The Worlds of the Timestream: The Interregnum Series, Book 2: The Friends

Worlds of the Timestream: The Interregnum #2

by Rick Sutcliffe

In the decades following the deposition of James IV, his descendants and relatives continue the struggle to survive clan MacCarthy's plots. Katherina Rourke loses everything except her close-knit group of friends when first her mother, Iron Kate, then her father Matthew (formerly Donal IV) are murdered. Later her friendships disintegrate, and a subsequent donal uses Sean Reilly to kill Katherina, Jack, and their infant Mara. Or, does he? We follow Lady Katherina to and through the battle of Glenmorgan. An intertwined story tells of Sean Reilly (the man she once loved but now hates) and his allies in their quest to depose the corrupt donal. A third and later sequence relates the coming to age of Katherina's daughter, as she builds The Friends of the Day, dedicated to restoring Tara's true throne. London, Moody, Tara, and Penal City are the stages on which these stories play out toward the 2000 nexus and the 2001 culmination of the ban on the throne.

492 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2003

About the author

Richard J. (Rick) Sutcliffe, is Professor of Mathematics and Computing Science at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, and has been Adjunct Professor in the nearby School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University. Prior to his academic career, he taught secondary school for twelve years in Langley, BC. Sutcliffe represents Canada on international computing standards committees and has published a text in computing science, written one on ethical and social issues in technology, and has authored more than fifty articles and reviews in a variety of trade and technical publications. He has been a columnist for several magazines and newspapers. He coined the terms "New Renaissance", "Metalibrary", "concinnity", "Fourth Civilization" and "wired campus", has been a leader in electronic publication, and has been active on the Internet since the 1970s. He has also been an invited speaker at numerous churches, educational and computing conferences, and technical symposia at local, national, and international levels. Rick Sutcliffe writes Irish-flavoured Christian science fiction. His first series, The Interregnum, deals with a variety of technology and ethical issues in thought-provoking plots set on alternate earths. His first novel, The Peace was published electronically in June 2000 and became its publisher's best-seller. The Friends, and The Exile, books two and three the same series followed in 2003 and went to the EPPIE finals. He revived The Northern Spy electronically, and also has a Philology site at www.opundo.com. He has research interests in standards, programming languages, data structures, and in the social, ethical, and religious aspects of high technology. He is active in Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church, having been chairman, treasurer, deacon, elder, youth worker, librarian and Bible teacher. He has built two houses, gardens, writes software, and been active in politics. He has also been appointed as external advisor in the accreditation of several local schools. He has travelled extensively as a speaker and to represent the Canadian Standards Association and the Standards Council of Canada at ISO meetings. He presently resides in Bradner, B.C. with his wife Joyce. They have two grown sons Nathan and Joel.