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Pilot X
What would happen if a time traveler lived in a world where time could not easily be changed and if it was changed, it might destroy everything but himself?
Pilot X just wants to fly a time ship. Specifically the Verity. But the Guardians of Alenda, rulers of his people, throw him in the middle of a time war. When he makes peace they don’t seem pleased. In fact, his own people treat him like the enemy.
See the book trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHmPs...
Pilot X was Tom Merritt’s National Novel Writing Month project in November 2014. Tom Merritt is the host of several podcasts about tech and geeky things.
Pilot X just wants to fly a time ship. Specifically the Verity. But the Guardians of Alenda, rulers of his people, throw him in the middle of a time war. When he makes peace they don’t seem pleased. In fact, his own people treat him like the enemy.
See the book trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHmPs...
Pilot X was Tom Merritt’s National Novel Writing Month project in November 2014. Tom Merritt is the host of several podcasts about tech and geeky things.
7 pages, Audible Audio
First published March 14, 2017
65 people are currently reading
1779 people want to read
About the author
Tom Merritt
34 books1,780 followersTom Merritt is a technology journalist and broadcaster. Tom has previously worked at TechTV, CNET and TWiT. He currently hosts the Sword and Laser book club podcast, Daily Tech News Show, Current Geek and Cordkillers among others.
photo by Andrew Mager
photo by Andrew Mager
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
April 2, 2017
Executive Summary: A fun, quick read that fans of Doctor Who or classic Science Fiction will probably enjoy.
Audiobook: I was unfamiliar with Kevin T. Collins prior to listening to this book, but I'll be keeping an eye out for him in the future. He reads clearly at good volume and does a few voices as well. Tom lucked out with a good narrator who added a little something extra to the book.
Full Review
For what it's worth, I've been a member of Tom's online book club Sword & Laser for nearly 5 years, and helping to moderate the group for the last 2.5 years.
Tom might be better known for his work as a tech blogger and podcaster, but to me he's always been someone whose opinions on Science Fiction I've come to value. I picked this book up once I saw that I could get it in audio because I wanted to support Tom, but I seem to have very little time to read lately.
I know Tom has dabbled in writing on and off, especially during Nanowrimo, and that shows here. I haven't read any of his previous works, but this book is well written. Tom does a good job of showing and not telling, which is especially important to me in a book this short.
There are some big ideas about Time Travel, and he is consistent within his own rules for how it works, without spending too much time getting into the "science". This is the kind of big idea, little detail story I tend to associate with older Science Fiction stories.
Oddly, I don't tend to enjoy much classic Science Fiction because I tend to prefer more detailed world building. However I felt this book does a good job in packing in world building as the story progresses. There is a lot of room for imagination, but you're provided enough detail for framing the story he's trying to tell.
The one place I felt was a bit lacking was the characters. There isn't a ton of character development with Pilot X, and apart from the ship Verity and maybe the Secretary, most of the characters feel thin/disposable. I would have liked to read more about the after math of Pilot X's decision than we got.
The book has a bit of a Doctor Who feel, which isn't surprising as Tom has discussed how his inspiration for this book stemmed from that show's own Time War. However Pilot X doesn't feel like the Doctor. Or at least not any of the Doctor's I'm familiar with.
This book does a good job at borrowing an idea from Doctor Who while being it's own thing. I'm glad that I picked it up, and figure that I'll be able to tell people I followed Tom Merritt before he became a successful writer.
Audiobook: I was unfamiliar with Kevin T. Collins prior to listening to this book, but I'll be keeping an eye out for him in the future. He reads clearly at good volume and does a few voices as well. Tom lucked out with a good narrator who added a little something extra to the book.
Full Review
For what it's worth, I've been a member of Tom's online book club Sword & Laser for nearly 5 years, and helping to moderate the group for the last 2.5 years.
Tom might be better known for his work as a tech blogger and podcaster, but to me he's always been someone whose opinions on Science Fiction I've come to value. I picked this book up once I saw that I could get it in audio because I wanted to support Tom, but I seem to have very little time to read lately.
I know Tom has dabbled in writing on and off, especially during Nanowrimo, and that shows here. I haven't read any of his previous works, but this book is well written. Tom does a good job of showing and not telling, which is especially important to me in a book this short.
There are some big ideas about Time Travel, and he is consistent within his own rules for how it works, without spending too much time getting into the "science". This is the kind of big idea, little detail story I tend to associate with older Science Fiction stories.
Oddly, I don't tend to enjoy much classic Science Fiction because I tend to prefer more detailed world building. However I felt this book does a good job in packing in world building as the story progresses. There is a lot of room for imagination, but you're provided enough detail for framing the story he's trying to tell.
The one place I felt was a bit lacking was the characters. There isn't a ton of character development with Pilot X, and apart from the ship Verity and maybe the Secretary, most of the characters feel thin/disposable. I would have liked to read more about the after math of Pilot X's decision than we got.
The book has a bit of a Doctor Who feel, which isn't surprising as Tom has discussed how his inspiration for this book stemmed from that show's own Time War. However Pilot X doesn't feel like the Doctor. Or at least not any of the Doctor's I'm familiar with.
This book does a good job at borrowing an idea from Doctor Who while being it's own thing. I'm glad that I picked it up, and figure that I'll be able to tell people I followed Tom Merritt before he became a successful writer.
July 12, 2017
My initial reaction to Pilot X was that I loved it. However, something didn't sit well with me. I kept wanting to give it three or four stars instead of five.
The story lacks a lot of the modern mainstays of science fiction. There's no bickering crew on the Verity. No love triangle. Pilot X is a little sarcastic and a hint acerbic but he's not the worn out, wisecracking badass of every book. He's not a weathered idealist who's lost his way in a cold and uncaring universe.
The world of Pilot X isn't what I'm used to seeing in current scifi either. There's no underdog fighting a powerful empire. No complex family dynamics amongst the characters. We don't dig through the trash of every organization to find whatever deep and dark secret they're hiding.
In short, Pilot X felt strange because it wasn't like every other scifi novel currently crowding the shelves of bookstores. Yet, it felt familiar.
That's because it is. Pilot X is of a breed of science fiction we don't see much anymore. Merritt has proven his worth writing political science fiction in the past (Citadel 32) and there is a definitely a layer of that covering Pilot X, but at it's core, this is a story that juggles with concepts and plays around with possibilities.
Merritt manages to stitch together three ideas of civilizations that each approach time travel in a completely different way. He plays around with causality in interesting ways while staying clear of the typical Deus Ex Machina and/or paradoxes we often associate with tales of time travel.
While I'm usually one to enjoy a deep character exploration, and Pilot X takes a rather superficial approach to that, it was refreshing to go back to a time when science fiction was about pushing the boundaries and if I look at Merritt's story through the prism of Asimov or Bradbury, what I see is damn near a masterpiece.
This book isn't clever. It's smart. And we need more smart books.
The story lacks a lot of the modern mainstays of science fiction. There's no bickering crew on the Verity. No love triangle. Pilot X is a little sarcastic and a hint acerbic but he's not the worn out, wisecracking badass of every book. He's not a weathered idealist who's lost his way in a cold and uncaring universe.
The world of Pilot X isn't what I'm used to seeing in current scifi either. There's no underdog fighting a powerful empire. No complex family dynamics amongst the characters. We don't dig through the trash of every organization to find whatever deep and dark secret they're hiding.
In short, Pilot X felt strange because it wasn't like every other scifi novel currently crowding the shelves of bookstores. Yet, it felt familiar.
That's because it is. Pilot X is of a breed of science fiction we don't see much anymore. Merritt has proven his worth writing political science fiction in the past (Citadel 32) and there is a definitely a layer of that covering Pilot X, but at it's core, this is a story that juggles with concepts and plays around with possibilities.
Merritt manages to stitch together three ideas of civilizations that each approach time travel in a completely different way. He plays around with causality in interesting ways while staying clear of the typical Deus Ex Machina and/or paradoxes we often associate with tales of time travel.
While I'm usually one to enjoy a deep character exploration, and Pilot X takes a rather superficial approach to that, it was refreshing to go back to a time when science fiction was about pushing the boundaries and if I look at Merritt's story through the prism of Asimov or Bradbury, what I see is damn near a masterpiece.
This book isn't clever. It's smart. And we need more smart books.
June 26, 2017
First I am a fan of "Sword and Laser" so seeing Tom Merritt had written a book I was more then curious.
"Pilot X" is more like classic Sci-Fi, I see a lot of people mentioning Dr. Who, and I can see that comparing at least two races to other races we have come to know through Dr. Who.
Where it diverts is with Verity the Ship that Pilot X is assigned to.
But lets go back to the book. "X" is a member to the Alenda a race that has reached its pinnacle and seems to be coasting now in the Universe. They are capable of Time travel. However they are not the only race that can do this. Two other races are able to Move thru time. The Progons and the Sensaurians are bitter enemies of the Alendans, but as with any kid in the park they have to show muscle and keep attempt to outdo each other around the Universe. This is what Pilot X has to deal with. One curious and interesting thing. Alendans carry at least two names. First their work title and then their given name. So Pilot X is a Pilot (of Verity a time ship) and his name is X. As Pilot X is assigned more missions he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a situation that forces his hand. His actions earn him a little fame and undeniable credibility as an Ambassador. He joins the Diplomatic Corps. and embarks in an ever growing number of difficult missions. All leading to the introductory phrase "I have changed what could not be changed and I have destroyed everything"
Highly recommended.
"Pilot X" is more like classic Sci-Fi, I see a lot of people mentioning Dr. Who, and I can see that comparing at least two races to other races we have come to know through Dr. Who.
Where it diverts is with Verity the Ship that Pilot X is assigned to.
But lets go back to the book. "X" is a member to the Alenda a race that has reached its pinnacle and seems to be coasting now in the Universe. They are capable of Time travel. However they are not the only race that can do this. Two other races are able to Move thru time. The Progons and the Sensaurians are bitter enemies of the Alendans, but as with any kid in the park they have to show muscle and keep attempt to outdo each other around the Universe. This is what Pilot X has to deal with. One curious and interesting thing. Alendans carry at least two names. First their work title and then their given name. So Pilot X is a Pilot (of Verity a time ship) and his name is X. As Pilot X is assigned more missions he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a situation that forces his hand. His actions earn him a little fame and undeniable credibility as an Ambassador. He joins the Diplomatic Corps. and embarks in an ever growing number of difficult missions. All leading to the introductory phrase "I have changed what could not be changed and I have destroyed everything"
Highly recommended.
July 3, 2017
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Sarcastic main character tools around the cosmos in his time machine (that's bigger on the inside) and is, thanks to a universe-spanning war, the last of an alien race of time travelers. A charitable view would be that Tom Merritt takes inspiration from Doctor Who. A less charitable view would be that Tom Merritt should probably be expecting a cease and desist letter from the BBC any day now.
Ultimately, this is a okay book that's short enough not to overstay its welcome, but is clearly the effort of a new author.
The plot starts with Pilot X already the last of his kind and popping into another race's space station to tell the story of his people. This structure does the book a real disservice as it robs the entire thing of any stakes - it immediately gives away the ending and throws cold water on any confrontations.
What follows is the rise of Pilot X, an omnicompetent protagonist that has a series of timey-whimey adventures to try and help bring peace between his species, a hive-mind of not-Borg, and a race of machine people. The aliens he encounters are interesting in a transitory way, but there are no characters that are even given a two-dimensional treatment. Pilot X is no exception to this as he has no personal life, no relationships and no real motivations beyond wanting to tool around the cosmos in his talking time machine. Uninteresting characters, combined with the drama-robbing plot structure, lead to very little emotional impact.
The stakes ratchet down even further once a certain device is mentioned. At this point, the entirety of the plot is laid bare and the whole book just becomes a mechanical exercise of trudging to the inevitable finale. On the one hand, I don't want to spoil the book by saying more. But on the other, the book does a pretty effective job of spoiling itself at every opportunity.
Some of the time travel bits are interesting, but they're just not enough to support an entire plot. In looking back, the plot just doesn't seem to hang together, and could've used another editing pass and maybe some additional connecting tissue between events.
Ultimately, this is a okay book that's short enough not to overstay its welcome, but is clearly the effort of a new author.
The plot starts with Pilot X already the last of his kind and popping into another race's space station to tell the story of his people. This structure does the book a real disservice as it robs the entire thing of any stakes - it immediately gives away the ending and throws cold water on any confrontations.
What follows is the rise of Pilot X, an omnicompetent protagonist that has a series of timey-whimey adventures to try and help bring peace between his species, a hive-mind of not-Borg, and a race of machine people. The aliens he encounters are interesting in a transitory way, but there are no characters that are even given a two-dimensional treatment. Pilot X is no exception to this as he has no personal life, no relationships and no real motivations beyond wanting to tool around the cosmos in his talking time machine. Uninteresting characters, combined with the drama-robbing plot structure, lead to very little emotional impact.
The stakes ratchet down even further once a certain device is mentioned. At this point, the entirety of the plot is laid bare and the whole book just becomes a mechanical exercise of trudging to the inevitable finale. On the one hand, I don't want to spoil the book by saying more. But on the other, the book does a pretty effective job of spoiling itself at every opportunity.
Some of the time travel bits are interesting, but they're just not enough to support an entire plot. In looking back, the plot just doesn't seem to hang together, and could've used another editing pass and maybe some additional connecting tissue between events.
May 21, 2018
This is just terrible. I really wanted to like it as I have followed Tom for many years on CNET, TWit, Daily Tech News, etc as well as his excellent (Hugo nominated) Sword and Laser podcast with Veronica Belmont. But I had to Lem it. S&L fans know what that means. Didn't quite get half way. My stomach was tightening up with each stupid twist. Literally tightening up and not the literally that means figuratively.
Pilot X is a time travel space opera with plenty of ideas but lacking the skill to explore them in a compelling fashion. It has a fifties or sixties vibe in that all the characters are cardboard cutouts. X comes to very sudden conclusions that are unearned. He knows too much, too fast.
There is a lot of review chat about the resemblance to Dr. Who. I have watched exactly one episode of the original Dr. The truth or falsity of those claims have nothing to do with my feelings about X.
It does remind me a bit of Lensman series. If you love that kind of stuff then please give this a try. I'd like Tom to have some good feedback. I do not like the Lensman and suggest you stay away, far away.
Pilot X is a time travel space opera with plenty of ideas but lacking the skill to explore them in a compelling fashion. It has a fifties or sixties vibe in that all the characters are cardboard cutouts. X comes to very sudden conclusions that are unearned. He knows too much, too fast.
There is a lot of review chat about the resemblance to Dr. Who. I have watched exactly one episode of the original Dr. The truth or falsity of those claims have nothing to do with my feelings about X.
It does remind me a bit of Lensman series. If you love that kind of stuff then please give this a try. I'd like Tom to have some good feedback. I do not like the Lensman and suggest you stay away, far away.
July 30, 2018
Pilot X is a time traveler. This is the story about his journey that ends up with him as the last surviving Alendan in the universe.
Pilot X reminds me of classic sci-fi stories. A lot of great ideas and an interesting plot but rather thin characters (reminiscent of Philip K. Dick. It also thankfully lacks the sexism and racism). Tom Merritt was inspired to write this book because of Doctor Who and the influence is clearly felt throughout. I generally enjoyed Pilot X as a character, even though he is rather one-dimensional and kind of a passive character. Things happen to him more than him instigating the plot.
Merritt certainly created a fun universe that feels very lived-in. Time is appropriately timey-wimey and wibbly-wobbly but not confusing for the reader. I really want more stories told in this world. Even with slightly less-than-compelling characters, I really enjoyed the novel.
B-
Pilot X reminds me of classic sci-fi stories. A lot of great ideas and an interesting plot but rather thin characters (reminiscent of Philip K. Dick. It also thankfully lacks the sexism and racism). Tom Merritt was inspired to write this book because of Doctor Who and the influence is clearly felt throughout. I generally enjoyed Pilot X as a character, even though he is rather one-dimensional and kind of a passive character. Things happen to him more than him instigating the plot.
Merritt certainly created a fun universe that feels very lived-in. Time is appropriately timey-wimey and wibbly-wobbly but not confusing for the reader. I really want more stories told in this world. Even with slightly less-than-compelling characters, I really enjoyed the novel.
B-
July 22, 2017
Consider someone relating a long story to you, perhaps one being fabricated on the spot. At various points, they spend an inordinate amount of time embellishing minutiae that has little relevance. Then they rush ahead, leaving wide gaps in the story. Dialog is colloquial, bordering on droll, yet weak and stilted. Character names change minute to minute. And finally, it's a story about time travel, where past, present and future swap places constantly, never once settling. It's a disorienting and frustrating experience.
Note to self: Stay away from books written by tech journalists whose career requires they invest the majority of their time producing and hosting a daily news show. The "spare-time writer" bouquet is quite evident in this book.
Note to self: Stay away from books written by tech journalists whose career requires they invest the majority of their time producing and hosting a daily news show. The "spare-time writer" bouquet is quite evident in this book.
October 15, 2020
Sehr coole Idee, aber manchmal etwas holprige Umsetzung. Die ganzen Erwähnungen der Erde waren etwas nervig und die emotionale Fallweite hat sich nicht so hoch angefühlt wie sie sein sollte, aber das Ende war sehr schön und klug gemacht im Bezug auf den Anfang.
September 28, 2017
A time hopping adventure that is an obvious homage to Dr Who. Surprisingly the story manages to skirt all the usual tropes associated with time paradoxes but manages include quite a bit of humor that only works with time travel novels. The "go and complete this one year mission and meet me back here in 20 minutes" type.
There is an underlying story that is foreshadowed right at the beginning so you know where it's going right from the start. I was half expecting that to turn into a red herring.
Decent book from a new author and hope he follows this up. Even with this way this ended a sequel is always possible with time travel.
There is an underlying story that is foreshadowed right at the beginning so you know where it's going right from the start. I was half expecting that to turn into a red herring.
Decent book from a new author and hope he follows this up. Even with this way this ended a sequel is always possible with time travel.
December 5, 2016
A playground for lovers of Time Travel
Review to come on Fantasy Faction.
Review to come on Fantasy Faction.
September 21, 2017
The Alendans are the only race that has truly mastered time travel. Pilot X is happy that he gets to pilot one of the Alendan time traveling ships, and is particularly happy with the artificial intelligence assigned on that ship. However, one of the most senior ambassadors has asked Pilot X to become Ambassador X (Alendans use a title and single name, those with no position are simply called Citizen [given name]) and to try to negotiate a peace between two other races. These are the Progons, a race of machines who can communicate with the past, and Sensaurians, a kind of jelly-like entity able to communicate within their hive mind to any time in the past or future.
Ambassador X is told that these two races are determined to destroy a fixed time point, which would create a disturbance through the entire universe. What follows is a pleasantly bizarre series of time traveling events to serve the goal of stopping the two races before they can act. Merritt manages some mind boggling time sequences, such as Pilot X landing on a planet in a primitive point in its development to train with a retired Ambassador who lives like a hermit. While his companion waits in the ship X is detained for three cycles of twelve years, each new cycle introducing another instance of himself, until he can fully absorb the languages and skills he'll need for his mission. He finally goes back to his companion in what seems like a short time for her but in which he's aged a dozen years.
Merritt's time manipulations generally work well (despite the paradoxes) as X travels through time, sometimes returning back to nearly the same time, to try to save the universe. Sometimes the shifts are a bit hard to follow. Meanwhile, as he travels, he begins falling in love with the ship's AI, which is slowly developing a sense of humor. He also learns that he's actually been drawn into a sinister conspiracy with the expectation that what he will really accomplish is the opposite of what he thought he was doing.
It's a universe of interesting and unique aliens written with humor and quite a bit of action. The most human-like race, the Alendans, have a complex culture, including a group that refuses to travel through time in order to keep watch on the universe in its natural sequence of events.
The book as a whole is a fun read with a bitter-sweet ending which, appropriately, is hinted at in the opening of the book. It's the most "Dr. Who-ish" book I've run into without actually involving The Doctor.
Ambassador X is told that these two races are determined to destroy a fixed time point, which would create a disturbance through the entire universe. What follows is a pleasantly bizarre series of time traveling events to serve the goal of stopping the two races before they can act. Merritt manages some mind boggling time sequences, such as Pilot X landing on a planet in a primitive point in its development to train with a retired Ambassador who lives like a hermit. While his companion waits in the ship X is detained for three cycles of twelve years, each new cycle introducing another instance of himself, until he can fully absorb the languages and skills he'll need for his mission. He finally goes back to his companion in what seems like a short time for her but in which he's aged a dozen years.
Merritt's time manipulations generally work well (despite the paradoxes) as X travels through time, sometimes returning back to nearly the same time, to try to save the universe. Sometimes the shifts are a bit hard to follow. Meanwhile, as he travels, he begins falling in love with the ship's AI, which is slowly developing a sense of humor. He also learns that he's actually been drawn into a sinister conspiracy with the expectation that what he will really accomplish is the opposite of what he thought he was doing.
It's a universe of interesting and unique aliens written with humor and quite a bit of action. The most human-like race, the Alendans, have a complex culture, including a group that refuses to travel through time in order to keep watch on the universe in its natural sequence of events.
The book as a whole is a fun read with a bitter-sweet ending which, appropriately, is hinted at in the opening of the book. It's the most "Dr. Who-ish" book I've run into without actually involving The Doctor.
March 17, 2017
Fun romp through time and space... I am not a Dr Who aficionado, but I guess that is not required to thoroughly enjoy Pilot X. Imaginative, thoughtful, and fast moving.
April 21, 2017
Pilot X is a new science fiction novel by Tom Merritt being released today, March 14, 2017. This is a fun, fast read, perfect for a lazy weekend. Which, incidentally, is exactly when I read this book.
So what did I think of it?
Well, first, it’s fun.
In this book we follow our main character, Pilot X, as he flies through space and time in his ship Verity while rising through the ranks of his home planet. Pilot X is an Alendan, a race of humanoid beings who have mastered the art of time travel who have dedicated their lives to preserving proper timelines and overall policing of the galaxy. Many years are spent by Pilot X brokering peace with the Alendan’s longtime enemies, the Sensaurians and the Progons. Only, it was a false peace Pilot X was unwittingly brokering. There are deeper, hidden motives and the entire fabric of reality is threatened by a devastating war hidden from the entire galaxy.
The prose is straightforward, not flowery or very descriptive. If you are looking for long, beautiful paragraphs about the scenery, this book isn’t for you. However, if you’re looking for a fast paced adventure through time and space with direct and at times humorous prose, this is the book for you. Concerning the text and layout, there were a few section breaks which I had to question. The oddest editorial choice as far as sections breaks go was in the middle of a scene. There was no chapter break, just a section break where the story went immediately back to the same scene mere seconds after the last line of the previous section. Now, I did get an early copy, so there is a chance that this was changed for the final edition. However, I did notice this occurring more than once.
For better or worse, the story is reminiscent of Doctor Who. And I mean very reminiscent.
The Alendans are, basically, Time Lords. Their worries are fairly aligned with traditional Time Lord concerns. You know, preserving fixed points in time and the like. There are a couple of wonderful scenes where Pilot X confronts his enemies with small speeches of the sort the Doctor uses.
So, it might not be overly original. But it was still tons of fun. Things get a little ‘timey-wimey’ in a few places. I was a bit confused by the logic and surprisingly non-paradox inducing scene where Pilox X spends a total of four years with two other versions of himself. Hard sci-fi this is not.
While I did enjoy this novel, it did take me some time to get into this novel. I think part of this is the main character. Pilot X definitely had much more personality in the latter half of the book. Now, I understand why this is, and I actually rather admire the author for constructing the character this way. We follow Pilot X over the course of many years. The character development within that time is palpable, particularly in his personality. Heck, even Verity’s AI system has character development.
Still, I did enjoy reading about the person Pilot X became more as opposed to the person he started out as.
So. Do I recommend this book? Yeah. If you’re looking for a sci-fi adventure story to read on your commute or a deep space time travel novel to pass the time until a new season of Doctor Who comes out (it feels like it’s been ages since we’ve gotten a new season of that show) then you should pick up a copy of Pilot X. If you want a little more description in your novels, or if frequent section breaks make text difficult to read for you then this book may not be exactly what you’re looking for.
This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads.
This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
So what did I think of it?
Well, first, it’s fun.
In this book we follow our main character, Pilot X, as he flies through space and time in his ship Verity while rising through the ranks of his home planet. Pilot X is an Alendan, a race of humanoid beings who have mastered the art of time travel who have dedicated their lives to preserving proper timelines and overall policing of the galaxy. Many years are spent by Pilot X brokering peace with the Alendan’s longtime enemies, the Sensaurians and the Progons. Only, it was a false peace Pilot X was unwittingly brokering. There are deeper, hidden motives and the entire fabric of reality is threatened by a devastating war hidden from the entire galaxy.
The prose is straightforward, not flowery or very descriptive. If you are looking for long, beautiful paragraphs about the scenery, this book isn’t for you. However, if you’re looking for a fast paced adventure through time and space with direct and at times humorous prose, this is the book for you. Concerning the text and layout, there were a few section breaks which I had to question. The oddest editorial choice as far as sections breaks go was in the middle of a scene. There was no chapter break, just a section break where the story went immediately back to the same scene mere seconds after the last line of the previous section. Now, I did get an early copy, so there is a chance that this was changed for the final edition. However, I did notice this occurring more than once.
For better or worse, the story is reminiscent of Doctor Who. And I mean very reminiscent.
The Alendans are, basically, Time Lords. Their worries are fairly aligned with traditional Time Lord concerns. You know, preserving fixed points in time and the like. There are a couple of wonderful scenes where Pilot X confronts his enemies with small speeches of the sort the Doctor uses.
So, it might not be overly original. But it was still tons of fun. Things get a little ‘timey-wimey’ in a few places. I was a bit confused by the logic and surprisingly non-paradox inducing scene where Pilox X spends a total of four years with two other versions of himself. Hard sci-fi this is not.
While I did enjoy this novel, it did take me some time to get into this novel. I think part of this is the main character. Pilot X definitely had much more personality in the latter half of the book. Now, I understand why this is, and I actually rather admire the author for constructing the character this way. We follow Pilot X over the course of many years. The character development within that time is palpable, particularly in his personality. Heck, even Verity’s AI system has character development.
Still, I did enjoy reading about the person Pilot X became more as opposed to the person he started out as.
So. Do I recommend this book? Yeah. If you’re looking for a sci-fi adventure story to read on your commute or a deep space time travel novel to pass the time until a new season of Doctor Who comes out (it feels like it’s been ages since we’ve gotten a new season of that show) then you should pick up a copy of Pilot X. If you want a little more description in your novels, or if frequent section breaks make text difficult to read for you then this book may not be exactly what you’re looking for.
This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads.
This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 21, 2017
Eh, I'm not going to finish this one. I got the audiobook for like $3.00 awhile back and figured, "why not?" but I'm probably going ask for my $3.00 back because the narrator is completely killing it for me with his inexplicable use of a cheesy Transylvanian accent for one of the alien races, not to mention the fact that at the beginning he was spelling out everyone's names (who cares?), but then just completely stopped doing that after the first chapter or so.
I would switch to the print version, but honestly? Almost 2 hours in and I still am not even remotely interested enough to bother. The main character has no personality, the entire thing seems to be event-driven, but we're told at the very beginning how the events turn out, and just...nothing seems remotely original or at all surprising. As others have said, it's basically like thinly-disguised Doctor Who fan fiction, but a lot about Doctor Who seriously bores me (sorry!), so that just isn't enough of a draw to keep me going. I have no idea who Tom Merritt is either; he seems to be the reason many people wanted to read this in the first place.
I mean, this definitely isn't the worst thing I've (tried to) read, but it's clearly just not my kinda sci-fi. If you really like Doctor Who, silly action and light character development though, you'll most likely be fine.
I would switch to the print version, but honestly? Almost 2 hours in and I still am not even remotely interested enough to bother. The main character has no personality, the entire thing seems to be event-driven, but we're told at the very beginning how the events turn out, and just...nothing seems remotely original or at all surprising. As others have said, it's basically like thinly-disguised Doctor Who fan fiction, but a lot about Doctor Who seriously bores me (sorry!), so that just isn't enough of a draw to keep me going. I have no idea who Tom Merritt is either; he seems to be the reason many people wanted to read this in the first place.
I mean, this definitely isn't the worst thing I've (tried to) read, but it's clearly just not my kinda sci-fi. If you really like Doctor Who, silly action and light character development though, you'll most likely be fine.
December 27, 2019
This is a weird sketchy bootleg Doctor Who knockoff. Complete with an obvious plot, no character depth, and a boring main character.
March 1, 2017
This is a hard book to review, and not only because I have a lot of respect for Tom Merritt from years listening to Sword and Laser.
First off, I love the premise of the story. A Time Lord-type race struggling in a shadowy, dimensional war with two other races whose influence spans the length and breadth of time and space. We experience this war through the eyes of Pilot/Ambassador/instructor X, who we are told throughout the novel is an important figure in the war. Merritt somehow manages to write the story of a civilization that experiences time non-linearly in a way that makes sense to the viewer. I've read a few time travel stories that made me hate the genre, so I'm glad I got a much better impression in this novel.
My main issue with the book, however, is there's a lot of telling of the importance of this Pilot X, but I never really saw evidence of his importance and prestige until the very end. Now, I'm the first person to tell you that I read very fast, sometimes at the expense of the pacing that the author intends, so it might have been my fault as much as Merritt's, but much of the book seemed like an extended montage of the life and time of Pilot X's life. I couldn't get immersed into the story and none of the significant moments had the weight that I wanted them to. I only knew they were important because, again, someone told me after the fact.
Merritt is obviously an expert at worldbuilding, there's so much that I feel could have been done with the worlds and characters. Just reading through the glossary, I know that there are entire civilizations hiding in Merritt's head, fully fleshed out. I can easily imagine whole chapters of worldbuilding and explanation being cut out for the sake of brevity and clarity of the story (which in fairness, clarity is difficult with a time-travel story, and Pilot X accomplished that). If my suspicions are correct, I would have loved to read a larger story in this universe, maybe one that was left on the cutting room floor.
I did like the book though, and I will always support one of my favorite podcasters and general nerd culture celebrity.
4/5 stars, it's a short book that integrates time travel in a way that doesn't leave me with a migraine. Recommended.
First off, I love the premise of the story. A Time Lord-type race struggling in a shadowy, dimensional war with two other races whose influence spans the length and breadth of time and space. We experience this war through the eyes of Pilot/Ambassador/instructor X, who we are told throughout the novel is an important figure in the war. Merritt somehow manages to write the story of a civilization that experiences time non-linearly in a way that makes sense to the viewer. I've read a few time travel stories that made me hate the genre, so I'm glad I got a much better impression in this novel.
My main issue with the book, however, is there's a lot of telling of the importance of this Pilot X, but I never really saw evidence of his importance and prestige until the very end. Now, I'm the first person to tell you that I read very fast, sometimes at the expense of the pacing that the author intends, so it might have been my fault as much as Merritt's, but much of the book seemed like an extended montage of the life and time of Pilot X's life. I couldn't get immersed into the story and none of the significant moments had the weight that I wanted them to. I only knew they were important because, again, someone told me after the fact.
Merritt is obviously an expert at worldbuilding, there's so much that I feel could have been done with the worlds and characters. Just reading through the glossary, I know that there are entire civilizations hiding in Merritt's head, fully fleshed out. I can easily imagine whole chapters of worldbuilding and explanation being cut out for the sake of brevity and clarity of the story (which in fairness, clarity is difficult with a time-travel story, and Pilot X accomplished that). If my suspicions are correct, I would have loved to read a larger story in this universe, maybe one that was left on the cutting room floor.
I did like the book though, and I will always support one of my favorite podcasters and general nerd culture celebrity.
4/5 stars, it's a short book that integrates time travel in a way that doesn't leave me with a migraine. Recommended.
June 8, 2023
I really liked the premise of this book. I got into it, I had a good time. That said, and this could be because I’m entirely biased and read a lot of thick, long books I genuinely think this could be made better by extending it. What happens after he talks to the council? What does the universe look like now? I get why it ended the way it did, but I could see this becoming a much longer story or series.
December 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Pilot X has to try right wrongs in space and time. It just seems the more he does it the more he needs to do it. He is tasked with saving the universe or risk it imploding completely. Which is the right path to go?
March 31, 2017
Fun, interesting time travel book.
did-not-finish
September 23, 2023DNF audiobook at 55%.
Just could not get into it. The world felt flimsy, characters idiotic, and the plot a random chain of events. I did not care for any character, and have already forgotten what most of the book was about.
Just could not get into it. The world felt flimsy, characters idiotic, and the plot a random chain of events. I did not care for any character, and have already forgotten what most of the book was about.
April 2, 2017
Väldigt svag 4a, känns lite som det är en översikt av en längre, bättre, bok..
February 15, 2018
Lord. Where do I even start?
I mean, there’s the obvious. Bizarro wise-cracking man travels through space and time in a female spaceship that he loves and which is bigger on the inside, fighting robots and malevolent organic flesh blobs in metal wastebaskets, ultimately must destroy both his own people and their enemies. (And he talks like the worst of the Eleventh Doctor, and I HATE the Eleventh Doctor. I’m honestly confused as to how this got past legal.)
That’s not even a damn spoiler because it’s right there at the start of the book. Which could be done cleverly by an author with any talent for narrative, but dear reader, this is NOT that author. There are no surprises in this book, nothing to ever make me wonder how he’d come to such a turn, or feel at all engaged with experiencing the process along the way. Every single step was utterly predictable, sometimes so much so that I became briefly confused when a character had to state it out loud. Yes, we know that. That is obvious. Why are you repeating it?
Speaking of characters, our hero is depicted as uniquely brilliant and talented, but he may actually be the dimmest character in the book. Not that he has much competition. The only intelligent character in it is his ship. Of course, a character doesn’t have to be intelligent to be worthwhile. A character could have all sorts of interesting and compelling traits, be so fully fleshed out they feel like a friend from some other lifetime.
This character is not that. None of them are. None of the characters have any interiority whatsoever. Their emotions are shallow and obvious, described in some of the most superficial and leaden prose I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. The author has no sense of the flow of language, speaking of. Characters perform actions as if they were demonstrating a technical manual; they speak in chunks of text with no indication of their body language, gestures, or what is happening around them. It is impossible to sink into the book’s fictional world because the author hasn’t even created one.
SPEAKING OF TECHNOLOGY, I can’t believe this guy is a tech writer, because the technology is bizarrely vague, bad, and unimaginative. I mean, just to start out with, pretty much every interior space comes off as some variation on “contemporary American hotel room.” He has an entire UNIVERSE stretching through all of time to explore, and everything looks...pretty much exactly like it does here on Earth in the Western world right now. The foods are just fake words dropped in front of American foods. Alendaller burger, for instance. Whatever that pie was. Beer. And the tech...like, the big universe ending device? It’s just suddenly brought into existence 5/6 of the way through and the only explanation for how is *five minutes of hand-waving*.
Oh! Oh oh oh! And exactly one female character is ever described in terms of appearance. She has flowing blonde hair. That’s her main characteristic. Would you like to know how many sentences before our hero decides he’s into her? ONE. They have all of three scenes and we’re meant to buy into a meaningful romance between them. How is this person married??
In conclusion: NO. Please go back to watching Doctor Who instead of cosplaying an even more emotionally tone deaf Steven Moffat.
I mean, there’s the obvious. Bizarro wise-cracking man travels through space and time in a female spaceship that he loves and which is bigger on the inside, fighting robots and malevolent organic flesh blobs in metal wastebaskets, ultimately must destroy both his own people and their enemies. (And he talks like the worst of the Eleventh Doctor, and I HATE the Eleventh Doctor. I’m honestly confused as to how this got past legal.)
That’s not even a damn spoiler because it’s right there at the start of the book. Which could be done cleverly by an author with any talent for narrative, but dear reader, this is NOT that author. There are no surprises in this book, nothing to ever make me wonder how he’d come to such a turn, or feel at all engaged with experiencing the process along the way. Every single step was utterly predictable, sometimes so much so that I became briefly confused when a character had to state it out loud. Yes, we know that. That is obvious. Why are you repeating it?
Speaking of characters, our hero is depicted as uniquely brilliant and talented, but he may actually be the dimmest character in the book. Not that he has much competition. The only intelligent character in it is his ship. Of course, a character doesn’t have to be intelligent to be worthwhile. A character could have all sorts of interesting and compelling traits, be so fully fleshed out they feel like a friend from some other lifetime.
This character is not that. None of them are. None of the characters have any interiority whatsoever. Their emotions are shallow and obvious, described in some of the most superficial and leaden prose I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. The author has no sense of the flow of language, speaking of. Characters perform actions as if they were demonstrating a technical manual; they speak in chunks of text with no indication of their body language, gestures, or what is happening around them. It is impossible to sink into the book’s fictional world because the author hasn’t even created one.
SPEAKING OF TECHNOLOGY, I can’t believe this guy is a tech writer, because the technology is bizarrely vague, bad, and unimaginative. I mean, just to start out with, pretty much every interior space comes off as some variation on “contemporary American hotel room.” He has an entire UNIVERSE stretching through all of time to explore, and everything looks...pretty much exactly like it does here on Earth in the Western world right now. The foods are just fake words dropped in front of American foods. Alendaller burger, for instance. Whatever that pie was. Beer. And the tech...like, the big universe ending device? It’s just suddenly brought into existence 5/6 of the way through and the only explanation for how is *five minutes of hand-waving*.
Oh! Oh oh oh! And exactly one female character is ever described in terms of appearance. She has flowing blonde hair. That’s her main characteristic. Would you like to know how many sentences before our hero decides he’s into her? ONE. They have all of three scenes and we’re meant to buy into a meaningful romance between them. How is this person married??
In conclusion: NO. Please go back to watching Doctor Who instead of cosplaying an even more emotionally tone deaf Steven Moffat.
January 23, 2024
*Pilot X*, an obscure science fiction novel written by Tom Merritt, is only interesting in two regards: its publisher InkShares may have once had the potential to be revolutionary, and when compared and contrasted with another obscure science fiction novel called *The Fires of Paratime* by L. E. Modessit Jr., it shows how lackluster books of the 20th century outclass lackluster books of the 21st century. Now, this might be a novel of time travel, sarcasm, and nerdy sterility; but what the Hell is it about?
*Pilot X* is about a man named X who shows up at an advanced civilization's doorstep in his timeship *Verity* claiming to be the a member of a mythological race. The civilization's leaders are astonished that he's there, and even more astonished that he claims to have wiped out his entire universe; to find out what happened we must travel back in time (X's personal time, to be exact) in order to watch him grow up in a society of time travelers where each person has a unique name preceded by their position; for example, when X is learning to be a temporal pilot, his name is Apprentice X. Things are fairly steady until he ends up receiving an assignment from the Governor (if that was his time; this world's vocabulary has slipped form my mind after only a week...) to bring signed papers to an alien delegation in order for those aliens to sign an agreement with X's people. When X arrives, he also meets representatives from two of his race's arch enemies, who will be referred to as .
I wish that my overview could be better, but... I just couldn't bring myself to care. The plot was okay, but the characters and the writing and even the world were just bland and *sterile* to the point where I couldn't retain much of anything in the grand scheme of things. Any subtle themes (and I meant artistically subtle, not out-of-the-blue while being hopelessly foreshadowed like X's convictions against his government) went under me, and I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a crappy Netflix movie without heart or conviction behind it.
To dig into a couple of problems individually, let's start with the characters: X (who's really boring
despite his completely-and-utterly-contrived snark) and his timeship companion *Verity* (who manages to be slightly more charming than X despite her forced attempts to learn comedy) feel like they're cut from generic cookie cutters. Everyone else in the book merely adorns either the plot that actually had potential or the world which sucked all that potential away, and I don't feel the needs to bring any of them up individually.
I do need to bring up the world, though, because it could've been an awesome one. X's species inhabits the planet throughout all of history, which leads to some interesting situations... for instance, anyone can go out to eat in this time period or that time period, which is awesome at first sight, but that awesomeness wanes when you realize that Merritt barely ever uses descriptive language to flesh out this unique culture, leaving it all to feel like it's a smooth, white, low-budget movie set. He also demystifies everything through boring paragraphs of YA-grade background information that just makes the world seem small. Making expansive worlds feel small is one of the critical plights of contemporary SF literature and cinema, so it really doesn't surprise me that it's an issue here, but it's disappointing that such a cool idea can be brought down to just a minor level.
All of that being said, I shouldn't feel too bad since I have read this book when it was done with actual flavor in the aforementioned *The Fires of Paratime*. That book (from 1982) is about an alien time traveler named Loki who progresses through his time travelling society's ranks while unearthing the layers of evil that have corrupted his people and eventually using his time travelling abilities to affect their history. The progression of professions and the random tasks from on-high ring true of *Pilot X* as well, and while *The Fires of Paratime* is only an okay 6/10 for me because its plot is slapdash and scattershot (just like *Pilot X*, where whole phases of X's life disappears between a couple of lines) and its character motivations are a bit skewered (although better than the void of apparent inspiration for X's ideals), but it does everything with a grandiose flair and a distinct flavor that made me enjoy it despite its flaws. *Pilot X* has none of that, just a barren sea of words that I'm really trying to find something cool about it to talk about.
I'm failing. It has too many of the limiting trappings of contemporary media without any sense of innovation or looking forward into an unwritten future; that's probably because a professional nerd, not a professional writer, wrote this book. I used to be a nerd of the more traditional TV-and-movie-based sense, but I think I've transitioned into a place where I see how cheap it all can be when compared to truly well-written fiction. And while this makes me sound like an arrogant douche, I have to assume that Merritt has not. I'm sure his podcast and everything might be a lot better than this, but he bit off more than he can chew. It probably has something to do with his love of *Doctor Who* (its inspirational really shows in the main character destroying his own people (ala the Time War)), which I love as well (I never said I was immune to more pedestrian nerdy pursuits), but it makes for better fun British television than a worthwhile binding of prose.
Sterile, small, and outclassed by an otherwise-mediocre book; these traits do not spell anything good for *Pilot X*, and I'm afraid I have to give it a 4.5/10 since I don't remember the last time I pulled out so many criticisms upon writing a review while not being able to find anything good to say. I grow more and more disillusioned with books written by people who seem to forgo literature for television and movies, and this is a good example why. Still, I hope that you enjoy this book more than I did and that I'm missing out on something that would allow me to respect this work more. With that in mind, if I ever revisit this book and find the missing ingredient, I'll travel back in time and let my younger self know to stop me from writing this scathing commentary here on Goodreads. I'll see you then.
*Pilot X* is about a man named X who shows up at an advanced civilization's doorstep in his timeship *Verity* claiming to be the a member of a mythological race. The civilization's leaders are astonished that he's there, and even more astonished that he claims to have wiped out his entire universe; to find out what happened we must travel back in time (X's personal time, to be exact) in order to watch him grow up in a society of time travelers where each person has a unique name preceded by their position; for example, when X is learning to be a temporal pilot, his name is Apprentice X. Things are fairly steady until he ends up receiving an assignment from the Governor (if that was his time; this world's vocabulary has slipped form my mind after only a week...) to bring signed papers to an alien delegation in order for those aliens to sign an agreement with X's people. When X arrives, he also meets representatives from two of his race's arch enemies, who will be referred to as .
I wish that my overview could be better, but... I just couldn't bring myself to care. The plot was okay, but the characters and the writing and even the world were just bland and *sterile* to the point where I couldn't retain much of anything in the grand scheme of things. Any subtle themes (and I meant artistically subtle, not out-of-the-blue while being hopelessly foreshadowed like X's convictions against his government) went under me, and I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a crappy Netflix movie without heart or conviction behind it.
To dig into a couple of problems individually, let's start with the characters: X (who's really boring
despite his completely-and-utterly-contrived snark) and his timeship companion *Verity* (who manages to be slightly more charming than X despite her forced attempts to learn comedy) feel like they're cut from generic cookie cutters. Everyone else in the book merely adorns either the plot that actually had potential or the world which sucked all that potential away, and I don't feel the needs to bring any of them up individually.
I do need to bring up the world, though, because it could've been an awesome one. X's species inhabits the planet throughout all of history, which leads to some interesting situations... for instance, anyone can go out to eat in this time period or that time period, which is awesome at first sight, but that awesomeness wanes when you realize that Merritt barely ever uses descriptive language to flesh out this unique culture, leaving it all to feel like it's a smooth, white, low-budget movie set. He also demystifies everything through boring paragraphs of YA-grade background information that just makes the world seem small. Making expansive worlds feel small is one of the critical plights of contemporary SF literature and cinema, so it really doesn't surprise me that it's an issue here, but it's disappointing that such a cool idea can be brought down to just a minor level.
All of that being said, I shouldn't feel too bad since I have read this book when it was done with actual flavor in the aforementioned *The Fires of Paratime*. That book (from 1982) is about an alien time traveler named Loki who progresses through his time travelling society's ranks while unearthing the layers of evil that have corrupted his people and eventually using his time travelling abilities to affect their history. The progression of professions and the random tasks from on-high ring true of *Pilot X* as well, and while *The Fires of Paratime* is only an okay 6/10 for me because its plot is slapdash and scattershot (just like *Pilot X*, where whole phases of X's life disappears between a couple of lines) and its character motivations are a bit skewered (although better than the void of apparent inspiration for X's ideals), but it does everything with a grandiose flair and a distinct flavor that made me enjoy it despite its flaws. *Pilot X* has none of that, just a barren sea of words that I'm really trying to find something cool about it to talk about.
I'm failing. It has too many of the limiting trappings of contemporary media without any sense of innovation or looking forward into an unwritten future; that's probably because a professional nerd, not a professional writer, wrote this book. I used to be a nerd of the more traditional TV-and-movie-based sense, but I think I've transitioned into a place where I see how cheap it all can be when compared to truly well-written fiction. And while this makes me sound like an arrogant douche, I have to assume that Merritt has not. I'm sure his podcast and everything might be a lot better than this, but he bit off more than he can chew. It probably has something to do with his love of *Doctor Who* (its inspirational really shows in the main character destroying his own people (ala the Time War)), which I love as well (I never said I was immune to more pedestrian nerdy pursuits), but it makes for better fun British television than a worthwhile binding of prose.
Sterile, small, and outclassed by an otherwise-mediocre book; these traits do not spell anything good for *Pilot X*, and I'm afraid I have to give it a 4.5/10 since I don't remember the last time I pulled out so many criticisms upon writing a review while not being able to find anything good to say. I grow more and more disillusioned with books written by people who seem to forgo literature for television and movies, and this is a good example why. Still, I hope that you enjoy this book more than I did and that I'm missing out on something that would allow me to respect this work more. With that in mind, if I ever revisit this book and find the missing ingredient, I'll travel back in time and let my younger self know to stop me from writing this scathing commentary here on Goodreads. I'll see you then.
March 23, 2018
I don’t remember who suggested this book to me, but that person and I are no longer friends. If Dr. Who and Hitchhikers Guide had a love child, and dropped it on its head, the result would be this book.
September 17, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyable read. Time travel yarn that felt more like Golden Age SF. Plus the light sense of humor added to it.
February 14, 2018
Time travel is a tricky genre. It’s an equally tricky concept in general. While we’re all familiar with the idea of time travel, it can be difficult to wrap your head around it sometimes – especially when it’s integral to a particular story. Sometimes time travel is merely a frame through which to tell a story and the creator is perfectly happy just letting it happen without much explanation. Others develop convoluted rules to keep themselves and the story in check. Pilot X is something of the latter.
It’s a story that would not exist without time travel. But instead of focusing on just the time travel itself, author Tom Merritt creates a universe where time travel is simply a part of life. The titular character, Pilot X (who later takes on other titles besides just Pilot), is a member of a race that has mastered time. The Alendans can move freely across both time and space in specially engineered ships and Merritt creates a whole universe where this is seen as normal.
There is some really serious political/societal upheaval going on throughout this book and poor Pilot X finds himself wrapped up in all of it – like it or not. And, to be fair, he does at first. When he starts to realize that people from the future are regarding him with more credit than he’s due at a particular time, he gets excited. We all do. We want to know what comes next.
But what comes next isn’t all that simple. Nor is it always that easy to follow. Pilot X gets wrapped up in all kinds of crazy, secretive things going on behind the curtains. He makes discoveries about his own people and is forced to make difficult decisions that change the face of the universe and time as it’s known forever. The journey there is filled with training, diplomatic missions, betrayal, and more. And while it’s an entertaining ride it’s also a challenging one.
It doesn’t help that besides Pilot X and his ship, Verity, it’s hard to really connect with or care about the characters. Still, Pilot X has a very unique voice and perspective. He’s grown up in a world so unlike our own and while he’s seems mostly familiar, at times it’s very obvious how different his perspective on this can be. Pilot X is what made this book so memorable for me. His journey – from ambitious pilot until the end when he’s a man faced with some very difficult, universe-shattering choices – is engaging regardless of how complex and complicated it might be at a certain point.
Fans of time travel and science fiction who don’t mind a few complex twists are going to really enjoy this book. Casual readers might struggle with it a bit and the less interesting parts may cause them to run out early. But for those who stick it out, Pilot X is an entertaining, at times thought provoking read!
It’s a story that would not exist without time travel. But instead of focusing on just the time travel itself, author Tom Merritt creates a universe where time travel is simply a part of life. The titular character, Pilot X (who later takes on other titles besides just Pilot), is a member of a race that has mastered time. The Alendans can move freely across both time and space in specially engineered ships and Merritt creates a whole universe where this is seen as normal.
There is some really serious political/societal upheaval going on throughout this book and poor Pilot X finds himself wrapped up in all of it – like it or not. And, to be fair, he does at first. When he starts to realize that people from the future are regarding him with more credit than he’s due at a particular time, he gets excited. We all do. We want to know what comes next.
But what comes next isn’t all that simple. Nor is it always that easy to follow. Pilot X gets wrapped up in all kinds of crazy, secretive things going on behind the curtains. He makes discoveries about his own people and is forced to make difficult decisions that change the face of the universe and time as it’s known forever. The journey there is filled with training, diplomatic missions, betrayal, and more. And while it’s an entertaining ride it’s also a challenging one.
It doesn’t help that besides Pilot X and his ship, Verity, it’s hard to really connect with or care about the characters. Still, Pilot X has a very unique voice and perspective. He’s grown up in a world so unlike our own and while he’s seems mostly familiar, at times it’s very obvious how different his perspective on this can be. Pilot X is what made this book so memorable for me. His journey – from ambitious pilot until the end when he’s a man faced with some very difficult, universe-shattering choices – is engaging regardless of how complex and complicated it might be at a certain point.
Fans of time travel and science fiction who don’t mind a few complex twists are going to really enjoy this book. Casual readers might struggle with it a bit and the less interesting parts may cause them to run out early. But for those who stick it out, Pilot X is an entertaining, at times thought provoking read!
Read
May 19, 2017Time travel is something that mankind only dreams of. The book Pilot X, by Tom Merrit, looks at three races that can achieve this. The book perfectly combines sci-fi and mystery, creating a great and entertaining story.
All that Pilot X wants to do, is fly his ship, the Verity, through time. Pilot X is a member of the Alendan race, a civilization that has mastered the technology to travel through time. As a Pilot, it is his job to take orders from officials and complete them without messing with the timeline. Pilot X doesn’t think much of his job, until one day, when he’s chauffeuring an important member of the Alendan government, he encounters the Alendan race’s worst enemies, The Progons, a race of pure electricity that inhabit mechanical bodies and can send signals through time, and the Sensaurians, a large hive mind that can send its thoughts to itself throughout time. The three civilizations have been fighting each other for as long as Pilot X can remember, and this time, he finds the two fighting over a planet with valuable resources and secrets. Before Pilot X can do anything, he finds himself face-to-face with Sensaurian soldiers. Pilot X’s quick thinking and tactical skill leads to him creating a peace between the three civilizations. When he returns to his home planet he is seen as a hero for creating a peace, and is given a promotion to Ambassador, a high rank in the Alendan government. As an Ambassador, he feels his life is finally complete. However, that feeling is quickly destroyed when the Secretary, a higher rank, informs him of a secret time war that has been raging on between Sensaurians, Progons and Alendans. The war has destroyed civilizations and left planets in ruins. Soon, everything Pilot X knows is torn apart, and he’s faced with the hardest decision in his life.
I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and was interested from start to finish. The story was great and the characters were perfect. However, the book can be confusing because of the way it describes time travel while keeping suspense. The author has a unique writing style, where he writes in very short phrases and sentences. There are very few long sentences, which makes the book interesting to read. I would highly recommend this book to others, due to its entertaining nature. I would definitely want to read more from this author, due to his unique writing style and the stories he creates.
All that Pilot X wants to do, is fly his ship, the Verity, through time. Pilot X is a member of the Alendan race, a civilization that has mastered the technology to travel through time. As a Pilot, it is his job to take orders from officials and complete them without messing with the timeline. Pilot X doesn’t think much of his job, until one day, when he’s chauffeuring an important member of the Alendan government, he encounters the Alendan race’s worst enemies, The Progons, a race of pure electricity that inhabit mechanical bodies and can send signals through time, and the Sensaurians, a large hive mind that can send its thoughts to itself throughout time. The three civilizations have been fighting each other for as long as Pilot X can remember, and this time, he finds the two fighting over a planet with valuable resources and secrets. Before Pilot X can do anything, he finds himself face-to-face with Sensaurian soldiers. Pilot X’s quick thinking and tactical skill leads to him creating a peace between the three civilizations. When he returns to his home planet he is seen as a hero for creating a peace, and is given a promotion to Ambassador, a high rank in the Alendan government. As an Ambassador, he feels his life is finally complete. However, that feeling is quickly destroyed when the Secretary, a higher rank, informs him of a secret time war that has been raging on between Sensaurians, Progons and Alendans. The war has destroyed civilizations and left planets in ruins. Soon, everything Pilot X knows is torn apart, and he’s faced with the hardest decision in his life.
I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and was interested from start to finish. The story was great and the characters were perfect. However, the book can be confusing because of the way it describes time travel while keeping suspense. The author has a unique writing style, where he writes in very short phrases and sentences. There are very few long sentences, which makes the book interesting to read. I would highly recommend this book to others, due to its entertaining nature. I would definitely want to read more from this author, due to his unique writing style and the stories he creates.
February 24, 2018
This is a strange one. I *did* really enjoy the book, and I picked it up on Audible because the premise sounded good on its own, but this story is so strongly tied to Doctor Who, I don't know how to talk about it. The author explicitly has said he set out to write this book after wanting to know more about the Time War and the Doctor having to choose to destroy both Gallifrey and its enemies to save the rest of the universe. He says also that there aren't Daleks or a Tardis etc. in his novel, but there almost explicitly are those things! Just with different names. Gallifrey and the Time Lords are almost exactly as I imagine them to be during the Time War, plus some modernish jokes. He claims to have replaced "the companion" with the ship itself, but that's been covered *in* Doctor Who.
I'm not angry about this! Doctor Who is great and the book is very good! But this isn't a book where an author was inspired by an idea and ran in a new direction. It's re-skinned Doctor Who fan fiction. I've included actual Doctor Who fan fiction as some of the novels and novellas I enjoyed most in the last few years, so that's not a knock. I'm just writing this all to try to process how I feel about it. I had to go search online to find the author discussing the Who origins. It's not in the description for the book, not in how its sold, and I think that's what feels... slightly icky?
Here's what I will say though, for Doctor Who fans, I think you'll really like what Merritt has done with his versions of the Cybermen (beings made out of electricity--way better) and the Daleks (emotional slugs crammed into war-buckets--equally ridiculous, yes please). And the many variations on how these different civilizations would manipulate time is very good sci-fi.
I'm not angry about this! Doctor Who is great and the book is very good! But this isn't a book where an author was inspired by an idea and ran in a new direction. It's re-skinned Doctor Who fan fiction. I've included actual Doctor Who fan fiction as some of the novels and novellas I enjoyed most in the last few years, so that's not a knock. I'm just writing this all to try to process how I feel about it. I had to go search online to find the author discussing the Who origins. It's not in the description for the book, not in how its sold, and I think that's what feels... slightly icky?
Here's what I will say though, for Doctor Who fans, I think you'll really like what Merritt has done with his versions of the Cybermen (beings made out of electricity--way better) and the Daleks (emotional slugs crammed into war-buckets--equally ridiculous, yes please). And the many variations on how these different civilizations would manipulate time is very good sci-fi.
March 19, 2017
Pilot X is an engaging read! I enjoyed the story. The book has a lot of big ideas about time travel, alien races, and morality. The book starts off at the end of the story before taking the reader through the circumstances that led Pilot X to that moment. Although it is a story about time travel, the rest of the book follows Pilot X through his own subjective timeline. Through Pilot X's eyes, we see a vast and interesting universe.
While I loved the big picture in this book, stronger world building would have made this book more engaging. I would have enjoyed getting to know the protagonist better. For example,
That being said, this is an interesting concept! If there were a sequel to this book, I would enjoy reading more stories and learning more about the characters who live here.
While I loved the big picture in this book, stronger world building would have made this book more engaging. I would have enjoyed getting to know the protagonist better. For example,
That being said, this is an interesting concept! If there were a sequel to this book, I would enjoy reading more stories and learning more about the characters who live here.
September 29, 2017
I had been meaning to pick this up for a long time, but as I do most my reading through Audible, my credits kept going in other directions (usually for more expensive books). Not long ago, however, this was on a ridiculous sale, and I was able to pick it up for just a couple bucks.
I had a very hard time getting into this book. I found out the problem was not necessarily with the content or the narrator (who eventually I was ok with - I didn't appreciate his performance very much). The problem I had starting this book was due to just finishing another book that day.
I've been reading James S.A. Corey's Expanse series, and had finished Caliban's War that morning. The style difference between the narrators and story content couldn't be more different. The Expanse narrator is top-notch, very expressive, and the content of those books is very hard-sci-fi. Going from that to a goofier, breathier narrator, reading content that is far more Doctor Who in nature, was jarring.
Thankfully, I didn't give up. I gave it a day and started over, and am so glad I did.
Pilot X is very Doctor Who-like. It's lighter sci-fi, has lots of wibbly-wobbly, and, once in that mindset, makes for a very enjoyable story. I wish I'd gotten a physical copy, because the emphasis that the narrator placed is far different than how my mind-read would have been. The narrator, imo, did a disservice to the story - very one-dimensional. The story itself, though, slowly unfurls and pretty quickly pulls you in.
The Expanse series is very dense, and I'd find myself rewinding a few times to make sure I didn't miss a detail. Pilot X is far less dense - to its credit. There is just enough detail to paint the picture, but not an over-abundance of specificity. This allowed me to absorb and go along for the ride quite easily. It's a good, quick, fun book - certainly worth your time!
I had a very hard time getting into this book. I found out the problem was not necessarily with the content or the narrator (who eventually I was ok with - I didn't appreciate his performance very much). The problem I had starting this book was due to just finishing another book that day.
I've been reading James S.A. Corey's Expanse series, and had finished Caliban's War that morning. The style difference between the narrators and story content couldn't be more different. The Expanse narrator is top-notch, very expressive, and the content of those books is very hard-sci-fi. Going from that to a goofier, breathier narrator, reading content that is far more Doctor Who in nature, was jarring.
Thankfully, I didn't give up. I gave it a day and started over, and am so glad I did.
Pilot X is very Doctor Who-like. It's lighter sci-fi, has lots of wibbly-wobbly, and, once in that mindset, makes for a very enjoyable story. I wish I'd gotten a physical copy, because the emphasis that the narrator placed is far different than how my mind-read would have been. The narrator, imo, did a disservice to the story - very one-dimensional. The story itself, though, slowly unfurls and pretty quickly pulls you in.
The Expanse series is very dense, and I'd find myself rewinding a few times to make sure I didn't miss a detail. Pilot X is far less dense - to its credit. There is just enough detail to paint the picture, but not an over-abundance of specificity. This allowed me to absorb and go along for the ride quite easily. It's a good, quick, fun book - certainly worth your time!
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