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Sugar Time
Her name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her "Sweetie."
When Sugar's Uncle Max falls ill and his collaborators disappear, she investigates the old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds the collaborators -- or what's left of them -- along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle's research project, a working time machine. Sugar must act quickly to unlock the secret of time travel so she can set things right and protect her uncle's research.
Sugar Time collects Joy V. Smith's Sugar Sweet stories into one volume.
When Sugar's Uncle Max falls ill and his collaborators disappear, she investigates the old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds the collaborators -- or what's left of them -- along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle's research project, a working time machine. Sugar must act quickly to unlock the secret of time travel so she can set things right and protect her uncle's research.
Sugar Time collects Joy V. Smith's Sugar Sweet stories into one volume.
ebook
First published May 17, 2002
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About the author
Joy V. Smith
20 books40 followersJoy V. Smith has been writing stories since she was a kid. Her stories and articles have been published in print magazines, webzines, and anthologies; and her SF has been published in two audiobooks, including Sugar Time. Her books include Taboo Tech, Strike Three; Detour Trail; Sugar Time; The Doorway and Other Stories; and e-books: Velvet of Swords (SF), Well Met by Water (SF), Cold New Planet, Hidebound (SF romance/adventure), Pretty Pink Planet (SF), Hot Yellow Planet (the sequel), and Remodeling: Buying and Updating a Foreclosure. She lives in Florida with Pemberley, the tortoisehell cat, and Samwise Gamgee, a chihuahua cross.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2015
"The creature inside dropped the arm he was gnawing and swung up his massive axe instantly." So begins the adventure Sugar and her pals have with her uncle's time machine in this highly imaginative extended short story by Joy V. Smith.
The creature is a cave man that hitched a ride on the way back from the time machine's last foray into the past. Unfortunately, it has just about devoured its co-travelers, the original pilots of the extraordinary vehicle, and Sugar, Japheth, Izzy and Frank are forced to shoot it dead.
Confused yet? I haven't even mentioned the two Cheshire cats that also somehow made the time jump. Their names are Mingus and Rell. Oh, and they communicate telepathically.
So much to assimilate, so little time.
That's about the only criticism I have about this clever little tale -- the reader is dropped quite suddenly into the middle of the story and must make quantum leaps of plot-logic to keep up.
Anyway, it becomes necessary to dispose of the bodies of the two original time travelers, (to escape detection of the time machine, one imagines), so they hover on down I-45 to Galveston Island and rent a boat, which they then promptly sink with the bodies on board.
What happens next is classified; I don't do spoilers. But suffice to say that Sugar and friends encounter a couple of sabre-tooth tigers in their next trip back in time, and bring home a stone-tipped spear as a souvenir.
All in all, quite a fantastic read. Still, it felt a bit rushed, as though the author had a deadline to meet.
I give Sugar Time four stars, based mainly on the concept and excellent writing and editing. If you like time-travel yarns, this will make a fine addition to your collection.
The creature is a cave man that hitched a ride on the way back from the time machine's last foray into the past. Unfortunately, it has just about devoured its co-travelers, the original pilots of the extraordinary vehicle, and Sugar, Japheth, Izzy and Frank are forced to shoot it dead.
Confused yet? I haven't even mentioned the two Cheshire cats that also somehow made the time jump. Their names are Mingus and Rell. Oh, and they communicate telepathically.
So much to assimilate, so little time.
That's about the only criticism I have about this clever little tale -- the reader is dropped quite suddenly into the middle of the story and must make quantum leaps of plot-logic to keep up.
Anyway, it becomes necessary to dispose of the bodies of the two original time travelers, (to escape detection of the time machine, one imagines), so they hover on down I-45 to Galveston Island and rent a boat, which they then promptly sink with the bodies on board.
What happens next is classified; I don't do spoilers. But suffice to say that Sugar and friends encounter a couple of sabre-tooth tigers in their next trip back in time, and bring home a stone-tipped spear as a souvenir.
All in all, quite a fantastic read. Still, it felt a bit rushed, as though the author had a deadline to meet.
I give Sugar Time four stars, based mainly on the concept and excellent writing and editing. If you like time-travel yarns, this will make a fine addition to your collection.
December 11, 2015
Review Rating:
4 stars.
Reviewed By Ryan Jordan for Readers’ Favorite
Sugar Time by Joy V Smith is an interesting story of time travel that feels episodic in nature. It is broken into chapters that are short and detail separate purposeful trips in a time machine by Sugar, Japheth, and two Chessies named Mingus and Rell. There are other characters in the story, including Sugar’s uncle and a couple of police officers that help them in the introduction to the story, but they are minor in comparison to the main characters. Each chapter feels like a separate short story about something the group is trying to accomplish, and each is linked by circumstance. First, they are trying to clean up possible issues with the police by creating the history of an accident, then they are trying to return a dangerous person who attacked them to the correct time period he came from, and finally they go back to find out what happened to the dead people they found in the time machine. It ends with a rather sudden twist.
I enjoyed reading the novel, but it felt extremely dense. It was well written and certain sequences flowed smoothly, although I was hoping the author would slow down on occasion and focus more clearly on the setting and details. For a time travel novel, I would have liked more descriptiveness in the places they were visiting, the machine they were in, and the Chessies, Mingus and Rell. That being said, Sugar Time by Joy V Smith is a very entertaining story that was a lot of fun to read and I’m curious to see if there is a follow up to the tale.
4 stars.
Reviewed By Ryan Jordan for Readers’ Favorite
Sugar Time by Joy V Smith is an interesting story of time travel that feels episodic in nature. It is broken into chapters that are short and detail separate purposeful trips in a time machine by Sugar, Japheth, and two Chessies named Mingus and Rell. There are other characters in the story, including Sugar’s uncle and a couple of police officers that help them in the introduction to the story, but they are minor in comparison to the main characters. Each chapter feels like a separate short story about something the group is trying to accomplish, and each is linked by circumstance. First, they are trying to clean up possible issues with the police by creating the history of an accident, then they are trying to return a dangerous person who attacked them to the correct time period he came from, and finally they go back to find out what happened to the dead people they found in the time machine. It ends with a rather sudden twist.
I enjoyed reading the novel, but it felt extremely dense. It was well written and certain sequences flowed smoothly, although I was hoping the author would slow down on occasion and focus more clearly on the setting and details. For a time travel novel, I would have liked more descriptiveness in the places they were visiting, the machine they were in, and the Chessies, Mingus and Rell. That being said, Sugar Time by Joy V Smith is a very entertaining story that was a lot of fun to read and I’m curious to see if there is a follow up to the tale.
March 2, 2016
**3.5 Stars**
This is a short read but it is packed with story!
The book is broken down into 4 sections. Each section seamlessly flows into the next but also has a mini storyline in it that is developed and wrapped up while leaving enough plot to create another mini story in the next section.
Each of these sections could have been a complete book within itself (meaning if the story were expanded, it could be part of a 4 book series).
When I first started the book, I was a bit lost and wondered if this was the second book in a series but it wasn’t. As I continued reading I realized that this was the author’s writing style for this book. She would give enough information to set the story but leave enough blanks to allow the reader to create their own hypothesis to fill in the blanks. It was kind of cool.
The author never fully explained the physical appearances of the characters. There were little tidbits throughout the book of what each looked like but left it open for the reader to come up with their own vision for each of them.
I enjoyed this story about time travel and the main character Sugar as she time hops while trying to pick up where her uncle left off in his research.
This is a short read but it is packed with story!
The book is broken down into 4 sections. Each section seamlessly flows into the next but also has a mini storyline in it that is developed and wrapped up while leaving enough plot to create another mini story in the next section.
Each of these sections could have been a complete book within itself (meaning if the story were expanded, it could be part of a 4 book series).
When I first started the book, I was a bit lost and wondered if this was the second book in a series but it wasn’t. As I continued reading I realized that this was the author’s writing style for this book. She would give enough information to set the story but leave enough blanks to allow the reader to create their own hypothesis to fill in the blanks. It was kind of cool.
The author never fully explained the physical appearances of the characters. There were little tidbits throughout the book of what each looked like but left it open for the reader to come up with their own vision for each of them.
I enjoyed this story about time travel and the main character Sugar as she time hops while trying to pick up where her uncle left off in his research.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews