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The Safety Factor: The Cost of War
In the near future, Earth's population has topped 10 billion and civilization is teetering on the brink of destruction. Secret societies have seized control of the world’s governments through “stealth politics”, using a hierarchy of “spook” organizations as their police force. Rene, a brilliant and unorthodox technician, covertly travels back in time some 65 years to the time period of the Third World War (circa 2015). His mission is to save the woman he has fallen in love with (across time) from suicide. They join forces with our time traveling submarine and its 18th century refugees from the first Safety Factor book, but are forced to flee yet another 365 years into the future - to escape a world falling into unprecedented social turmoil. Is there anything they can do to stop the endless cycles of empire building, prosperity, decline, collapse and chaos that the human race has experienced since the beginning of time? This is the second book of The Safety Factor trilogy.
230 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2009
40 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Travis
13 books11 followersMr. Travis has a long professional career (30 years) in computing technology. Starting out in what was once called Data Processing (DP), then Information Management (IM) and now Information Technology (IT), he has written a tremendous amount of technical documentation to support his evolving IT roles (programmer, technical support specialist, designer, engineer, and consultant). In addition, he occasionally conducts classroom training in the IT field. This experience has given him the ability to write quickly while coordinating very complex material, and make it interesting at the same time.
Much of his early career was spent working for the State of Washington as a civil servant. In 1997 he moved his family to the San Francisco bay area, where he could work as a consultant. Two of his first three years there were spent consulting for Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP). Since then he has traveled all over the United States, working for various US government agencies and their closely related corporations.
He’s worked at the following Federal and related organizations (in alphabetical order); The Aerospace Corporation, Bechtel Nevada, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Justice - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Fluor Hanford, HRL Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Social Security Administration (SSA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Uranium Disposition Services (UDS), and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
This experience has given him keen and even stark insights into government and politics, which he likes to pass on to his readers. Though still fascinated by computers, most of his other interests are geared towards science itself. They include (also in alphabetical order) astronomy, chemistry, cosmology, mathematics, physics, and psychology. He also has life long interests in the humanities including history, metaphysics, philosophy and religion. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Evergreen State College.
In writing fiction, he draws on all his interests and personal experience to convey the story. He strives for realism and does not like to “invent” things, just to make the story line go in a desired direction. Where he lacks knowledge, he does research. And where he lacks experience, he recruits help from those who have it. He likes to write about non-trivial subjects by addressing critical scientific, social and technological issues that directly impact the future of our civilization, and humanity itself.
For recreation, he likes to ride his motorcycle in the deserts of the Southwest. He collects old personal computers and handheld calculators, enjoys reading scientific texts and science fiction stories.
Much of his early career was spent working for the State of Washington as a civil servant. In 1997 he moved his family to the San Francisco bay area, where he could work as a consultant. Two of his first three years there were spent consulting for Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP). Since then he has traveled all over the United States, working for various US government agencies and their closely related corporations.
He’s worked at the following Federal and related organizations (in alphabetical order); The Aerospace Corporation, Bechtel Nevada, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Justice - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Fluor Hanford, HRL Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Social Security Administration (SSA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Uranium Disposition Services (UDS), and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
This experience has given him keen and even stark insights into government and politics, which he likes to pass on to his readers. Though still fascinated by computers, most of his other interests are geared towards science itself. They include (also in alphabetical order) astronomy, chemistry, cosmology, mathematics, physics, and psychology. He also has life long interests in the humanities including history, metaphysics, philosophy and religion. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Evergreen State College.
In writing fiction, he draws on all his interests and personal experience to convey the story. He strives for realism and does not like to “invent” things, just to make the story line go in a desired direction. Where he lacks knowledge, he does research. And where he lacks experience, he recruits help from those who have it. He likes to write about non-trivial subjects by addressing critical scientific, social and technological issues that directly impact the future of our civilization, and humanity itself.
For recreation, he likes to ride his motorcycle in the deserts of the Southwest. He collects old personal computers and handheld calculators, enjoys reading scientific texts and science fiction stories.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 9, 2010
I read the first Safety Factor, and I have to say that it’s difficult to not compare the two, writing-wise. The language in this book is cleaner; the characters dialogue is less forced. The story—the heart—just as strong as the first one; and here’s where I come around to what I enjoyed, immensely, about this book:
The plot itself and the dynamics of it are well-executed. There is a protagonist whose power stems from his intelligence, and a love story that drives the plot forward with the particular momentum only a realistically-painted romance can bring. All of the female characters in this book are bruised, in some way, by their pasts, which I found to be interesting but perhaps a bit overwhelming. Nonetheless, there are important issues here that do need to be discussed, and often the setting of a fictional story—in this case, a story that includes time travel—is the only place society can handle the reality of such issues without turning a blind eye or resorting to a “blame the victim” mentality. I love that what drives this book is a genuine sense of empathy and understanding, a love that transcends all of space time. And, like the first Safety Factor book, there is a wealth of technical and mathematical information weaved into the story that educates and stimulates the reader, even a reader like me, whose best subjects in school were surely not math or science. I love reading a book that I can finish and actually learn something from while being entertained.
The plot itself and the dynamics of it are well-executed. There is a protagonist whose power stems from his intelligence, and a love story that drives the plot forward with the particular momentum only a realistically-painted romance can bring. All of the female characters in this book are bruised, in some way, by their pasts, which I found to be interesting but perhaps a bit overwhelming. Nonetheless, there are important issues here that do need to be discussed, and often the setting of a fictional story—in this case, a story that includes time travel—is the only place society can handle the reality of such issues without turning a blind eye or resorting to a “blame the victim” mentality. I love that what drives this book is a genuine sense of empathy and understanding, a love that transcends all of space time. And, like the first Safety Factor book, there is a wealth of technical and mathematical information weaved into the story that educates and stimulates the reader, even a reader like me, whose best subjects in school were surely not math or science. I love reading a book that I can finish and actually learn something from while being entertained.
May 30, 2009
'The Safety Factor Part 2 - The Cost of War' is the second installment in this series of books. In this book, we skip 365 years into the future and meet Rene, an exceptionally intelligent scientist. Rene discovers a way to travel in time and bypass the 'Safety Factor' so that history remains unchanged. He goes to all the trouble to invent this, in order to be with the woman he has fallen in love with ( a woman who died 65 years earlier). I thought this was a very interesting concept.
The Ladies and Maria from the first book also feature in this book. They have travelled to the future and are now living in Rene's time. They study at the university where he works.
We follow Rene in his quest to travel to the past to save the woman he loves. He does this, not knowing that by doing so he may be putting the whole world at risk...
The book also continues the theme of abuse. We meet three more female characters in this book who have been abused when young; two of them at least, by family members. The authors use realistic characters to show what effect the abuse has on the women's later relationships and how the cycle of abuse continues.
As is suggested by the title, the book also deals with the subject of war and how this, in the same way as the abuse, seems to be caused by a never-ending cycle of violence.
The story builds up nicely to the dramatic ending which sees the characters having to make a life threatening decision.
The authors have used a fiction story to highlight often disturbing, but nevertheless, very significant problems in society. I like the way the concept of time travel is used to explain how the past influences the future.
I am looking forward to finding out what becomes of of the characters in book 3.
The Ladies and Maria from the first book also feature in this book. They have travelled to the future and are now living in Rene's time. They study at the university where he works.
We follow Rene in his quest to travel to the past to save the woman he loves. He does this, not knowing that by doing so he may be putting the whole world at risk...
The book also continues the theme of abuse. We meet three more female characters in this book who have been abused when young; two of them at least, by family members. The authors use realistic characters to show what effect the abuse has on the women's later relationships and how the cycle of abuse continues.
As is suggested by the title, the book also deals with the subject of war and how this, in the same way as the abuse, seems to be caused by a never-ending cycle of violence.
The story builds up nicely to the dramatic ending which sees the characters having to make a life threatening decision.
The authors have used a fiction story to highlight often disturbing, but nevertheless, very significant problems in society. I like the way the concept of time travel is used to explain how the past influences the future.
I am looking forward to finding out what becomes of of the characters in book 3.
March 31, 2010
This book continues the story started in The Safety Factor The Use of Power. The 'ladies from the past' safely arrive in the future and are settled into society. They are joined by scientist Rene and his spouse Jean. She is also from the past, rescued from murderers by Rene. As before, they have many philosophical discussions, mainly about the evolution of human society, governments and time travel.
That last topic was the most interesting for me. I have always had some gut-feeling objections to time travel, especially with seeing time as a fourth dimension. But I am still unable to put them into words properly. There was a reference somewhere in the story to a book by Julian Barbour, called The End of Time. It seems promising from the Amazon description, so I think I will try to read it.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading the book. Thanks again to Jerry for sending it to me!
/Martijn
That last topic was the most interesting for me. I have always had some gut-feeling objections to time travel, especially with seeing time as a fourth dimension. But I am still unable to put them into words properly. There was a reference somewhere in the story to a book by Julian Barbour, called The End of Time. It seems promising from the Amazon description, so I think I will try to read it.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading the book. Thanks again to Jerry for sending it to me!
/Martijn
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews