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John Grimes: Rim Commodore #7
The Way Back
Lost in sapce...lost in time. There can be no more terrifying situation for any spaceman to be in, and such was the probelm when Commodore Grimes' Faraway Quest broke free from the mysterious Kinsolving's Planet.
Because the universe was vast and they had been out beyond the Galactic Lens. Because time is infinite and they had slipped beyond their own epoch. Because in whatever universe they were in they could raise no etheric word, no telepathic beacon, no other star vessel.
But for John Grimes, a veritable Commodore Hornblower of the future space seas, there had to be a way back. The first step was to locate Earth, the launching place for all humanity.
But Earth turned out to be legend and myth and faith - and Grimes' rebellious crew were to enact roles already fabled before they were all born.
Because the universe was vast and they had been out beyond the Galactic Lens. Because time is infinite and they had slipped beyond their own epoch. Because in whatever universe they were in they could raise no etheric word, no telepathic beacon, no other star vessel.
But for John Grimes, a veritable Commodore Hornblower of the future space seas, there had to be a way back. The first step was to locate Earth, the launching place for all humanity.
But Earth turned out to be legend and myth and faith - and Grimes' rebellious crew were to enact roles already fabled before they were all born.
175 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
A. Bertram Chandler
358 books53 followersArthur Bertram Chandler (28 March 1912–6 June 1984) was an Australian science fiction author. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Whitley, George Whitely, Paul T. Sherman, Andrew Dunstan, and S.H.M.
He was born in Aldershot, England. He was a merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troopships. He emigrated to Australia in 1956 and became an Australian citizen. He commanded various ships in the Australian and New Zealand merchant navies, and was the last master of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne as the law required that it have an officer on board while it was laid up waiting to be towed to China to be broken up.
He was born in Aldershot, England. He was a merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troopships. He emigrated to Australia in 1956 and became an Australian citizen. He commanded various ships in the Australian and New Zealand merchant navies, and was the last master of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne as the law required that it have an officer on board while it was laid up waiting to be towed to China to be broken up.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 27, 2023
review of
A. Bertram Chandler's The Way Back
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 27, 2023
This is the at least 27th bk by Chandler that I've read & reviewed. As I noted in my review written yesterday about Chandler's The Broken Cycle, even tho his bks seem to be mostly serial, I read them out-of-order. The Way Back is, according to the "Book Series in Order" website, the last of 6 bks in the Rim World Books. Gateway to Never preceded it, my truncated review of that is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . Thanks to Goodreads cutting out their "My Writing" section the full review is no longer available online.
The story starts off w/ Grimes & co lost in space & time, similar to The Broken Cycle.
"The Commodore came to a decision. "Mr. Carnaby," he ordered, "set trajectory for Earth. Once there we shall have determined where we are, and we should be able to make an intelligent guess as to when. Bring her round now."
""But, sir. . . Earth. . .How shall we find it? We don't have the charts, the tables, and the ship's data banks weren't stocked with such a voyage in mind.["]" - p 9
I don't really remember Gateway to Never but, as, I suppose, w/ most serials, some backstory is worked in.
"It seemed that The Outsiders' Ship existed, somehow, as a single entity in a multiplicity of dimensions. It was at a junction of Time Tracks. Another Faraway Quest, with another Commodore Grimes in command, had joined the party, as had the armed—heavily armed—yacht Wanderer, owned by the ex-Empress Irene, who had once ruled a Galactic Empire in a Universe unknown to either of the Grimeses. And there had been a Captain Sir Dominic Flandry in his Vindictive, serving an empire unknown on the Time Tracks of either of the two Confederate Commodores or the ex-Empress. There had been flag-plantings, claims and counter claims, mutiny, piracy, seizure and, eventually, a naval action involving Faraway Quest II, Vindictive, Wanderer and Adler. This had been fought in close proximity toThe Outsiderand The Outsider had somehow flung the embattled ships away from it. They had vanished like snuffed candles." - p 15
Sound complicated? That's just beginning. In order to transport of Earth Grimes had to work w/ the ship's telepaths to retrieve is deeply buried homing info.
"It was a good painting.
"Clarisse stood before it, sagging with exhaustion, an incongruous figure among her smartly uniformed shipmates, spatters of paint on her naked upper body, smears of pigment on the bedraggled fur kilt that was her only garment. She had dressed the part, that of a cavewoman artist. She had played the part, with a massive dose of hallucinogenic drugs to put her in the proper trance state while she worked." - p 20
As usual, Chandler's ship captain experience provides detail of interest to me:
""Isn't the sea too deep here to use an anchor?"
"Grimes sighed. "A sea anchor is not the sort of anchor you were thinking of. It's not a hunk of iron or, as it probably is in these times, stone. Ideally it's a canvas drogue, not unlike the windsock you still see used on some primitive air-landing strips. It's paid out from the bows of a ship on the end of a long line. It is, or should be, completely submerged and not affected by the wind. The ship, of course, is so affected and is blown to leeward of the sea anchor, which has sufficient grip on the water to keep her head up to wind and sea.["]" - pp 62-63
Some day, when I'm on a sailing ship in danger of going down from roiling seas, I'll impress the captain, no doubt a highly sexed woman who'd previosuly found my age of 125 to be intrigueing but sexually repulsive, by suggesting a sea anchor as our salvation.
OR, I'll end up swallowed.
""He. . . he was a passenger aboard that ship. Some kind of preacher. He was bound for. . . Nineveh. His name. . ."
""I don't think you need to tell me,"" - p 69
Grimes & crew do end up on Earth in ancient Greece where they proceed to interact w/ the locals.
""And what's the king saying?"
""He's ordering his women to present the gifts to you."
""Oh. And what do I do?"
""Accept them graciously. Smile. Say something nice. You know."
""Mphm. I think that can be managed. And do I reciprocate?"
""Only to the king, sir. His name, I think, is Hektor . . ."" - p 94
After the 1st intercultural awkwardness is gotten over the space-time travelers are eventually invited to a party in their honor.
"The sun was well down and the silvery sliver of the new moon, swimming in the afterglow, was about to lose itself behind the black peaks to the west'ard when the invitation to the feast was delivered. From the village marches a small procession—six men bearing aloft flaring, pine-know torches, four drummers, two pipers. All of them were wrapped in cloaks of sheepskin against the evening chill. They paraded around the ship to the squealing of their pipes and the rattle of their drums.
"Said Grimes sourly, "It could be a serenade . . ."
"Mayhew told him, "I'm picking up on their thoughts. It's a traditional melody, John. It could be called Come To The Party . . ."" - p 105
One of the bevereges at the party was dones w/ mushrooms. The results for the Commodore & crew were a bit wilder than was safe under the conditions.
""John!" It was Mayhew, his voice urgent.
""What is it, Ken?"
Grimes could not hear the telepath's reply for the renewed skirling of the pipes.
""Speak up, man!"
""It's the wine, John," almost shouted Mayhew. "Not the same wine as we had analyzed. Something in it. Mushrooms, I think . . ."" - p 111
Well, to cut to the chase, some of them get out of that pickle & end up in the brine. On Mars, this time.
"Dwynnaith clambered with arthtopoidal agility up a short ladder that was extended from the open door of the gondola." - pp 152-153
I was hoping I was going to learn a new word but I reckon it really is a typo: "any of a phylum of invertebrate animals (as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans) having a segmented body, jointed limbs, and a shell of chitin that is shed periodically. arthropod adjective." - merriam-webster
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The retelling of the Noah story & the story of ancient gods was most entertaining.
A. Bertram Chandler's The Way Back
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 27, 2023
This is the at least 27th bk by Chandler that I've read & reviewed. As I noted in my review written yesterday about Chandler's The Broken Cycle, even tho his bks seem to be mostly serial, I read them out-of-order. The Way Back is, according to the "Book Series in Order" website, the last of 6 bks in the Rim World Books. Gateway to Never preceded it, my truncated review of that is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . Thanks to Goodreads cutting out their "My Writing" section the full review is no longer available online.
The story starts off w/ Grimes & co lost in space & time, similar to The Broken Cycle.
"The Commodore came to a decision. "Mr. Carnaby," he ordered, "set trajectory for Earth. Once there we shall have determined where we are, and we should be able to make an intelligent guess as to when. Bring her round now."
""But, sir. . . Earth. . .How shall we find it? We don't have the charts, the tables, and the ship's data banks weren't stocked with such a voyage in mind.["]" - p 9
I don't really remember Gateway to Never but, as, I suppose, w/ most serials, some backstory is worked in.
"It seemed that The Outsiders' Ship existed, somehow, as a single entity in a multiplicity of dimensions. It was at a junction of Time Tracks. Another Faraway Quest, with another Commodore Grimes in command, had joined the party, as had the armed—heavily armed—yacht Wanderer, owned by the ex-Empress Irene, who had once ruled a Galactic Empire in a Universe unknown to either of the Grimeses. And there had been a Captain Sir Dominic Flandry in his Vindictive, serving an empire unknown on the Time Tracks of either of the two Confederate Commodores or the ex-Empress. There had been flag-plantings, claims and counter claims, mutiny, piracy, seizure and, eventually, a naval action involving Faraway Quest II, Vindictive, Wanderer and Adler. This had been fought in close proximity toThe Outsiderand The Outsider had somehow flung the embattled ships away from it. They had vanished like snuffed candles." - p 15
Sound complicated? That's just beginning. In order to transport of Earth Grimes had to work w/ the ship's telepaths to retrieve is deeply buried homing info.
"It was a good painting.
"Clarisse stood before it, sagging with exhaustion, an incongruous figure among her smartly uniformed shipmates, spatters of paint on her naked upper body, smears of pigment on the bedraggled fur kilt that was her only garment. She had dressed the part, that of a cavewoman artist. She had played the part, with a massive dose of hallucinogenic drugs to put her in the proper trance state while she worked." - p 20
As usual, Chandler's ship captain experience provides detail of interest to me:
""Isn't the sea too deep here to use an anchor?"
"Grimes sighed. "A sea anchor is not the sort of anchor you were thinking of. It's not a hunk of iron or, as it probably is in these times, stone. Ideally it's a canvas drogue, not unlike the windsock you still see used on some primitive air-landing strips. It's paid out from the bows of a ship on the end of a long line. It is, or should be, completely submerged and not affected by the wind. The ship, of course, is so affected and is blown to leeward of the sea anchor, which has sufficient grip on the water to keep her head up to wind and sea.["]" - pp 62-63
Some day, when I'm on a sailing ship in danger of going down from roiling seas, I'll impress the captain, no doubt a highly sexed woman who'd previosuly found my age of 125 to be intrigueing but sexually repulsive, by suggesting a sea anchor as our salvation.
OR, I'll end up swallowed.
""He. . . he was a passenger aboard that ship. Some kind of preacher. He was bound for. . . Nineveh. His name. . ."
""I don't think you need to tell me,"" - p 69
Grimes & crew do end up on Earth in ancient Greece where they proceed to interact w/ the locals.
""And what's the king saying?"
""He's ordering his women to present the gifts to you."
""Oh. And what do I do?"
""Accept them graciously. Smile. Say something nice. You know."
""Mphm. I think that can be managed. And do I reciprocate?"
""Only to the king, sir. His name, I think, is Hektor . . ."" - p 94
After the 1st intercultural awkwardness is gotten over the space-time travelers are eventually invited to a party in their honor.
"The sun was well down and the silvery sliver of the new moon, swimming in the afterglow, was about to lose itself behind the black peaks to the west'ard when the invitation to the feast was delivered. From the village marches a small procession—six men bearing aloft flaring, pine-know torches, four drummers, two pipers. All of them were wrapped in cloaks of sheepskin against the evening chill. They paraded around the ship to the squealing of their pipes and the rattle of their drums.
"Said Grimes sourly, "It could be a serenade . . ."
"Mayhew told him, "I'm picking up on their thoughts. It's a traditional melody, John. It could be called Come To The Party . . ."" - p 105
One of the bevereges at the party was dones w/ mushrooms. The results for the Commodore & crew were a bit wilder than was safe under the conditions.
""John!" It was Mayhew, his voice urgent.
""What is it, Ken?"
Grimes could not hear the telepath's reply for the renewed skirling of the pipes.
""Speak up, man!"
""It's the wine, John," almost shouted Mayhew. "Not the same wine as we had analyzed. Something in it. Mushrooms, I think . . ."" - p 111
Well, to cut to the chase, some of them get out of that pickle & end up in the brine. On Mars, this time.
"Dwynnaith clambered with arthtopoidal agility up a short ladder that was extended from the open door of the gondola." - pp 152-153
I was hoping I was going to learn a new word but I reckon it really is a typo: "any of a phylum of invertebrate animals (as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans) having a segmented body, jointed limbs, and a shell of chitin that is shed periodically. arthropod adjective." - merriam-webster
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The retelling of the Noah story & the story of ancient gods was most entertaining.
January 11, 2022
A John Grimes adventure.
This is one of the later books in the seemingly endless John Grimes series. I've only a read a couple of them but that hasn't been a problem. Each novel is pretty much self-contained aside from a few mentions of past adventures or characters. In this particular novel, the story picks up right where a previous book ended, so there's a brief summary to explain that the outcome of the previous story involved John Grimes and his crew becoming stranded in the distant past due to some kind of encounter with a powerful alien entity.
Most of the story concerns their attempt to navigate back to Earth, determine what the exact time period is they're stranded in, and find a way to get back to their original time. Along they way they run into a race of aliens living on Mars and try to solve the mystery of why Mars is a dead planet in our time (and in Grimes time). They also get involved with the primitive human culture on Earth and in the process become the apparent source of several religious myths.
The Grimes series are fairly entertaining reads but definitely pulp / space opera type stories. The spaceships and crews have a distinctly naval feel due to the authors experiences in real life.
This is one of the later books in the seemingly endless John Grimes series. I've only a read a couple of them but that hasn't been a problem. Each novel is pretty much self-contained aside from a few mentions of past adventures or characters. In this particular novel, the story picks up right where a previous book ended, so there's a brief summary to explain that the outcome of the previous story involved John Grimes and his crew becoming stranded in the distant past due to some kind of encounter with a powerful alien entity.
Most of the story concerns their attempt to navigate back to Earth, determine what the exact time period is they're stranded in, and find a way to get back to their original time. Along they way they run into a race of aliens living on Mars and try to solve the mystery of why Mars is a dead planet in our time (and in Grimes time). They also get involved with the primitive human culture on Earth and in the process become the apparent source of several religious myths.
The Grimes series are fairly entertaining reads but definitely pulp / space opera type stories. The spaceships and crews have a distinctly naval feel due to the authors experiences in real life.
May 12, 2022
Starts rough and confusing. Ends up being a decent story and doesn't get the time travelling wrong.
June 10, 2022
Interesting to see how Grimes and company get back to their own place. 3 out of 5 stars.
December 7, 2016
The Faraway Quest is lost in space and time. They could go to Kinsolving's planet, but Commodore Grimes decides against it. He decides on Earth. They can't navigate to it, but perhaps their teleporteuse can pull the ship there. To do it she needs a clear picture of the place they are going. Grimes is the only person on the ship that has ever been to Earth, so they have to pull from his mind. The first attempt doesn't work. So they hypnotize him to get a better picture. When the arrive at the solar system it's long before men on Earth have technology.
On board the Quest, Grimes is in charge, but he's worried about mutiny. The military personnel have their own allegiance.
I'm trying to grasp the rules of this universe. That is probably a bad thing, because it seems like anything goes. Is it supposed to be based on our universe? They reach the solar system and there is intelligent life on Mars. OK, it's millions of years in the past, I'll suspend my disbelief. After the quick encounter there they go to Earth and it's biblical times.
I'll finish the book, but so far it seems to be some random crap that came out of the author's head, designed to wow ten year olds. Another encounter with the Martians explained their rapid disappearance, i.e. no trace of them in modern times. There are many preceding books in the Commodore Grimes series which probably set some ground rules and had character development. As a standalone I give it one or one and a half stars. It's readable, but very little character development and the action seems contrived.
On board the Quest, Grimes is in charge, but he's worried about mutiny. The military personnel have their own allegiance.
I'm trying to grasp the rules of this universe. That is probably a bad thing, because it seems like anything goes. Is it supposed to be based on our universe? They reach the solar system and there is intelligent life on Mars. OK, it's millions of years in the past, I'll suspend my disbelief. After the quick encounter there they go to Earth and it's biblical times.
I'll finish the book, but so far it seems to be some random crap that came out of the author's head, designed to wow ten year olds. Another encounter with the Martians explained their rapid disappearance, i.e. no trace of them in modern times. There are many preceding books in the Commodore Grimes series which probably set some ground rules and had character development. As a standalone I give it one or one and a half stars. It's readable, but very little character development and the action seems contrived.
June 17, 2019
Grimes becomes a latter-day Captain Bligh when the marines on his ship (lost in time) mutiny in order to stay on Earth in the past. He ends up on a ship's boat headed to Mars in the hope that Martians will help him find his way back to his own time...and they do.
February 15, 2011
Found this in a used book store just after arriving in Pamplona, Spain, and was very happy to have something to read in English.
August 21, 2017
This book was the conclusion to Dark Dimensions. I have to say that this was the perfect way to end it. I'm still not liking Sonya, I don't like the way she responds to John and really sounds like a ex-wife would.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews