A Bridge of Years

By: Robert Charles Wilson

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

A secluded Pacific Northwest cottage becomes a door to the past for Tom Winter, who travels back to the New York City of 1962, followed by a human killing machine that he alone must stop.©1991 Robert Charles Wilson (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Returning to his hometown after a failed marriage, recovering alcoholic Tom Winter purchases a house only to discover that it connects with another time and place - and his desire to 'start over' suddenly becomes a literal possibility. Wilson excels at psychological suspense, as the spiritual and emotional challenges his characters face are as intense as the physical dangers. A solid addition to any sf collection." ( Library Journal)

Different from other Wilson books

Eschewing his usual galaxy-spanning world building, this novel is set mainly in two eras of recent Earth history: 1989 and 1962. While Wilson is extremely talented at creating strange, alien worlds, he does not use those talents here. I didn’t feel like the eras were depicted in a very compelling way. Another difference is that rather than tell a tale of cosmic proportions, this novel is very personal and meditative. There are a few action sequences, but Wilson seems much more interested in examining the effects that time travel has on the life philosophies of the various characters. The end result is a slow moving novel that did not spark my imagination the way many of this author’s other books have.

[I listened to this as an audio book read by Jonathan Davis. He was an adequate reader, but I found his pace too slow. I ended up listening at 1.5 speed and that felt perfect.]

Such an Interesting book

What made the experience of listening to A Bridge of Years the most enjoyable?

I believe in any audible book that the narrator can make or break a book. Jonathan did a fantastic job.

What did you like best about this story?

Like all of the books I've read by Robert Wilson, his main characters are well thought out, and are believable.
The story was great! I love the concept of having a home, that is in fact a time machine.
Also, when Tom went back to 1962, I really felt like I was in New York 1962.

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

Everything!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. But I have a life, and have to quarantine time to listen to audio books :-)

Any additional comments?

I read or listen to books for fun. I am able to dispel my reality, and get into stories that are as good as this one.

Classy. Smooth. Enjoyable reading.

A very enjoyable book. This novel is a good display of RCW's smooth writing style. By the title you know going in that the book deals with time travel, and I was impressed with how effortless RCW tied different stories together and skipped around in time without confusing the reader. The novel is heavy with 1960s nostalgia, and while I personally would prefer less of that and more hard core sci-fi, this book is easily four stars.

Jonathan Davis is superb, as usual.

Too many swear words

good scifi. really like the story line. Too much blasphemy!!!!
Just awful, makes me cringe.

Good Character Study

As with his book SPIN, this is not so much a SciFi than a good study of human nature. The SciFi element are just intended to let the reader observe consequences of various cultural perspectives.