't really spend any time in the battleground setting. Still, some good writing from John Peel, known mostly as a DJ.
To simply knock them out, I can see, but to instantly shoot someone before they fire first and then have Sam think to himself, "I had no choice" felt very out of character, but it was still a good read, compared to what I have read from the series so far.
I will say, I get that it had to be done, but there were too many instances where Sam was growing attracted to his great great and so-forth Grandmother and had to keep telling us, the reader that he can't partake in anything because it would be incest, regardless of the fact he's in someone else's body.
Anyway, I would recommend for a quick July 4th read---though Sam doesn't really spend any time in the battleground setting. Still, some good writing from John Peel, known mostly as a DJ.
July 27, 2022
In this adventure Sam travels a few generations back to his ancestor in the American War for Independence. Rather than being set on the battlefield, this story is set in a quiet rural area with a burgeoning rebellion which has Sam smack in the middle.
The story is very readable, though does suffer from a lot of unknowns that leave Sam and the reader not really sure what's going on. However. everything does clear up and make for a satisfying conclusion.
There was a big twist regarding Sam's great great grandmother that, as only a casual viewer of the show, meant nothing to me.
The story is very readable, though does suffer from a lot of unknowns that leave Sam and the reader not really sure what's going on. However. everything does clear up and make for a satisfying conclusion.
There was a big twist regarding Sam's great great grandmother that, as only a casual viewer of the show, meant nothing to me.
March 7, 2024
There was one particular aspect that made me very uncomfortable.
Sam and Al's characterization was overall good, but some of the dialogue was off. And some of Sam's actions were out-of-character.
Overall, the book was a solid meh.
Sam and Al's characterization was overall good, but some of the dialogue was off. And some of Sam's actions were out-of-character.
Overall, the book was a solid meh.
February 24, 2026
Fast, easy read that does great justice to the show's characters.
April 15, 2014
Another good chapter in the Further Adventures of Sam and Al. I had a few problems with the author using dialogue that was inconsistent with the characters. I can't imagine Al ever saying that there were "brambles all about," or Sam saying, "Live, damn you, live!" Other than that, it was a pleasant read.
June 19, 2015
Interesting. I never realised this was written by former DJ John Peel. The plot is similar to the TV episode The leap Between States, as Sam leaps into an ancestor during the revolutionary war. A pretty good read, especially considering John Peel isn't best remembered as a writer.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews