Time's Eye (Time Odyssey Book 1)

I have been an Arthur C Clarke fan since the 1960s. I like the concept in the story but for me it was a difficult read. It didn't seem to flow well. I know what Arthur and Stephen were trying to accomplish but the flow seemed jerky. Probably just me.

Clarke collaborated with Baxter on this trilogy and in another book that stands alone.I enjoyed all 4 and recommend them.

In the tradition of Clarke's 2001 series, this is the first book of a new odyssey, only this one is based in time rather than in space. It's Earth-time 2037 and suddenly, for a few small groups of people, there is a huge upheaval in time, with the result being that people from all segments of Earth's history are thrown together in a crazy quilt patchwork made up of different time periods. Early hominids find themselves captured by 19th Century English colonialists in India. Space travelers splash down to learn that they're in 13th Century Afghanistan. The armies of Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan, separated in original Earth time by four centuries, come face to face in a bloody and brutal war instigated by one of the astronauts from 2037, who has a sort of "Man Who Would Be King" complex. Ultimately, one of the "good guys," a woman with a UN peacekeeping force from 2037, makes it back home to her own time, but only at the price of losing her 19th Century lover, who remains stranded in ancient Babylon.While it may sound confusing, this cleverly imagined novel is all you would expect of the great Arthur C. Clarke and his writing partner, the brilliant hard sci-fi master, Stephen Baxter. By the time I got to the last page -- which was not very long after I started this book -- I was wishing I had waited until the next volume was out so that I could go on reading and immediately find out what had happened to my favorite characters. And the bonus is that, in addition to an intriguing plot and lots of interesting historical factoids and science tidbits, this novel raises some provocative questions about the human soul and our destiny among the stars. Altogether, an excellent top-of-the-line sci-fi read that will probably become a classic.So why haven't I given it 5 stars? Well, the novel itself deserves 5 stars. This edition of the book gets only 4 stars, however, because the publishers, who included what looks like a good CD-ROM in the book, chose to use an e-book format that can only be downloaded onto a handheld running the Windows operating system. Those of us who prefer Palm OS are out of luck, unable to access two bonus novels and interviews with the authors. What a chintzy decision, especially for a novel by authors of the stature of Clarke and Baxter.

I'm not sure how I managed to miss Clarke's (and co-author Stephen Baxter's) Time's Eye trilogy when it first appeared, but somehow it slipped in under my radar. So while browsing in the Kindle store I was excited to find Time's Eye.Alas, that excitment didn't last long. As the first book in the trilogy, Time's Eye doesn't have much to recommend it except for die-hard Clarke fans. After a promising start in which small reflective "eyes" begin appearing all over the globe, Earth is seemingly chopped up into sections and reassembled. The sections are from differing time lines ranging from the prehistoric to the 21st century. Three U.N. peacekeepers are suddenly thrown into 19th century Afghanistan where they join up with British and Indian soldiers battling the Pashtuns. This group, in turn, joins with Alexander the Great's army. Three other 21st century travelers are returning from a mission aboard the Mir space station and end up in the nomadic army of Genghis Khan. Using patched-together technology, the groups detect a radio signal in the ancient city of Babylon. Thus the stage is set as both armies rush toward Babylon.There's spectacle, action, clashing swords, betrayal, and all the things one would expect to find in a story that pits Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. But if you're expecting challenging sci-fi ... eh, not so much. It seems like Time's Eye has little purpose besides setting up the next novel in the series. The book's not a bad read, but it's just never gets around to answering any of the questions it poses. Granted, I know the second and third novels will answer questions ... but it seems so much of the first book is about mechanically moving characters into position for the next book that in the end the first book comes across as pretty hollow. I'll stick with reading the rest of the story, but I hope the rest of the series will be more thought-provoking than Time's Eye.

Interesting idea, sort of parallel universe jigsaw.Not sure whether segments copied or translocated, hopefully copied else the original would have been serially and severely compromised, probably beyond ability to exist.Would have appreciated more explanation.Ending a trifle bland and contrived; a bit of the 1950s serial movie resolution 'With one bound Jack was free'.

Giving an Arthur C. Clarke book fewer than five stars feels almost like blasphemy to me. But of course it's not entirely Clarke's work. As I've noted in other reviews, I'm never sure how much credit (or blame) to assign to which author on projects with which Clarke collaborated with someone. The same issue comes up with the second and later novels in the Rama series.On a conceptual level, this series of books is phenomenal. I knew I had to get it when I read that it was orthogonally related to the Firstborn, the never-seen aliens responsible for the Monolith in Clarke's Space Odyssey series. But this Time Odyssey series, especially the first installment, felt lacking to me. For one, it had some annoying overuses of words, such as "clamber." Second, the cosmonauts were irritating characters. Third, I'm not a huge fan of history, even in the context of sci-fi, so having the world split into various eras was only of passing interest to me.As I recall, the second book was better.

As the book's title suggests, this is an odyssey through time rather than space. The authors point out that their goal was to create a companion to 2001 and its sequels, starting out with a similar premise but developing things at 90 degrees, so to speak. They've succeeded, but they've also fallen short of the original.Like 2001, the scope of this first book ranges from the dawn of man to a time when humans live on the moon. Yet Clarke's penchant for mysticism that was evident in 2001 or Childhood's End has given way to a more concrete treatment of peoples and practices. As a result, the book seems to have lost its heart. Without giving too much of the plot away, the use of some very famous historical characters seems painfully contrived. The writers seem to have recognised this, and characters within the novel speculate on the ludicrous coincidences involved. Maybe a reason for the contrivance wll become apparent in the following books, maybe not; talk about hedging your bets!Despite the mysterious presence of the "Eyes" throughout the book, I found little or no sense of wonder in the world or events being described. There is a heavy concentration on military procedures, the impact of technology, and the geology of the planet - but this comes at the expense of the inner dialogue of the people affected by them. Considering that this isn't the first time Clarke and Baxter have written a book together (and I really enjoyed The Light of Other Days) I was surprised how little I was engaged by it.Nevertheless, there are one or two references to the original work which fans should pick up, and the final chapter redeems things with an event worthy of Clarke's earlier work. Rather than disappointment, this left me hoping that, with the groundwork out of the way, book 2 in the series will be a much more exciting ride...

This was sold as an companion piece to the famed "Space Odyssey" written by Arthur C. Clarke, however based solely upon the first book - "Time's Eye", it has very little to do with the famed sci-fi epic. Apart from a brief scene at the beggining of the novel featuring ancient apes and the discovery of the floating "orb", there are very few connections between the two stories. Certainly having Alexander the Great battling Gengis Khan was interesting, but I felt the characters acepted their fate and the so-called explanation as to why they had all be brought together on the new version of Earth called Mir was a little rushed. However, if this is merely a starting point to events in the later books that will tie-in more closely with events of "Space Odyssey" it will do fine.

Started interestingly but became too far fetched to keep my attention. Gave up about a quarter of the way through but may go back to it when I have nothing better to do.

In many ways the story mirrors that of 2001 and its sequels,as if told in a different form.It does not seem though to address the question of exactly what happened to the populations of the changed time zones:did they end up on another version of the carved up Earth? I felt the ancient intelligence would have been more benevolent and constructive.And surely with their ability to alter the time zones of one planet,wouldn't their destiny be to arrest the decay caused by time? Anyway I look forward eagerly to the next books in the series.

At times it's difficult to believe that Arthur C. Clarke had a hand in writing this book, there are such glaring inconsistencies and implausibilities. Having said that, suspend disbelief, ignore the highly unlikely coincidences, and you will probably enjoy this book. If you read science fiction with a view to escaping this world for a different one, then the cataclysmic event at the centre of the story provides that escape and will keep you fascinated.