What do you think?
Rate this book
Temporal Tome
Temporal Tome
Part 2 of the Botolf Chronicles
The Blurb
For those of you who haven’t read the first instalment of the ‘Botolf Chronicles’, or did and have forgotten it, or have had it surgically removed from your brain, here is a brief and, largely, inaccurate summary of what has happened so far.
James Philips, a former student of the infamous Botolf-almost-Oxford College has found himself in the heart of a hidden supernatural world, centred on two groups, one human and one inter-dimensional. In a bizarre (and quite frankly hard to believe) set of circumstances England has been invaded by an ancient magical group of Wizards and a warlord King from magical version of our Earth.
With me so far?
Yes?
You poor sods.
James Philips is a worried man at the start of our story. By the middle of it he is an extremely worried man; his worry is so great it could worry a blue whale and still have enough worry left over for an elephant or two (if you stood them close to each other). Firstly, his wife, Elizabeth, is missing (she is in fact on the alternative Earth about to marry the warlord King Vortigern), secondly, his brother Philip is also missing (he is also on the alternative Earth and marriage is very far from his mind, but we will come to him later) and thirdly, he finds himself an unwilling member of a secret organisation that protects the world from inter-dimensional threats. James is also worried about his former mentor’s soul, currently occupying a video cassette but that, for the moment, is the least of his worries.
The aforementioned Philip Philips is not having a good time. Having spent forty years in a state of perpetual scrounging and career failure, he now finds himself stuck in a magical medieval world, with some rather dubious company. He is desperately trying to find a way back to his own world for reasons that he’s not entirely sure of.
Back on our Earth the governments of the World are trying to explain away the strange events of the last few weeks. Some people have vague recollections of an alien invasion and mass destruction across southern England. Others woke up in their beds convinced that they had spent several days being dead. But on a certain dull Monday morning the world appeared normal, no one was dead (who wasn’t dead already) and no damage could be found (only James Philips and his new colleagues were aware that the world was missing two people). The population of the planet felt that something was wrong, something from their collective memory was missing but they couldn’t quite put their fingers on it. It was a bit like when you go to the supermarket and fill up a trolley with biscuits; you stand at the till knowing you came in for something else but darned if you can think of it, only to get home to find your house has burned down and you had left to phone the fire brigade.
So is that all clear ? …No? …Good! …Then we can get on.
Part 2 of the Botolf Chronicles
The Blurb
For those of you who haven’t read the first instalment of the ‘Botolf Chronicles’, or did and have forgotten it, or have had it surgically removed from your brain, here is a brief and, largely, inaccurate summary of what has happened so far.
James Philips, a former student of the infamous Botolf-almost-Oxford College has found himself in the heart of a hidden supernatural world, centred on two groups, one human and one inter-dimensional. In a bizarre (and quite frankly hard to believe) set of circumstances England has been invaded by an ancient magical group of Wizards and a warlord King from magical version of our Earth.
With me so far?
Yes?
You poor sods.
James Philips is a worried man at the start of our story. By the middle of it he is an extremely worried man; his worry is so great it could worry a blue whale and still have enough worry left over for an elephant or two (if you stood them close to each other). Firstly, his wife, Elizabeth, is missing (she is in fact on the alternative Earth about to marry the warlord King Vortigern), secondly, his brother Philip is also missing (he is also on the alternative Earth and marriage is very far from his mind, but we will come to him later) and thirdly, he finds himself an unwilling member of a secret organisation that protects the world from inter-dimensional threats. James is also worried about his former mentor’s soul, currently occupying a video cassette but that, for the moment, is the least of his worries.
The aforementioned Philip Philips is not having a good time. Having spent forty years in a state of perpetual scrounging and career failure, he now finds himself stuck in a magical medieval world, with some rather dubious company. He is desperately trying to find a way back to his own world for reasons that he’s not entirely sure of.
Back on our Earth the governments of the World are trying to explain away the strange events of the last few weeks. Some people have vague recollections of an alien invasion and mass destruction across southern England. Others woke up in their beds convinced that they had spent several days being dead. But on a certain dull Monday morning the world appeared normal, no one was dead (who wasn’t dead already) and no damage could be found (only James Philips and his new colleagues were aware that the world was missing two people). The population of the planet felt that something was wrong, something from their collective memory was missing but they couldn’t quite put their fingers on it. It was a bit like when you go to the supermarket and fill up a trolley with biscuits; you stand at the till knowing you came in for something else but darned if you can think of it, only to get home to find your house has burned down and you had left to phone the fire brigade.
So is that all clear ? …No? …Good! …Then we can get on.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 2014
2 people want to read
About the author
Steve Downes
49 books227 followersSteve Downes is an Irish contemporary poet and novelist, currently living and working in Ireland. Educated in N.U.I. Maynooth, he holds a Degree in Classical History and a Masters in Cultural Anthropology.
Steve’s latest books are, Fyre & Stone (BLKDOG Publishing, 2021) & The Italian Lady (2021)
Steve is a published poet since 1996, his poetry collections to-date are: A Human Veneer, A Landscape For Yourself and Dawn at Midnight (anthology).
Steve’s first novel was published in 2013, his novels to-date are: Cosmogonic Marbles, Temporal Tome, Gadzooks Armageddon and Botolf Tales (the Botolf Chronicles), Warworld: Shadows & Dominions (part 1), Murder on the Alpha Centauri Express and The Deaths of Guner Zoon.
Steve has also published three children’s Books: The Upstairs Cat Series (3 books).
Steve continues to write and publish work in many genres.
In 2017 & 2018 Steve exhibited from his collections of historical photographs, Lost Graveyards of Ireland (2017) and A Landscape For Yourself (2018).
Steve’s latest books are, Fyre & Stone (BLKDOG Publishing, 2021) & The Italian Lady (2021)
Steve is a published poet since 1996, his poetry collections to-date are: A Human Veneer, A Landscape For Yourself and Dawn at Midnight (anthology).
Steve’s first novel was published in 2013, his novels to-date are: Cosmogonic Marbles, Temporal Tome, Gadzooks Armageddon and Botolf Tales (the Botolf Chronicles), Warworld: Shadows & Dominions (part 1), Murder on the Alpha Centauri Express and The Deaths of Guner Zoon.
Steve has also published three children’s Books: The Upstairs Cat Series (3 books).
Steve continues to write and publish work in many genres.
In 2017 & 2018 Steve exhibited from his collections of historical photographs, Lost Graveyards of Ireland (2017) and A Landscape For Yourself (2018).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 15, 2016
All of your favorite characters are back, along with some new ones. I'm just so impressed with the author's ability to weave so much humor into a story and still have it be cohesive and complete. So many times when I see something with humor it just feels disjointed, like the text between jokes is just a segue, and not a very good one at that. And I just can't NOT give five stars to an author who can manage to give so much personality to a severed hand. Brilliant. Definitely reading the next installment in this series. Highly recommended for those who enjoy humor mixed with their fantasy. And also for those who enjoyed the first book!
Displaying 1 of 1 review