Island in the Sea of Time

By: S. M. Stirling

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

During a perfect spring evening on Nantucket, a violent storm erupts and a dome of crawling, colored fire blankets the island. When the howling winds subside and the night skies clear, the stars appear to have shifted. The mainland has become a wilderness of unbroken forest, where tools of bronze and stone litter the beaches, and primitive natives scatter in terror.

A startling phenomenon has occurred: The island of Nantucket has been swept into the long-ago past. With its inhabitants adrift in the year 1250 BC, there is only one question to be answered: Can they survive?

©1998 S. M. Stirling (P)2008 Tantor

Loved this first book in the series...BUT:

I was totally hooked into this one, 25 hours of pure bliss, I couldn't get enough. Absolutely great writing, great narration, loved the plot lines, etc. BUT - of course I bought the rest of the series, "Against the Tide of Years" and "On the Oceans of Eternity" - and they were a lot harder for me to finish. This story did not need to be spread out as long as this, and the plot lines got very threadbare and bedraggled by the last 20 hours or so. The characters I originally met in "Island.." starting taking back seats or disappearing altogether. The bad guy from the island (Walker) is not around much in the 2nd book and disposed of in a very unsatifying way in the 3rd, and really most of the 2nd and the entire 3rd is just a waste of time, IMHO. Consider yourself warned - if you get bored in the middle of #2, you can just quit and you won't miss anything.

Need to stick with it.

I started listening to it several times but had a mental block about the 25-hour length. Once I made it past the first couple of hours, I was hooked. A bizarre time displacement has landed all of Earth back in the Bronze Age, except for the tiny island of Nantucket and its one ocean-going vessel of any note - the Coast Guard ship Eagle. The way a small community of modern humans attempts to interface with people who lived centuries before makes for a highly entertaining tale. This was my first exposure to author S.M. Stirling but won't be my last. The narration by Todd McLaren is outstanding.

Cool Alternate History Book

I listened to this over a year and a half ago and just noticed I never did a review. What I recall the most is the realism the author painted of an alternate history. I'm not totally sure if alternate history is the exact fit but is probably the closest. An island and a ship get sent way back in time and they must figure out a way to survive. The island (Nantucket) is mainly tourist cottages and summer homes for the rich. The island is nowhere near self sufficient which becomes painfully evident when it is suddenly thrust back a few hundred years B.C. They lost their power and their supply chain of food and petroleum. The gas stations have what gas they had in their tanks but no way to refill when it runs out. No source for Coffee, milk, produce, etc. You get the picture. Now they need to find a way to survive until they return to their own time - if they ever return. Forget any type of "prime directive" in terms screwing up the time-line, they are screwing with it... and bad. They figure they have to in order to survive. They didn't ask for this to happen and they are doing what they must.

It drags on a little in some places but all-in-all is a good read.

sophmoric

Is there anything you would change about this book?

interesting idea, poorly executed.

What could S. M. Stirling have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

so many of the dynamics and conflicts were just unbelievable. The politics of the book made it difficult to listen to, even though I agree with most of the ideas..

Would you listen to another book narrated by Todd McLaren?

probably

Did Island in the Sea of Time inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to go back in time and prevent the author from writing such awful dialog.

Any additional comments?

returned it to get my credit back.

Great Story. Problem with reader

What made the experience of listening to Island in the Sea of Time the most enjoyable?

The story and the writing are first rate.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked everything. The Alternate history concept is extremely well done. Loved the characters and the writing. I found it enthralling.

What does Todd McLaren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Todd McLaren cannot pronounce a lot of words correctly. He cannot go more tha a minute or 2 without a mispronunciation. So what he brings is irritation because I can proniunce them properly in my head.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Book made me laugh and cry.

time travel world building epic

storyline and characterization were strong in this book. making it consistently interesting. battle descriptions were a little harrowing but realistic. if you enjoy time travel and world building, this is an epic worth your time. any of the main characters were likeable in case of the heroes and heroines, or at least understandable in cases of villains. room left at the end for a sequel.

Christian Right, Not 4 U

Sorry but the only bad reviews are clearly from people who are anti-homosexual. I am straight, but I ask you this if God made all of us then how can we help who we will be. Get over it Barbarians, we have a black president. This book is just fine.

enrapturing

writing a story with such level of detail and lay it out in such a spectacular way is a delight. i cant wait for the next books

Island in the Sea of Time

This was a mixed bag. I'm going to say a 3.5 star audio book.

As I listened to it I kept thinking that I would have loved this book when I was in high school. It was published in 1998 when I was 18, and I think the 18 year old me would have gotten a kick out of it. That's not to say that this is an immature book. It has some very adult themes and deals with a lot of history and how to create a political society from scratch. There's a lot of action, violence and sex thrown in as well. I guess what I'm getting at is when I was younger I was less prone to say, "Wait a minute." And I would have just enjoyed the story for what it was.

My biggest problem was that I couldn't relate to the main characters very well. You may find it hard to believe, but I don't have a lot in common with an African American lesbian coast guard captain/samurai warrior. In fact I doubt that any person remotely resembles that description in real life. I guess I could be wrong. Also, there were a lot of people comiting suicide before they even had time to figure out what was going on. I honestly don't feel like that's very realistic.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the speculative stuff. How to manage a society and start a government and rebuild a civilization. That may be boring to some people, but I like it.

McLaren does a good job narrating. He does a lot of sound effects with his own voice and mouth that at times was funny, like kids making their own gun noises, but I applaud his effort.

A Fantastic Voyage

If you could sum up Island in the Sea of Time in three words, what would they be?

A Fantastic Voyage

What other book might you compare Island in the Sea of Time to and why?

Dies the Fire is a good parallel as that was likely the intent. Both stories follow the initial journey of the core group as they search for civilization in a world alien to them.

Which character – as performed by Todd McLaren – was your favorite?

Jared Cofflin the Sheriff and eventually Chief of Nantucket. McLaren has a clear command of cadence and diction when speaking as this northern good old boy.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I cannot think a moment I was moved but the precise detail of the fight with the Olmecs was exhilarating and added depth to the gaps in time between segments.

Any additional comments?

I am very excited to start the next book in the series