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A Return Trip to the Past and Future
In Michael Z. Williamson’s novel “A Long Time Until Now” First Lieutenant Sean Elliott and nine US soldiers traveling in a convoy in Afghanistan suddenly found themselves flung into the Earth’s Paleolithic Age. Other time-displaced people from throughout history were with them. All had been accidentally displaced through a time travel experiment conducted by the Cogi, people in the far future. The Cogi eventually rescued them.
“That Was Now This Is Then,” by Michael Z. Williamson picks up the story after the soldiers’ return. Some have been discharged; others remained in the Armed Forces. All are trying to pick up their lives.
Now they are being recruited for a new mission in the past. The Cogi need help. It turns out Elliot and his team were not the only American soldiers stuck in the past. The Cogi have found another group. Worse, a Paleolithic human displaced forward in time shows up in a now-time American base.
The Cogi and the US Military want the help of the previous set of US time trippers to return the displacees to their proper times. It turns out if you have been there before going back causes less displacement than sending folks who have never been there.
This time the trip is voluntary. Not all the original group is interested in another free trip to the far past, even if they know they will return this time. But Elliot pulls together enough to make the mission work. To fill out the team two anthropologists are added. Their stated role is to help the team with the Neolithic inhabitants. They are also there to spy on the Cogi and discover their secrets.
As with the previous book, the adventure takes the time travelers into the distant past and into the far future. They are working with the Cogi this time, which makes things easier. Another difference is that not all of those displaced in time wish to return to their original time. The soldiers they are sent to rescue were less successful, and have assimilated with the natives.
This story is at least as much fun as “A Long Time Until Now.” If anything, this story is more interesting. The previous book’s focus was survival. “That Was Now This Is Then” is more of a detective story. Who are the Cogi? What time are they from? With this book, Williamson has written another entertaining novel.
“That Was Now This Is Then,” by Michael Z. Williamson, Baen Books, 2021, 544 pages, $25.00 (Hardcover), $9.99 (ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Published in Literature
S.M. Stirling’s wonderful, neo-ERB “Lords of Creation” trilogy has remained stuck at two books since 2008: The Sky People and In the Courts of the Crimson Kings.
Stirling is a professional writer, not a hobbyist, so he won’t write the third book until he gets a publishing contract.
Then the publisher is the problemm souless things they usually are.
As I recall, I liked the first book and found the second uninteresting.
Well, if you want an epic fantasy series that is completed, I would suggest my wife’s series The Stringed Sextet. You can get the first one on Amazon, and it is complete so you don’t have to worry about it not getting finished. :-)
She has at least that much up on GRRM (and I think she is a much better writer, although I find GRRM to be nigh unreadable and always have).
Awesome
I’m not really into that polyamory stuff …