Not all guys obsess over tiny details. But Army Rangers do.
The basement wall just didn't look right.
Alex has been trying to cope. Life after his deployment had been rough. His ex-wife thought he needed to stop disappointing their daughter. She was right.
He would try harder.
With six hours before his little girl's fourth birthday party, he saw the anomaly. One wall was too short. Plenty of time to tear out a panel and look behind it.
He found a brick wall.
His house wasn't made of brick.
Behind that was another just like the first.He still had time. When the second wall came down, Alex stood and stared at the shining doorway. Next to it, jammed into the wall with a hunting knife, was a note.
It was a warning...
...and Alex didn't listen.
You'll love being transported through time, to a future unlike anything you've imagined, where Alex's fight to get back home becomes an epic struggle.
Note: I listened to an audio version of this book that isn't currently listed on ŷ.com so I am placing my review here.
This book is so terrible I barely got started before I had to put it down. The MC discovers a door through time with a message relating how someone grabbed a gun, jumped through the door and was never heard from again. What does the MC do? Throw a rock through to see if it immediately disintegrates? No. A rock on a string would have been an even better idea, let alone a guinea pig on a leash. Even better yet would have been going to his daughter's birthday party and letting his ex know he was about to do something INCREDIBLY STUPID so she could manage the daughter's expectations if (really when) the MC just disappears. Maybe bring in one of his old army buddies to help with recon, preferrably one who doesn't have a young child .
No the MC does none of this. He grabs a gun, JUST LIKE THE ONE OTHER PERSON HE KNOWS ABOUT, and jumps through the door in time. BUT WHAT WAS REALLY IRRITATING ABOUT THIS BOOK WAS HOW THE AUTHOR PROCLAIMS THE MC TO BE OVER PREPARED WHEN THE MC DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THE SMALLEST PREPARATION! The MC didn't test anything, get any help, didn't even pack any real food. Just grabbed a gun and jumped. This speaks very poorly about what the author believes "preparation" to mean.
This series was pretty interesting, but I have a massive criticism; the names. The dang issues with the names were catastrophic enough for me to abandon the series (after book 2) all together. I really had to apply context clues to know what was going on, and even then, didn't often know until I could apply some retrospection.
I wish I had some specific examples but I honestly can't remember even the basic, main characters. Magda-on and Makda-on? And then Dagdon-ock? Kagdon-ah? Stuff like that. They were THAT similar. All of them. All of them.
Listen. I get that inventing a super neat native-y language was cool, but good god man, I couldn't tell one character from another character, or another character from a town, or a town from another town, or another town from another character. If you can't remember a character's name because it sounds like every other name in the book, then you can't connect with said character. If you can't connect with said character, then you typically don't care what happens to them. This was the case with me. I kept reading for a while not because I cared about what happened to any of the towns or characters (minus Alex, of course), but because I had nothing else to read.
I really wanted to enjoy these books because the concept was pretty interesting, but the weird invented language with the weird invented names that were all variations of like five different guttural sounds was just too much. I don't know how even the author managed to keep track.
Lastly, just a small pick, the writing suffered from a lot of redundancy, which is more a problem with the editor (if there was one) than the author. But lines like, "He moved silently through the foliage, trying to be silent," always grate on me. The double use of the word "silent" isn't necessary; use a similar word, or find a new way to write the sentence. "He moved carefully through the foliage, trying to be silent." See how much more sense that makes? It didn't happen terribly often, but was definitely common enough that it sticks out to me as a staple of the series.
Anyway. Not a bad one-time read, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it simply because of the impossibility of the crazy names.
Anything concerning time travel gets my attention. It is truly unfortunate that I caught sight of this book. The first pages are promising, but then we are taken beyond the door... I hate to not finish a book, so (stupidly) I ploughed on. The main character is a cliché, and rest are stereotypical and boring. It is a very boring book. Apparently, this is the first in a series!🤦 Needless to say, I will not be joining that queue 😉
Enjoyable. Quick reading. Very cool little bits of artwork included.
I didn't know what to expect fully on this series but I had read the middle falls series by same author and they're some of my most favorite books ever. Alex Hawk has me intrigued because his story is simple but at the same time extraordinarily complicated. Alex is in a world very different from his own and he's fine there except for missing his daughter. He discovers so many things, befriends people, faces strange and very dangerous situations and even meets people who are from his own world. The book is easy to read, understand, and follow although there are words and names that I had a little bit of trouble getting used to. I felt very familiar with the new world and pictured it easily, there wasn't a lot of bogged down descriptions and it felt very un-wordy, just as the world itself was simple, up-front, and to the point, so was the writing of the book. There weren't any cuss words ( in a recognized language) or foul language or explicit scenes. The Authors notes at the end are just as compelling as the story. I definitely see that you'll have to read a next book if you want completion but to me, that's not an issue, I'll definitely be purchasing the next one as well.
I loved the Middle Falls time travel series, and picked this book up because of that.
Middle Falls is an emotional roller coaster, but Alex Hawk is nearly the exact opposite. The characters, including Alex, have almost no personality. No one laughs, cries, or shows nearly any emotion. For the future, it's a pretty stoic place.
Because of this, it made it hard to connect to the characters. The story moves along at a decent pace for a first book as Alex tries to understand the local standards, all the while trying to get back to his daughter. Which probably won't happen until the very last book, if ever.
I realize other people enjoyed this book a lot, but I couldn't connect to it.
This ended up being okay. It started off really slow and I didn't really connect with the MC. He finds a portal in his basement and walking through he finds himself in the far future where the world is completely changed. If you would guess it would be more high tech you would be wrong. Whatever happened to the world made the survivors detest any type of technology. The guns the MC came with are destroyed and he is brought back to a local village and isn't allowed to go back home. The first half of the book is his assimilation to this world. The second half is when he has been their for 4 years already and their is something that is happening that will affect their groups way of life. The whole time he is their the MC is lamenting the fact he misses his daughter.
After the mostly magnificent Middle Falls series this is something of a disappointment. Not poor, just okay. Typically American in that the displaced person from our time happens to be of a military background with, especially considering the person is a "grunt", an amazing knowledge of military tactics from all eras. One day I hope this person is a bus driver or call centre worker. Doubt I will continue with this series.
This is another Shawn Inmon Time Travel books, unlike his tales in Middle Falls, this one takes us into a distant future, reminiscent of H. G. Wells Time Machine, the future is more like the distant past. We could do well with some of that, just think of all the modern technology that we could well be rid of, back to a time when we were much more active..............no couch potatoes here. I suppose at first, we would be at our wits end without a phone, without television, without the internet, without even indoor plumbing or a washer dryer combo in out home. Wait, this community works together for the good of all it's people..............imagine that................no strife within, no equality upheaval, no "I'm better than you" thinking, just a unit working together for the benefit of all. Wow, what a concept. With everything going on right now, this would be a welcome relief to us all, after all we are all brothers and sisters, this adventure could teach us all a lesson in "all life matters." Waiting for the next adventure with Alex Hawk, and his new life in this foreign country Kragdon-ah. Write on Shawn!
A new type of ‘What if...� but not one bit less enticing!
I was intrigued by the beginning of this story, then I was amazed by the idea of this new world - did we go back in time or did we go forward? -, but I was never truly prepared for getting so much into it all that I would forget about time and place in my own life.
This is a really exciting read, somewhat closer to reality in a way compared to the previous, beloved time travel series, and although far from our way of life, still transmitting the thoughts of our times about values. Shawn Inmon has always been a human being of responsibility, who as a writer - beside entertaining us unfailingly- also gives his readers a chance to choose whether they want to think ahead responsibly or not. So if you just want to enjoy a really colourful and exciting story, go ahead, it can also be just that, pure fun. Either way, you can’t lose.
I chose the five star rating because this is a book that takes you into another possible future. Rather than mankinds extinction, there was survival and a viable hatred of all technology. There history showed that technology and mankind's attitude finally screwed up the "modern" world. And modern mankind became no more. A simpler way of life and living. With a much recovered Earth and no room or need for technology. Alex had to adapt to this strange new world. But he worked quite willingly to adapt to this new world, though he still hankered for his real home. If only to see his much loved daughter. It's going to be interesting to see if he actually does go back home. To his own time. But what of his much loved pooch. I do recommend this book because it has a refreshing way of looking into the future.
This is about a man that finds a strange door behind a brick wall in his house. When he steps through he is in another time but not in a different place. There are many characters and animals to learn about and the descriptions are spot on. I recommend this book to everyone.
Another DNF🤷🏾♀� After the previous actual time travelling story (by Nick Jones) I did not expect this fantastical story & so after three chapters of annoyance with central character ignoring the warning not to go through the door & he had a crucial birthday visit scheduled... I couldn't read anymore!
If you can ignore the obvious gaps in the story at the beginning of the book. Well, and some later on in the book. And some "you must be dumber than I thought" moments. Then you might actually enjoy it. It has quite good pace and lots of action. Makes it an easy read.
I was enjoying this until half way through when it went from John Carter to Avatar and the white saviour complex kicked in.
The "Oh, we reject technology because it destroyed our world but we need technology to save us" and the similarities of this "inferior people" to the Native Americans killed my interest on this series.
Boarded up wall is actually a time travel door that brings you to a post apocalyptic future where the remaining humans are at the bottom of the food chain.
Not my typical read, but pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this time travel story to the future very much. It led me to thoughts of how destructive we are to our earth and what our future may hold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Although it’s reasonably well-written, this book was not my cup of tea. I stopped at 40% and jumped ahead to the ending. Disappointed. It starts out great guns as a sci-fi time travel book with excellent tension, but quickly devolves into a hunter-gatherer adventure story, never resolving the tension of the protagonist’s desire to get back to his daughter. Without explanation, the time portal is simply an author artifact to put the protagonist into a strange adventure world, the same device used by both Edgar Rice Burroughs and CS Lewis. Then, glancing at the ending, I discover that the book resolves nothing and apparently just goes on into a second book. Never good, authors, never good. Finish each book, please.
A bad father in a failing parenting couple wakes up late on his daughters birthday, with several hours to go before his daughter's birthday celebration MC engages in some recreational exploration of his newly acquired property. Having found a door with a note that basically says 'do anything but go through this door'. Obviously he goes through the door finding himself in a world with birds resembling pterodactyls, huge canines and a tribal community. What's more he seems to be in the future where contemporary human society has fallen and returned to tribal hunter gatherer ways. MC does his best to integrate into the society of future and survive.
The evolution/mutation of magnetoreception that grants the people of future the ability to always find their way home is a plausible human mutation of an already existing human sense. Duke while perpetrating acts of humanitarian evil is doing his dues to advance the fallen civilization to the best of his abilities. Refusing shamanistic views and advancing the technology of the people of the future.
The descent of humanity into the tribalism and animalisticism is sad to read about, while most likely to be what would happen after collapse of modern civilization. Stama's, the technology's, prohibition is barbaric and completely arbitrary. Compound shields are acceptable, but crossbows are rejectable. MC not introducing animal husbandry during his stay implies either animal husbandry is stama or MC isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Not to mention anything about the impact the person who had used his door into time before him has had on the hunter gatherer society of the future - none.
Conclusion: 1/5. Listened on Audible included in plus catalogue. Narrated by: Johnathan McClain. A contemporary person (from 2010-2020) goes through a door and finds himself in the future where human civilization has collapsed and returned to the hunter gatherer ways with a strict societal prohibition on anything that resembles science or changes to the existing ways. He proceeds to integrate for years. Oh, and he knows where the door is located but running around in a loincloth with a dog is more fun than returning home to a failed relationship, monthly child support and other bills. Terrible value for the length of the book - 2.81 $/hour (28.71$ /10 hrs 14 mins).
Spoilers, I guess. The main character finds a secret, bricked off space in his basement. Note behind wall from the former owner of the house that said: found this doorway to “somewhere else.� Son went in and came back with wild stories…then later went back in. The father says he waited by the door for years…even ate every meal downstairs. Then finally left the warning note and bricked off the area around the doorway. Um…REALLY??? The father didn’t even try to go in…didn’t contact the authorities??? He just sat and waited??? School didn’t call?…social services didn’t investigate? What, this kid had no friends? Neighbors didn’t notice the son missing? How stupid can an opening premise be??? People, stop giving books 5 stars that are borderline retarded!!!
Absolute garbage. I mentally checked out at around the time the protagonist began arming himself to investigate the titular door. The weapons being described minutely and with the interest a schoolboy would lavish on a fully spread centre fold, another example of the fetishism of firearms and the military (the protagonist is a veteran because of cause he fucking is) we expect in this kind of lazy, boring, crapshow of a book; because guns are power, they lend men masculinity and compensate for their woefully shrivelled and flaccid penises. What an utter pointless waste of time.
Since this effort was not my usual techno-thriller, it was a chore to finish. The military aspects of the book were superficial and the fish-out-of-water theme was boring. For those interested in a no-tech society, you may find it engaging.
Except for the gimmick of a door into another time, this isn’t science fiction, but rather a story about how, even without any technology, war is still brutal. Very macho.