What do you think?
Rate this book
TimeWars #1
The Ivanhoe Gambit
In the 27th Century, international disputes are resolved through time travel, “clocking” soldiers from the future into conflicts of the past. It seemed like an elegant wartime industries drove the economy without actually putting nations through the physical ravages of war. And since the past already happened, history could not be changed. So went the theory. What could possibly go wrong? Lucas Priest found out the hard way. Enlisting in the U.S. Army Temporal Corps seemed like an adventure compared to his boring corporate job, but after marching with the Roman legions against Hannibal, fighting Custer’s 7th Cavalry with Crazy Horse, and raiding with Attila’s savage Huns, he could have used a little boredom. And it was about to get much worse. History, it turned out, could be changed, and a plot to kidnap and impersonate King Richard the Lion-hearted was discovered barely in the nick of time. But could it be stopped before a madman changed the course of history? Two elite commando teams had tried and failed in their attempts. Now Priest was drafted to take part in a third. The team was tasked to infiltrate the past with impersonations of their own to prevent a timestream split. But it would be hard enough passing themselves off as Sir Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, and Little John without having to assassinate a king….
209 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
33 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
About the author
Simon Hawke
90 books238 followersAlso published as J.D. Masters.
He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also written near future adventure novels under the penname "J. D. Masters" and mystery novels.
He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also written near future adventure novels under the penname "J. D. Masters" and mystery novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 10, 2014
Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews
During my teen years back in the early 1980s, my reading consisted of D&D modules/rule books, comics (mainly Marvel), “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, and Star Wars novels. Everything else I sort of stayed away from. But then one day I stumbled on this book by Simon Hawke.
I mean, you have to admit that is a really cool cover. Knight holding a shield and a tommy gun does, sort of, grab your attention. So naturally, I bought it and took it home, and never regretted the decision, because this time-traveling scifi serial began my descent into bibliophile-hood.
The central idea in the Time Wars series is that wars are outlawed in the 27th Century. Well, at least, wars in the present. Instead of laying waste the world, countries have agreed to resolve their disputes by "clocking" soldiers from the present into conflicts of the past. Each nation sends their soldiers back to the agreed upon conflict, and whichever nation has the most soldiers left alive at the end of the war wins. Obviously, there are also “referees” monitoring the count to decide who “won.”
This seemed like a great compromise for a war weary Earth. It was simple, elegant, and effective. The huge military-industrial complex kept getting to fleece humanity for profits. Countries still continued sending young people off to die over ridiculous political issues. But there would be no more collateral damage to anything in the world. All the dying and destruction would happen in the past during a historic war, so a few more dead bodies really wouldn’t change anything. And since the “experts” said nothing the soldiers from the present did could change history, time wars seemed absolutely safe.
Lucas Priest is one of these modern soldiers, and as a member of the U.S. Army Temporal Corps, he has marched with the Roman legions against Hannibal, fought against Crazy Horse with Custer’s 7th Cavalry, and even rode along with Attila the Huns’ horde. But none of those conflicts have prepared him for what he is about to get into, for it seemed that the “experts” were wrong.
About many things.
Specifically that history could be changed.
In fact, it seems that history could not only be changed it could be absolutely, totally screwed up until no one in the present would even exist anymore – 27th Century Earth disappearing like an unused thread snipped from a pair of pants. Everything Lucas knows erased from history.
Thankfully, Temporal Corps has uncovered this plot by one of the “referees” to change history. Unfortunately, discovering the plot and stopping it are two different things. And since two elite commando teams have already tried and failed, Lucas Priest finds himself drafted into the third and finally team; his part being to impersonate a historical figure close to King Richard, so that he can locate the traitor. But can he find the madman and stop him before time runs out? And can he do it without changing history himself?
I really enjoyed this book back in the '80s. It was a genre blending work of history, fantasy, literary classics, military and science fiction. So much so that it is difficult to describe, because in one chapter you will have military time travelers conversing in a future world only to see them in the next chapter playing out roles as Ivanhoe or Robin Hood, attempting to mimic these people from history without letting their own personalities and feelings bleed through. The fact that sometimes these classic adventure characters were not portrayed in their traditional light made it even more exciting. And that is why The Ivanhoe Gambit was such a sharp, witty, twisted, fun book to read back then and still is fun to reread today.
Oh, by the way, if you enjoy this book, there are several more novels in the series – each focusing on the same band of time traveling soldiers attempting to fix some temporal screw up or other by exchanging places with or interacting with different literary and historical characters. While they are out of print, I personally think they’d be well worth a buy at your local used bookstore or on Amazon.
Have fun reading!
During my teen years back in the early 1980s, my reading consisted of D&D modules/rule books, comics (mainly Marvel), “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, and Star Wars novels. Everything else I sort of stayed away from. But then one day I stumbled on this book by Simon Hawke.
I mean, you have to admit that is a really cool cover. Knight holding a shield and a tommy gun does, sort of, grab your attention. So naturally, I bought it and took it home, and never regretted the decision, because this time-traveling scifi serial began my descent into bibliophile-hood.
The central idea in the Time Wars series is that wars are outlawed in the 27th Century. Well, at least, wars in the present. Instead of laying waste the world, countries have agreed to resolve their disputes by "clocking" soldiers from the present into conflicts of the past. Each nation sends their soldiers back to the agreed upon conflict, and whichever nation has the most soldiers left alive at the end of the war wins. Obviously, there are also “referees” monitoring the count to decide who “won.”
This seemed like a great compromise for a war weary Earth. It was simple, elegant, and effective. The huge military-industrial complex kept getting to fleece humanity for profits. Countries still continued sending young people off to die over ridiculous political issues. But there would be no more collateral damage to anything in the world. All the dying and destruction would happen in the past during a historic war, so a few more dead bodies really wouldn’t change anything. And since the “experts” said nothing the soldiers from the present did could change history, time wars seemed absolutely safe.
Lucas Priest is one of these modern soldiers, and as a member of the U.S. Army Temporal Corps, he has marched with the Roman legions against Hannibal, fought against Crazy Horse with Custer’s 7th Cavalry, and even rode along with Attila the Huns’ horde. But none of those conflicts have prepared him for what he is about to get into, for it seemed that the “experts” were wrong.
About many things.
Specifically that history could be changed.
In fact, it seems that history could not only be changed it could be absolutely, totally screwed up until no one in the present would even exist anymore – 27th Century Earth disappearing like an unused thread snipped from a pair of pants. Everything Lucas knows erased from history.
Thankfully, Temporal Corps has uncovered this plot by one of the “referees” to change history. Unfortunately, discovering the plot and stopping it are two different things. And since two elite commando teams have already tried and failed, Lucas Priest finds himself drafted into the third and finally team; his part being to impersonate a historical figure close to King Richard, so that he can locate the traitor. But can he find the madman and stop him before time runs out? And can he do it without changing history himself?
I really enjoyed this book back in the '80s. It was a genre blending work of history, fantasy, literary classics, military and science fiction. So much so that it is difficult to describe, because in one chapter you will have military time travelers conversing in a future world only to see them in the next chapter playing out roles as Ivanhoe or Robin Hood, attempting to mimic these people from history without letting their own personalities and feelings bleed through. The fact that sometimes these classic adventure characters were not portrayed in their traditional light made it even more exciting. And that is why The Ivanhoe Gambit was such a sharp, witty, twisted, fun book to read back then and still is fun to reread today.
Oh, by the way, if you enjoy this book, there are several more novels in the series – each focusing on the same band of time traveling soldiers attempting to fix some temporal screw up or other by exchanging places with or interacting with different literary and historical characters. While they are out of print, I personally think they’d be well worth a buy at your local used bookstore or on Amazon.
Have fun reading!
January 7, 2021
“Are you quite mad? You know as well as I do the golden rule about space and time travelling. Never, never interfere with the course of history.”
Being a fan of the long running BBC series Doctor Who - that quote from William Hartnell (Season 2 - Story 9 “The Time Meddler”) always struck me as funny. Why? Because the Doctor and his companions always interfere! It seems to me that if time travel were possible you would inevitably interact that in some small way you will create some change. If you take into account a little chaos theory and ‘the butterfly effect’ even the smallest changes in certain situations can lead to dramatically different outcomes. You know... a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world changing weather patterns... and all that.
The same incarnation of the Doctor, but a season earlier - in episode 1.6 “The Aztecs” said... “You can't rewrite history. Not one line!” when Barbara (an original companion) tried so hard to convince the Aztecs to halt human sacrifices. Time travel stories are always complicated... here the writers couldn’t decide from one season to the next 😀
Other theories contend that an infinite number of possible realities exist for each possible outcome... kind of the premise behind “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch (great book!). In this scenario time travel would just result in creating more of these. You just want to avoid going back in time and doing something that directly alters your own timeline... like kill your grandfather- or (less violently) prevent your grandparents from meeting. This means your parents couldn’t have had ultimately conceived you - and you wouldn’t have been around to change history. This creates a time paradox - and this example - called the grandfather paradox- has been referenced in literature since the 1920s.
So “The Ivanhoe Gambit” is the first of a series of books in the Timewars series... originally released in 1984. What is Simon Hawke’s take on time travel? In this series - present time is in the 2600s and (obviously from the series title) time travel is possible. Humankind has not evolved to the point where war is no longer an issue... to the contrary... we have decided that
“war is an inevitable fact of human nature and that time travel had made it possible to avoid the ‘inconvenience’ of the physical presence of a war in present time”
War is considered a healthy booster to economies - just not fought in current time because that’s destructive... So basically when you become a soldier you time travel to another period and interject yourself into some past war with a known outcome. As long as you don’t do things to alter the ultimate result of the battle all is well. So you can’t swoop in and save General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn... But if in that same battle you accidentally off’d him... well he was going to die anyway so history wouldn’t change.
Going back to my ‘butterfly effect’ comment - this doesn’t make much sense to me. Let’s say you didn’t kill Custer, but killed a Lakota Sioux warrior. That same warrior - if they had lived may have had children- and they had children- and say one of them played a pivotal part in a WWII battle that would have resulted in a very different outcome. Lots of future events would be impacted.
So.... like all time travel stories- you have to suspend belief... or at least try not to think about it too hard. They can be fun! Hawke doesn’t overlook the time travel conundrums - it’s a critical part of the storyline. They go over time paradoxes and specifically mention the grandfather paradox. It also isn’t just foot soldiers going back and getting inserted into the conflicts. There are referees or “Refs” which kind of run the campaigns. There are also Observers which make sure you don’t do anything that will create a time paradox. Also, there are Floaters... which are more pragmatic... they make sure you don’t teleport in in the middle of a rock or something.
So they have it all figured out... what could go wrong? Obviously, many many things (considering this is book 1 of 12... BTW I have 6 of the paperbacks). In this story a rogue referee decides to inject themself as an imposter for Richard Plantagenet (or Richard the Lionheart). This deception threatens many things since Richard’s successor John was such a poor king it led to the Magna Carta. The fear is that if history changed - probably because the imposter decided to stick around as king so John wouldn’t get his chance... that would mean the Magna Carta might never have been created resulting in significant changes to economic and societal development in early England and beyond.
To remedy this a small group of four specialists are selected for a mission to reset the timelines. Each has a ‘specific set of skills’... wait - different story. Actually they do have special skills and combined with a little cosmetic surgery they do their own impersonations... To help our time travelers they are sent with some pretty cool tech. This all has to be subtle- they don’t want to stand out too much. But wait... you might be thinking... why does the cover show a knight holding a machine gun? Ok that’s fair, but that’s much later on.
So I enjoyed the story... what didn’t I like? Some of the material seemed pretty dated (it was from the 80s) The dialogue was reeaally cheesy. Many of the lines made Arnold Schwarzenegger 80s movie lines seem subtle and sophisticated. There wasn’t a great deal of depth to any of the characters either.
Overall it was a fun and not too complex adventure story. Being a Doctor Who fan I’m pretty good at suspending belief for time travel stories. Also, although the intricacies of time travel weren’t as fleshed out as more modern stories... I think Hawke did a pretty good job explaining things. He also threw in some twists I didn’t expect which made things interesting. 3.5 ⭐️‘s - a fun kickoff to a series.
Being a fan of the long running BBC series Doctor Who - that quote from William Hartnell (Season 2 - Story 9 “The Time Meddler”) always struck me as funny. Why? Because the Doctor and his companions always interfere! It seems to me that if time travel were possible you would inevitably interact that in some small way you will create some change. If you take into account a little chaos theory and ‘the butterfly effect’ even the smallest changes in certain situations can lead to dramatically different outcomes. You know... a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world changing weather patterns... and all that.
The same incarnation of the Doctor, but a season earlier - in episode 1.6 “The Aztecs” said... “You can't rewrite history. Not one line!” when Barbara (an original companion) tried so hard to convince the Aztecs to halt human sacrifices. Time travel stories are always complicated... here the writers couldn’t decide from one season to the next 😀
Other theories contend that an infinite number of possible realities exist for each possible outcome... kind of the premise behind “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch (great book!). In this scenario time travel would just result in creating more of these. You just want to avoid going back in time and doing something that directly alters your own timeline... like kill your grandfather- or (less violently) prevent your grandparents from meeting. This means your parents couldn’t have had ultimately conceived you - and you wouldn’t have been around to change history. This creates a time paradox - and this example - called the grandfather paradox- has been referenced in literature since the 1920s.
So “The Ivanhoe Gambit” is the first of a series of books in the Timewars series... originally released in 1984. What is Simon Hawke’s take on time travel? In this series - present time is in the 2600s and (obviously from the series title) time travel is possible. Humankind has not evolved to the point where war is no longer an issue... to the contrary... we have decided that
“war is an inevitable fact of human nature and that time travel had made it possible to avoid the ‘inconvenience’ of the physical presence of a war in present time”
War is considered a healthy booster to economies - just not fought in current time because that’s destructive... So basically when you become a soldier you time travel to another period and interject yourself into some past war with a known outcome. As long as you don’t do things to alter the ultimate result of the battle all is well. So you can’t swoop in and save General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn... But if in that same battle you accidentally off’d him... well he was going to die anyway so history wouldn’t change.
Going back to my ‘butterfly effect’ comment - this doesn’t make much sense to me. Let’s say you didn’t kill Custer, but killed a Lakota Sioux warrior. That same warrior - if they had lived may have had children- and they had children- and say one of them played a pivotal part in a WWII battle that would have resulted in a very different outcome. Lots of future events would be impacted.
So.... like all time travel stories- you have to suspend belief... or at least try not to think about it too hard. They can be fun! Hawke doesn’t overlook the time travel conundrums - it’s a critical part of the storyline. They go over time paradoxes and specifically mention the grandfather paradox. It also isn’t just foot soldiers going back and getting inserted into the conflicts. There are referees or “Refs” which kind of run the campaigns. There are also Observers which make sure you don’t do anything that will create a time paradox. Also, there are Floaters... which are more pragmatic... they make sure you don’t teleport in in the middle of a rock or something.
So they have it all figured out... what could go wrong? Obviously, many many things (considering this is book 1 of 12... BTW I have 6 of the paperbacks). In this story a rogue referee decides to inject themself as an imposter for Richard Plantagenet (or Richard the Lionheart). This deception threatens many things since Richard’s successor John was such a poor king it led to the Magna Carta. The fear is that if history changed - probably because the imposter decided to stick around as king so John wouldn’t get his chance... that would mean the Magna Carta might never have been created resulting in significant changes to economic and societal development in early England and beyond.
To remedy this a small group of four specialists are selected for a mission to reset the timelines. Each has a ‘specific set of skills’... wait - different story. Actually they do have special skills and combined with a little cosmetic surgery they do their own impersonations... To help our time travelers they are sent with some pretty cool tech. This all has to be subtle- they don’t want to stand out too much. But wait... you might be thinking... why does the cover show a knight holding a machine gun? Ok that’s fair, but that’s much later on.
So I enjoyed the story... what didn’t I like? Some of the material seemed pretty dated (it was from the 80s) The dialogue was reeaally cheesy. Many of the lines made Arnold Schwarzenegger 80s movie lines seem subtle and sophisticated. There wasn’t a great deal of depth to any of the characters either.
Overall it was a fun and not too complex adventure story. Being a Doctor Who fan I’m pretty good at suspending belief for time travel stories. Also, although the intricacies of time travel weren’t as fleshed out as more modern stories... I think Hawke did a pretty good job explaining things. He also threw in some twists I didn’t expect which made things interesting. 3.5 ⭐️‘s - a fun kickoff to a series.
February 27, 2014
All i can say is that its amazing how much you can read while you wait for your computer to reload software after a disastrous update. Anyway I dug out these books really to complete the series and to pass the time. I remember being given the first book in a new science fiction series (yes you guessed the aforementioned Ivanhoe Gambit) and thinking hmm why not. Well I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it now. One of the reasons why I remember the series was that I was reading it as it was being published however a run in with the publisher where the UK copy had 30 pages repeated and another 30 pages missing put me off he series (or more to be told the publishers versions of them). Well now I have these editions and I intend to make good the series and see what finally happens.
Anyway the book - its not unique, or original but it is great fun. I guess its harking back to the age of boys own adventures (though thankfully not filled with painful sexism and bigotry some pulp classics suffer from) - after all one of the main characters is female and more than capable of handling herself. So yes there are plenty of fights with smart mouth retorts and one liners, there is heroism and daring do and most of all there is a hint of a bigger story ahead one that you want to see what happens and where it will go. So I guess back then it appealed to a mind still learning about science fiction and today it appeals to the mind where its good to leave the frustrations of modern life behind for just a little while. I guess we all have books like these, which to me epitomise the true meaning of the phrase "escape in to a good book". This as you can imagine only sets the scene for further books in the series. Time to dig them out I think and remind myself of what went on.
Anyway the book - its not unique, or original but it is great fun. I guess its harking back to the age of boys own adventures (though thankfully not filled with painful sexism and bigotry some pulp classics suffer from) - after all one of the main characters is female and more than capable of handling herself. So yes there are plenty of fights with smart mouth retorts and one liners, there is heroism and daring do and most of all there is a hint of a bigger story ahead one that you want to see what happens and where it will go. So I guess back then it appealed to a mind still learning about science fiction and today it appeals to the mind where its good to leave the frustrations of modern life behind for just a little while. I guess we all have books like these, which to me epitomise the true meaning of the phrase "escape in to a good book". This as you can imagine only sets the scene for further books in the series. Time to dig them out I think and remind myself of what went on.
December 19, 2021
2.5 stars rounded up because it's Christmas. I thought this was pretty poor writing and story-telling in many ways, with the plot having many issues that made little sense. Still, it was a quick read, and fun in its own way, however I won't be checking out any others in this series.
October 21, 2011
Looking to change gears and dip into something fun.
I think that if I were younger (Ok I admit it, I color my hair) I would have liked this book more. It was fun and had many interesting possibilities, however it is very undeveloped. I don't blame the author (how do you expound on big ideas as well as grow characters in 75K words? Darn those formulas) Having read some of his other works I would bet the author would have preferred to triple the word count. So here are my recommendations, if you are under thirty years of age I give it 4 stars; it was fun. Over thirty 30 3 stars, it could have been so much more.
I think that if I were younger (Ok I admit it, I color my hair) I would have liked this book more. It was fun and had many interesting possibilities, however it is very undeveloped. I don't blame the author (how do you expound on big ideas as well as grow characters in 75K words? Darn those formulas) Having read some of his other works I would bet the author would have preferred to triple the word count. So here are my recommendations, if you are under thirty years of age I give it 4 stars; it was fun. Over thirty 30 3 stars, it could have been so much more.
February 17, 2011
I just finished re-reading this one, and it is still one of the great martial sci-fi. It has not dated and is as good as when I first read it about twenty years ago. But wait! what do you mean #1 of the time wars?
you mean there are more of them?
what would we do without the internet? now I have to track the others down.
you mean there are more of them?
what would we do without the internet? now I have to track the others down.
March 3, 2023
If you love the idea of a Time Patrol, but thought Poul Anderson's seminal take was too intellectual, you might want to check out Simon Hawke's Time Wars series. Though in this world, joining the army means you fight in historical wars so things can be decided downtime rather than in the here and now (27th Century), this is better explained at the back of the book than in its interior, as the story will have the heroes impersonate legends of the Middle Ages like Ivanhoe and Robin Hood to stop a rogue time traveller bent on taking Richard I's place and changing history. So it's Patrol kind of stuff, but more action-oriented - it moves at a fast pace, and Hawke knows how to withhold and reveal information to create page-turning suspense. Though there's talk of what would happen if history were changed, I'm not sure the stakes are all that well defined in this first volume, but my time travel brain certainly has theories. Suffering from too many epilogues, there's one in particular that's extended to the point where I now expect those characters to return even if they're not the nominal star of the book. (Frankly, there are a lot of fun characters in this, and I'm glad the author has deemed it important to tie up their loose ends after the "mission", but Lucas Priest, the lead, is pretty much a cipher.) There are a dozen of these, and I've been slowly picking them up where I can just based on the time travel theme, but I'm happy to say the first one was fun and that they won't linger too long on my shelf.
May 7, 2018
The Ivanhoe Gambit is the book that started it all. The story introduces us to Sgt. Major Lucas Priest, a soldier in the Temporal Corps. In the future, once time travel has been discovered, national conflicts are resolved by sending soldiers to serve among the armies of the past. The scores are tallied and then the winner announced. A bit silly perhaps, but it makes a good backdrop for the tale. Anyway, Sgt. Major Priest has just returned from a hitch in the Punic Wars and decides to volunteer for a hitch with his friend, Sgt. Bobby Johnson. He's in for a surprise, however, since Bobby is assigned to an adjustment mission--one where past events have been messed up by time travelers and need to be restored by the Temporal Corps. In this case, a rogue time referee has assumed the role of King Richard the Lionheart and threatens to alter the history of England. Priest, Johnson and two other soldiers assume the roles of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, Little John and Ivanhoe's squire and attempt to stop the imposter. What follows is an enjoyable adventure tale which vaguely parallels the plot of Ivanhoe. It isn't great literature, but it is entertaining. Mr. Hawke's characters are likable and there's some surprising twists. It's a book to keep on my shelf for those times I want a quick, enjoyable read.
Read
December 5, 2020This series has a new set of covers, which I like, but with my e-book version that doesn't matter much. But my e-book doesn't split scenes well, I'm reading one paragraph and am confused when the next paragraph is a different scene. I expect that means I should periodically check to see if Amazon has edited it better.
The Timewar Books have soldiers fighting in time to make sure other time travelers don't create big enough changes to change the timelines and threaten their time. This book doesn't go into that too much, the bad guy is one of their own who tries to become Richard the Lionhart who doesn't die at the "proper" time.
Characters include Robin Hood and Ivanhoe, so don't worry about historical accuracy, especially since they are changing time.
The Timewar Books have soldiers fighting in time to make sure other time travelers don't create big enough changes to change the timelines and threaten their time. This book doesn't go into that too much, the bad guy is one of their own who tries to become Richard the Lionhart who doesn't die at the "proper" time.
Characters include Robin Hood and Ivanhoe, so don't worry about historical accuracy, especially since they are changing time.
August 9, 2025
Great idea great story
I last read this many years ago and it is one of the few books I could still recall the story, it is such a great inventive idea and so well written. Sergeant major Lucas is a temporal soldier. In the 27th century wars a fought in the past judging the performance of troops in the great wars of history to resolve differences. Sent on a special mission against a rogue attempting a change history the assumes the identity of Wilfred of Ivanhoe and with Robin Hood attempts to prevent a temporal disaster. The characters are well described and engaging, the story is entertaining and intriguing and the mix of historical figures and future is perfect. Loved it.
I last read this many years ago and it is one of the few books I could still recall the story, it is such a great inventive idea and so well written. Sergeant major Lucas is a temporal soldier. In the 27th century wars a fought in the past judging the performance of troops in the great wars of history to resolve differences. Sent on a special mission against a rogue attempting a change history the assumes the identity of Wilfred of Ivanhoe and with Robin Hood attempts to prevent a temporal disaster. The characters are well described and engaging, the story is entertaining and intriguing and the mix of historical figures and future is perfect. Loved it.
October 23, 2017
Time travel book that deals with the ethical quandaries
I'm the future wars are still fought, but the soldiers are sent to past conflicts, keeping the mess away from the civilians... but how do you make sure these time wars don't accidentally mess up your history, the past that means your soldiers exist to go back in time and fight?
Bobby and Lucas were great characters, Finn was a bit of a hard read at first, but the more we get to know him, and learn about him, the more interesting he becomes.
This does have me wanting to read Ivanhoe, and re-immerse myself in some of the classic Robin Hood lore.
I'm the future wars are still fought, but the soldiers are sent to past conflicts, keeping the mess away from the civilians... but how do you make sure these time wars don't accidentally mess up your history, the past that means your soldiers exist to go back in time and fight?
Bobby and Lucas were great characters, Finn was a bit of a hard read at first, but the more we get to know him, and learn about him, the more interesting he becomes.
This does have me wanting to read Ivanhoe, and re-immerse myself in some of the classic Robin Hood lore.
March 9, 2023
I read this book when it first came out in 1984. Through various moves I lost it, but a couple days ago, I found it again... at GoodWill.
I enjoyed it then and I still enjoy it now.
Simon Hawke has done what I like to do when I'm writing time travel stories. He's found a "Blank Spot" in history and had a ton of fun keeping everyone guessing.
If you are a big fan of history and time travel to the Middle Ages, I highly reccommend this book. It's a fast read, but it'll keep you turning the pages until the end. I should know, I couldn't put it down.
Very big thumbs up.
I enjoyed it then and I still enjoy it now.
Simon Hawke has done what I like to do when I'm writing time travel stories. He's found a "Blank Spot" in history and had a ton of fun keeping everyone guessing.
If you are a big fan of history and time travel to the Middle Ages, I highly reccommend this book. It's a fast read, but it'll keep you turning the pages until the end. I should know, I couldn't put it down.
Very big thumbs up.
October 4, 2025
DNF at 54%. The Zenda Agenda was rather fun, so I thought I'd probably really enjoy this first in the series, about impersonating Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. However, it takes forever - about half the book - to get going, and then it was still quite boring. I kept reading one chapter, putting it down, trying again late, and finally I had to accept that I wasn't interested in anything or anyone and I didn't care about any of them. Too bad, it's a fun time-travel idea, but the execution is really lacking.
October 24, 2021
As good as I remembered....
Read this as a teenager when it was first released in paperback, and I was hooked. Read the entire series, buying each book as soon as it was released--definitely a Science Fiction staple. Great characters and wonderful storylines. I was very excited to come across it again in Kindle format and bought it on the spot. Wish it were in Kindle Unlimited, but will probably buy each one again. Worth every penny.
Read this as a teenager when it was first released in paperback, and I was hooked. Read the entire series, buying each book as soon as it was released--definitely a Science Fiction staple. Great characters and wonderful storylines. I was very excited to come across it again in Kindle format and bought it on the spot. Wish it were in Kindle Unlimited, but will probably buy each one again. Worth every penny.
October 5, 2022
The TimeWars series has been on my sci fi to-read list for years, and I finally stumbled across a number of the used paperbacks for $2/piece. The first entry is a fun read that fuses science fiction and history nicely. It’s not overly complex or highbrow but still manages to explore some interesting ideas around time travel. If the successive entries are equally as engaging, I can see myself plowing through the series.
January 23, 2019
Admittedly it probably deserved a 3.5, but since I loved this book in my youth I have to give it a little higher mark on my review. Upon re-reading there was too much gobbley goop on why the time lines worked and such rather than plot focus and character development. Still, it was a fun trip down memory lane.
December 10, 2023
I didn't expect much from this first in a series of time-travel books by Simon Hawke. I was pleasantly surprised ... this was really good! Lots of awesome time-travel talk and paradoxes told in an exciting way with lots of historic action and adventure. Reminded me a little bit of Michael Crichton's Timeline.
I'm looking forward to reading the other eleven in the series.
I'm looking forward to reading the other eleven in the series.
January 28, 2022
I read this series (or at least the first six volumes) back when they originally came out in the eighties. In my teens, they were a fun read. As an adult, revisiting the series for the first time in decades, there are some issues, but still, overall this was a fun read.
March 24, 2017
Actually more like 3 1/2 stars.
I'm always a sucker for time travel and this one has the twist of going back to England at the time of King Richard I and Prince John. Good fun read, although Sir Walter Scott might being spinning in his grave at what was done with his literary word of 'Ivanhoe'.
I'm always a sucker for time travel and this one has the twist of going back to England at the time of King Richard I and Prince John. Good fun read, although Sir Walter Scott might being spinning in his grave at what was done with his literary word of 'Ivanhoe'.
March 26, 2018
Good time-traveling fun.
July 3, 2019
RTC when I've figured out my feelings properly.
Read
April 15, 2020An excellent read!
October 21, 2020
Boring AF
April 22, 2023
A quite enjoyable read. At the time I was reading this book, I was also reading the original IVANHOE.
August 13, 2024
I love this series. This one is my favorite. Now we know how Robin Hood did it!
September 16, 2021
Klasický příběh kde hlavní hrdina představuje poslední naději pro svět budoucnosti.
February 23, 2025
Many authors have written time-travel stories in which some people (usually the baddies) are trying to change history, and some other people (usually the goodies) are trying to stop them. Hawke’s rather misnamed Time Wars series falls into this category, but it has several distinctive features of its own.
1. The goodies in this case are a group of soldiers who’ve been promoted to special time-policing duties from the front lines of the time wars. The time wars are something going on in the background that are quite implausible, but don’t worry about them because they’re not really relevant.
2. Our soldier heroes seem to be modelled on American soldiers of the Vietnam era. They’re motivated, they try to get the job done, but at the same time they’re rather cynical, and their distrust of people on their own side sometimes turns out to be justified.
3. Time travel is done using portable devices called chronoplates. These are issued to relatively few people, for security reasons, but can occasionally be found in the hands of criminals or deserters.
4. By special whim of the author, the historical scenarios that crop up in these books all turn out to be fictional. The soldiers go back in time to find themselves in the plot of a classic novel (Ivanhoe in this case), which it’s their duty to defend from interference. All these fictional scenarios are solemnly treated as real history by everyone involved.
This novel is the first in the series, so it introduces the main concepts and some of the regular characters. It also has one of the best stories in the series, in which Richard the Lionheart has been killed and his place taken by a baddie, and our heroes are infiltrating the situation by impersonating Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, and Little John. The story of Ivanhoe proceeds to unfold, but with added mayhem caused by the time travellers on both sides.
Characterization is not deep, but varied, colourful, and quite enjoyable. The main characters are likeable enough in their way. Note that all characters have risky lives: they’re often wounded and some get killed.
The plot is lively, with plenty of action, although the characters sometimes pause to argue about time-travel theory and its practical implications. This can be hard to follow, but I do appreciate an author who takes the subject seriously and tries to explain and stick to a consistent theory of time travel.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes time-travel adventures and doesn’t mind a rather military flavour.
1. The goodies in this case are a group of soldiers who’ve been promoted to special time-policing duties from the front lines of the time wars. The time wars are something going on in the background that are quite implausible, but don’t worry about them because they’re not really relevant.
2. Our soldier heroes seem to be modelled on American soldiers of the Vietnam era. They’re motivated, they try to get the job done, but at the same time they’re rather cynical, and their distrust of people on their own side sometimes turns out to be justified.
3. Time travel is done using portable devices called chronoplates. These are issued to relatively few people, for security reasons, but can occasionally be found in the hands of criminals or deserters.
4. By special whim of the author, the historical scenarios that crop up in these books all turn out to be fictional. The soldiers go back in time to find themselves in the plot of a classic novel (Ivanhoe in this case), which it’s their duty to defend from interference. All these fictional scenarios are solemnly treated as real history by everyone involved.
This novel is the first in the series, so it introduces the main concepts and some of the regular characters. It also has one of the best stories in the series, in which Richard the Lionheart has been killed and his place taken by a baddie, and our heroes are infiltrating the situation by impersonating Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, and Little John. The story of Ivanhoe proceeds to unfold, but with added mayhem caused by the time travellers on both sides.
Characterization is not deep, but varied, colourful, and quite enjoyable. The main characters are likeable enough in their way. Note that all characters have risky lives: they’re often wounded and some get killed.
The plot is lively, with plenty of action, although the characters sometimes pause to argue about time-travel theory and its practical implications. This can be hard to follow, but I do appreciate an author who takes the subject seriously and tries to explain and stick to a consistent theory of time travel.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes time-travel adventures and doesn’t mind a rather military flavour.
March 31, 2013
There are some books that I periodically re-read, and this book is one of them. It also happens to one of the first books that I brought on my own after leaving home (back in the stone age before ereaders and the internet in every home).
The Ivanhoe Gambit is the first book in the Time Wars series. Set in an universe where time travel has been discovered, Hawke uses famous stories of fiction (such as Ivanhoe and Robin Hood) as historical events. In the case of this book, I have never read the original version of the Ivanhoe story, but I am familiar with the history of the Crusades (more so now than when I first read this novel).
One of the reasons that I like this novel is that it is a good example of the literary equivalent of a television pilot--the hook that sells the rest of the series--one that could have stood alone if necessary. One of the frustrating things about the way that the print market was set up was the fact that a book series lived or died based on the sales of the first book (just like TV decides based on the number of eyeballs that watch a pilot episode); during the 1980s, there were several science fiction series that had only the very first book published. A couple of the series I loved based solely on their initial books, despite the fact that none of the rest of the series were issued...or maybe even written.
And one of the frustrating things about such failed literary series (provided that you are willing to admit science fiction into the literary world) was the number of loose ends that some of those first books left dangling. This is not the case with The Ivanhoe Gambit; outside of one loose end, and it can be read as an actual closure of a loose thread if one pays the "what if no more of the series was published," the book is self-enclosed. One can read this book as a stand-alone book. As such, this book is many ways, my model for what first book in a series should be like.
Given the fact that I have read this book a dozen times (at least), it should be no surprise that I give it five stars.
[Disclosure: I paid a whole dollar and some sales tax in 1985 to buy an used copy of this book--a copy that I still own.]
The Ivanhoe Gambit is the first book in the Time Wars series. Set in an universe where time travel has been discovered, Hawke uses famous stories of fiction (such as Ivanhoe and Robin Hood) as historical events. In the case of this book, I have never read the original version of the Ivanhoe story, but I am familiar with the history of the Crusades (more so now than when I first read this novel).
One of the reasons that I like this novel is that it is a good example of the literary equivalent of a television pilot--the hook that sells the rest of the series--one that could have stood alone if necessary. One of the frustrating things about the way that the print market was set up was the fact that a book series lived or died based on the sales of the first book (just like TV decides based on the number of eyeballs that watch a pilot episode); during the 1980s, there were several science fiction series that had only the very first book published. A couple of the series I loved based solely on their initial books, despite the fact that none of the rest of the series were issued...or maybe even written.
And one of the frustrating things about such failed literary series (provided that you are willing to admit science fiction into the literary world) was the number of loose ends that some of those first books left dangling. This is not the case with The Ivanhoe Gambit; outside of one loose end, and it can be read as an actual closure of a loose thread if one pays the "what if no more of the series was published," the book is self-enclosed. One can read this book as a stand-alone book. As such, this book is many ways, my model for what first book in a series should be like.
Given the fact that I have read this book a dozen times (at least), it should be no surprise that I give it five stars.
[Disclosure: I paid a whole dollar and some sales tax in 1985 to buy an used copy of this book--a copy that I still own.]
December 6, 2015
It's nice to read a time-travel book that actually talks about the more complex ideas of time-travel (paradoxes, parallel timelines, etc.) in a serious manner. With that being said, there's a decent chance that even those who don't like time-travel books would enjoy this one.
The Ivanhoe Gambit is the story of a group of men from the 2600's who are sent back in time to stop a rogue time-traveler from messing up medieval times and, while time travel is a big part of the story, this book reads like a modern-ish fantasy novel with some time-travel high jinx thrown in. You're never going to forget that the main characters are from the future, but they do spend the majority of their time having to act like citizens of the 1100's and the story does focus on characters of that era in addition to the future cast.
My only issue with this book was that the large-ish cast made it hard to remember which time traveler was which (they all had two names, their real ones and their fake identities) and hard to really connect with any of the characters. I enjoyed the overall story and I was rooting for the good guys, but I didn't feel strongly connected to any one person.
If you enjoy the myths of figures such as Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, or King Arthur and don't mind it when authors get a bit liberal with history, then you'll probably enjoy this. If you dislike books with crass language that treat the middle-ages as a less-than-fun time to be alive, then give it a pass.
Warning: There are no rape scene in the book, but it's made clear that several of the men have had their way with unwilling women. If this type of discussion would bother you, then don't read this one.
The Ivanhoe Gambit is the story of a group of men from the 2600's who are sent back in time to stop a rogue time-traveler from messing up medieval times and, while time travel is a big part of the story, this book reads like a modern-ish fantasy novel with some time-travel high jinx thrown in. You're never going to forget that the main characters are from the future, but they do spend the majority of their time having to act like citizens of the 1100's and the story does focus on characters of that era in addition to the future cast.
My only issue with this book was that the large-ish cast made it hard to remember which time traveler was which (they all had two names, their real ones and their fake identities) and hard to really connect with any of the characters. I enjoyed the overall story and I was rooting for the good guys, but I didn't feel strongly connected to any one person.
If you enjoy the myths of figures such as Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, or King Arthur and don't mind it when authors get a bit liberal with history, then you'll probably enjoy this. If you dislike books with crass language that treat the middle-ages as a less-than-fun time to be alive, then give it a pass.
Warning: There are no rape scene in the book, but it's made clear that several of the men have had their way with unwilling women. If this type of discussion would bother you, then don't read this one.
January 28, 2022
I read the Time Wars books back when they first came out, back in the eighties (my teenaged years), and I recently decided to try them out again to see if they hold up to my fond memories.
The first book does hold up pretty well. The concept is that in the future, technology for time travel has been developed. To fight the wars of that time, they send military people through time to fight in the wars of the past, with 'referees' watching over to decide who 'won'.
But a referee has gone rogue and wants to change history. To stop him, a team of soldiers is put together (the third so far, we find out) and sent back to prevent him from taking the place of Richard the Lionheart and changing history by changing Richard's history. The team are physically altered to let them replace Robin Hood and Little John, plus Ivanhoe and his squire. They need to find the rogue and stop him, without changing history.
Of course there turns out to be some hiccups. For example, Robin is a drunkard, and it's Marian who runs everything, and is suspicious about when he actually learned how to shoot straight.
The story blends the tales of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe, with a few little alterations, with the Time Wars concept that made it a lot of fun to reread. I plan to keep going with the series, in between reading new material. A pity there aren't new editions available, since mine are falling apart.
The first book does hold up pretty well. The concept is that in the future, technology for time travel has been developed. To fight the wars of that time, they send military people through time to fight in the wars of the past, with 'referees' watching over to decide who 'won'.
But a referee has gone rogue and wants to change history. To stop him, a team of soldiers is put together (the third so far, we find out) and sent back to prevent him from taking the place of Richard the Lionheart and changing history by changing Richard's history. The team are physically altered to let them replace Robin Hood and Little John, plus Ivanhoe and his squire. They need to find the rogue and stop him, without changing history.
Of course there turns out to be some hiccups. For example, Robin is a drunkard, and it's Marian who runs everything, and is suspicious about when he actually learned how to shoot straight.
The story blends the tales of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe, with a few little alterations, with the Time Wars concept that made it a lot of fun to reread. I plan to keep going with the series, in between reading new material. A pity there aren't new editions available, since mine are falling apart.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews