Time Masters 1: Conclusion

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So is it worth reading? I think so. There are rough spots, but it's quite good for a first book. The second will likely be even better. One reviewer suggested that those uninterested in the romantic angle skip the first story and wait for the second. This is a bad idea, because

1. The first book is rather intricate, and I expect the second to lean on the first considerably, and

2. Unless I am very much mistaken, the romantic angle is a large part of the overall story. While the focus may change, the succeeding stories will likely be every bit as "romantic" as this one. If romance bothers you that much, skip the series and enjoy your impoverished life as best you can. (How do you spend your spare time, anyway--trying to reproduce by fission?)

In fact, I'm somewhat surprised at the positive response from women. It seemed to me that TMTC had a very masculine viewpoint most of the time; I could've thought it was written by a man. So the book and series may not be as big a turnoff for men as some reviewers imagine. Most guys wouldn't mind the first few chapters, which I thought would drive off women, so just getting a guy through the prolog should give him enough momentum to finish the book.

I would especially recommend this for teens, as it gives some good role models. Parents should read it too, so they can discuss the topics raised.

As I've mentioned, the use of alcohol and violence (usually not together) will bother some people. However, the drinking is not excessive, and the violence is not generally gratuitous. (In any case, I find no basis for the ideas that Christians are to be abstemious pacifists, though I neither use alcohol nor get into punch-ups.) I doubt the book will stumble anyone, even impressionable youth.

So four out of five for me. It's a better read than Potter books, and the content's better too.

Time Masters 1, Part Three: Negatives

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From most to least important:

1. (Moderate potential spoiler) A dead spouse makes a cameo appearance. The idea is that the Muiraran marital bond has kept her connected despite death. From various scriptures, including Jesus' teaching on marriage and the resurrection in Matt 22:30 and Paul in Rom 7, this seems unlikely. But what troubles me is that I've seen other Christian writers with dead people wandering into a scene to explain some plot point. The idea is theologically difficult to say the least, yet it seems to be gaining popularity.

2. Muirarans are supposed to have two hearts (reminiscent of the Gallifreyan Time Lords, though theirs are actual blood pumps), one normal, the other figurative but no less powerful. Each Muiraran Maiden has some specific heart need: some require music, as Shona does, others beauty, and so on. Zara, the wife of the current Time Master regains her power through passionate sex--yes, with her husband; but see below. I'm sure this was added to avoid the appearance of prudery, but it raises some problems:

First, do I as the reader truly need to know such an intimate detail? For that matter, there's a certain amount of "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" whenever the fact is mentioned, especially if someone has just found out. Do they really need to know? In at least some cases, I don't think so. This undercuts the emphasis on purity with an occasional leer.

Second, while I'm not the World's Biggest Perv (I doubt I'm even the biggest on my block!), I do try to think through the implications. Shona, in the absence of music from her chosen one (or even from her CD player) can "self-feed" by singing to herself. Question: how would Zara self-feed? Keep your answer family-friendly!

3. The book needs editing badly. Or perhaps it was just edited badly. In any case, the better your English, the harder it is to read. For example, IIRC, every instance of "whomever" should be "whoever"--and all but one "whom" should be "who." Then there are the dialog tags: "This quote is actually the direct object of the following verb." He said. The quote should end with a comma; it is the direct object of the verb "said." (A lot of writers do this; I've no idea why.) Another common writing error shows up: overusing fragments. At best, a sentence fragment is like an exclamation mark: strong if used sparingly, annoying otherwise. A sentence is supposed to express a complete thought. Someone who writes in fragments not only presents the reader with thoughts "some assembly required" but appears incapable of coherent thought. Also, some of the fragments invite misreading.

If this book has a second edition, as I hope it will, it would be a good time to have it edited. Likewise the sequel will be better if properly edited. Even major publishers no longer do a proper job, so authors need to make sure it's done right.

4. There are some minor linguistic and scientific bugs. Kwaku, the current Time Master, is said to have an "African" accent. That's like an "American" accent: we all know Bostonians, Brooklyners, and Texans talk the same way. Anyhow, Kwaku replaces all instances of the sequence "th" with "d." Actually, he would replace voiced "th" (the sound in the, that) with "d" and the voiceless "th" (of thin, theory) with "t."

Then there's the place where stopping a forward-moving car suddenly throws Kitty and Shona back in their seats, not forward, as Newton says. Very odd.

Tomorrow's concluding post will likely be a bit late, owing to an extra hectic schedule.

Time Masters 1, Part Two: Positives

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The most notable positive in Time Masters: The Call is its emphasis on purity. Even Kitty Morgan, despite her boy-crazy ogling, is apparently a virgin, and this is taken as normal, not a surprise. There is a quirk to the purity angle, as we'll see next time, but it is a definite positive.

Beauchamp interweaves honor and righteousness in an old-fashioned way, so that the heroes are truly heroic: they do what is right because it is right, even if it means a lot of personal pain. These days, heroes practically apologize for heroism, or the author tries to explain it away. It's refreshing to see virtue in both the old and new senses presented as normal.

I haven't seen anyone else comment on this, but it's a major feature: the nature of male/female relationships, especially in marriage. There's sure to be some squawking, but the Muiraran Maiden's full power is only unleashed when she submits to her husband in love--and he responds in kind. Submission is a word with mixed associations; I prefer the term subordination (the Latin calque of the Biblical Greek term in question), because the connotations are clearer. Anyway, Beauchamp's views, though (because?) they are counter-cultural, are sound.

Although initially it's not completely clear that the "Creator" various characters refer to is the biblical God, by the end that's the most reasonable conclusion. And Dallan's resolution of the last big problem comes in answer to prayer, not from his own cleverness, unlike resolutions in many modern stories, even Christian ones.

I suppose that the common thread here is an appeal to the moral imagination. At a time when the immoral imagination is so prevalent, that's good news. Next post, however, I'll look at some problem areas, most minor, a few potentially major.

Time Masters 1: The Call

Time Masters: The Call by Geralyn Beauchamp is speculative fiction about a race (Muirarans) living among us, able to assume human form, heal, and even travel through time. When they mate with humans, the result is a synergy of great power, as the human male can wield his wife's abilities.

Terran society in the fortieth century is in danger from an enemy's attempts to change time. Its current time master is about to retire, perhaps for good, and a replacement is needed. Shona, the Muiraran half of the pair with latent time-bending ability, has been kidnapped as a baby to the late twentieth century, and fortieth-century agents must unite her as an adult with her chosen mate, Dallan, a seventeenth-century Scotsman, before the couple's bond kills them both--and before her unknown kidnapper can do further harm. But the kidnapper has trained Shona to distrust men, and Dallan doesn't believe any of this nonsense.

The story is reasonably fast-paced and believable; the characters are generally well-developed, though oddly I found one of Shona's friends, the klutzy, boy-crazy Kitty Morgan, a stronger character than Shona proper. (It's implied that Kitty will return later, fortunately.) The humorous angle crops up a little late--if you're going for laughs, you should introduce that aspect early--but is well handled. There's also a fair amount of violence, though no real gore, and someone's sure to object that the good guys aren't teetotalers. I'd give it a mild PG and suggest it for high school and up. (The Potter books are more annoying in terms of gore and other problem content.)

In the next installment, I'll look at the positive aspects of the book; then I'll examine the negatives. Bowing to tradition, I'll then conclude with a conclusion.