Time Masters 1, Part Two: Positives

(This thread begins here.)

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.