The Traveler

"The Traveler," written by a pseudonymous author (and if you believe the hype that his agent doesn't know who he is, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you) is a great thrill ride that should appeal to a wide variety of readers. Fans of hardboiled fiction will appreciate its noirish villians, Boone, General Nash, the Tabula mercs. Sci-fi fans will love the high tech equipment--the quantum computer, the hint of space aliens, and so forth. The last of the hippies (or maybe the first of a big comeback--who's to say?) will like the scenes in the semi-utopian commune. And everybody will like the rollercoaster story line. The action sweeps along, every scene adding to the suspense, and adding to the ideas the author wants to share with you.The concept is simple. Maya, a Harlequin, is sworn to protect Travelers, who can travel out-of-body to other realms. At the time the story is set (the near future) there are only a few Travelers and Harlequins left alive. Maya reluctantly travels from England to the United States in order to protect two brothers, Mike and Gabriel, from the bad guys, the Tabula, who have One Big Idea. Let's turn the whole world into philosopher Jeremy Bentham's panopticon (Bentham imagined a prison where all the prisoners were under constantly surveillance--he made sketches of how it would look, too). Thanks to the villainous Boone and General Nash, they're on the verge of doing just that: putting the entire planet under continual surveillance. They work their evil deeds from a secret lab disguised as a foundation. Maya (and has Kate Beckinsale been signed yet to play her in the inevitable film--if not why not?) isn't about to let that happen. Maya's good at her job--especially good at breaking into seemingly impregnable places, and doing so in a nailbiting fashion.In fact, some may argue that this dystopia, this world with its 24-hour surveillance cameras, security checks, and so forth, has already arrived. (I have visions of them, dressed in their T-shirts that have slogans reading "live outside the grid!" printed on them) reading rapidly along, occasionally jumping up and down and crying "danged right" at different parts of the tale.) And, I'm sure, one of the author's motives in writing this novel was to alert people about how we're losing our freedom--how close we are in actuality to achieving the ends of the fictional Boone and Nash. But the problem, of course, is that you can refute the author's argument merely by pointing out that here we are: the author writing it, the publisher publishing it, Amazon selling it, and we here chatting about it.Whatever. Whether you agree with the dystopians or not, you'll probably enjoy the ride. I'm giving this book a big five stars, because the author has achieved what he's set out to do, and he's done it with skill. It will keep you up for hours at night until you reach page 456, sigh in relief, and start hoping the next volume appears soon. One assumes that there will be more, as promised. Some of the T-shirt wearers are probably afraid that the publisher will be pressured not to publish that next volume, but there is money to be made here, so one may be quite sure that the next volume will indeed appear as scheduled, and that you'll be able to find it right here on your favorite website. Take THAT, Mr. Boone.

Reads more like a good thriller by Ludlum than a science fiction, but it qualifies as sf by having the main crux of the plot being a group of rare individuals who can step outside of time to what's called the Fourth Realm and see the big picture. They then can come back and guide mankind to a better life. Sounds great...except the individuals, these Travellers, tend to disrupt the status quo...and the powerful elite want them stopped.At the time of our story, there are very few travellers left, perhaps none. And the last handful of Harlequins, the people sworn to protect Travelers, are on the defensive, fighting against pervasive recognition software and instant communications in order to keep their and their charges' anonymity.And now, with one last Traveler free of their enemies' clutches, the last Harlequin has to protect her charge or the world will be enslaved forever.I liked this book a lot. Tight writing, interesting characters, lots of tension and danger and violence--not to mention some pretty good description of how you ride a motorcycle, which is something I'd yet to see written well. But this is a science fiction tale, and doesn't read like one. It reads like Travanian or Ludlum. Which isn't a bad thing, but it's different than what I've read in teh sf genre in recent years. Refreshing, actually.But I can see that some others have trouble with this book...so perhaps if you were looking for science fiction you might be disappointed, as this is 99% thriller. I liked it, and I'm starting book 2 in the series.

The question as to who reads this type book seems to have been answered already to quote from Bookmarks above: if you're "happy with the status quo, you'd probably regard the novel as hippie/trippy New Age Nonsense," notes the Washington Post. For everyone else, the "novel's a stunner" (People). For me personally, it's a fictional warning about where we're headed politically and a cleverly conceived warning at that. Whether one considers it a warning or not, it is a fast-paced, entertaining read. Either way, the book is not character driven nor should it be. The main character is the Tabula, a secret society bent on controlling mankind. The "characters" are props really, used to show how powerful the Tabula is (evil) and to show how hard it would be (or is) to win against such odds (good). We only learn what we need to know about Winston in Orwell's 1984 as well since the "character" in that book was Big Brother and their Thought Police.Whether one labels this book as a techno-thriller with a little science fiction thrown in or considers it an urban fantasy or simply action fiction, it is a thrilling read. Much of the technology mentioned in this book is already being used. There are cameras everywhere and they are readily accepted by everyone. Whether they've made us safer is open to debate. Your employer can track which web sites you visit while on line at work and monitor emails. I won't debate the political ramifications of this here but rather point it out as just minor reasons for taking this book's premise just a little seriously. IMO the book is a warning. Big Brother (or the Tabula) is watching. And when they finally manage to control everyone outside the party (grid) and take away all your library books (!), why, then, they'll turn on each other -- count on it!!

Great book in a paranoid sort of way, love the present day setting and underlying dystopian feel of the whole series.

Per tutti coloro che non hanno ancora un'idea corretta di quali siano i sistemi di controllo che sono ora a disposizione di governi e di privati, una finta lettura di fantascienza, che descrive con esattezza i sistemi di videosorveglianza e di tracciamento della vita di noi persone comuni che già ci circondano.Stile semplice e asciutto, a tratti coinvolgente.Assolutamente da leggere per tutti, soprattutto per chi è interessato all'evoluzione della nostra società.

Initially put off by the scifi feel at the start, great if indulgent book. Good tickle of the ego, lots of grandiose themes.

Taschenbuch The Traveller (Corgi Books)(Fourth Realm Trilogy)in englischer Form. Versand schnell, Buch in guten Zustand. Alle Erwartungen wie beschrieben erfüllt.

I wasn't sure what to think of this book before I got it. The reviews were good but the author seemed a bit quirky. BUT the book is brilliant and it is difficult to put down. The writing isn't very graphic in terms of describing people and surroundings but the depth of the characters and they way they are introduced individually and then all converge together as the book progresses is exceptional, in my opinion. The story line is a brilliant mix of perceived reality - in terms of the big brother society where almost everything we do can be tracked and traced - and fiction. The good thing is that the anti-establishment message in the book isn't overwhelming and doesn't seem to dominate the story, it is obvious but subtly done. In all a brilliant book. I just hope the next book is as good and he doesn't do a Dan Brown where all the books become a variation on a theme and overly unbelievable and ultimately lame.