Time's Eye

A Time Odyssey, Book 1

By: Stephen Baxter, Arthur C. Clarke

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

For eons, Earth has been under observation by the Firstborn, beings almost as old as the universe itself. The Firstborn are unknown to humankind - until they act. In an instant, Earth is carved up and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the planet and every living thing on it no longer exist in a single timeline. Instead, the world becomes a patchwork of eras, from prehistory to 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants.

Scattered across the planet are floating silver orbs impervious to all weapons and impossible to communicate with. Are these technologically advanced devices responsible for creating and sustaining the rifts in time? Are they cameras through which inscrutable alien eyes are watching? Or are they something stranger and more terrifying still?

The answer may lie in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037 - three cosmonauts returning to Earth from the International Space Station, and three United Nations peacekeepers on a mission in Afghanistan - have detected radio signals: the only such signals on the planet, apart from their own. The peacekeepers find allies in nineteenth-century British troops and in the armies of Alexander the Great. The astronauts, crash-landed in the steppes of Asia, join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. The two sides set out for Babylon, each determined to win the race for knowledge...and the power that lies within.

Yet the real power is beyond human control, perhaps even human understanding. As two great armies face off before the gates of Babylon, it watches, waiting.

©2005 Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An exciting tale full of high-tech physics, military tactics and larger-than-life characters in the first of two novels related to the bestselling senior author's Space Odyssey series." ( Publishers Weekly)

Took a chance, and loved it!

I wasn't sure about this book when I saw it, but I needed something to listen to on my desktop so I got it.

I love it!

It is well written, the naration is very good, and its a fun what if book. It requires you to suspend reality abit but go ahead and just enjoy, remember its fiction.

Good bit of Fun

This is a fun little story, actually kind of reminds me of the Marvel comic series "Secret Wars" in which the Beyonder grabs heroes and villains and sets them against one another on a planet built from chunks of other worlds.
Was it perfect? No. But it moves at a good pace, there is just enough convenience to keep things moving without feeling too contrived (I mean the language barrier would be much more of an issue than they make of it) and you get some good action out of it.
I think the biggest issue is that the "epilogue" for lack of a better term is too long. The real ending is the resolution of the battle, it is not derping around Battle World, the whole ending (I won't spoil) should have been the prologue to the NEXT BOOK, not the ending to this one.

Interesting story

The idea of Khan vs Alexander is one that is both intriguing and silly. However the time travel genre has always captivated me. Time's Eye is a unique spin in this type of story and I enjoyed it as such.

Is this one of Clarke's better books? I don't think so. It pales in comparison to Rama or 2001. There was one sticking spot for me, however. I have a very hard time accepting the character of Bisesa Dutt. She is a Lieutenant in the British Army stationed in Afghanistan, yet she is fully versed in physics and an expert in String Theory. Someone with her intelligence and qualifications would not be in a military helicopter on the front lines of a war zone.

The writing, I suspect, was all Baxter with Clarke producing and modelling the plot line. There were holes in the plot and loose ends and I am interested to know if these will be explored in the sequels, which I will read next.

I didn't love this book, but I enjoyed it. As for the performance of John Lee, I think he's a great reader, but some of his voices grate on me personally. Especially his American accents. In particular, Josh, who's voice is more efeminant than Bisesa's. At times I momentarily thought Sable was speaking when in fact it was Josh.

Overall he has wonderful pacing and inflection. Lee also exceeds my pronunciation expectations. His pronunciations are consistent and outstanding. Many British readers are terribly inconsistent with words ending in the letter "a". I realize it is an accent, but hearing a reader say "Montanter" rather than "Montana" or "Florider" rather than "Florida" followed a sentence or 2 later with the correct pronunciation, bothers me. Lee doesn't do this, at least I didn't catch him doing it.

As the time travel/alternate history genre goes Time's Eye is a middling book that still manages to hold the readers interest. Perhaps this is due to the name recognition of both the authors or maybe the unique premise.

An excellent and edifying read!

This book was such an outstanding mix of pivotal times in history with wonderful human detail. It was also an exploration of our drive toward conflict and destruction. This story thru developing its characters also explored physics and current cutting edge scientific theory well woven into the narrative. And all with great character development with very diverse characters. A book I was always looking for excuses to put my headphones on to continue! I even snuck an earbud in during a not too stimulating chat when someone interrupted my housework and more importantly my enjoyment of Time’s Eye on Audible!

I felt like a better read person in each of these areas with the new titbits and reminders I took from various elements of the story and found myself with the author I think, speculating on the nature of space, time and our existence.

A great read, my only complaint is that I got to the end!

Clarke another masterpiece

Fits like a glove with the rest of the series as it should, as you knew it would

Fun read!

It is fun to imagine the interaction of characters from vastly different time periods and societies. How do they react to being pulled from what is familiar? How do they deal with a culture that has different values from their own? One reviewer mentioned they felt the story was disjointed. I didn't feel that but part of the point is how do people react when their world becomes disjointed.

Good Premise - Weak Execution

Time's Eye is based on a fascinating premise -- time discontinuities that force people and places from different eras into the same location -- that soon gets sidetracked by annoying characters and a meandering plot that never resolves itself.

Historical figures, man-apes, and futuristic astronauts duke it out for supreme control over the new world while floating "eyes" record it all.

The plot takes off with a bang as characters from different times in history find themselves together in the new world. The plot then wanders aimlessy through deserts, wars, discussions of morality, and bids for power played out with real warriors and a female astronaut. Suddenly, the plot comes to an improbably conclusion when all the science of string theory is pushed aside and replaced by a mother's hopes and dreams to return home to her daugher.

Although this book is the first installment in the trilogy, it isn't plausible enough to follow through with the rest of the series. Skip it and read the Space Odyssey series instead.

Not space odyssey

By far. Really not eager to hear 2 next books. Gonna go for Assimov Foundation instead..

Now this is science fiction at it's best!

Unbelievably great book and good listening! I was swept up and away into the visual patchwork quilt of many times merged together and it felt very believable! I highly recommend anything Clarke has ever written. His view of the human race as a whole, almost as an organism, comes through crystal clear. He tends to be a bit off on the individuality, but not because of any lack of depth, I think it's because he simply "sees" a bigger picture.

Good audio book

Worth listening to. Good story line and characters. Could easily imagine the story as it unfolded in my mind.