Timelines

by Bob Blink

This is an alternate Cover Edition for ASIN: B00403NQSQ.

After more than a year of exploring with time travel, Jim Crampton has become accustomed to traveling into earth’s past or future via the time complex he discovered by accident in the mountains outside of Seattle, Washington. Several things bother him however. Despite his technical skills he has made no progress in his attempts to understand how to control his destinations, or in understanding the basic operation of the time complex. Is there something special about the dates and locations pre-programmed into the machine? Is travel to times and places other than he has found even possible? There are clues that the answer to this question is yes, but he has yet to find a way to test what he suspects.
He also has no more idea now than when he first chanced upon the time complex as to who or what built it, and why. Despite the hundreds of hours spent in the complex itself or traveling to other time periods, he has never encountered another traveler. The odd symbols on the equipment and what appear to be handwritten records lead him to suspect that the time complex was not created by future humans. If this is so, is there a sinister purpose behind the device, and why were the ‘Builders’ completely absent for so long? Perhaps they have finished their investigations, and have left. If so, why leave it powered and operational?
He is also concerned how the complex might be used if he reveals its existence to the wrong people, yet he has come to the conclusion that he needs help if he is to make any headway understanding the secrets locked inside the hidden complex. His decision to disclose the secret to two of his closest friends will set in motion a chain of events he could not have anticipated.
After a disastrous trip into the past to ‘show off’ his secret, Jim gains the trust of a fellow traveler from his own future. Together they assemble a select team to unravel the mysteries locked inside the complex. Their investigations lead to a race against time to determine the future of mankind.

Genres: Time Travel, Science Fiction

601 pages, Unknown Binding

First published August 18, 2010

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Timelines”, a science fiction book that lacks fiction. Others thought this a good book. Sadly I did not. The author forgot that he was writing a work of fiction. There is hardly any dialog at all, and the narration is essentially by a single one dimensional character. When given the opportunity to inject a little emotion (like when a person gets trapped in another era without hope of returning), it is looked at clinically. The middle 350 pages read more like a technical manual. If you are looking for in-depth science, this might be the book for you. But I had to ask myself, why do I read SciFi books on time travel? To me it’s for the fantasy of living in a different era, past or future. This book is 90% in the present, so it lacked, to me, an essential ingredient.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the basic storyline was a great idea. but the telling if the story could have been better. i felt some of the key areas of the story were rushed leaving me with questions and other parts that had no real impact drug too long. I felt this story could have been better told as a series starting with the discovery, then some adventurs in some of the other time lines dropping subtle hints about the inventors. tthen the grand finale to wrap it up.

[Sean Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book plods along and meanders around far too much. Blink’s clearly tightened up his writing style a good deal since, and it’s sad to say that as a debut this would probably have put me off. The idea is an interesting one, but far too little is made of things to make it a credible story of the future in my view.

[Mike Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. I couldn't put it down

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry reading and it did not full characters. So much potential lost when the author just tells a story not getting the reader involved. Just think what impact just one action could have on how history. Very technical with very little suspense. What if, instead of studying how history unfolded, a character left clues that would help guide events so wars, famine or creation of medicines. Who knows. Good idea but not well presented.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept but it needed editing. It was far too wordy and lost some of it's impact by dragging on and on.

[Lon Bixby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story, the twists, turns, where it went and how it progressed and grew from the simple beginnings to the all involved end. BUT, there was way too much needless, blahblahblah, paragraph skipping description/narration. If the author had cut about 150 pages of that out, I would have given it 4 stars.

[Kevin Pfeifle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really just a great book about time travel. Hard to get this right, but I loved the concepts in this.

[Brian S. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book, worth all 5 Stars


This was my first book by Bob Blink, and it won't be my last. I found this book fascinating and found it hard to put down.

[Bonita K. Bergman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read.

Was pulled into the storyline right away and could hardly wait to see it unfold. Read it in two days. Nicely done Mr. Blink. Thank you for your vision.

[Tassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good idea but far too long.

Insignificant details could have been edited. Seeds of a good story. Not a 600 page novel worth reading. Poorly written

[Kevin Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed Timelines. I found it entertaining. I liked the plot and found the idea behind it interesting