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The Time Eater
When Roger Borough receives an unexpected call from a mysterious woman, he is summoned into the past by news that an old college friend is dying. When he encounters James Steiner again the floodgates of his unconscious become unlocked, releasing a deluge of memories and fears he has worked hard to forget.
But that’s not all.
Their reunion also unearths a secret, a ritual from their shared past that awakened an entity so vast, so outside of space and time, that it shattered their youthful reality.
Now that entity is back. And it is ravenous and all-devouring…
But that’s not all.
Their reunion also unearths a secret, a ritual from their shared past that awakened an entity so vast, so outside of space and time, that it shattered their youthful reality.
Now that entity is back. And it is ravenous and all-devouring…
- GenresHorrorScience Fiction
180 pages, Paperback
Published January 27, 2017
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 20, 2018
I actually only read the first 1/2 of this book; I then stopped and read the ending.
This was just a complete disappointment for me and I do consider the time I spent reading it to be wasted, something I rarely say about a book.
From the start the book was all over the place with things happening that were implausible (even within a "supernatural" horror novel) -- or just silly. There was little internal continuity to the story being told, with characters acting and behaving in ways that just made no sense.
This *could* be possibility be explained by the "ending" -- which was just senseless even for what was suppose to be, it turns out, an irrational story. It simply jumped the shark. BUT then there was ending which was followed by an Epilogue which, to me at least, meant the author was very likely going to do one of those so terribly cliché endings "BUT, WAIT...!"
Which is exactly author did. *SIGH*
I had heard some good things about this author and he certainly has an excellent literary horror background. This was the first of his writings I have read. I will likely attempt to read another work by him -- but I will certainly check the reviews of whatever of his I do read -- and also to see if I can find information about who wrote those reviews, to know their understanding of Lovecraftian fiction.
What else I have to say is that I debated between giving this book 1 or 2 stars -- and as much as I dislike giving a book 1-star, I simply could *not* justify for myself giving in 2-stars.
Ye gods, this was just terrible. Again, something I rarely say about a novel, I will say about this:
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
. . .
This was just a complete disappointment for me and I do consider the time I spent reading it to be wasted, something I rarely say about a book.
From the start the book was all over the place with things happening that were implausible (even within a "supernatural" horror novel) -- or just silly. There was little internal continuity to the story being told, with characters acting and behaving in ways that just made no sense.
This *could* be possibility be explained by the "ending" -- which was just senseless even for what was suppose to be, it turns out, an irrational story. It simply jumped the shark. BUT then there was ending which was followed by an Epilogue which, to me at least, meant the author was very likely going to do one of those so terribly cliché endings "BUT, WAIT...!"
Which is exactly author did. *SIGH*
I had heard some good things about this author and he certainly has an excellent literary horror background. This was the first of his writings I have read. I will likely attempt to read another work by him -- but I will certainly check the reviews of whatever of his I do read -- and also to see if I can find information about who wrote those reviews, to know their understanding of Lovecraftian fiction.
What else I have to say is that I debated between giving this book 1 or 2 stars -- and as much as I dislike giving a book 1-star, I simply could *not* justify for myself giving in 2-stars.
Ye gods, this was just terrible. Again, something I rarely say about a novel, I will say about this:
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
. . .
January 9, 2017
When Roger Borough receives an unexpected call from a mysterious woman, he is summoned into the past by news that an old college friend is dying. When he encounters James Steiner again the floodgates of his unconscious become unlocked, releasing a deluge of memories and fears he has worked hard to forget.
But that’s not all.
Their reunion also unearths a secret, a ritual from their shared past that awakened an entity so vast, so outside of space and time, that it shattered their youthful reality.
Now that entity is back. And it is ravenous and all-devouring…
But that’s not all.
Their reunion also unearths a secret, a ritual from their shared past that awakened an entity so vast, so outside of space and time, that it shattered their youthful reality.
Now that entity is back. And it is ravenous and all-devouring…
May 8, 2017
Four and a half stars.
Roger Boroughs and his friend James Steiner has been estranged since an incident in college when they summoned forth a strange and powerful entity they call the Time Eater. Many years later, Roger is requested by a woman named Annabelle to visit Roger, possibly for the last time since Roger is dying of a terminal illness. There is a great separation between them, much having to do with their two ex-wives as neither seemed to have really resolved their separation and hold many regrets. But Roger has discovered something even more disturbing, the Time Eater has possessed James and that may not only threaten their reality but shatter their very existence.
In The Time Eater, we basically have an exorcism story but it is not one that is typical of the usual type of demon exorcism. The demon Roger and James are confronting is a powerful entity from other dimensions or perhaps independent of all dimensions. They refer to it as a time eater because that appears to be what it mindlessly devours. Aaron J. French has cleverly combined an exorcism tale with huge chunks of Lovecraft and many other authors of the same era and before, such as Blackwood and Machen, who created a form of metaphysical horror. In the author’s prose, it comes out more like an existential horror since it questions our existence and sense of reality on our limited realm.
It can also be called psychological horror. The mindset of James and Roger, not to mention other characters, is basic to the plot and the tension. As we will see, the very identity of some of the characters become in question. French has built a sort of a Jenga game regarding the delicate interactions interaction of the protagonists It is a miracle the various twists and turns doesn’t topple them over.
In fact, I can see some readers faulting the author on this. When we get to the apparent final resolution, others may feel the need to read back and wonder if some things look a little too definitive and pat to be believable. I have called other authors on this very thing. But here it works because French has developed a very original and creative idea and placed the reader in a reality that stretches and boggles the imagination. The parameter of the story makes the reality of the characters believable even with all the twists and turns. Using an appropriate cliché, we accept it hook, line and sinker.
I have always admired Aaron J. French’s works but at the same time I wondered if he was too steeped in the esoteric to catch on, primarily the somewhat old fashioned and elusive metaphysical horror of his influences. The bio on the back pages of his book states he is pursuing a PhD in religious studies and I can’t say I’m surprised. Yet this is his best and most accessible work to date. It is the one by him I would most highly recommend.
Roger Boroughs and his friend James Steiner has been estranged since an incident in college when they summoned forth a strange and powerful entity they call the Time Eater. Many years later, Roger is requested by a woman named Annabelle to visit Roger, possibly for the last time since Roger is dying of a terminal illness. There is a great separation between them, much having to do with their two ex-wives as neither seemed to have really resolved their separation and hold many regrets. But Roger has discovered something even more disturbing, the Time Eater has possessed James and that may not only threaten their reality but shatter their very existence.
In The Time Eater, we basically have an exorcism story but it is not one that is typical of the usual type of demon exorcism. The demon Roger and James are confronting is a powerful entity from other dimensions or perhaps independent of all dimensions. They refer to it as a time eater because that appears to be what it mindlessly devours. Aaron J. French has cleverly combined an exorcism tale with huge chunks of Lovecraft and many other authors of the same era and before, such as Blackwood and Machen, who created a form of metaphysical horror. In the author’s prose, it comes out more like an existential horror since it questions our existence and sense of reality on our limited realm.
It can also be called psychological horror. The mindset of James and Roger, not to mention other characters, is basic to the plot and the tension. As we will see, the very identity of some of the characters become in question. French has built a sort of a Jenga game regarding the delicate interactions interaction of the protagonists It is a miracle the various twists and turns doesn’t topple them over.
In fact, I can see some readers faulting the author on this. When we get to the apparent final resolution, others may feel the need to read back and wonder if some things look a little too definitive and pat to be believable. I have called other authors on this very thing. But here it works because French has developed a very original and creative idea and placed the reader in a reality that stretches and boggles the imagination. The parameter of the story makes the reality of the characters believable even with all the twists and turns. Using an appropriate cliché, we accept it hook, line and sinker.
I have always admired Aaron J. French’s works but at the same time I wondered if he was too steeped in the esoteric to catch on, primarily the somewhat old fashioned and elusive metaphysical horror of his influences. The bio on the back pages of his book states he is pursuing a PhD in religious studies and I can’t say I’m surprised. Yet this is his best and most accessible work to date. It is the one by him I would most highly recommend.
May 10, 2017
Review in Booklist and on blog: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2017/05/...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews