An odyssey at odds with its predecessors
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As the book's title suggests, this is an odyssey through time rather than space. The authors point out that their goal was to create a companion to 2001 and its sequels, starting out with a similar premise but developing things at 90 degrees, so to speak. They've succeeded, but they've also fallen short of the original. Like 2001, the scope of this first book ranges from the dawn of man to a time when humans live on the moon. Yet Clarke's penchant for mysticism that was evident in 2001 or Childhood's End has given way to a more concrete treatment of peoples and practices. As a result, the book seems to have lost its heart. Without giving too much of the plot away, the use of some very famous historical characters seems painfully contrived. The writers seem to have recognised this, and characters within the novel speculate on the ludicrous coincidences involved. Maybe a reason for the contrivance wll become apparent in the following books, maybe not; talk about hedging your bets! Despite the mysterious presence of the "Eyes" throughout the book, I found little or no sense of wonder in the world or events being described. There is a heavy concentration on military procedures, the impact of technology, and the geology of the planet - but this comes at the expense of the inner dialogue of the people affected by them. Considering that this isn't the first time Clarke and Baxter have written a book together (and I really enjoyed The Light of Other Days) I was surprised how little I was engaged by it. Nevertheless, there are one or two references to the original work which fans should pick up, and the final chapter redeems things with an event worthy of Clarke's earlier work. Rather than disappointment, this left me hoping that, with the groundwork out of the way, book 2 in the series will be a much more exciting ride...
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Storyline is weak and biased
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The concept is nice but the underlying story is weak. The depiction of Ghengiz Khan and the mongols is stongly biased towards an european's point of view. The mongols were nomads but to claim that Alexander was a better visionary is a clear european bias. The fact is that Ghengiz Khan wasnt as much a barbarian the europeans would like to believe and his levels of cruelty matches that of Alexander.
Didn't expect this from an Arthur C. Clarke product.
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What If?
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Because of the many similarities of the premise of this book to 2001, manyreaders will pick the book up expecting something quite similar andstimulating in the same ways. That expectation would be wrong. Although onthe surface the books have similar elements, Time's Eye uses astory-telling technique that focuses much more on bringing incongruitiesfrom different periods of history together to imaginatively describe "whatif?" You have famous authors (Rudyard Kipling), famous conquerors(Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan), and famous places (Babylon in itsprime) brought together in unexpected collisions. It's like running aparticle accelerator to collide with something to see what mighthappen.
The book lives or dies by how compelling you find the historicaljuxtapositions. I personally found them to be mildly interesting . . . butnot compelling. The story itself was a little clunky in its plot elements,and I found myself disbelieving the ending.
The 2001-like element in the book mostly recedes into the background. Hadit been more in the foreground, the book could have been a four-stareffort.
I loved the idea of including the CD with bonus book and other material.Nice!
Perhaps the series will improve in the rest of the book . . . I hope so.The potential for a good story is certainly there.
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Great ideas, story, characters slightly let down by style
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Arthur C. Clarke warns us, in the preface, that this is not a "cover" of the 2001, a Space Odyssey saga. While there are some common points such as an non terrestrial force governing the physics, forces which in both books remain mysterious, the inhabitants of our planet, such as an intelligent computer (the mischievous HAL being replaced by a UN issued mobile phone, without the nastiness but with much more computing power), the 2 series are very different. The mixture and juxtaposition of well known historical characters and glorious unknowns, the study of how one's horrendous instincts as well as selflessness and grandeur can well up in unsettling circumstances make "Time's eye" a fascinating read. I was however disconcerted by the writing style which some times was below par. There were some repetitions, some complexities in the language which did not seem justified. But all in all, a great read nevertheless and I hope the next volume of this trilogy will be with us soon.
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