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Black in Time
Right On! Into the time machine plunges Jomo, the black militant leader of BURN. "Revolution then" is his motto; he's going to rearrange history so the blacks get a fair shake - or, preferably, world dominance. But in another area of time, rabble-rousing white supremacist Billy Roy Whisk is also at work - fixing so the slaves are never freed. Worlds spin in and out of existence. And through the paradoxes of time, one black man is pursuing Jomo and Whisk, trying to stop them before their experiments wipe out the world - forever.
171 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
1 person is currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
John Jakes
411 books962 followersJohn William Jakes, the author of more than a dozen novels, is regarded as one of today’s most distinguished writers of historical fiction. His work includes the highly acclaimed Kent Family Chronicles series and the North and South Trilogy. Jakes’s commitment to historical accuracy and evocative storytelling earned him the title of “the godfather of historical novelists” from the Los Angeles Times and led to a streak of sixteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Jakes has received several awards for his work and is a member of the Authors Guild and the PEN American Center. He and his wife, Rachel, live on the west coast of Florida.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 22, 2008
Come on... nobody's read this book? How can you see a book with a title like that and not want to read it? I picked it up in Dublin and I have to say the bookdealer was quite impressed with my purchase.
Well, okay the book is pretty bad, but it was enjoyable. A time-traveling black militant and white racist battle each other through the ages to see which race will win supremacy. Can't go wrong with a plot like that.
Well, okay the book is pretty bad, but it was enjoyable. A time-traveling black militant and white racist battle each other through the ages to see which race will win supremacy. Can't go wrong with a plot like that.
May 28, 2023
Surprisingly kind of well done. It certainly doesn't exactly hit the sensitivities of 2023, but there is an honest effort here.
Believable dialogue, a little research, a time travel plot i didn't hate, & a rushed closer. C++
Believable dialogue, a little research, a time travel plot i didn't hate, & a rushed closer. C++
November 5, 2010
“Right On!
Into the time machine plunges Jomo, the black militant leader of BURN. "Revolution then" is his motto; he's going to rearrange history so the blacks get a fair shake- or, preferably, world dominance.
But in another area of time, rabble-rousing white supremacist Billy Roy Whisk is also at work—fixing history so the slaves are never freed.
Worlds spin in and out of existence, and through the paradoxes of time, one black man is pursuing Jomo and Whisk, trying to stop them before their experiments wipe out the world—forever”
-The Back Cover
'A black militant, a white supremacist, and a time travel device tangle in a fight to rewrite history and eternity!' -The Front Cover
1970 printing by Paperback Library. 60c cover price. 171 pages.
It's fair to assume that Black in Time is a Blaxploitation novel, even though its 1970 printing predates that cinema craze, but this assumption does it a (slight) injustice. John Jakes' book, set in the (at the time) near future of 1977, focuses more on how historical events culminated in the racial tension of 1960's America's than the time paradoxes and constant action alluded to by the back cover.
Well, there are a few small paradoxes to be unraveled in the story, but they take backseat to a string of frenetic vignettes set in the distant past, plus loads and loads of dialogue. The characters in Black in Time love to prattle on about how justified their cause is in extremely ignorant but nonetheless entertaining and colorful rhetoric. At one point, Whisk declares he is going back in time to assassinate 'Martin Luther Coon' (Page 150), to give you an example of how outrageous the conversation can be.
Black in Time, being a temporal yarn, is oftentimes not sequential, so a synopsis could be a spoiler-heavy mess. Nonetheless, here goes:
Harold is a young assistant professor who has been hand-picked by the Freylinghausen Foundation to utilize their vague time nexus in order to study, but never manipulate, certain eras of time. Doctor Freylinghausen had labored his whole life, keeping the knowledge of time travel to himself, until he could independently fund his foundation to keep it out of the hands of any government that would inevitably abuse it. Harold finds himself caught up in the racial struggle between Jomo, self appointed leader of BURN (Brothers United for Revolution Now), and Reverend Billy Roy Whisk of the All-American Apostolic Fellowship of the USA. These two groups have obvious real world counterparts, but in this story, both are more militant and set for immediate, all out war. Whisk and Jomo alike are looking to make their respective races completely dominant by using Harold and the Freylinghausen Nexus. Oh yeah, and they each have very busty girlfriends who follow them around and back up their ideologies when needed, making it even more obvious that Jomo and Whisk are racial parallels.
The story isn't all moral outrage and bluster, though, as it does attempt to tackle the often raised questions regarding race and time travel. Harold spends the first half of the book being blackmailed to help either one of these maniacs, and the second half using his knowledge of time travel and history to stop them from killing Ben Franklin, Mohammed, and baby Richard Pryor. (OK, I made that last one up.)
Unfortunately almost all of the plans devised by the two opposing racialists involve assassination, so this novel gets repetitive pretty quickly in its second half, the only exceptions being a few obscure historical references. Jakes' obviously did his research when looking for times and locales into which he could weave his story, foreshadowing his eventual jump into historical fiction in his subsequent work.
In the end, Black in Time is just trashy enough to kill mainstream appeal but not trashy enough to garner a weirdo cult following, leaving it in pulp novel limbo.
Oh yeah, don’t read Black in Time if you cringe after reading a few N-bombs. Its usage is abundant, to say the least.
pulpaweek.blogspot.com
Into the time machine plunges Jomo, the black militant leader of BURN. "Revolution then" is his motto; he's going to rearrange history so the blacks get a fair shake- or, preferably, world dominance.
But in another area of time, rabble-rousing white supremacist Billy Roy Whisk is also at work—fixing history so the slaves are never freed.
Worlds spin in and out of existence, and through the paradoxes of time, one black man is pursuing Jomo and Whisk, trying to stop them before their experiments wipe out the world—forever”
-The Back Cover
'A black militant, a white supremacist, and a time travel device tangle in a fight to rewrite history and eternity!' -The Front Cover
1970 printing by Paperback Library. 60c cover price. 171 pages.
It's fair to assume that Black in Time is a Blaxploitation novel, even though its 1970 printing predates that cinema craze, but this assumption does it a (slight) injustice. John Jakes' book, set in the (at the time) near future of 1977, focuses more on how historical events culminated in the racial tension of 1960's America's than the time paradoxes and constant action alluded to by the back cover.
Well, there are a few small paradoxes to be unraveled in the story, but they take backseat to a string of frenetic vignettes set in the distant past, plus loads and loads of dialogue. The characters in Black in Time love to prattle on about how justified their cause is in extremely ignorant but nonetheless entertaining and colorful rhetoric. At one point, Whisk declares he is going back in time to assassinate 'Martin Luther Coon' (Page 150), to give you an example of how outrageous the conversation can be.
Black in Time, being a temporal yarn, is oftentimes not sequential, so a synopsis could be a spoiler-heavy mess. Nonetheless, here goes:
Harold is a young assistant professor who has been hand-picked by the Freylinghausen Foundation to utilize their vague time nexus in order to study, but never manipulate, certain eras of time. Doctor Freylinghausen had labored his whole life, keeping the knowledge of time travel to himself, until he could independently fund his foundation to keep it out of the hands of any government that would inevitably abuse it. Harold finds himself caught up in the racial struggle between Jomo, self appointed leader of BURN (Brothers United for Revolution Now), and Reverend Billy Roy Whisk of the All-American Apostolic Fellowship of the USA. These two groups have obvious real world counterparts, but in this story, both are more militant and set for immediate, all out war. Whisk and Jomo alike are looking to make their respective races completely dominant by using Harold and the Freylinghausen Nexus. Oh yeah, and they each have very busty girlfriends who follow them around and back up their ideologies when needed, making it even more obvious that Jomo and Whisk are racial parallels.
The story isn't all moral outrage and bluster, though, as it does attempt to tackle the often raised questions regarding race and time travel. Harold spends the first half of the book being blackmailed to help either one of these maniacs, and the second half using his knowledge of time travel and history to stop them from killing Ben Franklin, Mohammed, and baby Richard Pryor. (OK, I made that last one up.)
Unfortunately almost all of the plans devised by the two opposing racialists involve assassination, so this novel gets repetitive pretty quickly in its second half, the only exceptions being a few obscure historical references. Jakes' obviously did his research when looking for times and locales into which he could weave his story, foreshadowing his eventual jump into historical fiction in his subsequent work.
In the end, Black in Time is just trashy enough to kill mainstream appeal but not trashy enough to garner a weirdo cult following, leaving it in pulp novel limbo.
Oh yeah, don’t read Black in Time if you cringe after reading a few N-bombs. Its usage is abundant, to say the least.
pulpaweek.blogspot.com
July 1, 2009
Ouch. Writen in 1970, and with a title of 'black in time' you expect exploitation but this is rather rank. Especially as an early work of a writer who had a real writing career. Yep the plot is some black militants, a black professor, and a white supremist muck about with a time machine trying to change history, and kill each other, yep, reckon so. Its pedantic, offensive, painful, and not enough time machine wankery. Its really really bad. No, really.
December 18, 2017
Quattro stelle e mezzo! Se non fosse stato per il finale un po' troppo approssimativo, il romanzo sarebbe stato un vero e proprio capolavoro, a mio avviso!
Salti temporali attraverso il "Nexus", stravolgimenti storici, un futuro (per noi passato) che si tinge di "nero", il nero di una pelle che diventa padrona e intollerante, un po' come il nostro attuale e "bianco" mondo.
Toccate e fuga in decine di epoche storiche diverse, dai romani al XVIII secolo, e così via.
Bello, bello. Peccato che 'sti romanzi si trovino solo in versione Urania (e quindi sono anche abbastanza ricercati, a dirla tutta)
Salti temporali attraverso il "Nexus", stravolgimenti storici, un futuro (per noi passato) che si tinge di "nero", il nero di una pelle che diventa padrona e intollerante, un po' come il nostro attuale e "bianco" mondo.
Toccate e fuga in decine di epoche storiche diverse, dai romani al XVIII secolo, e così via.
Bello, bello. Peccato che 'sti romanzi si trovino solo in versione Urania (e quindi sono anche abbastanza ricercati, a dirla tutta)
November 12, 2021
2½. Jakes is "very proud" to have written this book, and pride is a sin. John Jakes will go to hell. A science fiction novel about time traveling through black history is an original concept, insofar as time travel can be "original," but most of the novel is disappointingly prosaic. Of course, what should I have expected from John fucking Jakes? The climax, though, is wicked and worth the wait.
September 8, 2024
Carina l'idea, la storia però diventa presto abbastanza ripetitiva e questo appesantisce la lettura.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2013
Wow, John Jakes; you let me down.
I was expecting a fantastic novel about the struggle of the oppressed black man versus the oppressive white man and how through ingenious techniques and usage of time travel the black man would reduce the oppressive storm of white society to a small blustery wind on a cool summer's day.
Instead I got... I got a piece of shit novel. I mean, it wasn't bad but it wasn't any good either. I read pulp fiction. This could have been written by a ten year old, and I'm not sure I'd notice the difference.
If it was meant to be funny, well it sure as hell failed that one too.
Why did I even finish this book. What a waste of my time.
I was expecting a fantastic novel about the struggle of the oppressed black man versus the oppressive white man and how through ingenious techniques and usage of time travel the black man would reduce the oppressive storm of white society to a small blustery wind on a cool summer's day.
Instead I got... I got a piece of shit novel. I mean, it wasn't bad but it wasn't any good either. I read pulp fiction. This could have been written by a ten year old, and I'm not sure I'd notice the difference.
If it was meant to be funny, well it sure as hell failed that one too.
Why did I even finish this book. What a waste of my time.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews