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The Untime
The Untime; a mysterious and dangerous state, beyond our powers of conception.
In the Paris of the 1890s, Jules Gauthier, a young journalist, enters the Untime with its discoverer, Professor Lamartine. What they find there could be the end of our Universe as we know it.
When Lamartine disappears mysteriously, Gauthier, together with Agathe, Lamartine's daughter, and Lamartine's rival, Professor Schneider, must brave the terrors of the Untime, journeying through time and space.
In the Paris of the 1890s, Jules Gauthier, a young journalist, enters the Untime with its discoverer, Professor Lamartine. What they find there could be the end of our Universe as we know it.
When Lamartine disappears mysteriously, Gauthier, together with Agathe, Lamartine's daughter, and Lamartine's rival, Professor Schneider, must brave the terrors of the Untime, journeying through time and space.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2015
5 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Ashton
68 books65 followersHugh Ashton was born in the UK in 1956. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he worked in a variety of jobs, including security guard, publisher's assistant, and running an independent record label, before coming to rest in the field of information technology, where he assisted perplexed users of computers and wrote explanations to guide them through the problems they encountered.
A long-standing interest in Japan led him to emigrate to that country in 1988; writing instruction manuals for a variety of consumer products, assisting with IT-related projects at banks and financial institutions, and researching and writing industry reports on the Japanese and Asian financial industries, and writing promotional material for international business publications.
He has recently returned to the UK, and now lives in the cathedral city of Lichfield with his wife, Yoshiko.
He has recently published many volumes of highly-acclaimed Sherlock Holmes pastiches (the Deed Box and Dispatch-box series) with Inknbeans Press of California, with some reviewers hailing him as the re-incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In addition, the list of his thrillers currently includes: At the Sharpe End, featuring an expatriate consultant living in Tokyo, Kenneth Sharpe, who finds himself thrust into a world of violence and high finance; Leo's Luck, a story of rock 'n' roll, crime, romance, and the paranormal; and Balance of Powers, set against the backdrop of the subprime mortgage crisis.
His historical works include: Beneath Gray Skies, an alternative history in which the American Civil War was never fought; Red Wheels Turning, set in an alternative Russia of 1917; and The Untime and The Untijme Revisited, Verne-ian 19th-century steampunk science fiction novels.
Children's books include the Sherlock Ferret series about the world's cutest detective, delightfully illustrated by Andy Boerger.
The collection of short stories Tales of Old Japanese describes some of the endearing characteristics of today's "silver generation" of Japan.
A long-standing interest in Japan led him to emigrate to that country in 1988; writing instruction manuals for a variety of consumer products, assisting with IT-related projects at banks and financial institutions, and researching and writing industry reports on the Japanese and Asian financial industries, and writing promotional material for international business publications.
He has recently returned to the UK, and now lives in the cathedral city of Lichfield with his wife, Yoshiko.
He has recently published many volumes of highly-acclaimed Sherlock Holmes pastiches (the Deed Box and Dispatch-box series) with Inknbeans Press of California, with some reviewers hailing him as the re-incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In addition, the list of his thrillers currently includes: At the Sharpe End, featuring an expatriate consultant living in Tokyo, Kenneth Sharpe, who finds himself thrust into a world of violence and high finance; Leo's Luck, a story of rock 'n' roll, crime, romance, and the paranormal; and Balance of Powers, set against the backdrop of the subprime mortgage crisis.
His historical works include: Beneath Gray Skies, an alternative history in which the American Civil War was never fought; Red Wheels Turning, set in an alternative Russia of 1917; and The Untime and The Untijme Revisited, Verne-ian 19th-century steampunk science fiction novels.
Children's books include the Sherlock Ferret series about the world's cutest detective, delightfully illustrated by Andy Boerger.
The collection of short stories Tales of Old Japanese describes some of the endearing characteristics of today's "silver generation" of Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 10, 2015
This novel definitely gives the feeling of a late nineteenth-century adventure story, with labs full of apparatuses and Leyden jars, daring reporters, mad scientists, and travel through time and space. The characters speak with charming formality, my favorite phrase being, "No, no, and a thousand times, no!" (p. 157)
My complaint is that the choice of font, while suitably "retro," is quite hard to read.
My complaint is that the choice of font, while suitably "retro," is quite hard to read.
December 16, 2016
The story about time travel was like watching a black-and-white melodrama. A scientist gone mad, a journalist with a flair for literature, unbelieving police detectives, a beautiful, yet intelligent woman is need of saving. All the characters assembled.
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July 30, 2024Not this one. Jon’s, which I am currently working on
September 26, 2016
Pleasant scientific romance
I stumbled upon this book after reading a number of Mr Ashton's Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Mr Ashton is very good at writing in the Victorian voice, and this little novel is very Vernelike in feel. The major characters are brought to life quickly and efficiently, and the plot is developed in the characteristic Victorian manner, a sort of urgent elegance. All in all, a pleasant story with interesting ideas, very nicely written. One hopes Mr Ashton revisits this setting and these characters again.
I stumbled upon this book after reading a number of Mr Ashton's Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Mr Ashton is very good at writing in the Victorian voice, and this little novel is very Vernelike in feel. The major characters are brought to life quickly and efficiently, and the plot is developed in the characteristic Victorian manner, a sort of urgent elegance. All in all, a pleasant story with interesting ideas, very nicely written. One hopes Mr Ashton revisits this setting and these characters again.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews