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)

I wanted to like it

I have always enjoyed Clarke's thoughtful commentaries on life and perception as told through his fiction, but this book just book just didn't deliver. The characters were flat and the juxtaposition of historical threads just didn't sound believable.

I'd give it a listen if you want to catch the entire series, but this will be the end of the series for me.

interesting concept

The concept behind this book was interesting. But I found the story's characters to be flat. The characters seemed to fall into common archetypes, and this is worsened by the narration. Mr Lee does very well with English accent variations (at least to my untrained ear), but his American accents are abysmal. Driving me well beyond the point of distraction, I had to stop listening several times. Then I had to steel myself, bracing for the impending onslaught of his "Southern US female" before I could return to the story.

I'm a great fan of the work of Arthur C. Clarke, but this story felt a bit directionless, with a plodding plot, and left far too many questions unanswered for me to recommend it. I know it is part of a series, but it feels incomplete as a separate book, and likely should have been combined with the next book.

Instant Classic for sure.

Excellent, what else needs to be said. Clarke and Baxter have written a classic, this series is well worth reading!

Good... Buuuuuuuut

I enjoyed the story and a excellent job was done on the reading. It is my understanding that this is going to be a series. book one started things off good. Buuuut! The sex and the act of bestiality really detracted from the listen. That kind of stuff should be left out. Listener be warned.

Completely Enthralled

This book has everything I love.... Ancient history, time travel, alexander the great, Babylon etc. The story is kind of hard to follow at first and it seams a bit rushed with way too much information at one time. Once I got used to it I couldn't stop listening. Can't wait to start the next book

Excellent series, though narrator not so good

The premise is excellent, as would be expected from Clarke. The fact that unlike Clarke's classics, this was written in much more rencent times, he includes a slew of current scientific ideas that will tickle the imaginations of hard sci-fi fans. I was disappointed, however, by the reader. He does not seem capable of varying his voice enough to create separate voices for each character. He instead tries to rely upon his poor foreign accents, assigning a horrendously stereotypical regional or foreign accent to each character. Some of them are so aweful (like his hideous attempts at US regional accents) that it really detracted from the wonderful writing of the book. I guess I've been spoiled by Lloyd James (amazingly talented narrator of a number of superb Heinlein books available here -- check them out!!).

Excellent Listen!

This is an excellent SciFi novel. Very well written, imaginative and very believable. The reader is one of the best!

Another Fantastic Read from Clarke and Baxter!

Do you like Arthur C Clarke? Have you read and did you enjoy the 2001 Space Odyssey series? Do you enjoy history? Do you enjoy a different spin on stories about time than the standard time travel cliches? Have you read and did you enjoy the other book that Clarke and Baxter wrote together entitled The Light of Other Days?

If you answered yes to 1 or more of these questions, than you should download this book. It's great. I cared about some of these characters more than I normally do in an Arthur C Clarke book... maybe this is a credit to Stephen Baxter? Perhaps their writting together helps to bring the characters into clearer focus.

I am not really a fan of historical fiction or using characters from ancient history in any form of fiction - but I was pleasantly surprised by how awesome this book is! Don't let the summary and the "historical science fiction / time adventure" summary scare you off! This book wasn't at all what I expected and I was hooked until the end!

The narration is fantastic!

pretty good,

pretty good, would gave preferred a different ending but good nonetheless, should be sequels. x

Great listen for free

I think this is one of Clark's best works the story was something that really click with me in the what if's catagory can't wait to see if the next 2 books are as good