Review: A Glint in Time
Monday, August 4th, 2008
Take a dollop of physics at near absolute zero. Add a dash of speculation. And you have this entertaining novel about time travel.
Through the study of the reactions of substances at near zero temperatures, a team of scientists and computer geeks discover a way to send small objects into the past. The energy required limits the size of the objects to beads and other similar sized objects.
A mysterious company is funding this academic research, and is so pleased at the progress made, they call the team to Indonesia for the next phase. The stated goal: prevent the Vietnam War.
Their employers turn out to have an agenda that profits them but involves the United States in a nuclear war over Cuba in the 1960′s. With the help of U.S. Air Force commandos, the team escapes and returns to the U.S. to continue their work under the auspices of the Department of Defense.
The catch is that they have no means to determine if they have ever affected history. Each operation they conduct changes the timeline and they have no memory of any previous history.
You will need to be alert to catch the changes in time as you read the book. At several points you will tell yourself that you have already read this only to realize in a sentence or two that time has changed and the story has, too.
The book is an easy read. Not too much science and the revisions in time are easily discovered by the reader. Broken into chapters and running about 350 pages, it could be read a chapter at a time or all in one sitting without any problems.
The novel is noteworthy for the strong, female character of Sally Langley. She is an electrical engineer specializing in communications networks and plays no small role throughout the book.
The author, Frank J. Derfler, is a retire Lt Col in the Air Force. He describes himself as a technology pundit and has published a large number of non-fiction books and articles on tech topics.
I recommend your purchase of this novel. If you do not, you will miss out on the deaths of Fidel and Roul Castro, the attacks on the Capitol and the Indian Point nuclear plant on September 11 and a stunning climax where a mad man follows the project through several changes in the timeline.
