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The Timekeepers #3
AWOL: Timekeeper Trilogy Bk 3
Fate is open to intervention.
The timekeepers return to the Astro-Marine Institute Explorer (AIME) to stop their nemesis interfering with the departure of an otherworldly being currently residing on Oceane. They agree to regroup one week before the interference is due to take place - but one team member seems to be taking an unofficial detour.
An opportunity to prevent the incident altogether arises four years before the rendezvous. But to revisit this instance would be seen as a betrayal to many of the timekeepers and set them at war with one another.
To end all the ancient curses at the route of the disputes between star systems, to pave the way for psychic freedom and achieve AMIE's primary objective, one team member will break the principal rule of Timekeeping and quantum jump into their history alone.
The timekeepers return to the Astro-Marine Institute Explorer (AIME) to stop their nemesis interfering with the departure of an otherworldly being currently residing on Oceane. They agree to regroup one week before the interference is due to take place - but one team member seems to be taking an unofficial detour.
An opportunity to prevent the incident altogether arises four years before the rendezvous. But to revisit this instance would be seen as a betrayal to many of the timekeepers and set them at war with one another.
To end all the ancient curses at the route of the disputes between star systems, to pave the way for psychic freedom and achieve AMIE's primary objective, one team member will break the principal rule of Timekeeping and quantum jump into their history alone.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
509 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 27, 2015
6 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Traci Harding
45 books467 followersTraci Harding, is an Australian science-fantasy author who currently has twelve books in publication, on the Voyager label of HaperCollins Publishers Australia.
Her work blends fantasy, fact, esoteric belief, time travel and quantum physics, into adventurous romps through history, ulternative dimensions, universes and states of consciousness.
The Ancient Future Trilogy
Book 1 -The Ancient Future 1996
Book 2 -An Echo in Time 1997
Book 3 - Masters of Reality 1998
Stand Alone Novels
The Alchemists Key 1998
Book of Dreams 2002
Ghostwriting 2003
The Celestial Triad
Book 1 – Chronicle of Ages 1999
Book 2 – Tablet of Destinies 2000
Book 3 – The Cosmic Logos 2001
The Mystique Trilogy
Book 1 – Gene of Isis 2005
Book 2 – The Dragon Queens 2007
Book 3 – The Black Madonna 2008
Triad of Being
Book 1 - Being of the Field 2009
Book 2 - The Universe Parallel 2010
Book 3 - The Light Field 2012
The Time Keepers
Book 1 - Dreaming of Zhou Gong 2013
Book 2 - Forthcoming
Book 3 - Forthcoming
The Ancient Future is currently listed on both the Dymock’s Top 101 Books. Along with The Alchemist's Key, The Ancient Future has been published in Complex Chinese for worldwide release.
The first book of the Mystique Trilogy -Gene of Isis is now to be published in Russian, Czech, Slavic, Greek and Romanian, as is book two The Dragon Queens.
Her work blends fantasy, fact, esoteric belief, time travel and quantum physics, into adventurous romps through history, ulternative dimensions, universes and states of consciousness.
The Ancient Future Trilogy
Book 1 -The Ancient Future 1996
Book 2 -An Echo in Time 1997
Book 3 - Masters of Reality 1998
Stand Alone Novels
The Alchemists Key 1998
Book of Dreams 2002
Ghostwriting 2003
The Celestial Triad
Book 1 – Chronicle of Ages 1999
Book 2 – Tablet of Destinies 2000
Book 3 – The Cosmic Logos 2001
The Mystique Trilogy
Book 1 – Gene of Isis 2005
Book 2 – The Dragon Queens 2007
Book 3 – The Black Madonna 2008
Triad of Being
Book 1 - Being of the Field 2009
Book 2 - The Universe Parallel 2010
Book 3 - The Light Field 2012
The Time Keepers
Book 1 - Dreaming of Zhou Gong 2013
Book 2 - Forthcoming
Book 3 - Forthcoming
The Ancient Future is currently listed on both the Dymock’s Top 101 Books. Along with The Alchemist's Key, The Ancient Future has been published in Complex Chinese for worldwide release.
The first book of the Mystique Trilogy -Gene of Isis is now to be published in Russian, Czech, Slavic, Greek and Romanian, as is book two The Dragon Queens.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 13, 2015
I remember picking up my first Traci Harding novel from my high school library back in the early 2000’s. I instantly fell in love with the characters and was so happy to have such a different style of writing to enjoy. The message behind Traci’s works has always stayed with me and has often comforted me through some of the harder times in my life. Her reincarnating characters are some of my favourites, she simply makes them work in ways I don’t think any other author can without the idea becoming boring or annoying. This theme has linked together 4 of her epic trilogies across time, space and now universes, but with this final instalment the adventure comes to an end. Again…
AWOL was a strange novel. The title of the novel extremely accurate as this book follows Zeven (AKA Starman) as he goes off script and jumps further back in time to the previous trilogy. As you can imagine, I really had to strain my brain to remember where our characters where up to 2.5 books ago, almost prompting a reread of the entire series (which would have delayed me finishing the book for another 2 weeks). I couldn’t help but feel a connection with Zeven as he probably felt the same way after the time jump. The entire purpose of his jump is to save the evil character Khalid who was revealed to be a victim himself and was actually redeemed in the previous book. Despite trying to simply keep Khalid hidden away and rehabilitate him to prevent an inter-dimensional rift, the plot takes a sinister twist as a deep hatred and mistrust splits our allies. The ancient evil forces of Sermetica and Phemoria are stirring as someone begins to collect the spirits for system domination. With the universe safe, the crew is directly under attack and must find a way to survive long enough to save the United Star System from destruction.
I loved that the team on this one was Zeven and Telmo. Though this may seem like a weird combination since they’re so different, the pairing just reminded me of Brian and Teo from the original series the Ancient Future Trilogy since they are the exact same characters and it’s nice seeing that connection reforged after such along time. I couldn’t help but laugh at the use of Karisha the rainbow monkey (whose venom makes you stoned) as part of Khalid’s treatment plan. This struck me as something Teo & Brian would think up. I enjoyed the differences and similarities of the novel unusual progress where the entirety of the original plot was completely forgotten and the threat once again surround Phemoria and the immediate lives of the AIME crew rather than the two universes. I feel like this book was more #4 of the Triad of Being trilogy than #3 of the Timekeepers. It was unusual for Taren to not be in control of the situation, which I liked. Her soul mind is usually the main protagonist in a lot of Traci’s work, but I will admit my favourite character of all was Brockwell so I was really happy to have his character running the show for a change. As with all Traci’s books since the Celestial Triad there is an intense spiritual thread throughout the story linking in the spiritual to the scientific which is makes this one of the few sci-fi fantasy crossover series I can read and actually enjoy.
While I am sad to see this series come to an end I am also excited to see where Traci will go next with her writing and what new fantastic world we have awaiting. I am personally hoping for another historical fiction, especially after the wow factor of “The Ancient Future”, “The Gene of Isis” and “Dreaming of Zhou Gong”. I personally resonated so much more with these stories, but I know no matter what Traci writes next I’m going to read it and love it regardless what or when the story is about!
AWOL was a strange novel. The title of the novel extremely accurate as this book follows Zeven (AKA Starman) as he goes off script and jumps further back in time to the previous trilogy. As you can imagine, I really had to strain my brain to remember where our characters where up to 2.5 books ago, almost prompting a reread of the entire series (which would have delayed me finishing the book for another 2 weeks). I couldn’t help but feel a connection with Zeven as he probably felt the same way after the time jump. The entire purpose of his jump is to save the evil character Khalid who was revealed to be a victim himself and was actually redeemed in the previous book. Despite trying to simply keep Khalid hidden away and rehabilitate him to prevent an inter-dimensional rift, the plot takes a sinister twist as a deep hatred and mistrust splits our allies. The ancient evil forces of Sermetica and Phemoria are stirring as someone begins to collect the spirits for system domination. With the universe safe, the crew is directly under attack and must find a way to survive long enough to save the United Star System from destruction.
I loved that the team on this one was Zeven and Telmo. Though this may seem like a weird combination since they’re so different, the pairing just reminded me of Brian and Teo from the original series the Ancient Future Trilogy since they are the exact same characters and it’s nice seeing that connection reforged after such along time. I couldn’t help but laugh at the use of Karisha the rainbow monkey (whose venom makes you stoned) as part of Khalid’s treatment plan. This struck me as something Teo & Brian would think up. I enjoyed the differences and similarities of the novel unusual progress where the entirety of the original plot was completely forgotten and the threat once again surround Phemoria and the immediate lives of the AIME crew rather than the two universes. I feel like this book was more #4 of the Triad of Being trilogy than #3 of the Timekeepers. It was unusual for Taren to not be in control of the situation, which I liked. Her soul mind is usually the main protagonist in a lot of Traci’s work, but I will admit my favourite character of all was Brockwell so I was really happy to have his character running the show for a change. As with all Traci’s books since the Celestial Triad there is an intense spiritual thread throughout the story linking in the spiritual to the scientific which is makes this one of the few sci-fi fantasy crossover series I can read and actually enjoy.
While I am sad to see this series come to an end I am also excited to see where Traci will go next with her writing and what new fantastic world we have awaiting. I am personally hoping for another historical fiction, especially after the wow factor of “The Ancient Future”, “The Gene of Isis” and “Dreaming of Zhou Gong”. I personally resonated so much more with these stories, but I know no matter what Traci writes next I’m going to read it and love it regardless what or when the story is about!
January 13, 2024
Re-read Dec23/Jan24
Re-read Jan/Feb 2021... Ah yes, still very much enjoyed it!
Re-read April 2020: Loved it!
Re-read June 2019: Once again loved the story :)
This book delivered. It needed to end a story, or at least end part of a story. That, it did. It needed to bring closure and tie up loose ends. That, it did too. And yes, it needed to fascinate me, to entertain me, to captivate me and keep me rushing back after a day at work to keep reading. That, it most certainly did as well. I'm sad that the adventure is over, but am looking forward to reading these books again (and again, and again...) and diving back into the story. Because I simply can't get enough of Traci's writing, the worlds she creates and the characters she's helped me fall in book-love with book after book and story after story. Very much recommend this book by an author who's been in the top five of my favourite authors since reading The Ancient Future all those years ago, and will recommend it, and the larger series it is a part of, to everyone interested in fantasy, science fiction, alt-history, magic, Atlantis and time travel.
Re-read Jan/Feb 2021... Ah yes, still very much enjoyed it!
Re-read April 2020: Loved it!
Re-read June 2019: Once again loved the story :)
This book delivered. It needed to end a story, or at least end part of a story. That, it did. It needed to bring closure and tie up loose ends. That, it did too. And yes, it needed to fascinate me, to entertain me, to captivate me and keep me rushing back after a day at work to keep reading. That, it most certainly did as well. I'm sad that the adventure is over, but am looking forward to reading these books again (and again, and again...) and diving back into the story. Because I simply can't get enough of Traci's writing, the worlds she creates and the characters she's helped me fall in book-love with book after book and story after story. Very much recommend this book by an author who's been in the top five of my favourite authors since reading The Ancient Future all those years ago, and will recommend it, and the larger series it is a part of, to everyone interested in fantasy, science fiction, alt-history, magic, Atlantis and time travel.
February 12, 2015
Wow! What a ride! I can't believe it's over!
November 17, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Mixed feelings about it being finished. Glad in a way that it is because I needed the story resolved but my favourite characters are living beyond the pages. Easy enough to resurrect them by rereading the books again. I'm sure I'll be surprised by what I'd forgotten.
Traci Harding it's been an epic ride and one I can't thank you enough for creating. You have given me many hours of thought provoking fiction that I have gladly shared with my daughters. The concepts of religions, practices of the human spirit, good and bad, the spirit as an individual and a group, and more besides are skilfully woven into a tale that is difficult to put down and ridiculously hard to wait to discuss with my youngest adult daughter.
The adventure begins again with Audible!
Traci Harding it's been an epic ride and one I can't thank you enough for creating. You have given me many hours of thought provoking fiction that I have gladly shared with my daughters. The concepts of religions, practices of the human spirit, good and bad, the spirit as an individual and a group, and more besides are skilfully woven into a tale that is difficult to put down and ridiculously hard to wait to discuss with my youngest adult daughter.
The adventure begins again with Audible!
July 31, 2020
2.5*
March 26, 2022
A.W.O.L by Traci Harding
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The final instalment in Traci’s timekeepers trilogy really does not disappoint. Traci has this way of rounding up stories so well and keeps you gripped throughout the entire process. I was so happy by the end of this story that I wasn’t even sad there would be no more!
Although no spice (which is my fave), the love stories this woman writes are just totally unparalleled.
If you love:
🖤Time travel
🖤Sci-Fi/Fantasy
🖤Kindred Spirits
🖤Supernatural Powers
🖤Soulmates
Then this book is definitely for you!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The final instalment in Traci’s timekeepers trilogy really does not disappoint. Traci has this way of rounding up stories so well and keeps you gripped throughout the entire process. I was so happy by the end of this story that I wasn’t even sad there would be no more!
Although no spice (which is my fave), the love stories this woman writes are just totally unparalleled.
If you love:
🖤Time travel
🖤Sci-Fi/Fantasy
🖤Kindred Spirits
🖤Supernatural Powers
🖤Soulmates
Then this book is definitely for you!
February 20, 2015
This was a great ending to this seemingly endless series! I enjoyed the wrap up and despite some reservations on the logic of the time travelling, it was satisfying.
However, don't publishers employ proof-readers anymore? There were a lot of mistakes, including some major ones - for example the main character in this universe is called Taren, and is a reincarnation of Tory Alexander from the earlier several books. At one point she was called Tory in this book. Another character whose name was Dacre was written several times as Decree. All fairly simple to pick up by a competent proof reader I would have thought (as I am trained in proof reading and have worked as one). That is the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.
However, don't publishers employ proof-readers anymore? There were a lot of mistakes, including some major ones - for example the main character in this universe is called Taren, and is a reincarnation of Tory Alexander from the earlier several books. At one point she was called Tory in this book. Another character whose name was Dacre was written several times as Decree. All fairly simple to pick up by a competent proof reader I would have thought (as I am trained in proof reading and have worked as one). That is the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.
October 16, 2015
My grasp of the light field and metaphysics is generally pretty good but I have to admit it's been a while since I read The Eternity Gate so it took a little while to reorientate myself with how things stood (and, I suppose more importantly, WHEN they stood) but once there, it was a whirlwind ride. The timehopping was getting a little out of control and I'm very glad that this was the last of it. It was also nice to see Zeven get his due and take the lead, showing how far he has come on his path. All in all a satisfying end to the two trilogies.
February 9, 2015
I throughly enjoyed this book. I was hooked from the beginning and it felt like the author was going back to her original writing style. I really couldn't put it down, I loved it. I was a little bit disappointed at the ending but Traci wrapped up the series well. Can't wait to see what the next series will be like.
May 20, 2015
I cried when I finished this book. Traci has done it again made me feel like a part of the gang, saving the universe one AWOL mission at a time. I'm so sad to see these characters come to an end. Or is it, maybe she'll surprise us all and do another trilogy...who knows where it can lead?
February 5, 2015
Was sad that the journey has ended for these characters but loved the book.
February 3, 2015
4.5 stars
March 2, 2015
So many books and characters, I feel like I need go back and re-read ALL of them just to keep up with alternate timelines and the different versions of everyone.
April 30, 2015
After finishing this one I just have to go back to the very beginning and read the ancient future again!
June 2, 2016
Amazing
April 30, 2016
great book, great author
October 2, 2016
Smiley faces were all around when I read this book, and will be there again when I read it again. Great conclusion
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews