Date: 09 Dec 2020 23:22 Title: Clockworks: The Times of the HG Wells Collection
The link for this one seems to be needed up. It does not take one to the story, but rather to the beginning of the collection.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:37 Title: Paradox
Well, Levi managed to avoid the horrible timeline spawning event (and did it classically), Marci is out of the picture, and now the three primary stars are all about to meet each other in a very interesting way. I'm intrigued. Loved the confused and hesistant way Levi was acting here, completely unprepared for it all, and the interaction between Icheb and Maren is fun as usual.
I wonder how he manages to destroy this thing ... or if he just manages to convince the two that it isn't worth doing.
Author's Response:
Thank you for reviewing (this is jes). I have no idea what he's going to do next. This story might end up on Unblock the Block.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:31 Title: Paradox
Oh. Oh, oh. Oh.
Man, this is a mess, but one I couldn't stop laughing at. A thousand different timelines launched, and all of them dreadfully bad for the universe ... but oh so fun.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:27 Title: Paradox
What a mess, but I was smiling all the way through. Levi finds himself in the most hilarious of situations ... he's about to score a homerun and doesn't even know he's playing!
Definitely get why Maren is annoyed Stratton girl, though. God, she's a pain.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:21 Title: Paradox
So sweet. These two together is a rightness that is hard to find in fiction.
Team I/M approves whole-heartedly.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:15 Title: Paradox
LOL, Levi. Trying to bed someone he just met in the past? Man, Richard Daniel's old ship sure has a strange effect on people. Charmingly awkward as usual. I wonder how he's going to lead them down a different path?
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:06 Title: Paradox
Oh, fun set up. How I managed NOT to leave a review for this before is beyond me, but I like the way all this comes to pass -- very naturally for all parties involved. It pleases me to no end that we get to see Icheb and Maren happy here and Levi, of all people, becoming friendly with them.
And pie. We love pie.
Moving on ...
Date: 26 May 2015 21:04 Title: The Stranger
Glad to see Daniels is finally taking some responsibility for what he has done. I shudder to think what the Mirror Government will do when he refuses to undo Jun's life.
That's a nice twist at the end, Daniels finally facing his own morality.
Author's Response:
Oh, thank you.
It is an uphill battle now, to try to get Jun to live. But at least now Rick's got a purpose.
Date: 26 May 2015 20:59 Title: The Stranger
Rick's cutting it kind of close, there, isn't he? He's risking becoming a fossil himself, which would really wreak havoc on the timeline.
Author's Response:
This one is definitely close - and it also gives him a chance to see what really happens afterwards. Octavia's not long for the world, and neither are any of the others.
Date: 26 May 2015 20:54 Title: The Stranger
Interesting that Daniels seems to be finding his conscience in a way about what he is doing.
I'm interested in the overall purpose of what Daniels and his party are doing. I know they travel back or forward in time for various purposes, but I have to wonder what the motive is for some of it? I'm guessing the larger story might make this clearer, and I'll be checking it out, now that I have more time to read this summer.
Author's Response:
Oh, thanks!
I write them as being escorts to historians, at least to start (although the HG Wells series's main driver is people mucking around in time and that has to be fixed). In a way, the historians are even more detached than he is - they're just taking measurements and the like, as if Betty and Irene and the others were just lab rats.
Date: 26 May 2015 20:40 Title: The Stranger
I like that you decided to bring in theatre here. Seriously, it's one of the only forms of entertainment the people had at this time in history, other than public executions.
The details you bring in are a nice touch. Many people don't realize how bad the sanitary conditions were in Renaissance Europe nor how much that affected the health of the people.
I half expected her to refuse to be with him, as the Renaissance people were very superstitious, and she would probably have thought it was some sort of sorcery that allowed him to seem older and younger at the same time.
Author's Response:
If I had had more words at my disposal, I'd have had him give her some sort of payment. She's not exactly a prostitute, but pretty close. In the original little ficlet, she tells him about the most marvelous invention she's ever seen. It turns out to be a milling wheel pulled by mules. Yet another reminder of his privilege.
Date: 26 May 2015 20:24 Title: The Stranger
Wait, so in the original timeline, she's supposed to end up with her second cousin?
I didn't think anybody in the mirror universe was friendly...and how's she supposed to disavow the Terran Empire when she looks distinctly Terran? I find myself wondering what happens to her. When Daniels beams out does he fix the whole timeline, which would put her back in the original history, or does she end up living there and disavowing everything? My guess would be that that depends on whether Daniels is successful in his beam out or if he ends up trying again, for the fifth time. And that, then begs the question of what happened to the first three?
Seems he's messing about more and more. Might be overstepping a bit before long, if he's not careful. 'Twill be interesting to see.
Author's Response:
I'm currently writing what happens - and have him dealing with this a good dozen times before he finally gets it right. Lots of ugly, weird little details to resolve, plus an arcane law on the books forbidding second cousin marriages throws another spanner in the works.
The changes in time - some are more acceptable than others. For this one, the problems are already there and need to be fixed, so there's more leeway.
And as for the MU, the way I write my Lafa System, they look rather human (Dana could cover her arms and hide pretty effectively, so long as she wasn't required to do anything requiring dream telepathy) and are rebels, sort of like Astérix.
Date: 26 May 2015 20:11 Title: The Stranger
I find it interesting how Daniels tells the people he meets that he's "no one" and a "Stranger". Since he's a time traveler, I think that response is the one that probably makes the most sense, as people, especially those from the past, aren't going to understand the concept of time travel or the idea that worlds and peoples could exist beyond the far stars that we see.
I have to wonder, though, if Admiral Calavicci is not asking for trouble inviting one of her agents to "play" with the timeline. I suppose time will tell.
I know they were dressed to fit in with the rest of the people in the community, but I'm surprised Daniels and his historian friend weren't pegged as outsiders (someone unknown to the community) and therefore decried as a bad influence on the community and asked to leave. Maybe he wasn't there long enough, or maybe it was a large enough community that people didn't know all of their neighbors there. Hmm.
I'll be looking forward to reading more.
Author's Response:
Certainly they are outsiders, but the surveyor cover should help with that - they would be itinerants, and that would help to explain things.
Date: 25 May 2015 13:17 Title: The Stranger
Oh, a very clever little kind of epiphany at the end there. He finally finds some purpose and some resolve. A lovely way to wrap up the series!
Author's Response:
Oh, thank you for reading and for your kind reviews!
Date: 25 May 2015 13:12 Title: The Stranger
And the lesson is learned - he can't interfere. It almost harks back to Kirk and Edith Keeler; she had to die.
Author's Response:
Yep. I run the time travel part of my universe as there being acceptable levels of interference before it all goes belly up. Edith Keeler is another instance where interference will tea things too much.
Date: 25 May 2015 13:06 Title: The Stranger
Ooh, some clever little bits of name-dropping there. And Rick is developing some swagger.
Author's Response:
Thanks! One thing about ENT was the temporal cold war and future guy. Why not make it future gal instead?
Date: 25 May 2015 13:02 Title: The Stranger
Oh, so maybe he's just had a lesson in consequences!
Author's Response:
Big consequences here, but they are not quite big enough.
Date: 25 May 2015 12:57 Title: The Stranger
You do very well in these little ficlets to vividly set the scene for each timeline - right down to the finer details (like the state of one's teeth!).
Rick's heart seems a little heavier with each story.
Author's Response:
Yes, every time, he is affected, although he isn't initially admitting that. People love to ask which time period others would like to visit, but before around 1940 or so, it would be horrible if you needed healthcare. Penicillin is a very good thing.
Date: 25 May 2015 12:51 Title: The Stranger
Foiled again! And I get that Bond vibe too. Very cool.
Author's Response:
thanks!
Date: 25 May 2015 12:47 Title: The Stranger
A time-travelling Casanova? Intriguing! I get the sense from these few words that he is weary and somewhat despondent. His boss's suggestion might seem a superficial fix, but perhaps he will gain more from his experiences...?
Author's Response:
Carmen needs him. For this part of the timeline, he is her sole full-time time traveler. But at least it's just for observations. Plus he is a lonely single guy anyway. Thank you for reading!
Date: 23 May 2015 16:03 Title: The Stranger
Well, he finally grew a conscience, which I'm glad to see. But I think it was too late for everyone else ... he left a lot of pain in his wake while trying to figure out who and what he was. I hope he can be a good father, that he can have redemption.
Author's Response:
As much as he can - which isn't much, but circumstances will dictate that. Jun is temporally paradoxical. First Born is about Rick's efforts (and Carmen's, too) to save Jun's life. Because the Mirror government is not going to stand on ceremony.
Many thanks for reading and reviewing!
Date: 23 May 2015 16:00 Title: The Stranger
Man. Rick is looking at 18 year-olds now and thinking, "I'd like some of that." I think he has hit an all time low here. He didn't do anything, but to see him treat someone he didn't even know like a thing to be used was really quite disconcerting. He needs help.
Author's Response:
Welcome to rock bottom.
Date: 23 May 2015 14:56 Title: The Stranger
Holy shit. I mean ho-lee shit. The one time he finally decides to be a human being, it's the time he megaotrically detonates another universe's timeline? Sounds about right for our intrepid explorer.
Interesting he invokes the name of Christ here. In a way, he's sort of an anti-God here, from a Christian perspective. While the God of Christianity sacrificed his son to save humanity, Rick is willing to sacrifice an entire universe to save his son. It just reinforces his selfishness that the universe he's screwing isn't even his own.
I'm curious to see how you resolve this, so clearly, I'm going to have to check the larger story out.
Great job with these ficlets, Jes. They've been thought provoking.
Author's Response:
Many thanks. Jun is, in a way, like John Connor in the Terminator franchise. He does not belong. What I didn't have room to explain is that Jun displaces Kira (he's a he), the rightful heir to the throne. How you fix this (or at least minimize the temporal damage) yet allow Jun - an eventual tyrant, just like dear old Mom - to survive?
Stay tuned. ;)
Date: 23 May 2015 12:16 Title: The Stranger
OMG! There's a twist and a turn up for the books. That was definitely different and yet it speaks to the man who kept seeking something but didn't know what. Obviously, more space and time would allow this theme to develop further but I think the first six ficlets did build towards that characterisation. This last ficlet perhaps rushes the conclusion but similarly the idea crystalises for Rick Daniels very suddenly too, so matches. Nicely done and a neat arc to these ficlets.
Author's Response:
I thank you. Rick's search for love (while having to adhere to the tyrannical prime timeline) is at the core of the Times of the HG Wells series.
Date: 23 May 2015 12:12 Title: The Stranger
He gets colder and more aloof by the instalment. And yet, each time he develops some sort of attachment or want with a woman of the time. It expresses some sort of need or want on his part. But throughout he remains this enigma and sort of stranger to himself and the reader for all of the surface reading of his cadish and at a distance personna.
Author's Response:
Bingo. Forced to be the unknowable, he chameleons his way right into that role, almost no matter what he does.