Chronoscape

The Future Is Flexible We Can Change It

De: Roger Ley

Narrado por: Craig Bowles

Will physicist Martin Riley get the rewards he feels he deserves? He's discovered a way to receive news stories from two weeks in the future but the Government has cloaked the technology in secrecy. Riley sees the danger in altering the Timestream but despite his warnings, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic make radical alterations to political events. The first temporal alteration saves Princess Diana, the next saves the Twin Towers, but ripples travel far ahead and disturb Earth's future civilisation. The Timestream must be realigned, but at what cost?

©2017 Roger Ley (P)2020 Roger Ley

Great Book

I've really enjoyed this one it really makes you think about time travel. Can't wait for more by Roger.

Amazing Listening

I really liked this book. It has some great characters, mainly Martin Reilly who I know from a couple of Roger's other books. The book starts off in the U.K in the 90's then moves to the U.S. in the 2000's, and then goes into time streaming. Recommended to all, also Craig Bowles is great at narrating... I received this audiobook for free in the authors promotion, and this is my voluntary review.

What would happen if you knew the future

Once again I was able to try a different genre and couldn’t put the book down. Power corrupts when you have knowledge of the future and can choose what you want to change. However there are long term consequences for every change you make.

Looking forward to my next trip into this genre.

Left Me Breathless! Excellent and Thought Provoking!

“If I could turn back time …” not just a much loved ballad from 1989! In “Chronoscape” physicist Martin Riley HAS found a way … sort of … and quite a few governments have found a way … a very nefarious way … of exploiting Martin AND his technology … but at what price? I’ll not be the one to tell! What I will tell you is the pace of this extraordinary story is briskly fabulous! There is NEVER a dull moment, yet never a moment that isn’t thoughtfully explained, beautifully clear, and thought provokingly poignant! The characters are a wonderful blend of those reprising their roles from previous stories, and those newly created to fulfill special roles in THIS story. Listeners new to the magical story weaving talents of our author need not worry, EVERYTHING is beautifully and throughly explained, and all characters are fully developed and clearly defined. You’ll have no issues if this is your first foray! A word to the wise … there are some real connivers in this one, real “black hole worthy special charmers”, I’d be hard pressed NOT to jettison, should I find myself with a spare rocket or three … but I digress! As offensive as I found these particular not to be named players, they WERE integral to making this story work, AND they performed their roles beautifully! They also contributed to the “other worldly” feel of the story, a “feel” that greatly enhanced the overall impact of the story! I’m still processing this one, and I have a feeling I will be for days to come! What also contributed ten-fold to the feel, ambiance and effectiveness of this story was the unbelievably fabulous narration! Crystal clear with perfect timing, perfect scene setting, and perfect mood setting throughout! I also have the next book and I can’t wait to see what happens as this series continues! For “Chronoscape” FIVE thought provokingly fabulous stars, across all categories! This one really made me THINK!

Time. And again. I love it!

Ley produces a riveting narative in this book. It manages to be fairly straight forward, while being riddled with complexities of choice and events. There is so much at play, I really enjoyed taking the time to listen again. having said that, this is not a "feel good novel". this is a no holds thriller.

Chronoscape feels very "unhollywood", in fact it feels almost indie-british, which is one of my favorite aspects of the book. It is not a spectacle of superintelligence and base evil. It isn't even StarTrekky in its weird timeline but ultimately "good will prevail" mumbo jumbo. Actions have irrevocable consequenses in THIS reality. and boy do they take actions.

I think (without having a scientific clue, really) that causality, temporal mechanics and the genesis (and long term application) of "timemedling" are excellently and logically rationalized. it makes sense and offers an interesting break from the usual deus ex machinegun versions of the genre, where all of a sudden base assumptions no longer apply.

I appreciate the work which must have gone into developing the motivations of the cast. Particularly the dynamics of idealist scientist, disillusionment, personal conscience, government and -most surprisingly- love !! are themes where this listen had me thinking "what would I have chosen to do?", which is a remarkable achievement in a techno thriller. There is a wonderfull mix of dynamics which represent different levels of involvement and getting all those angles is a real "wow" effect. particularly in the late part of the book, there are some VERY interesting life choices which are a delightful listen. (slight spoiler on this at the end)

As a repeat serial listener to Ley's novels (otherwise describable as "a fan"), I love the storyline crossover to other books and expansions on thought experiments which are only hinted at in this book, by virtue of the action. to me it feels like being in a series without the all but inevitable "did he not know when to quit" or "oh that old chestnut" pitfalls. Chronoscape has an "inceptionesque" feel, which stems from the time travel aspect, I suppose and I love it. when does something unreal become real? is it really really possible to intervene?

Some inspiration from "classics" where the protagonist is drawn into an underground organisation (gangsters, *cough* military government) is evident and skillfully navigated. they are also some of the more ironically humorous passages, as it were.

a word on performance
Bowles does a great job of capturing the different eras and nationalities. His way of creating the proper tones, the words' impact, the emotion comes together quite smoothly. I am impressed with his range and with the confidence this is read with. Bowels reading is delightfully clear and smooth. it feels as if there was time to read and reherse every line, which was absolutely great.

listen!
listen!
Time and again!


(***** slight spoiler****
one may find an interesting parallel to "better than us" when it comes to some of the dynamics)

Thought-provoking and enjoyable

Having listened to The Muslim Prince recently, which is a spin-off book from this one, it was richly satisfying experience to be introduced to the context and science of it all, with its complexities and ramifications all present and accounted for. That's not to say it reads like a textbook, because like any sci-fi book worth its salt, Chronoscape is strongly investired with complex individuals who grow on you despite - or perhaps because of - all their flaws and imperfections.

For me, at least for the duration of the first half of the book, Martin Riley was very much the main character of the novel. Ambitious, driven, and not a little frustrated with the lack of recognition he had received for his contributions, Riley remains a likeable and relatable character despite grating on one's nerves re his hypocritical attitude towards his wife's infidelities that make you want to punch his lights out. Unless that's just me? Moving on...

The second half of the book, which actually picked up from where the epilogue began, positively blew my socks off. Time travel and temporal adjustment always come with consequences, and it is no different here. On a character note, I liked learning more about Mary- who had also played a significant role in TMP- but I felt, for the most part, that she and her partner, Patrick's story could have filled another book on it's own without being hitched to Martin's adventure. Roger Ley does integrate their stories well enough, but I could easily have done with a novella or short novel about Mary. Her life and work is certainly interesting enough and I feel there's a lot of potential there.

As before, Craig Bowles does an excellent job narrating this audiobook. Switching between Martin's point of view and that of the narrator requires subtle changes in tone, accent and modulation, and the narrator nails it. The characters are well differentiated, the pace is steady but moves along quickly enough, and in the end I was happy to listen to this for hours at a time without getting bored or distractedly missing things.

A very good book, overall. I'd definitely recommend it.

Kept me engaged in the mystery the whole time!

As someone very interested in these fringe topics, I always enjoy hearing about the details of things like time travel or futuristic tech, but what a refreshing read this book is when it comes to the relationship development and human issues covered throughout the book.

Had me wanting to hear more and see where things went throughout the entire story and the audio book is read so well by Craig Bowles!

A real pleasure to read/listen to!

Interesting

I actually enjoyed this book very much. I listened on audible and I was happy with the narrator. Craig Bowles American accent gave me a little giggle but overall, it was good narration.

The story is good too. Set in the past and the future so that was different. I was able to listen for hours and was totally engaged in the story the entire time. I recommend this book!

Interesting

The book started off pretty slow, or hard to get into. But it did pick up and I found it a very interesting story.

Fun take on time travel

I enjoyed this book. This was an interesting take on some of the tropes of time travel. Cause and effect entangle when you send messages back to yourself, but the bureaucrats get involved and turn the tech into something it was never meant to be. I would have liked it to be longer to make it feel a bit less rushed.