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Time Spike #2
Time Spike: The Mysterious Mesa
The time-twisting Assiti Shards are the distressing consequences of a highly advanced and completely insane alien race's idea of art. One of the shards has struck in southern Illinois region, thrusting peoples from different historical eras into the middle of one of the most dangerous periods ever The Cretaceous!
Lost in a nightmare world, a conquistador from the year 1541 finds a U.S. Cavalry Scout from 1838 hanging helplessly from a snare. The Spaniard frees him, an act of mercy leading to an uneasy alliance. After battling a 'dragon' we know as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, they find themselves in the shadows of the Cyclopean pyramids of Cahokia, the greatest city of the forgotten Mississippian civilization.
The Rattlesnake Priests prepare a grisly celebration for their reptilian god, but thanks to the intervention of the Raven Priestess, they escape the city with a pair of Pre-Mound tribesmen who invite the castaways from the future to join them in their beleaguered village.
They find the villagers trying to defend themselves from the giant creatures roaming this primeval land. Thankfully, a new hope can be seen across the vast, dry flats of the Drained Sea—a mysterious mesa rising more than a thousand feet into the sky, another bizarre result of the unnatural disaster Could this be a haven? To find out, the four newfound friends set out on a journey that will prove to be more dangerous than anything they have faced yet!
Lost in a nightmare world, a conquistador from the year 1541 finds a U.S. Cavalry Scout from 1838 hanging helplessly from a snare. The Spaniard frees him, an act of mercy leading to an uneasy alliance. After battling a 'dragon' we know as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, they find themselves in the shadows of the Cyclopean pyramids of Cahokia, the greatest city of the forgotten Mississippian civilization.
The Rattlesnake Priests prepare a grisly celebration for their reptilian god, but thanks to the intervention of the Raven Priestess, they escape the city with a pair of Pre-Mound tribesmen who invite the castaways from the future to join them in their beleaguered village.
They find the villagers trying to defend themselves from the giant creatures roaming this primeval land. Thankfully, a new hope can be seen across the vast, dry flats of the Drained Sea—a mysterious mesa rising more than a thousand feet into the sky, another bizarre result of the unnatural disaster Could this be a haven? To find out, the four newfound friends set out on a journey that will prove to be more dangerous than anything they have faced yet!
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2018
14 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Garrett W. Vance
45 books6 followersGarrett W. Vance
I grew up like a tumbleweed in the arid wilds of eastern Washington State, riding horses and motorbikes through the sand and sage brush, enjoying great freedom of movement at a very young age. I was always headed out on expeditions to see what lay beyond the next shady canyon or rolling hill, a curiosity which eventually led me to travel widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. I'm pretty much the definition of a ' maverick,' safe but dull careers, mortgages and insurance are things I wouldn't touch with a seventy-two and a half foot pole. I prefer to be down to my last ducat and on the road, my personal wealth is all in experience. Wherever I go books have been my constant companions, they grant access to places no earthly airplane or ship can venture, to the limitless realms of the written word. I currently enjoy a ridiculously comfortable existence in Bangkok, Thailand and I'm not bored yet. My brain announced to me recently that "It's time to write!" so here I am.
Update: With Volume 15 I became the Art Director for the Gazette! Good thing I like a challenge. :-D
I grew up like a tumbleweed in the arid wilds of eastern Washington State, riding horses and motorbikes through the sand and sage brush, enjoying great freedom of movement at a very young age. I was always headed out on expeditions to see what lay beyond the next shady canyon or rolling hill, a curiosity which eventually led me to travel widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. I'm pretty much the definition of a ' maverick,' safe but dull careers, mortgages and insurance are things I wouldn't touch with a seventy-two and a half foot pole. I prefer to be down to my last ducat and on the road, my personal wealth is all in experience. Wherever I go books have been my constant companions, they grant access to places no earthly airplane or ship can venture, to the limitless realms of the written word. I currently enjoy a ridiculously comfortable existence in Bangkok, Thailand and I'm not bored yet. My brain announced to me recently that "It's time to write!" so here I am.
Update: With Volume 15 I became the Art Director for the Gazette! Good thing I like a challenge. :-D
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 4, 2022
4.5 stars. Very good, I loved Time Spike, and have longed for more adventures in its universe. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series. From Eric Flint's Ring of Fire Press.
February 25, 2026
Thrilling Adventures! Handwavium to Spare!
This is best described as a boys' adventure story à la 50s. Sex is barely mentioned, the cursing is very mild. There are very few women, and they are a bit scary. Love is hardly mentioned at all, but it is very pure.
Telling good from bad is easy.
The style is overly dramatic for me.
The tale is hearty, bright and optimistic.
And this is where the Handwavium comes in. Everything succeeds. Quickly. The making of tools is lightning fast, no struggle at all. Our people only get scratches, which heal impossibly fast. With one notable exception. Food is always plentyful... Everyone just happens to carry the right thing. A few pack mules must have been around without being mentioned...
Couldn't a horse have thrown a shoe at least? But, of course, it would take more than a little Handwavium to replce it...
This is very lighthearted. A rousing Adventure story!
This is best described as a boys' adventure story à la 50s. Sex is barely mentioned, the cursing is very mild. There are very few women, and they are a bit scary. Love is hardly mentioned at all, but it is very pure.
Telling good from bad is easy.
The style is overly dramatic for me.
The tale is hearty, bright and optimistic.
And this is where the Handwavium comes in. Everything succeeds. Quickly. The making of tools is lightning fast, no struggle at all. Our people only get scratches, which heal impossibly fast. With one notable exception. Food is always plentyful... Everyone just happens to carry the right thing. A few pack mules must have been around without being mentioned...
Couldn't a horse have thrown a shoe at least? But, of course, it would take more than a little Handwavium to replce it...
This is very lighthearted. A rousing Adventure story!
February 18, 2024
I Want MY MTV!
From the pages of the Grantville Gazette and Eric Flint's Time Spike phenomenon Garrett W Vance brings us the continuing saga of Nate Tucker, fresh off the Trail of Tears, along with a deserter from De Soto's rapacious expedition, as they make friends and enemies and face dangers unknown to ever be inflicted upon "modern" day humans.
Whats around the next bend, over the next ridge, under turbulent waters?
Ride on with us thru the ever changing landscape of time and tribulations, check your watch as we pass pre-Columbian civilizations, where insults are Mounded, and Troubles are Compounded as Dinosaurs are Abounded, and Minds Counfounded!
Mesa Top Village = MTV!
From the pages of the Grantville Gazette and Eric Flint's Time Spike phenomenon Garrett W Vance brings us the continuing saga of Nate Tucker, fresh off the Trail of Tears, along with a deserter from De Soto's rapacious expedition, as they make friends and enemies and face dangers unknown to ever be inflicted upon "modern" day humans.
Whats around the next bend, over the next ridge, under turbulent waters?
Ride on with us thru the ever changing landscape of time and tribulations, check your watch as we pass pre-Columbian civilizations, where insults are Mounded, and Troubles are Compounded as Dinosaurs are Abounded, and Minds Counfounded!
Mesa Top Village = MTV!
December 16, 2018
Great adventure
This book is an adventure story in much the same vein as Tarzan or The Princess Bride. Set in the universe of the novel Time Spike this novel is an indirect sequel. All new characters living in the same setting of a mixed up group of involuntary time travelers exploring a Cretaceous era earth with random patches of land and sea from the 21st century through at least the end of the lice age Illinois all jumbled together in a greenhouse tropical world populated with dinosaurs. Can't wait for the sequel to be finished!
This book is an adventure story in much the same vein as Tarzan or The Princess Bride. Set in the universe of the novel Time Spike this novel is an indirect sequel. All new characters living in the same setting of a mixed up group of involuntary time travelers exploring a Cretaceous era earth with random patches of land and sea from the 21st century through at least the end of the lice age Illinois all jumbled together in a greenhouse tropical world populated with dinosaurs. Can't wait for the sequel to be finished!
June 23, 2022
Enjoyable adventure in the Time Spike world with interesting characters. Garrett Vance has created a fun read with people versus the dinosaurs, and people versus people. The Rattlesnake cult make good villains. The Time Spike world shows some of its variety of geography. No this is not a deep meaning read - it is a fun adventure and it leaves with with hints and some unknowns still not revealed. I look forward to a sequel.
March 31, 2026
Garrett W. Vance tells a fun tale of two adventurers where the Time Spike had merged time periods. Gonzalo Xoan de Alcantara had come to America with De Soto’s army and deserted it. He meets Nate Tucker from when Texas was a country. Together the two battle a dinosaur, encounter a pre-mound Indian city, and, with allies, travel to a mesa filled with large mammals. Time Spike: The Mysterious Mesa(paper from Baen) is a fun adventure set against varied epochs mixed together.
March 5, 2026
A cowboy and a knight meet in the new world
They rescue some young natives from a dinosaur and travel to meet their people. Their horses give them an edge against dangerous animals and people.
They rescue some young natives from a dinosaur and travel to meet their people. Their horses give them an edge against dangerous animals and people.
March 21, 2019
Interesting continuation to the Time Spike series, but not written as well as I would hope. The characters were a little wooden.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews