Ryan's Gambit

Timeless Void #1

by Craig Robertson

Press your luck too hard, for too long, and man, will you come to regret it.

Jon Ryan had lived long enough to know better. But with age does not automatically come wisdom. He has saved mankind many times. He even resurrected Earth and all its inhabitants from never-having-existed. But he's still haunted, and haunted people do crazy things.

Because of his interventions, Earth's timeline has been totally scrambled. Now Jon feel obligated to restore the original order of time. If he doesn't, many mind-boggling paradoxes will occur. He's not sure he and existence as he knows it will continue. Whatever it takes, he will have his future the way it was always supposed to be.

But can time be altered? How could he possibly achieve his unimaginable goals? With no certain plan, he ricochets through the past, hoping against hope that whatever alterations he's making will restore Earth's original timeline. But it's very likely he will only continue to make matters worse.

An accidental encounter with the dark denizens of the mysterious Void threaten to derail Jon's quest before it even begins. He offends the ghostly Phantoms, and now they will not rest until they see Jon dead—or worse. If Jon's quest was impossible before, with this relentless enemy, it now becomes totally inconceivable.

Follow Jon in his continuing adventures of The Ryanverse. The action is nonstop. The tension is unbearable. The odds are always bleak. But, in spite of all that, Jon's antics will put a smile on your face and make you laugh harder than you have for a very long time.

Genres: Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2021

About the author

I claim three great accomplishments in my life: my family, my medical career, and my writing.  They are in, I am certain, their proper order.  My family, includes my perfect wife Karen, my wonderful children (adults now) Chris and Kim, my sweet grandson Jonathan. And now you! From family, I draw strength, love, and meaning.  What humbling gifts.  I am almost as proud of my incredible career as a physician (no, not that I'm incredible, it's that the journey was).  I'm an Internest and have worked in ER's, hospitals, clinics, homes, and most places between.  What a rush!  When I say it's an honor and a privilege to be a doctor, I truly mean it.  My writings, provide me a powerful creative outlet and so warms my soul directly.  In my wilder dreams, I hope my writing is of sufficient merit and so benefit you too in an impactful manner. 
Know me by what I love: Dickens, Orwell, and Bradbury; Milton, Donne, and Blake; Coltrane, Davis, and Desmond; Picasso, Michelangelo, and Renoir; Astronomy, Biology and Geology; Doctor Who, Star Trek (original TV), and Doctor Who (yeah, I love it that much); Avedon, Doisneau, and Arbus; burger and fries, coc au vin, and pizza-pizza-pizza.  Have I left anything important to me out?  Just one, the most important: God.  I'm an ex-Catholic wondering if churches are device of men and are necessary at all.  More importantly, I wish I spent more time seeing His wonder in the world (I'm not evangelizing, just passing along info; this is a bio, n'est pas?).  Oh, and this has never come up, but there used to be a series of magazine ads where sexy looking people were asked a series of questions about what they liked.  A standard query was: "What's your favorite word?"  So, this really stuck with me (I know, I need to get out more, don't I) and now I can tell someone, you, my favorite word.  Oneself!  I love it.  It means 'on your own' right, but it also refers to the elf you own!  Brilliant word.  Now, where'd I put that elf.......

Reviews

[Rob Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Craig Robertson writes a Jon Ryan book, oh, man - you know it’s going to be a doozy! Earth was no-timed and Jon re-timed it. Problem solved and everything is fine… except Jon isn’t. He has to fix what he already fixed and if that sounds like a Ryanism, well, grab some popcorn and settle in yet another Charlie Foxtrot courtesy of everyone favorite android, Jon Ryan.

It’s funny. It’s… complex and as only Jon can make things. He makes enemies and this new one appears to time the time clan look like pushovers. Toss in an Earth general with plans to take over Shariko Jones’ command of her time ship and it’s just too much fun to be had!

I can’t wait to see how he gets out of this mess!

[Daniel Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a new series in the Ryan-verse and if you liked the earlier ones you should pretty much like this one. I think some of the formula is wearing a little thin but the books are still worth reading so far. I do not have much to say about this other than it continues with many of the characters of the earlier book and introduces new characters for our heroes to deal with. This whole series seems to be a bit childish but thats sort of its point.

I do strongly suggest starting with The Forever Series starting with The Forever Life then the Time Wars Last Forever series. There are a lot of things happening in this book that you will not understand if you do not read those first.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice to see Captain Jones come into her own and stand up to the bureaucrats dragging down humanity as a whole. As for John, he seems to be getting a bit narrow-minded in his old (really really old) age. It was a little frustrating listening to John completely miss the folly of his task (moreso than usual I should say). Nevertheless, I enjoy seeing where the whole gang ends up after having finally accomplished their impossible mission just to be reminded why government has no business being the ones to hold power.

[Kevin Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jon Ryan can't leave well enough alone. Despite all everyone trying to sway him away from it he chooses to take on resetting the timeline to prior to the time wars. Of course things don't as planned. I'm real glad Jones and Tank are back and there is some focus on the earth and their time ship.

[Jason Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun John Ryan series if you are in the mood for a goofy sci - fi, time travel book. I read the previous John Ryan series and to me, the general plot is starting to get a little redundant - time / dimension travel and bad guys that hate John Ryan. Overall, it's worth the reading time.

[David Gorenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

great start to a new Ryan adventure

Couldn’t put it down. The characters are as enjoyable as ever. Looking forward to the next book. Love the endless series.

[Rufus Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like space opera this book is as good as it gets. But don’t start with this book although it is book #1 it is part of a larger series. This is more like book 20 something.

[Lazar Ljubenović · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really have to stop consuming random bullshit. This was terrible.

[Leo Goldin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it is better after 100 pages but it felt like book 26 out of 50