Time's Eye

A Time Odyssey, Book 1

By: Stephen Baxter, Arthur C. Clarke

Narrated by: John Lee

For eons, Earth has been under observation by the Firstborn, beings almost as old as the universe itself. The Firstborn are unknown to humankind - until they act. In an instant, Earth is carved up and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the planet and every living thing on it no longer exist in a single timeline. Instead, the world becomes a patchwork of eras, from prehistory to 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants.

Scattered across the planet are floating silver orbs impervious to all weapons and impossible to communicate with. Are these technologically advanced devices responsible for creating and sustaining the rifts in time? Are they cameras through which inscrutable alien eyes are watching? Or are they something stranger and more terrifying still?

The answer may lie in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037 - three cosmonauts returning to Earth from the International Space Station, and three United Nations peacekeepers on a mission in Afghanistan - have detected radio signals: the only such signals on the planet, apart from their own. The peacekeepers find allies in nineteenth-century British troops and in the armies of Alexander the Great. The astronauts, crash-landed in the steppes of Asia, join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. The two sides set out for Babylon, each determined to win the race for knowledge...and the power that lies within.

Yet the real power is beyond human control, perhaps even human understanding. As two great armies face off before the gates of Babylon, it watches, waiting.

©2005 Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An exciting tale full of high-tech physics, military tactics and larger-than-life characters in the first of two novels related to the bestselling senior author's Space Odyssey series." ( Publishers Weekly)

I wanted to like it

I have always enjoyed Clarke's thoughtful commentaries on life and perception as told through his fiction, but this book just book just didn't deliver. The characters were flat and the juxtaposition of historical threads just didn't sound believable.

I'd give it a listen if you want to catch the entire series, but this will be the end of the series for me.

interesting concept

The concept behind this book was interesting. But I found the story's characters to be flat. The characters seemed to fall into common archetypes, and this is worsened by the narration. Mr Lee does very well with English accent variations (at least to my untrained ear), but his American accents are abysmal. Driving me well beyond the point of distraction, I had to stop listening several times. Then I had to steel myself, bracing for the impending onslaught of his "Southern US female" before I could return to the story.

I'm a great fan of the work of Arthur C. Clarke, but this story felt a bit directionless, with a plodding plot, and left far too many questions unanswered for me to recommend it. I know it is part of a series, but it feels incomplete as a separate book, and likely should have been combined with the next book.

Instant Classic for sure.

Excellent, what else needs to be said. Clarke and Baxter have written a classic, this series is well worth reading!

Great voice acting, entertaining story

I really liked the voice acting, it really immersed me into the story. The story itself was an entertaining sci-fi romp. Was fine, nothing mind blowing. I won't read it again but if you are looking for a good book to listen to I do recommend this book. Does mention some graphic violence and S.A. so content warning for those.

Fun read!

It is fun to imagine the interaction of characters from vastly different time periods and societies. How do they react to being pulled from what is familiar? How do they deal with a culture that has different values from their own? One reviewer mentioned they felt the story was disjointed. I didn't feel that but part of the point is how do people react when their world becomes disjointed.