Time Spike

By: Eric Flint, Marilyn Kosmatka

Narrated by: Graham Winton

Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The Deadliest Predators of Three Separate Eons

Captain Andy Blacklock was overseeing the change of shifts at the state of Illinois' maximum-security prison when the world outside was suddenly ripped apart. They thought it was an earthquake until they found that the Mississippi River had disappeared, along with all signs of civilization. Then the sun came up - in the wrong direction. And a dinosaur came by and scratched its hide against the wall of the prison....

Something had thrown the prison back in time millions of years. And they were not alone. Other humans from periods centuries, even millennia, apart had also been dropped into the same time. Including a band of murderous conquistadores. But the prison had its own large population of murderers. They couldn't be turned loose, but what else could be done with them?

Death walked outside the walls, human savagery was planning to break loose inside, and Stephens and the other men and women of the prison's staff were trapped in the middle.

©2008 Eric Flint & Marilyn Kosmatka (P)2019 Recorded Books

Excellent audiobook.

The book causes you to suspend your belief in facts. It is a time travel audio book after all. It is however a good listen with an excellent narrator.

fun book

I thought this book was highly entertaining. good concept, good story. it was fun to listen to. narration was good, characters were realistic for the situation. worthy of a credit.

very interesting

very interesting concept i hope this series continues one day! although the present day portions were less interesting I am very much Excited to one day maybe find out more about the future of this new world. (I also wonder if Eric had been inspired by the Turok)

Good enough

This book has gotten some very poor reviews, and I don't know why. It has interesting characters, excellent character development, an intriguing plot and is well narrated. OK. It is not 1632, but then how many books are?

The population of a maximum security prison, guards and inmates both, are thrust into the past along with a scattering of others from different time periods - some Cherokees and soldiers on the Trail of Tears, Hernando DeSoto and his conquistadors and more primitive people, and they all interact back in the Cretaceous.

I did not find the characters as likable as those in 1632, and I found some of the actions of some of the prisoners to be unlikely, but this is science fiction and the very premise is a bit of a stretch. But the action mainly involves people and there is little reliance on external forces like dinosaurs to move the story along. Overall I think it is a good book, and well narrated. If you liked 1632 you might give this a try as well.

Enjoyed it

For a few years I've been reading the Ring of Fire books; I really enjoy the concept and the stories that come with it. There were really only two things about this book. First, the dinosaurs didn't get enough face time; there was too much talking about seeing dinos running around and not enough seeing them run around. For example, their first closeup encounter with a dino was when one scratched itself against the prison wall, but the only reason I knew that was because the characters talked about it days after the fact; there needed to be more danger, more wonder, more presence involving the wildlife. The same goes for the Spanish; they just weren't present enough, except to establish that they were the bad guys in a side story. If Andy and Co. had had to fight a two front war against the convicts and the Spanish, the creativity needed to do so would’ve made the story way more interesting.

Great Listen

I enjoyed the story. good guys, bad guys and you aren't always sure who is who. looking forward to another story in this series. Science, history and Human nature, redemption, vengeance and Justice. this book has it all .

One of My Favorite time travel stories

I read this as a kid a decade ago after reading “1632,” another novel by Eric Flint dealing with the Assiti Shards and the subsequent time travel effects which spawn alternate universes. I remember loving “Time Spike,” and it holds up mostly well. Winton does a good job on the narration, however this time around some of the story elements either dragged on or were resolved too quickly. Particularly the romance elements and the subplot with the scientists were a bit of a slog, and the de Soto plot thread got resolved too quick for my tastes. Other than those minor nitpicks; it’s a near excellent book. Highly recommend if you love time travel adventure stories.

Disappointing ending.

There numerous storylines to keep up with and they did not wrap up the last one, which was the scientists trying to figure out who caused the time spike etc..

good story

some issues here or there with this but over good. I'm a big fan of eric flint and grantvill

could have been better

Interesting concept but comes off prejudiced and sometimes racist even though it tries not to be. it tends to really stereotype people