Time Scout

Time Scout #1

by Robert Lynn Asprin, Linda Evans

Kit Carson best time scout is retired now shadowing endangers his life, can get caught at same time and die. Gamine redhead Margo 16 wants him to teach her. Malcolm 30s guides her in Victorian England. Mistakes get worse, she runs away in Coliseum era Rome. Her trip through dying Gate to Africa 1542 may be their last; grandpa Kit and lover Malcolm head to rescue.

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Fantasy, Travel, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

453 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

Robert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.

Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.

Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started off captivated by this book, but ended up disappointed.

Margo Smith arrives at Time Terminal 86 determined to learn how to become a Time Scout, one of the people who are first through a time string gate and therefore the first to learn what is on the other side. She is younger than she looks and very impatient, creating drama and trouble every place she goes, and does not want to be a mere Time Guide shepherding tourists into the past. No, she wants to do something important!

She is looking for Kit Carson, the well-known retired time scout. She wants him to be her teacher. Will she find him? Will he agree to her plan? Does she even know what is involved in becoming a Time Scout? Why does she have a self-imposed deadline of six months before she returns back to Minnesota where she came from?

Margo was annoying, even while she did have a few flashes of brilliance. Plus she was way too young to have all the men drooling over her whenever she walked around. That was disturbing. So was the violent attack she undergoes in the later chapters. I doubt any woman, no matter how tough, could have come through that experience with apparently no ill affects to her psyche.

But you know what annoyed me the most about this book? It is petty, I suppose, and certainly has nothing to do with the story itself, but reflects on the book for me anyway. Every time I finished a reading session, my fingers were black from the print rubbing off. I have not had that happen in years. It made me feel that my edition was cheap and shoddy.

I will be putting this one in the Back To The Library Sale Shelf pile, and I don't plan to recognize the author's name if I should see it again.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recipe for Ruin:
Take one REALLY GREAT time travel framework.
Add one REALLY TERRIBLE main character.
Mix in one REALLY CREEPY romance.

Yes, Robert Asprin: you ruined it! Or more accurately, your character Margo Smith from the book ruined it!

So what's so great about the time travel? It's really unique and well developed. I'll explain some of the premise, because most people quit after the first novel but you get more details as you progress through all of the books in the series.

Following a cataclysmic event, "gates" appear which link to specific locations and points in time. The gates don't stay open for more than a few minutes, but if they are stable they will reopen on a regular schedule. Each cycle they are only open a few minutes - this is enough to send tourists in and out along with their baggage. For stable gates, tourism is the obvious industry, and time guides are the workers who make this possible.

If the gates are not stable, then when they close nobody has any idea if or when the gate will reopen. Exploring new gates is the job that a time scout performs, with no idea where the gate leads, and no idea if or when the gate will reopen.

One crucial key is that no individual person can exist twice in the same timestream. So if you enter one gate and spend a week in London in January 1888, then you can't ever go into another gate contemporary with that one, because you'll "shadow yourself" and instantly disappear forever - sudden death! So, after having spent a week in London in January 1888, you wouldn't be able to enter a gate that leads to San Francisco in January 1888.

One more really interesting thing about these gates - they are truly "linked" - there's a synchronized simultaneity with the time terminal. If you cross a gate and spend a week in London 1888, then back on the time terminal a week goes by before the gate cycles again and you return. That's a really cool idea, and not something typically found in time travel books.

The simultaneity means that any specific date is only available once through a particular gate. So if there's a gate that leads to the location where Jesus was crucified, it will only be available once for tourists to view. Time is always traveling forward at an equal rate on both sides of the gates - downtime and uptime. Go through the gate a month before the crucifixion, and you'll be a month too early. Go through the gate a week too late, and you'll have missed it.

Thus, the "link" formed by a gate is permanently synchronized - time moves at the same rate on both sides of the gate. That gate for London 1888? Next year it'll be a gate for London 1889. Thus obviously certain important dates in history that can be reached by a gate can only be reached once by that gate, so such moments are really highly sought after, and tickets for tourists will be expensive via the black market for such events.

The time terminal itself is also displaced from the present. It's located in the Himalayas (sealed in a cave). You get to the time terminal by going through "primary gate", from somewhere in New York. Traveling through the gate takes you not only to time terminal 86, but also leads back in time to about 1910. So the locals who live and work on the time terminal spend their entire lives in a cave without sun, and actually living in 1910 but with modern present-day conveniences that are contemporary to uptime New York.

Traveling through Primary gate (which cycles on a regular basis) leads you to the time terminal, which has many other gates, some in strange positions such as high on a wall. These other gates in turn cycle on their own regular schedules and lead to various downtime locations.

If a downtime person accidentally gets through from the past into the time terminal, then they're stuck. For legal reasons, the downtimers are not allowed to go through primary into modern-day New York. But time terminal 86 is pretty decent, and the downtimers find ways to build a contented life on the station.

Sounds cool so far? Yes, very much so. Now add to the fact that the authors have given a really cool back-story to a compelling character named Kit Carson - the most famous time scout of all! Sounds great, doesn't it... Oh, but he's not the main character, and his exploits are only ever hinted at, and not ever described in detail.

So here's where the novel gets ruined - the main character is Margo Smith. She's about 16 years old, and is the most annoying and unlikeable protagonist you can imagine. She wants to train to be a time scout, but is essentially "untrainable". She wants a shortcut to everything, and apparently needs it for some secret (and unconvincing) reason. And of course, she's beautiful so when she's not just being annoying, she's sulking and looking "cute", and every male character nearby simply can't think or talk straight because she's just so hot.

And then she falls in love with a cradle-robbing older guy who seems like he's in his 40's. This really comes across as creepy stuff, but maybe he's younger than his personality reads in the novel. Not at all convincing that she'd like him - she's not at all a good companion to him on an intellectual level. He regularly reminds himself how lucky he is to have a woman (teenager, that is) like Margo, so there must be something there...

Final Verdict
This novel is a train wreck... but the rest of the series gets progressively better. Book 2 (Wagers of Sin) focuses on another main character who is much more interesting, and is a lot better than this book. And books 3 and 4 are a two-parter that you'll need to read back to back (Ripping Time and The House That Jack Built), but which are great! They deal with Jack the Ripper, and the series gets nicely dark and sinister.

Good news - by the 3rd and 4th books, Margo Smith is tolerable. She completely ruins book 1, though. And although book 2 is much better, its weakest moments are when Margo Smith appears (which are thankfully somewhat infrequent).

So... read this book quickly, and don't get discouraged. The final books in the series are really worth your time, but you won't get as much out of them by skipping and not reading in order.

[Betule Sairafi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. The story seemed interesting, and I tried to get at least halfway through, but the stupid girl acts /way/ too childish. When you expect some progress in the storyline, all you get is her annoying attitude. I’m glad I don’t have a physical copy because I’m totally anti-book burning but this one is really asking for it.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected the lead character to be Kit Carson, it's not. The lead character is a young, stupid teenager who needed strong, loving discipline...badly. Though I disliked her, I liked all the other characters with the exception of one flaw. The guy I'd call the male lead in the story was really interesting and likeable until you realized that his brain was in his crotch. In fact, many of the male characters demonstrated this quality which tells me that's a personal problem the author wrote into his characters. There ends up being a romance that is just flat out creepy and not believable. Additionally, the main character went through seriously traumatic events that are just shrugged off as if they were every day stuff. It would have been a much more honest story to see her deal with all her issues. But I don't think a man could have written that accurately.

Having said all that, I loved the world Aspirin created and the rules of the science. There's so much potential, but I'm afraid that the series didn't develop the way it should have. Someone needs to get permission to go back and write all the Kit Carson adventures.

[Lacivard Mammadova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tamam. İdeya gözəldir. Yaradılan "Zaman vağzalı" aləmi, dəqiq qayda-qanunlar sistemi, təsvirlər- əsər üzərində çəkilən əziyyətin, görülən işlərin böyük olduğunun götəricisidir. Bu cür əziyyət isə həmişə təqdirəlayiqdir. Seriya Zaman səyahətlərinin baş verdiyi terminaldan və onların sakinlərinin həyatından bəhs edir. İlk hissə yeni yaradılan keçidləri tədqiq edən və ya keçid yaratmaq üçün kəşfiyyata göndərilən tədqiqtçı- kəşfiyyatçılardan bəhs edir. Deyirəm, bəlkə uşaq vaxtı kitabı oxusaydım, hər şeyə can atan və real həyatdakı kimi hər əl atdığı işi baş-ayaq gedən qəhrəmana təəəssüflənərdim. Amma indi baş qəhrəman Marqonun hərəkətləri sadəcə qıcıq yaradır. Bu cür məsuliyyətsizliyi oxuyanda tüstülənirəm. Xəstədir, dəlidir nədir. Hələ digərləri də bunun nazını çəkir, dərdinə yanır. Kitab boyunca baş qəhrəmanı bir qaşıq suda boğmaq hissi keçsəydi, kitabı daha yüksək qiymətləndirərdim. Digər hissələrdə vağzalın başqa sakinlərindən bəhs edildiyi yazılıb. Buna çox ümid edirəm.

[Nate Petsche · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 40%

God I wanted to like it. It seemed like such a cool premise and I just wanted to love it so freeking bad.

The issue is the characterization of Margo. Holy shite is it bad and problematic. They basically gave her this abusive and traumatic past (at least they hint at it), and most likely want to give her this arc of overcoming that adversity, but she just comes across as insufferable and like she has a princess-complex.

Most of the beginning scenes can be boiled down to Margo wants to be a time scout. Kit and Malcom introduce work that time scouts have to do besides scouting (ie training or studying), Margo cries and has a fit because she didn’t think it would take work.

This trope worked the first few times as Margo acclimated to the world, but now it’s gone on for waaayyyyy too long.

Also the most problematic thing is that fucking EVERYONE sexualizes her to no end. Holy Frappuccino it’s annoying to read. HER OWN GRANDPA TALKS ABOUT HER FIGURE. WHAT. NOT IN MY GOOD CHRISTAN TEXT.

Alright I’m off the soap box. I wanted to keep reading because I was curious as to whether or not this will fix itself when the real conflict comes into play, but Lordy I can’t anymore.

I did read the ending though and it ends exactly how you think it will.

[SvetoKot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Прекрасная концепия, в которой легко делать триллионы историй со смешилками и грустилками, но ужасная реализация из-за невероятно раздражающей женщины на главной героине и невероятно раздражающих мужланах рядом с ней.

[Heli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Это просто ужасно.

Главная героиня меня раздражала всю книгу, отношения мужчин к ней тоже бесит, вроде в будущем живут, а отношения все равно животные.
Есть вопросы к миру со временем, но в целом построение мне понравилось, оно довольно продумано.

Но в общем и целом, потерянного времени жаль.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lectures are boring for us too, use over half book "black powder" p 270/ 453. Action is best part. Unstable gate to 1542 p 353 Africa may be their last. Kit, Margo's grandpa, and Malcolm, her sweetheart, rescue "pretty package" p 285, despite danger to selves; Kit may die from shadowing.

More than once "laughter went through the crowd at the silly pun" p 278. Not funny if pun has to be stated outright. I didn't get the puns, ever. One is "when the Games open, it will be arena seating" p 278. Huh? Or "an unprepared scout has a very short career. If he was aware of the pun, he wasn't smiling" p 224. Me neither.

Kit Carson retired from time scouting because he has been through too many gates, and is in danger of shadowing himself at same time as before. "It ought to be illegal to look like that" thinks time guide Malcolm 30s about Margo, secretly 16, publicly 18 "redheaded gamine clad in black leather miniskirt, black stretch-lace body suit, and black thigh-high leather boots" p 18, seeking Kit Carson for teacher. He bears scars of Spanish Inquisition, warns her of rape, real dangers.

Tediously repeated over and over, she imposes foolish artificial deadline of a few months, wants to show her abusive (step?)father she can be scout by then, yammers on p 178 "heartache from Billy Pandropolous" p 196. Just because she's young, cute, lucky, "huffed .. flounced .. pouted .. pert facade" p 285, she gets away with giant stupidity, mistake after mistake, runs away for a week from tour in Rome. I'm not taken in.

Librarian warns of need for studying; scouts know at least ten languages. Kit can "speak twenty fluently and can make myself understood in considerably more". Margo "wailed" p 172.

Drunk in Roman Festival, she and Malcolm sleep together. She confesses real age. After rescue, she "leaves hateful little note" p 611 for Kit, vanishes.

For Goldie, currency exchanger, she goes after diamonds. The unstable gate has little time left. Margo gets raped by Portuguese soldiers and settlers.

Big Afrikaner Koot Van Beek saves them with rifle twit refused to bring for defense "I don't want to kill anything" p 355, dies of malaria and torture, hanging on pillory. Welsh Kynan who came through accidentally in battle, attacked her as Joan of Arc and Kit by mistake, turns into loyal liege who jumps in front of spear meant for her.

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's a run-of-the-mill time agent story, in this case the agents are tour guides. In this tale, an experiment gone wrong has resulted in wormholes through time, linking past and present locations. Entrepreneurs have capitalized on the wormholes--called "gates" at their present day end--offering tours of the past to those wealthy enough to afford the trip. Of course, before there can be any thoughts of tourists or tours, someone has to check out these past eras, to set up places for the tourists to arrive, to arrange accommodations and generally discover an itinerary for their trip. That's the job of a time scout, to go into a new gate and get the lay of the land. It's a difficult and demanding profession. Not one that promises a long and prosperous future. The smart (and lucky) ones retire early and opt for less dangerous professions. Such is the case of Kenneth Carson. As one of the most famous time scouts, he's now the owner of a small hotel in a time terminal. It's a quiet life, at least until a young woman shows up at his doorstep, asking that he train her to be a time scout. Carson's attempts to convince her otherwise before she runs off into the past and gets herself killed make up the tale. It's an entertaining read, good for killing an afternoon or two.

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has phenomenal sci fi/time travel concepts. Definetely enough to build a good story out of. And the story is pretty good... It may get a little murky during the last 50 or so pages, but not too badly. So why not four stars? Because of an annoying main character, a sixteen/seventeen year old girl who not only attracts the interest of her grandfather (in all fairness, he didn't know it yet) and an eventual uncomfortable romantic plot. While it probably sounds worse here than it came across, it still wasn't really my thing. Still, the sci fI elements and overall story were pretty enjoyable.

[StarMan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was far more annoyed than entertained.
1.33 stars, which may be too generous.

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very predictable book. When I got tired of reading about characters the author did not make me care about, I checked ahead to see if my predictions were accurate. They were :(. The teen girl (age 17) acted like junior high age instead of high school junior age. Very irritating since I taught both ages for 44 years and I know how both act. Young and overly immature means I will read a different book. Two stars because I was interested enough to check my predictions. I assign one star for poor books that are so bad I don't even want to check my predictions. The book character called Kit Carson does not hold a candle to the real historical Kit Carson, of army scout, mountain man, and western exploration fame. The ill use of the famous name here was very irritating to me. There are better time travel books out there, so don't bother with this one.

[Frederick Bodine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was not sure I would like it. Slow starter but I knew time travel issues vary and there would have to be a little set up first. I thought it worth it. I am not sure I will be reading more right away as I do not think the main characters of book one carry to book 2. If I run across it I will for sure buy but not sure I will hunt it. I have so much to read already. It had a very original idea in the way of time travel and the local terminology. I am very happy I decided to take this one off the shelf!

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time Scout by Robert Lynn Asprin was a book about a man named Kit Carson. He was a time scout that went through time to fight and solve crime. But there was also a little teenage girl that was very annoying all throughout the story and she doesn't change. But she also becomes a time scout along with Kit. They go on amazing adventures together and solve crimes together. There also is another character named Malcolm and he goes along with them and helps them on their adventures.

[Yxt13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Юна гаряча голова отримує (дуже жорстоко) на горіхи, бо не слухає старших...
Книга чудово підійде для виховання підлітків, якщо, звичайно, ви не проти, щоб ваше маля дізналось про секс і зґвалтування, про які їй (йому), звісно, нічого не відомо.

[Jeanie T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. My first favorite time travel.

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got about a quarter of the way into this and it didn't grab me at all. Marking this one as did not finish.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worldbuilding is top notch and I love it, but the age gap in the characters attracted to a teenager is not good. Also maturity through rape is a trope that needs to go away, period.

[Stanislav · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soo boring..

[Scott Holstad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievably stupid and not remotely believable. Sometime in the future, time travel is possible, both “uptime” and downtime.” To do this, time scouts are needed to scout unknown areas and guides are needed to show tourists scouted areas such as historical Rome, Victorian England, shogun Japan, etc. The most famous time scout of all time is the stupidly named Kit Carson, who is retired.

One day, some total massive hottie, the like of whom has never been seen in the universe shows up on the space station in a massive rush looking for Kit. She is secretly 16, but “looks 18,” so it’s okay that every male who sees her, regardless of age or marital status stares and drools. All men think with their penises in this book. Even Kit, who’s old, when he sees her, is struck dumb with amazement. Then she announces she’s his granddaughter and wants him to train her to be a time scout! No more incestuous thoughts, I guess. Still, everyone else wants to pork her.

Kit tries to talk her out of it and enlists the aid of every time scout around and the top weapons specialists and researchers around. She thinks it sounds romantic and knows nothing about it. Well – get this – first of all, you have to be a scholar. You pretty much have to have a PhD. Many have PhDs in History or Anthropology or other Humanities discipline. Margo, the girl, doesn’t study. Hates school. Then, since you’re visiting who knows how many foreign countries, you have to be fluent in many, many languages. Kit is fluent in 20. Margo barely knows one. Then, you pretty much have to be a special forces veteran. A PhD. Yep. You have to know how to fight anyone anywhere and how to beat the hell out of anyone and kill them if need be. You also need to know your weapons. You need to know how to use, fire, and clean hundreds of guns. Margo has never picked one up. You need to know blades. Margo has never picked one up. You need to know at least three to five martial arts, black belt level, probably more. Margo took a few classes of one in high school. And one of the time scouts who’s helping to train her who seems to be about 40 develops some type of romantic relationship with her even though they have absolutely nothing in common and even though it’s statutory rape. Apparently, the author, Robert Asprin (Linda Evans is a collaborator, but I’m not convinced she did that much, because I have some respect for her), really wants to fuck a 16-year-old girl. Really badly.

And yet, I’m willing to bet, Margo triumphs over all and becomes a successful time scout, the first female one, no less, and everyone is happy. I say I’m willing to bet because I didn’t finish this joke of a disaster. It’s too stupid to waste my time on. There are too many other good books to read. This was honestly one of the dumber books I’ve picked up in a long time and rest assured I will never read another book by this author, who must be a total dumb ass. One star. Definitely not recommended.

[Andy Strutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time Scout by Robert Asprin and Linda Evans
A review by Andy Strutt author of “The Afflicted”

I happened upon this book at a car boot sale and was immediately taken by the write up on the back. I have to admit, I had never heard of Robert Asprin or Linda Evans before but decided to take a chance.
The story is absolutely fascinating, based both in the future (Up Time) and in the past (Down Time) at the same time. There has been a catastrophic accident on Earth that has allowed the formation of intermittent time tunnels to the past. They are accessed from hidden Time Terminals; all based in the past and can lead to anywhere in history from the Cretaceous to Victorian England.
The story revolves around Kit Carson a famous retired Time Scout who during his career has braved dozens of expeditions into the unknown past. He is well respected around Time Terminal 86 and lives a peaceful life until a young girl; Margo Smith turns up claiming to be his daughter and demanding he train her as a scout.
Follow her escapades as she runs from a troubled past determined to show everyone that she has what it takes to be a Time Scout.
The novel is very well written and a unique concept, perfect for fans of pure science fiction and action thrillers alike. There are so many plot twists that you are kept guessing what is going to happen next.
The characters are superbly constructed and you really begin to feel empathy for the troubled Margo as she fights for her dream.
I was rather lucky to drop on this copy but I am even luckier that I have discovered there are another three books in the series that I will be keeping my eyes open for in the future. Highly recommended.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite assertions by sensible reviewers here, no, Margo is not an idiot. She is a teenager w/ bad psychological damage--made abundantly, indeed redundantly, clear--that leads her to ACT like an idiot.

Assuming you can accept that, as I did, the plotting actually makes a reasonable amount of sense. With one major exception, to my mind.

At 16yo, an age for high school junior year, in Margo is being put thru what seems a full-time course in weapons and martial arts training, assigned a heavy course-load of academic material w/ a concentration on the in-depth history of the entire world*, and expected to rapidly pick up multiple languages tho well into adolescence, after childhood's automatic language acquisition device** has turned off--and apparently to do it by outmoded memorization methods. When to an astonishing extent she succeeds in what amounts to passing college while holding down a full-time job, she receives moderate praise.
----------------------
* Kenneth "Kit" Carson, one of our viewpoint characters--and certainly A main character even if not THE main character--is surprised and annoyed when she doesn't remember that Francis Marion was the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution.
** Cf. 'Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition" at http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash-english...

[Bob Folker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I needed something I could read on breaks, so it had to be easy to put down. This filled the bill.
The premise: due to unknown causes, time warps have opened to the past.
I can suspend disbelief for that if the story is good. And the story was not bad. But I wouldn't call it good, either. "OK" is about right. Instead of focusing on the mystery of what has caused the warps, or the problems of the people stranded in 'Shangrila' from their homes in the past, which are the interesting problems the premise presents, it instead focuses on a young woman who wants to become the first female 'Time Scout'. That could be OK too, (the actual Scouting stuff is interesting) but it didn't grab me. The plot hinges on her desire to do it quick and dirty because she wants to prove something to somebody back up-time. While her refusal to tell anybody her reasons is made out to be a plot point, I can't see that it makes much difference - she would have done much the same whether anybody knew or not. The parts set in actual past settings, as opposed to the Shangrila staging area, are interesting, although the squicky romance doesn't help things for me either. Two stars is all it gets.

[Jefferson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing seemed very self indulgent, with entire chapters covering subjects that the authors clearly want to talk about in exhaustive detail, and a generally smug, condescending tone throughout the book. The main female character spends most of the book being trained to be self-reliant, only to be brutally punished for not "doing it right" and ends up a helpless victim in need of rescue by her two male mentor figures. The ending makes it clear that they knew best and that she's "learned her lesson."

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Asprin again. This series (Time Scout is the first of four) is set in a world where time tourism has become a big thing, with the founding and finding of nexuses (nexi?) of gates to various different points in time. Time Scouts are the individuals who go into new gates when they appear to see where they lead...obviously, a job not without peril. Interesting characters and enteretaining plots.

[Anne Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the ficton in this book, but I'm not as sure I appreciate what they did with it. Margo's mysterious past is a bit frustrating at times, and her behaviour is perhaps _too_ erratic. I find it also odd how they set her up to be a strong female character, but then half the time reveal her to be silly and weak.

On the other hand, the story is gripping and the ficton is very well fleshed out by the plot. I would love to read more of the same.

[Korry Thorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up until I was about 3/4 through this book I was thought the book was very good and was planning on having Dale read it. The the book went from PG to R and I had to rethink. I still liked the book a lot, but will have to hold off on recommending it to Dale until a few years hence. The book is a new take on time travel that I haven't run into before and it was quite fun to read.

[Taylor Yardley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this a few years ago and probably a few sequels. Honestly not a whole lot sticks in my mind from the story...something about Rome, exchanging currency, and time travel is all that remains. I don't usually read older sci-fi but this happened to be in an Ebook folder that ended up on my reader. So there you have it.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margo Smith, granddaughter of famous time scout Kit Carson, is hell-bent on becoming a time scout too. The shopping center of time portals, Time Terminal 86, will never be the same. Plenty of fun and horror make this a quick, entertaining read.