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Time Slice

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A time-travel fantasy adventure that takes a man out of his world—and almost out of his mind—as he tries to fix the past, present, and future . . .
 
Newly retired workaholic Roy Washburn isn’t ready for a life of leisure. Then, on a trip to the mall with his wife, he finds a small metal cylinder with odd markings—and soon Roy finds himself embarking on an exciting new adventure in the Time Stream. 
 
There he meets The Traveler—a being who shows Roy how to use the cylinder to visit other civilizations that co-exist on “his” Earth, each occupying a different, thin Time Slice. But the Traveler needs Roy’s help as well, asking him to recover a vital object beyond his own reach . . .
 
Assisting the Traveler proves more difficult than Roy initially thinks. As he faces trials in his family life, he can no longer “travel” at a moment’s notice. And he discovers the very real physical and mental risks involved in his new adventurous life. Still, Roy is determined to help the Traveler. He just can’t do it alone. Now he must convince his wife and friends—and most of all his daughter—that he really isn’t crazy . . .
 

Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2011

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Kerry Downing

3 books4 followers

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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Billycongo.
298 reviews5 followers
December 15, 2018
I am not the target demographic, so bear that in mind. I don't like explanations of science-fiction technology. I appreciate that it's helpful for the author, but don't spend a lot of time on it. The biggest weakness for me was the story surrounding the main story. Not interesting. The story is about the time slices, not cancer. The main story was interesting in a Doctor Who kind of way, but I just kept skipping large chunks of the story.
Profile Image for Lenore Webb.
507 reviews8 followers
February 1, 2012
Now this is a book that I so enjoy getting lost in. Time Slice has more emotion than most Sci-Fi books have. Also it is more to my taste in Sci-Fi as it does not have witches, werewolves, vampires or faeries in it. To me those are to be listed as fantasy. Here we enjoy a story based on several parallel universes that are all here on earth but are accessed only through the time stream. I like that the book has a lil Arthur C. Clarke feel to it. I grew up reading him along with Heinlein, Delany and many authors like him. And always loved the thought that what they were saying could be reality if we just had the knowledge to follow the theories they put forward. That is also just how I felt with Time Slice. I also have always felt that an inventive person who takes the unknown path has often been viewed as a lil over the top or nutso. You know what I mean. But they are also the ones who show us our new futures too. This was another think I enjoyed in Time Slice. That Roy was experiencing a new reality that could open doors that had never been there before. Well you know how I can go on...and on. So instead let me share the summary with you.

Roy Washburn is not ready for a life of leisure lil on full fledge retirement. Thankfully he finds a small metal cylinder with odd markings that then takes his life on a new path. Roy finds himself embarking on an exciting new adventure in the Time Stream where he meets The Traveler. It is The Traveler that shows Roy how the cylinder works to visit other civilizations that occupy different, thin Time Slices. When Roy's wife becomes ill and his daughter shows the resentments she has held on to, Roy finds that he can not "travel" at a moment's notice. There are physical and mental risks involved in roaming the Time Stream too. His family and friends are very supportive but are beginning to think that Roy may have lost it. With all of this Roy still feels compelled to help The Traveler on his own quest. Now he just has to get everyone else to see he isn't crazy at all.
Profile Image for Sapphyria  .
2,212 reviews59 followers
February 7, 2012
This is a pretty good science fiction novel. It is fast paced and cleverly told.

Roy is newly retired and still trying to figure out what to do with all of his extra time. On an excursion to the mall with his wife, Emily, he discovers a cylinder that, when twisted to various numbers, transports the person holding it to other dimensions called Time Slices.

He meets a creatures he calles The Transporter and here's his explanation to Roy about the Time Slice.

"You and I, and all creatures on this planet, live in the same time stream. We do not, however, live in the same time slice." (Downing, 2011)

"This time stream is divided into slices." (Dowing, 2011)

Mixed in with the Time Slice travel is the diagnosis of a health issue concerning Roy's wife, Emily, who is able to join him in his travels to other time slices. Her heroic battle leaves sadness and loss in its wake and reminds us all about our mortality.

Roy and Emily also deal with Ann, their daughter, who is very short and resentful of her father. She accuses him of being selfish and not caring of Emily, when in fact, it's the exact opposite. Ann is completely blinded by the rage she's been harboring for years.

I was very captivated by this novel. It wasn't just science fiction, or romantic, or sad, or humorous. It was all of those things wrapped up into 248 pages of can't-put-it-down mystery and intrigue. The characters - Roy, Emily, Richard, Ann, Jodie, and all of Roy and Emily's friends plus Rah, the Traveler and his wife Cecilian - are all strong in their own ways. They aren't perfect and there are family issues but they are explored well. The story lines all intertwine well and the plot is solid. Bravo!
Profile Image for Jessica .
2,588 reviews16k followers
February 6, 2012
I normally don't read straight sci-fi books, so it was nice being able to read one for a change! Time Slice is all about a guy named Roy who finds a device that allows people to travel through different slices of time. The idea of being able to travel through slices instead of time was really interesting and the author does a great job introducing his readers to this new idea.

The characters in the book were really interesting too. Rah, the alien from another slice, was a really cool character and I liked how he became good friends with Roy, despite his freakishly tall stature and living in a completely different slice. Roy was pretty likable and I enjoyed how he wasn't perfect; his wife loved him but his daughter resented him for never being there was she was little. The book was a bit slow at times, but the originality of the story made that aspect bearable.

There were sad parts and nail-biting parts, but in the end this book ended up being a little predictable. I think if there was more of an element of surprise or something unexpected happened, the story would have been more enjoyable. The part of the story I really enjoyed was how the story started at a certain point, went back to explain how Roy ended up where he was, then by 3/4 of the way through came back to where the book started. This gave the story an element of mystery in the beginning and kept the reader intrigued. So overall this book was a pretty enjoyable, original story. I would recommend it to those in the mood for a simple, new sci-fi book.
Profile Image for Tia Bach.
Author 66 books132 followers
February 24, 2012
I love when a book gives me more than I expect. When I read the back cover of Time Slice, I was expecting an interesting and suspenseful time travel saga. What I was not expecting was a rich set of characters, humor, and a sweet story about relationships. Time Slice delivered all these elements.

Roy is deeply in love with his wife and smitten with his granddaughter, but struggling to mend his relationship with his daughter. When he finds a small metal cylinder, he has no clue how his life is about to change.

His journey begins with one click of the newfound device, but it's not just a journey through time... it's a journey through life's ups and downs. Traveling the time stream, Roy meets The Traveler, a creature who needs Roy's help to mend his own family issues.

But Roy has family issues of his own, his wife has cancer and his relationship with his daughter is under increasing pressure. Roy questions his reasons for living as those around him question his sanity.

I devoured this book in a day and a half. Although I read all genres, I don't typically gravitate toward science fiction. But this book was so much more than an interesting tale about time travel, it was a story about people's lives. I spent equal time feeling intrigued and emotional.

I highly recommend this book to readers who crave an imaginative and engaging story with characters who claim a piece of their heart. You'll feel like you had your own device to escape into another world, and you'll be glad you did.

Rating: 5 stars
Profile Image for Grace Fonseca.
240 reviews22 followers
May 29, 2012
This book was an interesting read. I find that Time Travel books are hit or mess for me. This book was a very pleasant surprise for me in the way that it’s not like other Time Travel books.


Time Slice was a very different interpretation of how Time Travel works. The character of Roy was a wonderful hero. I found that Roy was a person you could relate to in a lot of ways. He is someone who wants to do something bigger with his life and The Traveler, Rah gives him that chance.


Yet when he embarks on this journey to help Rah, he doesn’t realize what this will do to his life. I found that the relationships he had were some of the most realistic things in the book. They felt very real and heart felt. I really liked the relationship with his wife Emily and how close they were.
His relationship with his daughter seems strained at times and that they don’t really understand each other. Liked the fact that Ray and his granddaughter really love each other.


This book was filled with tenderness and a lot of twists that I didn’t expect. Also the willingness to help another being really spoke true. It spoke of the willingness of human beings being human and what it means to sacrifice something precious and sometimes we don’t see things that we don’t want to.


Also like the reconciliation of Roy and his daughter at the end. It was very heartwarming. If you like sci-fi with heart, this book would be for you.


Rating:
Four Hearts
Profile Image for Derek Jordan.
Author 1 book6 followers
November 8, 2012
This is a pretty cool little book. Not too long. The story at the start is a bit hard to get through due to the nature of it being quite depressing, but the science fiction addition of the traveling through 'time slices' really kept me going. It made me think more of traveling through dimensions more than anything, and I think that was the point just using different termonalogy.

Once that began to move off and the story moved more into the plot of helping the 'alien' out with the request he had I found that I could not put the book down. From the moment the story wove back to where it started and then on I was so hooked and invested into it I HAD to know what was happening next.

I found that the characters were interesting and easy to 'feel' as real. Some parts were a bit silly but really it added to the comedy that no doubt were the intention of the author.

It was kind of cool reading a story much like one we might simply overlook. some guy finds odd device that gives ability. He travels and takes on a quest, but not in the way most of these go... There was much more focus on home than the quest, which was a good change of pace for a story like this.

The blending of friendship was good and as well showed people not afraid to stand up and do what was right no matter the harm that may come to themselves.
Profile Image for ILoveBooks.
977 reviews10 followers
December 11, 2011


What would you do after retirement? When Roy, the main character, accompanies his wife to the mall, he finds an odd cylindrical object. When he somehow activates the object, he finds himself in the mysterious time stream. It is there that he meets The Traveler, a boy on a mission. The Traveler begs for Roy's aid and Roy decides to help him. Little does he know that there will be plenty of complications to make his mission that much harder.



As a character, Roy is easy to like. He is a helpful individual who can be kind and inquisitive. The other characters are interesting to get to know, the reader will want to know more about The Traveler, an unusual character. The events were fast-paced and fun to read about, the author took the idea of time traveling, added a mission, and threw in complications to make the whole idea even more exciting. There were several twists and unexpected events along the way, adding to the readers' anticipation. There is plenty of action, especially when Roy deals with the "bad guys."



The author writes with plenty of detail and with a fast pace. The reader will connect to Roy rather quickly and warm up to the other characters. This book is recommended to young adult/adults readers.
Profile Image for Valentina.
Author 37 books176 followers
February 4, 2012
This book was certainly different. It’s hard to categorize it, even, since it has a bit of science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, and even humor.
There are some good things to the book, mainly the relationships between the characters. There are some nice scenes with Roy, who is a character the reader likes from the very beginning, and with his wife. I do wish there had been a bit more about her, about her struggles. It seems like she finds out she’s sick one day and then disappears. A bit of dragging out could have helped the plot. The Traveler, however, was my favorite character. He has such a sense of humor that it made the scenes he was in fresh and different from any other “alien” story I’ve ever read.
The main difficulty I had really enjoying this book was that not much happens. There are no real obstacles for Roy to deal with, at least none that are interesting to the reader. Yes, he wants to help The Traveler retrieve another of the devices his father created, but that means little to the reader. It doesn’t mean too much to Roy either. It’s anti-climactic, really.
The writing is all right, a bit stiff at times, but it is at least fast-paced. This is an interesting book, and some of the more eclectic readers out there will probably enjoy it.
Profile Image for Michael (The Bookshelf Review).
209 reviews
March 11, 2016
This book was really good. It was like nothing I have ever read before. It was different in a really good way. Time Slice is a mix of both Contemporary and Fantasy/Science Fiction writing. I am the type of person that doesn't really love Contemporary but when it is mixed with fantasy I am all game because it definitely brought this book to a whole new level. I want to take the time to explain the premise of Time Slice. Basically in a nut shell the time stream is filled with many different time slices where none of the different dimensions of sorts knows about each other. Roy the main character finds himself on an adventure to help a fellow traveler that helps bring excitement back into his life. What I really loved about this book was the feeling that the author put into his writing. You can really tell that the emotions portrayed in the novel have real feeling and really stuck me as I read it. If you get a chance go out and buy this book and read it. It really took me by surprise at how good it was. I can't say enough about it. I really loved time slice. I wish the author could right more. I didn't want the book to end. =]
Profile Image for Star.
1,289 reviews61 followers
April 16, 2012
As an adult, Roy worked every day of his life until retirement. He believed in the traditional family model, with the husband working while the wife stays home and takes care of the children. Now he's retired and it leaves him with very little to do - his daughter resents him, his wife doesn't know how to entertain him, and he's bored doing nothing all day. Which is why when he finds a mysterious metallic cylinder at the mall while waiting for his wife to finish shopping, he's more than curious. He meets The Traveler and gets involved in a quest to find the last project The Traveler's father ever worked on before his death. But there will quite a few complications along the way...

Time Slice is a thought-provoking novel of science fiction and time travel. From the beginning I felt a connection to Roy as the author has made him a very approachable character. The science was fascinating and easy to understand, an interesting look at the time stream and the slices which inhabit it. The story and characters draw the reader in quickly until the stunning conclusion. An excellent book which I very highly recommend!
Profile Image for Jackie Miller.
131 reviews71 followers
February 7, 2012
I had assumed that this book would focus mainly on the time travel aspect, but it was more about the relationships. It's a wonderful commentary on how anger can blind you to reality, and how living in the past can destroy your relationships in the present.

The story centers on Roy. His life is turned upside down by finding the Time Slice Traveler(TST), and then he finds out his wife is terminally ill. While experimenting with the TST Roy meets the Traveler. The Traveler is a freaky looking alien type that is in desperate need of help. Roy goes on the adventure of his life and, in the process his relationships are tried by fire. Even in the midst of his sorrow and hardships Roy learns to appreciate the things he still has and the people in his life that care about him.

Time Slice delivers a different take on time travel, but that doesn't overpower the message throughout the novel. I found it to be less of a 'time travel' novel so much as it was a story of redemption that happened to include time travel :)
Profile Image for Kathleen Kelly.
1,379 reviews130 followers
February 27, 2012
Time Slice starts off with a bang and doesn't let go until the very end and even then I wished the story would continue. Even though this is sci/fi/time travel etc., it is written very well and not with the usual gobbledygook that a sci-fi book will have. Imagine if you had a device that you could go to different time slices of our world.. that is exactly what Roy Washburn has done with a little device he finds while he is at the mall with his wife. At first he thought he was losing it but then realized that it really happened. Roy is at a point in his life where he is not sure where to go next or what he should be doing. After his first trip he finds out his wife has a serious illness and feels that his daughter hates him. He meets the Traveler and is asked to do something that he is totally skeptical about. Without giving away any more of the story I have to say that I really enjoyed this well written and unique concept. A poignant, at times sad and inspiring book. A must for the sci-fi fan.
231 reviews6 followers
February 21, 2012
This was a fun read that I had difficulty putting down. In a way, it sort of reminded me of Doctor Who meets Sliders which I have always loved both of those series.

Roy is a very likeable character from the start. His personality is well developed and the dialog is fresh and witty. My favorite character though would definitely have to be The Traveler. He brought a great dimension to the story.

This book could easily be developed into a series. If the author does decide to develop it into a series, I hope that he develops the side characters (Roy’s wife, daughter, friends, etc.) a little more. I don’t think that any of them were developed enough. But then again, they were only side characters to this story.

Even though this book is labeled for young adults, I can easily see adults getting hooked on this book as well.
Profile Image for Wendy Hines.
1,322 reviews266 followers
July 5, 2013
Settled into retirement, Roy is about to plunge into an exciting adventure he never imagined when he picks up a small metal cylinder while at the mall with his wife Emily. The cylinder allows Roy to time-jump, into different slices of time in different worlds. One one of his journeys he meets the Traveler, who then asks Roy for his help with a mission. Roy sets out to help him but when his wife becomes sick and his daughter's resentment toward him increases, Roy must decide where he is needed the most.

With great character development, detailed world-building and the stretching bonds of family, Time Slice is a fantastic science fiction adventure that will engross you from page one. Young adult and adults alike will enjoy this page-turning and heartwarming story!
Profile Image for Richelle.
140 reviews26 followers
January 21, 2013
An interesting sci fi take on time/dimensional travel. Roy is retired and discovers a mysterious object that allows him to time travel. He makes "alien" friends, takes his wife and buddies on jaunts to other "time slices" and has a challenging quest to fulfill. In my view, it had a couple plot deficiencies. His wife had cancer and that was a big part of the story, but dropped off too quickly. Also his quest to help his alien friend, The Traveler, built up and was completed, but didn't seem to make a difference or go anywhere. The best part of this book was that the slice of time where you originate from is called your "home slice" and that made me laugh.
Profile Image for Matt Kelland.
Author 4 books8 followers
June 10, 2012
This isn't so much a time travel story as a parallel worlds story dealing with themes of bereavement, parenting, and old age. It was an okay read, but the Kindle version is badly formatted, which irritated me, and although the main character is interesting, the supporting characters are annoying caricatures.
5 reviews1 follower
March 1, 2013
Was looking forward to reading the book but found out that the story is too simplistic and does not end with a satisfactory conclusion. If the author intends to write a sequel then you should get some clue that in reading the book. The idea that a loving grandfather would take a small child into another time zone in an environment that is risky just fails to test of logic.
287 reviews2 followers
August 11, 2012
This was not as much science fiction as it was a study of relationships. The sci-fi is just what seemed to hold it together. It was a good read, although I am not all that into a lot of technical "explanations".
Profile Image for Darlene.
33 reviews
Read
December 4, 2012
I couldn't make it through this book. Enjoyed some parts of it immensely but I couldn't see the point of finishing it.
84 reviews
April 9, 2016
Good reading!

Lots of love and excitement. Good friends. Worth every minute of time spent reading. Is there another one in the wings?
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