What do you think?
Rate this book
Snapshot: Power, Sex & Revenge
For eighty million years, the Tourists have taken Snapshots of Earth, living replicas of continents. Life in the Snapshots quickly diverges from the real world, creating a universe where humans and animals from Earth’s history explore, fight, and sometimes meet themselves. Snapshots are linked by vents high above their oceans.
In 2014, the Tourists’ new North America Snapshot cuts its people off from the real world, but lets them fly to Snapshots where dinosaurs still roam, Indians rule the New World or Nazis control Europe. It also catches Middle East Analyst Greg Dunne rushing toward Hawaii to join his wife, who just went into labor. The new Snapshot doesn’t include Hawaii, cutting Greg off from everyone he loves and thrusting him into the aftermath of a hidden, decades-old massacre, where Germans from a pre-World War II European Snapshot battle ranchers from a Korean War-era U.S. Snapshot. The prize: a wild, ancient Madagascar Snapshot that controls communications between dozens of Snapshots.
Caught between powerful opponents, and joined by a woman nearly driven mad by her past, Greg struggles to survive in this cutthroat new reality, to remain faithful to a family he may never see again, and to find a way back to his original Earth.
In 2014, the Tourists’ new North America Snapshot cuts its people off from the real world, but lets them fly to Snapshots where dinosaurs still roam, Indians rule the New World or Nazis control Europe. It also catches Middle East Analyst Greg Dunne rushing toward Hawaii to join his wife, who just went into labor. The new Snapshot doesn’t include Hawaii, cutting Greg off from everyone he loves and thrusting him into the aftermath of a hidden, decades-old massacre, where Germans from a pre-World War II European Snapshot battle ranchers from a Korean War-era U.S. Snapshot. The prize: a wild, ancient Madagascar Snapshot that controls communications between dozens of Snapshots.
Caught between powerful opponents, and joined by a woman nearly driven mad by her past, Greg struggles to survive in this cutthroat new reality, to remain faithful to a family he may never see again, and to find a way back to his original Earth.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 30, 2014
12 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Dale Cozort
45 books28 followersDale Cozort lives in a college town near Chicago with his wife, daughter, three cats and a lot of books. Dale is a computer programmer and teacher as well as a long-time science fiction fan. He has a huge and diverse range of interests, ranging from computers and history to martial arts. He loves animals and did a stint as a foster home for orphan Samoyeds.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 7, 2015
I received this book free in a good reads giveaway. The concept behind this book was really cool. The mix and variety of characters was exciting. However, they didn't seem to take advantage of the tensions and back stories in a way that spoke to me. The whole book felt a little safe and easy. It took me a while to read this book I did not ever feel the need to pick it up. Overall the story line was good and the story wrapped up well. The book was an interesting read but, not exciting.
April 29, 2024
I've read three books by Cozort and he has a 'tell', if you will. He sets up sexual tension and never ever pays it off. Now that I know, I know. It's the author's choice and fair enough, but it sets up situations that do not come to a satisfying conclusion.
In all other respects I really enjoyed this book. The central world building idea is interesting and in this book that DOES pay off. I am totally immersed in the politics of this odd alternate Madagascar and of the lives of these characters. I will read more.
In all other respects I really enjoyed this book. The central world building idea is interesting and in this book that DOES pay off. I am totally immersed in the politics of this odd alternate Madagascar and of the lives of these characters. I will read more.
October 8, 2022
Fascinating premise, wildly interesting characters
Dale Cozort has done a great job inventing a whole new universe. The Tourists (who appear to be an alien race) make snow globe like snapshots of continents on “dirtball” Earth. Each snapshot is self-contained, but you can get from one to another using the “vents” or gates the Tourists thoughtfully provide. And while the snapshots exist, people don’t change and war and misery continue. Nice work.
Dale Cozort has done a great job inventing a whole new universe. The Tourists (who appear to be an alien race) make snow globe like snapshots of continents on “dirtball” Earth. Each snapshot is self-contained, but you can get from one to another using the “vents” or gates the Tourists thoughtfully provide. And while the snapshots exist, people don’t change and war and misery continue. Nice work.
February 7, 2015
It's rare to read a book that creates a really original world that makes you want to explore it more when you are finished.
Dale Cozort has accomplished that with Snapshot.
It's a fascinating concept.
Aliens (we presume...not much is known about the beings referred to as "Tourists") duplicate large parts of the Earth from time to time, and put them on another planet...much the way that a human tourist might take a picture when on a trip and put them in an album.
In this case, though, it duplicates everything...including the people.
If those "Snapshots" were each in their own world, that might make for an intriguing situation.
What Cozort has done is much more interesting.
The Snapshots, widely separated in time, are next to each other.
The United States (North America, really) from 1953 needs to contend with Europe from 1942...and Madagascar from 24 million years ago, just to name a few.
Travel between these worlds is discouraged by the Tourists...they have set up "Babble Zones" between the worlds. It's possible to pass through them, but it messes with your mind in very unpleasant ways...hallucinations and worse. That's enough to make routine travel impossible, but allows for things like military objectives and scientific missions, where you might tolerate the disorientation (and perhaps horror) for a short time for a longer term goal.
We enter this world as part of a newly-arrived 2014 North American Snapshot. That allows us to relate to the main character effectively.
The differences between the United States Snapshot which arrived in 1953 (and has been in this weird situation for fifty years and the 2014 Snapshot are cleverly delineated.
Cozort shows how the lack of easy contact from other cultures might slow (but not stop) progress. The Americans from 1953 have a difficult time with the diversity of 2014, for one thing.
While the world as a whole is a reason to read the book, Cozort also gives us personal stories and a solid plot.
We can really feel for Greg: his family is on "dirtball Earth" (they were off of the Continental US when the Snapshot happened). To them, nothing has happened (this Greg is a duplicate, the other one is still there), but for him, he has lost them. That's only one of the stories...I really appreciated how we saw genuine character development throughout the novel. People change, in ways that make sense, given the circumstances.
I found the beginning of the book to be a bit more awkwardly written than the last half, which was solid. I'm not quite sure what the difference was: perhaps it was after we could dispense with some of the (fascinating) exposition that it seemed to flow more smoothly.
If the idea of the situation I've described above interests you, I would recommend it. I think the average reader may not be engaged enough, without that intellectual fascination, to get to the latter parts.
I've sent an e-mail to Cozort suggesting that the author see if Amazon would license this for a Kindle World. I suspect many people would want to write within this set-up.
Bottom line: Snapshot is an intelligent and creative new world.
Oh, one other thing: I'd remove the subtitle of "Power, Sex & Revenge". For me, that made it sound much more visceral and more of a thriller than it was. Power is important, sex occurs (but is not explicit...nothing Not Safe for Work here, including in language), and revenge may be a motivator...but this is a more intellectual book than that subtitle suggests.
Dale Cozort has accomplished that with Snapshot.
It's a fascinating concept.
Aliens (we presume...not much is known about the beings referred to as "Tourists") duplicate large parts of the Earth from time to time, and put them on another planet...much the way that a human tourist might take a picture when on a trip and put them in an album.
In this case, though, it duplicates everything...including the people.
If those "Snapshots" were each in their own world, that might make for an intriguing situation.
What Cozort has done is much more interesting.
The Snapshots, widely separated in time, are next to each other.
The United States (North America, really) from 1953 needs to contend with Europe from 1942...and Madagascar from 24 million years ago, just to name a few.
Travel between these worlds is discouraged by the Tourists...they have set up "Babble Zones" between the worlds. It's possible to pass through them, but it messes with your mind in very unpleasant ways...hallucinations and worse. That's enough to make routine travel impossible, but allows for things like military objectives and scientific missions, where you might tolerate the disorientation (and perhaps horror) for a short time for a longer term goal.
We enter this world as part of a newly-arrived 2014 North American Snapshot. That allows us to relate to the main character effectively.
The differences between the United States Snapshot which arrived in 1953 (and has been in this weird situation for fifty years and the 2014 Snapshot are cleverly delineated.
Cozort shows how the lack of easy contact from other cultures might slow (but not stop) progress. The Americans from 1953 have a difficult time with the diversity of 2014, for one thing.
While the world as a whole is a reason to read the book, Cozort also gives us personal stories and a solid plot.
We can really feel for Greg: his family is on "dirtball Earth" (they were off of the Continental US when the Snapshot happened). To them, nothing has happened (this Greg is a duplicate, the other one is still there), but for him, he has lost them. That's only one of the stories...I really appreciated how we saw genuine character development throughout the novel. People change, in ways that make sense, given the circumstances.
I found the beginning of the book to be a bit more awkwardly written than the last half, which was solid. I'm not quite sure what the difference was: perhaps it was after we could dispense with some of the (fascinating) exposition that it seemed to flow more smoothly.
If the idea of the situation I've described above interests you, I would recommend it. I think the average reader may not be engaged enough, without that intellectual fascination, to get to the latter parts.
I've sent an e-mail to Cozort suggesting that the author see if Amazon would license this for a Kindle World. I suspect many people would want to write within this set-up.
Bottom line: Snapshot is an intelligent and creative new world.
Oh, one other thing: I'd remove the subtitle of "Power, Sex & Revenge". For me, that made it sound much more visceral and more of a thriller than it was. Power is important, sex occurs (but is not explicit...nothing Not Safe for Work here, including in language), and revenge may be a motivator...but this is a more intellectual book than that subtitle suggests.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews