OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Time Slipsters" by Terry Tumbler.]

With old age comes a lot of infirmities, but what if a vitamin-like drink could fix everything? What if a sightseeing trip could turn into a time traveling one? In Terry Tumbler’s Time Slipsters, themes of friendship, travel, time travel, aliens, and futuristic technology come together to create an interesting adventure.

Terry, is a former Scotland Yard detective looking into some mysterious alien occurrences involving human mutilation. His investigations lead him to Turkey. As part of his cover, he goes with a group of friends on a sightseeing trip to rekindle old friendships. Before he leaves, he receives a mysterious email ordering him and his wife to go to the main hospital near them. When they arrive, as part of a mysterious “Project ARNY,” they are asked to drink a strange, vitamin-like drink to take instead of their original prescribed medicines.

While traveling to tourist destinations via a futuristic technology ship, he soon realizes that there is more to their tour guide and the vitamin drinks than meets the eye.

Told through alternating time periods (the present and various past time periods), Terry and his wife begin to remember past lives in vivid detail. As more parts of these pasts are disclosed, the group of friends realizes that they are on a futuristic ship ran by a time-traveling stranger. Throughout history, a malevolent, time-traveling alien race known as the Greys has been trying to destroy Earth’s inhabitants through experiments. Humans of all ages, genders, and races have shown up mutilated. The group’s host appears to be determined to stop them.

Is the appearance of the time-traveling stranger a coincidence or is he purposely seeking out Terry? What are the Greys really up to? Will Terry and his friends be able to save history and the world from the Greys before it is too late?
The characters in this book were likable and engaging. I enjoyed their quirky remarks and their reactions to the futuristic technology. I also liked how the author unfolded the development of the characters. My favorite character was actually the computer that runs the ship, since it adds a lot of humor into the story.

The plot, however, was extremely confusing to follow. The flow of each chapter was a little choppy and made it hard to figure out what was going on. Time transitions could’ve been smoother and the action took a while to pick up. Once I caught on to what was going on, the action picked up a bit and made the book hard to put down. There was, however, a lot of typos and grammatical errors throughout the text that detracted from the enjoyment of the story.

Overall, I’d give the book 2 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed reading the story and there was enough in it to keep me going. I frequently felt confused about what was going on in the story, however. The time travel parts were cool, but the transitions between the different time periods needed to flow more smoothly. I think with a little polishing, readers who enjoy science fiction will enjoy reading this novel. As it is, if you can look past the typos and grammatical errors and are willing to stick with it, this book is worth reading to the end.

******
The Time Slipsters
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Like kio's review? Post a comment saying so!

Scott Hughes was advised on the 23rd February:
"As regards the alleged misspellings, this was due to MS Word reverting to the US spelling checks before the elected UK version kicked in (I use a Spanish PC). In fact, I prefer the US version of the English language (like humor instead of humour and 'went with the flow'. It doesn't mean that I cannot spell, and the criticism reflects the fact that the reviewer lacks understanding. What is wrong anyway in trying to reinvent the English language? All of these matters could have been dealt with beforehand, with consultation."

I was more referring to places where parts of the word got chopped off, like for example (not one from the book, just an example), it saying strange when referring to a stranger. Or humo instead of humor, but I wasn't quite sure how to phrase it, but I get what you mean. I could see how MS Word might have done that. I've seen it do stranger things when converting words between Spanish and English.

Very detailed and thorough review, kio! It sounds like an interesting premise. I'm glad you feel it's worth a read

Thanks @hsimone

-- 10 Mar 2016, 18:26 --

TerryTumbler wrote:Scott Hughes was advised on the 23rd February:
"As regards the alleged misspellings, this was due to MS Word reverting to the US spelling checks before the elected UK version kicked in (I use a Spanish PC). In fact, I prefer the US version of the English language (like humor instead of humour and 'went with the flow'. It doesn't mean that I cannot spell, and the criticism reflects the fact that the reviewer lacks understanding. What is wrong anyway in trying to reinvent the English language? All of these matters could have been dealt with beforehand, with consultation."

As a personal policy, I do not consult while I'm a reading a review book. I feel that it is better to read it through a reader's perspective as much as possible.

Still, in view of the apparent impact on its rating, I think the reviewer should zone in on the 'lots of typos and grammatical errors throughout the text that detracted from the enjoyment of the story' and let us see examples of them. If it is a question of display caused by the gadget being used, or alternative spellings of the same word that are legitimate then it is not a fair official review, is it? After all, the characters are from Britain, so maybe the criticism is unfair. I used Google to check spellings, and there is absolutely more than one version of the English language out there! To admit to being hardly able to put the book down is contradictory to the rating applied.

Kio, thanks for the detailed, balanced review. The premise of the story looks interesting. As for the author's comments, there are other issues with the story, other than grammar/spelling, that you (Kio) mentioned. As we reviewers know, a rating is normally based on a variety of factors, not solely technical errors.

Thanks @bookowlie