BOOK TITLE: Y1
ISBN: 978-0-9851561-5-2
AUTHOR: Sherrie
Cronin
GENRE: Interactive
Novel
NUMBER OF PAGES: 351
FORMAT: e-pub
e-book
SERIES / STANDALONE: Volume
3 of collection 46. Ascending
REVIEW BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: Using a goodreads giveaway.
REVIEW:
Intrigued by the previous two books of
the same series, x0 and y1, which chronicled the experiences of the Zeitman
family, I took up this book, the third instalment in the series which featured
the head Zeitman, Alex. As is usually evident in the book covers of this
series, I could guess what this book will deal with. If the previous offerings
were about Telepathy and Shape Shifting, this book is about the biggest mystery
of all, time.
Alex Zeitman always strikes the reader
as a mildly humorous but basically understanding guy and a real champion for
the woman of his family in particular and good people in general. He is brought
out to be a liberal guy and we could expect nothing less than a book that lets
him fight for causes. How he uses his special ability to do that forms the rest
of the plot.
In the racy narrative spanning over
three centuries, about cultures as diverse as the Mayans and new age Americans,
and about an object that transcends the test of ‘Time’, the book does it all
with a neat narrative and not one chapter is out of place. Like giant puzzle
pieces falling to place of their own accord, the book fits together the variety
in one unified concept.
Many figurative and theoretical
references to time are awesome. Especially using the ‘dreams’ that frequently
appear to Alex is an innovative way to give plausible answers to the readers’
questions. The second thing I like about the book is its time lapse experiences
that occur to the lead characters and the way they are portrayed. It would
indeed have been funny if Alex seemed to understand what he was going through
from the first. The slow understanding of the process is more realistic and
acceptable.
The story deals with serious issues,
agreed. But it does so in a really soft manner and tells out even the ugly
facets of the immigration rules and the prejudice of white people. Simultaneous
threads of story following a Mayan treasure handed over by generations and that
survive the Spanish invasion follow a really gripping whodunit sort of mystery.
One second we are following the
adventures of the Mayan people in the seventeenth century and next we are
brought back to the current Mayan descendants of the twenty first century. No
wonder the book includes at least a fake time travel scene. Although it does
amaze the reader that the search for a single treasure could go on for those
many years with such dedication, it is actually a mirror of what is happening
in the world.
Alex’s time-relative ability and how
it is triggered are all well written. And how something abnormal can be brought
out to be used in normal scenarios is thought out well. But there are times
when the reader feels wanting about more action and adrenaline, especially
considering the fact that the book is about time. But certain allowances should
be made when the protagonist is a middle aged man who has fathered three kids
and is a simple school teacher.
The author specialises in weaving the
story around socially related causes and boasts of a good accuracy in the facts
and laws, especially considering this deals with her home country. And Alex
does manage to capture our hearts with his determination and the way he pulls
off his stunts. In short, if you are already familiar with the Zeitman family,
you have to shout out, ‘Go, Alex’ every time he manages to do something
awesome.
WHAT I LIKED: The
whole concept of time dominating the book, Treasure hunt and legal tussles
inter mingling in a plot, the correlation between various members of the
protagonist’s family and how each book crosses the story of the previous novels
(in the same series) in ways that would be hard to imagine.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: The
narration of the treasure hunt is predictable, and a little more intrigue would
have added juice. And there are certain chapters which give a lag to the whole
story before the reader realises they are vital to the whole plot. The story is
more appreciable if the reader is already familiar with the other works, and
there has to be a fair warning!
VERDICT: Go
for it if you want drama, action, humour and family time in a single book. This
has it all. But consider enjoying the volumes one and two before this to
appreciate the content better. Certain nuances are best delivered as a whole.
RATING: 4.5/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sherrie
Roth grew up in Western Kansas thinking that there was no place in the universe
more fascinating than outer space. After her mother vetoed astronaut as a
career ambition, she went on to study journalism and physics in hopes of
becoming a science writer.
She
published her first science fiction short story in 1979 and then waited a lot
of tables while she looked for inspiration for the next story. When it finally
came, it declared to her that it had to be whole book, nothing less. One night,
while digesting this disturbing piece of news, she drank way too many shots of
ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one years later demanding to know
what was going on.
The
boyfriend, who she had apparently long since married, asked her to calm down
and explained that in a fit of practicality she had gone back to school and
gotten a degree in geophysics and had spent the last 28 years interpreting
seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was
that she had found it at least mildly entertaining and ridiculously
well-paying. The bad news was that the two of them had still managed to spend
almost all of the money.
Apparently
she was now Mrs. Cronin, and the further good news was that they had produced
three wonderful children whom they loved dearly, even though to be honest that
is where a lot of the money had gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin
turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see her
awake and ready to write. "It's about time," were his exact words.
Sherrie
Cronin discovered that over the ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed
to become the first woman in space and apparently had done a fine job of it. No
one, however, had written the book that had been in Sherrie's head for decades.
The only problem was, the book informed her sternly that it had now grown into
a six book series. Sherrie decided that she better start writing it before it
got any longer.
She's
been wide awake ever since, and writing away.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: e-book
PRICE: $2.70 for
Kindle edition
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