I just finished this last night. I agree with pretty much everything you said, good and bad - so won't repeat it. But I was struck by the way in which Anna seemed (in her very first conversation with Jamie) to be amazed at his having a computer in his room, as if she had arrived on his doorstep with a 1950s mindset - whereas in fact we learn that she's been zipping back and forth through history, including her own future, for decades. This seemed like a first-draft fossil, to me.
So they're going back to 1596 next, eh? (Can encounters with the Bard and Good Queen Bess be far behind?) Presumably at some point they'll travel into Jamie's future, too - I'll be interested to see how he handles that.
I wonder if this person is a DWJ fan? The set-up seemed like a curious mix of The Homeward Bounders (even the hero's name) and A Tale of Time City. But that's probably my own parochialism showing.
Good point about Anna and her amazement! I'd put her mindset at more 1970s, as she knew all about computers, but just the bedroom bit surprised her, but either way, it hardly makes sense. Even if she hadn't been in anyone's room in the 21st century, she could hardly have missed the advertising or shop windows!
And now I'm all amazement at your cleverness in thinking of Bardly encounters! Apparently the assassin of the title is after our Will, which could be fun.
I wonder if calling the main character Jamie isn't a tribute to Doctor Who since Richards writes Doctor Who novels, and one of the companions of the second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) companions was called Jamie (and played by an impossibly young Frazer Hines !) ?
Oh my, no, I hadn't seen it! Guess there won't be much time for anything else after all. Would you like me to post it now (Charlie has it, actually, so it would be next week) or want to wait until post-Cybils and get a couple together?
I've now read this one as I got sent an ARC to review for "Write Away". I quite enjoyed it - I actually didn't find Jamie too badly characterised as I thought his reaction to Anna was justifiably bewildered and the situation he was stuck in was the sort to leave you (well me, at any rate) in a kind of haze for days, I think !
The time-travel aspects are well done - but then Justin Richards also writes Doctor Who novels, so I'd expect him to be able to handle such things well... (I've only read one of his DW novels so far, The Resurrection Casket, and I enjoyed it a good deal.)
As for him visiting the same day, though not the same minute, I think Anna just said they couldn't affect events in the same day again ? After all, she also visits the same day more than once when she goes to see Jamie on that fateful October day... I'll have to check that before I write my review !
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(See us both being restrained. Impressive.)
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So they're going back to 1596 next, eh? (Can encounters with the Bard and Good Queen Bess be far behind?) Presumably at some point they'll travel into Jamie's future, too - I'll be interested to see how he handles that.
I wonder if this person is a DWJ fan? The set-up seemed like a curious mix of The Homeward Bounders (even the hero's name) and A Tale of Time City. But that's probably my own parochialism showing.
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And now I'm all amazement at your cleverness in thinking of Bardly encounters! Apparently the assassin of the title is after our Will, which could be fun.
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I think the book's not due out until March, so this can go with other post-Cybils loans if you'd like.
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I'd love to borrow this one, please !
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The time-travel aspects are well done - but then Justin Richards also writes Doctor Who novels, so I'd expect him to be able to handle such things well... (I've only read one of his DW novels so far, The Resurrection Casket, and I enjoyed it a good deal.)
As for him visiting the same day, though not the same minute, I think Anna just said they couldn't affect events in the same day again ? After all, she also visits the same day more than once when she goes to see Jamie on that fateful October day... I'll have to check that before I write my review !
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