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Its not easy turning right around and writing another *glowing* review
right after you have just finished praising another work by the same author.
Its just one more reason that this column is so late this month. Other reasons
are: 1) My Employer expects (reasonably enough) me to work on HIS software,
2) My "Banana Tree Elbow" (more commonly called "Tennis
Elbow") which has by and large kept my off the computer at night, 3)
The sorry state of my operating system which tries to crash every hour on the
hour (A plague on Windows ME)!
Having said that, there are equally valid reasons for writing another good
review of Mr. Steele's work: 1) The work itself is deserves it, not to
mention the author, 2) The premise of the column this month was that I would
review both, and 3) The problems mentioned above are mostly temporary. (Except for,
I hope, the matter of my Employment!!)
Most recent time travel stories have concentrated on events which were considered
turning points in history. These are usually events which changed the outcome of a
battle, and thus a war, or that sort of thing. In ChronoSpace, Allen Steele
has chosen the fiery crash of the dirigible Hindenburg as his point of departure. I
find that refreshing all by itself. Mr. Steele has obviously done some research into
the structure of the Hindenburg, and his excellent imagination has filled in many of
the missing pieces of this flying puzzle.
In 2314, the space-going time machine Oberon leaves its orbiting dock
to drop off two replacements for Hindenburg passengers. The original passengers have
been kidnapped. The replacements are to return from the opera in Frankfurt to the hotel
left by the originals and board the dirigible for New Jersey the next morning. They
plan to make a somewhat informal exit from the craft just before it bursts into flame.
Everything seems to be going fine until Hindenburg successfully lands in New Jersey.
That's when it all hits the fan, because Oberon has no "future" to return to
now. When it tries, it causes even more problems. Finally arriving in its own time, it
finds the Earth almost totally destroyed. Now the crew is in even more of a pickle!
This is quite a tour-de-force, even for someone as talented as Mr. Steele. In addition
to all the action, you also get to meet Greg Benford (sort of). He figures into the plot!
So, Mr. Steele, good luck on your new career -- its off to a grand start. We hope to read
more of your novels in the future! ;)
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