J's Pages

In a previous review, I complained that the Time Wars series was getting a falling into a formula. In this, the sixth book of the series, Mr. Hawke changes things a bit. The first change is that this book is not based on a particular novel, but rather an historical event. He flirted with this in The Nautilus Sanction when he
departed from the plot of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and had his characters meet up with the pirate Jean Lafitte. In The Khyber Connection, the entire plot occurs around a conflict between the British army and Afghan tribes in the Khyber Pass in 1897 Afghanistan. To this, Mr. Hawke adds some characters from the stories of Rudyard Kipling--soldiers Learoyd, Orthenis and Mulvaney and bhisti Gunga Din--and his own time commandos. A temporal soldier from the 27th Century is found dead at the Khyber Pass, apparently killed by his own doppelganger. This leads the Temporal Army Corps to the conclusion that their worst fear--a timestream split--has occurred and they are facing a Temporal Corps from an alternate universe. I won't spoil the story by telling you what these alternate commandos are up to, but suffice it to say, it shakes up the status quo. What stays the same is Mr. Hawke's suspenseful plotting and enjoyable characterization. Y'all should check it out. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, SimonHawke, TimeWars

// posted by John @ 5:51 PM