Navigator

Time's Tapestry #3

by Stephen Baxter

Third in a series of counter-factual historical thrillers from Stephen Baxter, in which someone in the future is desperate to rewrite the discovery of America.

Genres: Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History, Fantasy, Historical, Adventure

323 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southampton Universities (doctorate in aeroengineering research). Baxter is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for an Arthur C. Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Year; he also won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships. He is currently working on his next novel, a collaboration with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Mr. Baxter lives in Prestwood, England.

Reviews

[Stuart Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 3 in the Times Tapestry series begins directly after the conclusion to Part 2. Apart from the Christopher Columbus episodes, this book didn't hold my attention in the same way, and not being quite so familiar to the historical events I was not sure which was factual and which was potentially counter factual. It was still enjoyable enough, and I look forward to the concluding novel in the series.

[Richard Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series just gets better.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing that's difficult for me to remember when I read completed series in one go (like this one) is that these books are written slowly, over time, and sometimes even in response to readers or critics, causing the series to evolve as it's written. While I expect that Baxter had the story largely written out, it's fantastic how every book seems to respond to the criticisms I had before.

Conqueror addressed my curiosity about the Weaver, brought in the Nazi element, and finally, but crucially, reassured me that these prophecies are not fixed railroad tracks that dictate the story.

Navigator is the third book in this series and the inflection point it heads toward is fairly clear from the title and prophecy, though I won't mention it here (to avoid spoilers).

Navigator is also one of the strongest books in the series, I feel; it has the advantage of the setup of the previous two books and uses the recurring themes of duality and love/lust across divisions very well. The duality is also brought to a head in this book and presages the actual overarching conflict to be revealed in the concluding book.

One of the things that I found distasteful in this book is that it necessarily covers the era of the Spanish Inquisition, but I thought that some of the scenes related to the Inquisition were graphic and completely unnecessary other than to reinforce that a bad man was a bad man.

The conclusion of the book also reveals one of the logical holes in the plot; that the past necessarily interacts with the future. A character's decision to do so is a relatively minor plot point in the fourth and final book.

The characters and their story were stronger in Navigator, but due to the denouement and overall thrust of the story toward the modern age and the revelation of the actual conflict, it really suffers in the scope of the series. Like Conqueror, it is not a book that would stand alone on its own at all.

[Mikko Saari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time’s Tapestry jatkuu ja käy aina vain mielenkiintoisemmaksi. Edellinen osa Conqueror jätti Englannin taakse ja nyt tapahtumien keskipisteessä on Espanja, joka oli Euroopan polttopiste 1200–1400-luvuilla. Maurit valloittivat koko Iberian ja olivat vyöryä jopa Pyreneiden yli. Kristityt eurooppalaiset onnistuivat kuitenkin lopulta valloittamaan Espanjan takaisin. Tämä taistelu ja siitä lähtien käynnissä ollut kamppailu islamin ja kristinuskon välillä on Navigatorin ytimessä.

Tälläkin kertaa ihmetellään ennustuksia. Nyt profetioita on jo useampia — ja ne kilpailevat keskenään! Pääosissa on kaksi vastakkaista näkemystä siitä, mitä edellisessä kirjassa esitellyillä Jumalan koneilla pitäisi tehdä ja mihin suuntaan ennustuksen mainitseman Kyyhkysen pitäisi lähteä. Mennäkö itään islamia vastaan vai länteen kohti uusia mahdollisuuksia?

Tarina on kiehtova ja mukana on paljon historiasta tuttuja elementtejä: Roger Bacon, espanjalainen inkvisitio, ristiretket ja niin edelleen. Tällä kertaa mukana on aikaisempaa selvemmin vaihtoehtohistoriallisia ja tieteiskirjallisia elementtejä. Tarina on myös aikaisempaa jännittävämpi, kiitos kilpailevien ennustusten. Näkökulmat historiaan ovat kiinnostavia.

Sarja jatkaa edelleen vahvana, joten viimeinen osa, Weaver, on aivan pakollista luettavaa. (1.9.2010)

[Michel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing series by Baxter. The book has no real ending, no explanation of the preceding incidents. The prohecies and their casters remain vague and unknown until the rather dissatifying end of book three. Would not recommend

[Paschalis]

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[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more exciting than the previous two, with an obvious hook for the finale.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still not my favourite author or series due to the spelling mistakes but the developing mysteries are interesting and the historical references are splendid.

[Dana Claycomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in Stephen Baxter’s Time’s Tapestry series. Deals with the opening of the new world.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baxter has a way to not get lost in the weeds of the eras he's selected for these books. And while still mostly historical fiction the SF bits are rearing their heads more and more. fun!

[Nikolai Markovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ab diesem Teil wird die Reihe schlecht.

[Betsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 down 1 to go. This was much more boring and more gory than the first 2. Baxter does have a love for making his readers flinch. As the series has progressed, he has lengthened the sections for each time period. Unfortunately, he hasn't made the characters any more compelling than when the sections were just 100 pages.
what I realized in this book was that this is yet another one of Baxter's "etudes". he has taken the idea of prophecies and is spinning out the possibilities. First book - what happens when a prophecy is followed. Second - what happens when you try to fit into a prophecy. and this book, what happens when there are multiple prophecies competing for your belief. It's interesting when viewed that way.

[Vít · Rating 3 out of 5]

Třetí díl tetralogie Plátno tkané časem opouští středověkou Anglii a přivádí nás do Španělska v době reconquisty. A jako v předchozích dílech, i tady hraje podstatnou roli proroctví - tentokrát dokonce proroctví dvě, a to proroctví protikladná, a každé z nich se skupinou odhodlaných zastánců.
Budoucnost Evropy je tak na vážkách, vyšle Isabela Kastilská Kryštofa Kolumba na západ, nebo ho naopak jmenuje generálem armády, která zamíří na východ? Dojde k objevení Ameriky, nebo vypukne ničivá válka s muslimským světem?
Je to zajímavé čtení, uvědomíte si jak málo v určitých okamžicích mohlo stačit, aby se historie vyvíjela úplně jinak než nás učili ve škole. A Tkalci, kteří šíří v naší minulosti proroctví a návody, se právě toho snaží dosáhnout.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

After part 2, I was thoroughly hooked and jumped right into part 3. Nearly all of this takes place in Spain when the Islamic Moor and the European Christians battled for control. The time travel element really comes to the front in this one. My favorite of the 4 books. Somehow, Baxter can combine a lot of historical detail with a catchy plot and not dumb it down. And in all 4 books - where history almost always shows the men - he develops great female characters who make a good portion of the decisions.

[Mike Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 3 of the Time's Tapestry series. In some ways, the series is becoming more improbable. Characters living in the middle ages seem too ready to accept that people from the future are meddling with history and trying to change it. Not only that, there are multiple future factions trying to create different futures. Still, the depiction of medieval Spain is interesting, including the still-pervasive Roman relics.

Not the best thing I've ever read from Baxter, but still readable.

[J.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured in less than 24 hours. I predicted that this book would get more interesting (to me) once we got to a time period I was actually familiar with, and I was right. I especially appreciate that other glimpses of time meddling are starting to appear. Ordering the last book in the series immediately!

(Yes, there continue to be horrible deaths.)

[Brett Kadrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Previous books held my attention. This one suffers seriously from one dimensional characters that only server the purpose of keeping the plot moving.

I'll read the final book but wish the series had kept my interest like the previous two books.

[Martinxo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ohhh, shame about this book, I really enjoyed the first two in the series but i started losing interest in this one early on. Finally abandoned the novel mid-way through, the story was dull, the characters wooden. Oh well.

[Jan Cerny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Děj je místy zbytečně zdlouhavý a nafouknutý o nepodstatné věci. Na druhou stranu se díky tomu kniha dobře čte po večerech, kdy je člověk unavený. Ve výsledku je lepší než druhý díl, slabší než první díl - uvidíme, jaký bude poslední.

[Ben Chenoweth · Rating 3 out of 5]

While still a good historical novel, I felt the ending in this one let down the development. Still, the idea of people trying to change the past (and apparently even succeeding on occasion!) makes for a good story. I hope the last book in the series reveals more about the mysterious Weaver!

[Steve James · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the first tow books I found this one too complex and I kept loosing the plot. The story was fragmented. I found myself getting annoyed from the number of times something I had read was repeated a number of times. It was unnecessary and made the book longer than it needed to be.

[Taldragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

covering 622 - 1492, Stephen Baxter continues his British history under the guise of people researching their ancestral prophecies and helping to fulfill them.

[lewis king · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite fascinating read.

[Joel Sassone]

Pretty much more of the same stuff as the previous two books, this time set in 15th-century Spain... 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weakest book of the series. Feels like S.Baxter is running out of puff and the plots tend to have the same feel as the previous 2 books. Interesting period of time to be reading about tho.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, I could not finish reading this one. Too convoluted, unbelievable, and I just don't care how it ends.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical fiction, set mainly in Spain up to the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Shows that the old time Christians were just as murderous as the present day radical Muslims.

[adrianoates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent mixture of real and imagined history of al-Andalus

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baxter really starts pulling all the pieces together in this one - a good extension of the series.