| Title | : | Against the Tide of Years (Nantucket, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0451457439 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780451457431 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 454 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 1999 |
Against the Tide of Years (Nantucket, #2) Reviews
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2 stars, it was an okay reading experience for me. This is part of my reading project which is why I ordered book two of this series via interlibrary loan. It's really not my cuppa tea, but it might be yours. Are you interested in sailing? If so, there is quite a bit of shipboard life, plenty of sails and rigging. Maybe you like martial arts? There are numerous descriptions of skirmishes. Maybe ancient warfare is your jam? Behold, many peoples of the ancient world, ready to kick butt. Are you a fan of
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court? This book will let you speculate on the effect of 20th century humans on the ancient world. Are you a devotee of L.E. Modesitt's Saga of Recluce series? These books also go into detail regarding the mechanics of survival and the development of industry which may scratch the same itch.
For my tastes, Stirling is dumping way too much technical detail into the novel while skimping on what makes a great story, the personal relationships. It's like he's trying to prove how much research he did or how much knowledge he has or something. The relationships are sadly paint-by-number, very superficial and rather anemic. The exact opposite of what entertains me.
Surprisingly, there's remarkably little philosophy about time travel. A bit of speculation about creating an alternate timeline, but mostly cursing their luck that their 20th century history books are becoming less accurate as they go. Also, there are all kinds of assumptions made about the superiority of American culture and leadership. Manifest Destiny, moved to the Bronze Age. The Nantucket crew use the term “locals" which, as more than one indigenous inhabitant notes, essentially means “uncouth barbarians.” They attempt to treat everyone equally, but are relentless in their quest to turn ancient people into quasi-Americans, willing to thump modern values into the people around them.
There are other issues that I wonder about. For example, when William Walker goes rogue and establishes himself a kingdom in Ancient Greece, how likely is it that ancient peoples would be as amenable to his plans as Stirling portrays them? (The people in those areas are still pretty resistant to American hegemony to this day and not too proud to resort to guerilla warfare.) And how about all of the sailing all over the world that the Nantucketers do? The opening pages of the book show Moas being herded, obviously brought from New Zealand, and a later visit to Mauritius and concern for Dodos demonstrate just how far ranging the time travellers are. Both of these questions are predicated on the premise that a random selection of 20th century folks would be able to reverse engineer so many modern products and conveniences. I don’t know too many people who would be able to work with metal or wood well enough to reestablish a rather sophisticated society, complete with paper work, again so soon. (Mind you, I appreciate that Stirling didn't have his characters resort to desperate cannibalism as Niven did awfully early in
Lucifer's Hammer.)
At this point, I'm unsure that I want to devote more of my valuable reading time to book 3. It would also require interlibrary loan and I'm debating whether the effort is desirable.
Book number 401 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c... -
Assyrians! Hittites! Babylonians! Egyptians! In a non-fiction book, I would be completely drooling over these subjects. But what I want to read about are the cultures. Instead I got battles, battles, battles, a few more battles, and then some more... battles. And holy crap, it got old. I think that out of the 454 pages of this book about 400 pages was spent on... battles! I'm dreading book #3.
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I read the first in this series, Island in the Sea of Time, back in 2000 on the recommendation of my brother. I really loved the duck-out-of-water story of modern-day Nantucket, pulled from our time and transported to sometime in the B.C. 800s. I actually started this second book not too long after the first, and put it down because it just didn't capture my attention. This time--though I wanted to put it down-- I persevered. I just couldn't get into it. I just didn't care. I was so done with the same-old bad guys and same old conflicts. It had stopped being a survival story, and had become a (boring) war story. Took me 3 months to get throgh this one. Bleh.
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This is the second book in the Nantucket trilogy in which the island of Nantucket is thrown back in time from 1988 A.D. to 1250 B.C. Without the newness factor from the first book, I had slightly more mixed feelings about this one.
I’m still enjoying the general story, and it’s great fun to read about modern-day Americans meeting and interacting with ancient cultures. I still enjoy reading about the challenges they face with limited modern supplies, and their innovations as they try to make up for that lack with the tools they have available. This book had a few medical-related sections, more than the first book anyway, and I thought those were particularly interesting.
On the other hand, the things I like about the series are often pushed aside in favor of battles. Lots and lots of battles. To me, they have a very repetitive and same-y feel. I’m not sure that my boredom with this is entirely a matter of my not being “into” reading about battles. It’s true, I’m not really that into them, but I still fondly remember the six-book Belisarius series that I read 3.5 years ago. I loved those books, and they were chock full of battles. In this series, every now and then I do get caught up in the action and it holds my attention, but often my eyes glaze over. Also, I’m only moderately invested in the characters.
I’m giving this the same 3.5 star rating I gave to the first book, but this time I’m rounding down to 3 stars on Goodreads instead of rounding up. I do like it well enough to go ahead and finish up the trilogy. -
I really enjoy the premise of this series (which is much like the
1632 series only in the Bronze Age) but the execution is less perfect than could be desired. To first cover the elements he handles well: the cultures and speech of the various groups feels amazingly authentic. These are alien cultures and he introduces them with aplomb. The technological innovations are plausible and the complexity impressive.
The issues I have with the book largely come from the scale, speed, and characters. The scale of these books is astounding, covering everything from Nantucket to South America to South Africa to China to Europe and the Middle East. I consider this absurd. There is no way that a group of 5,000 people would be able to appear all over the world in such a short time with all-new technology. The time it would take just to reach China by sail is so high it wouldn't be worth the effort. More so when the seas are so dangerous and backup unavailable. A global economy just isn't possible with maybe a dozen newly built ships. It's a luxury they couldn't afford, and really stands out from the generally realistic attempt to explore what it would mean to reconstruct technology from ancient components.
The speed is another major problem. Eight years have passed here, and that may sound a long time but it's nothing on the kind of social change scale we're talking here. Everyone adapts to change far too quickly, and they're generally willing to adapt their superstitions as well. Also too fast are the cultures adapting to modern weapons. Yes, modern technology would be a major asset to an ambitious Bronze Ager. But it would take decades to build up the sort of mass production guns and technology that you see at work here. And even longer to change such attitudes. Just look at Japan: it took them 70 years to get from a feudal society to one capable of matching the Western world. And they had an organized society and basic technological knowhow that Bronze Age societies couldn't even dream of.
Characters are the last major problem. Some of them are good. Marian Alston and Swindapa are prime examples of that. Both are fun, exciting characters with unique character traits who you can root for. William Walker makes a great villain, for all that they overfocus on his story. But does anyone remember/care about Mayor Cofflin? Or the various Hollards? We get dozens of leads here, but only rarely are they given any sort of personality or backstory. Having a large cast can be a good thing, but the story really doesn't need them. The first book was fun because it mainly followed Marian and Swindapa. This book had no central character and a floppy plot. Something more was needed.
I still enjoyed this book, but it no longer feels like a carefully developed world ala 1632. At its best it feels like visiting an ancient culture. To my joy we finally move beyond the unknown Sun People and Fiernans and encounter solid Bronze Age cultures like Babylonians, Hittites, and Mycenaean Greeks. And discovering their world is indeed glorious. At its worst, the book feels like a random assortment of events thrown together with no rhyme or reason. And unfortunately, that is the foundation in which the few jewels shine. I'm happy to have read it but I doubt I'll look back on it or seek out further books once I'm done with the series. -
I enjoyed Island in the Sea of Time more as I went along, so I'm willing to give this one a chance. But really, the writing style and over-all plot seem to coincide just a BIT too closely with the 'dark and mysterious stranger' bio pic the author included that CLEARLY indicates his position as ren-faire roleplayer extraodinaire. And the social commentary and revenge of the nerds mentality DOES get a little heavy at times.
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Hmmm... an 'OK' successor to
Island in the Sea of Time, but nothing spectacular. The author's focus was on my least favorite characters, and the behind-the-scenes action in the ensuing years between volumes bordered on... unbelievable. Necessary, however, for set-up for the third volume. -
Walker should have died in the first book. There is such a rich diversity of possible threats for the island of Nantucket that the only reason to let Walker live for a second book is if the author is too in love with his clever villain to let him die in a timely manner.
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See my full thoughts here:
https://youtu.be/G_3wpd-9ckg
Island in the Sea of Time is a fascinating look at a town pulled into a new world and how they change that world. Against the Tide of Years is, in some ways, a perfect sequel and in other ways a clunky follow-up.
So here's what I liked: I liked how there was more of a focus on trading and peaceful relations between the Islanders and everyone else. Seeing them work with their neighbors and have everyone come out better allows for much more nuanced conflicts than "these guys are bad let's fight them." There are still some good battles though. I like most of the main characters, and I like how this book builds on the first one to make something bigger and better.
What I disliked: The villains are boring, all of them are just power-hungry sociopaths and they aren't threatening enough to make that work. And this book is definitely the middle entry in a trilogy. There's a fair amount of padding, and there's not much of a climax either. The whole war that takes up a big chunk of the last quarter of the story just feels unfinished, like it's just a stepping stone to something bigger. And I'm still excited for the last book I just wish that this one had had more of its own story to tell.
Overall this book is about as good as the first one, so if you liked that then go ahead and read this. -
The second book of the Nantucket series picks up a couple years after the first book, though there are bits and pieces set during the intervening years as well. The Nantucketers have spread further around the globe with numerous bases in North and Central America as well as the British Isles, South Africa and the western Indian Ocean.
After the events in book one Walker has established himself firmly in ancient Greece where he is building an empire. It is up to the Nantucketers to find and recruit willing allies to help bring him down.
As this is the middle book of the series it does suffer a lot from being used to set up the final book. Due to the circumstances there is little exlporation and the book is mostly focused on building relations and an army in the Middle East. At times it can get rather detailed, and some might say boring. But it's all necessary for the final confrontation brewing for book 3.
I can't wait to get into the last book though I really hope it goes a bit further than this war as I really want to know what happens centuries later, how the world has fared.
Overall a good book in a hard place. The middle book is generally always the weakest but it's done a good job here. -
Another enjoyable read in this good series.
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This is Book 2 in an alternate history trilogy where the modern day island of Nantucket is shot three thousand years into the past. I enjoy the fact that the "good guys" in this book are truly good without seeming shallow and the bad guys are truly evil but with understandable motivations (or psychotic disorders). All too often in modern fiction, the shades of grey are so blended that you end up not wanting to "root" for anyone. Not here.
In all, it is an interesting series and I love how this book (and I am presuming the final) moves to the Mediterranean. I live in Hittite country. On a hill close to my house stands a castle that existed on that spot, in some shape or form, since about 3500 BCE.
But anyways, the series is good but not great. I feel the author does have a small bit of anti-Christian bias, but it doesn't really come out at all. Just glimpses here or there that are small enough that I might even be imagining it. I will finish these up, but it won't be making any of my top ten lists. -
As much as I enjoyed other books by this author, this one was as disappointing as the first of this series.
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It's been about 8 years since the 20th century island of Nantucket found itself transported to the Bronze Age. Since then, they've expanded and thrived, and incidentally spread changes and advanced technology and techniques throughout the ancient world. But they still have enemies, including renege William Walker, who has set up a power base in Greece, under the ostensible rulership of Agamemnon, and Nantucket must make an alliance with Babylon.
So, this is part of a series, and has many of the same good points and problems as the first book. I do think that this is a better book than the first one, both objectively and subjectively. Characters are better developed and although some are still exaggerated villainous types, there's a lot more depth and subtlety as well. In addition, there are fewer moments where you wonder what the author was thinking. And, on a personal level, I just found the stories and problems we explored in this installment to be more interesting... and what normally is a problem, "middle book syndrome" becomes a benefit for me here, in that they can't have the climactic battle yet, so they have to do other things. That's not to say there's no battle, but we also watch characters dealing with being stranded with a damaged boat after a storm, managing diplomatic issues, dealing with a severe disease outbreak, and more, and all of that is much more interesting to me (considering my eyes sometimes glaze over on extended battle scenes). Some of this is also because the initial premise is out of the way, and you don't have to spend as much time on them figuring out what happened and trying to survive.
It remains endlessly fascinating (to me) to read about the intersection of modern and ancient technologies and mindsets. In many ways, books like these are an interesting way to explore the history of technological advancement itself... not a dry list of what technologies succeeded others, but by viewing the impact of certain technologies out of sequence, and in some cases the problems that prevent them from wider adoption.
I'll give it four stars, although it's probably closer to 3.5, I still liked it significantly more than the first one. -
Bah. I give up. It was a good premise for one book, but more? Nah. I don't really care what 20th century Nantucket islanders would do in ancient Babylon.
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The first volume of the trilogy took us up to the beginning of year 3 A.E. (After the Event), but we last saw William Walker in year 2. This second volume takes up Walker's story from year 2, when he escaped from England and went by sea to Greece, stopping briefly in Spain to help his ally Isketerol usurp the Kingdom of Tartessos.
Years 3 to 7 are relatively uneventful in Nantucket, so the Nantucket story skips ahead to year 8. However, rather than giving us chapters of pure Walker, Stirling chooses to give us bits of the Nantucket story (year 8 onwards) interleaved with flashbacks of the Walker story (year 2 onwards). This is feasible because the two are geographically separate and independent.
We see that the action now spreads out over a wider geographical area, while all sides (Nantucket, Tartessos, and Greece) are making rapid progress in technology and industry.
The first seven chapters of this book show Walker's progress in gaining power in Greece, alongside Nantucket's preparations to take action against him.
In Spain, it's nice to see Isketerol changing from a merchant/adventurer/pirate into a good king for his people. Being a man of his time, he remains somewhat ruthless; and he feels honour-bound to maintain his alliance with the unpleasant Walker, despite his aversion to Walker's even nastier wife Alice, the Lady of Pain.
In Chapter 8, year 9 AE, Nantucket makes contact and alliance with the King of Kar-Duniash and Babylon; I enjoy this encounter, although it's implausible that they would have got along that well with each other.
Further events: -
Stirling continues the saga of the time-displaced Nantucket Island, swept back in time to 1250 BC by a still unexplained Event. As in the first title Island in the Sea of Time the Republic of Nantucket is making technical strides, reaching out to the Bronze Age cultures in North America, England, Africa, and the Middle East in the hopes of surrounding and catching the renegade William Walker, who is making similar strides in Greece, Sicily, Eastern Europe, and Anatolia.
Stirling does an excellent job of patiently and methodically ratcheting up the tension as the Nantucketers (aka the Eagle People and Nantukhtar, by their various allies) overcome increasingly difficult military and political challenges. There is much less social and personal storyline development in this title than in the first book; the drive to trap and capture Walker becoming the entire focus of the tale. There are a few love interests that sprout(with the Hollards) and a thread of horror brought forth (in the character of Walker's wife, the psychopath, Dr.Alice Hong).
Stirling captures the unique details of Bronze Age societies from the African Bush to Celtic Europe to pre-classical Greece to Babylon, Assyria, and Troy. Quite an accomplishment in itself.
Engrossing and fascinating, if you made your way through book one, you'll not be disappointed in book two and have high hopes for book three. -
I think that I have a soft spot for alternate history and I know I have a soft spot for all things about the Bronze Age . . . so maybe I am biased but I can't help but rate this as an all around amazing book! Although, I think that the Coast Guard is most likely not as hard core as they're portrayed . . . the Marine Corps of the Bronze Age kicks freaking a**!
I can't wait to get caught up on this series and see how how it ends! S.M. Stirling is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers and as long as this third book isn't botched I will continue on reading everything else from him that I can get my hands on!
The Trojan War being fought with Cannons and Muskets and early Breech loaders is enough to make a student of ancient warfare and military history shake from excitement! -
It’s been several years since “the event” which pulled the island of Nantucket back in time to 1300 B.C. (We read all about this in Island in the Sea of Time, the first book in S.M. Stirling’s NANTUCKET trilogy.) The islanders have been busy learning how to live without all the modern conveniences of the 20th century. They are successfully learning how to farm and fish, breed animals, acquire fuels, build ships and dirigibles, harvest morphine from poppies, make textiles, and develop vaccines and other medical techniques. They’ve instituted a republican form of government and have begun minting coins and regulating industries such as forestry.
The islanders are ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi... -
This is the second of the Nantucket Trilogy and it seemed more like the middle chapters of a bigger story than a separate book. The story didn't really progress well and I found it a difficulrt book to get through. There were no major plot changes and the book just stopped...didn't realy ahve any sort of ending. I have the third book in the ttrilogy already so I'll read it...but not for a while. This was a disappointing book.
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Good followup on the first book, although this definitely suffers from middle book syndrome. A lot of it is building up to the final blowout in the end, and I almost wish some of the only barely touched on storylines bore more fruit.
It also has a terrible chapter organization, instead of the dates at the beginning of the chapters, they should have been at the beginning of the sections of that date, made it hard to keep track of what exactly was happening when. -
This one got a bit lost in the details, really a 3 1/2 star book. A typical second book in the series it wades through lots of setup for the third book conclusion. Still very enjoyable and the continuing story of favorite characters along with some fun new ones kept it engaging.
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Just when I thought this series could not be any more awesome, they started FARMING MOAS. \o/
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It's been 9 years since "The Event" took the island of Nantucket backwards in time. Since then the Nannies have been building up their home base and spreading little colonies all over the world. Meanwhile, Walker has made his way to Greece and become head warrior wizard for King Agamemnon. To counter the threat posed by Walker the Nannies go around him to join forces with the king of Babylon. Everyone builds up for the big battle that is coming.
There is much more action and less farming here than in Book 1. Several skirmishes all over the world and a couple of major battles occur. Interspersed are moments of "Look at the new technological marvel I have created! I call it 'The Spatula'!" And many moments to remind us that the married characters are madly in love with each other, and the minor characters are just waiting for the right moment to make their move on some available partner. And everyone loves children. Marian Alston has picked up a terrible accent. I blame the yankees.
It's a good book, the story moves along well. Must read Book 1 to make any sense of anything. -
Stirling continues the story of when Nantucket Island disappeared from the 20th century and reappeared in the Bronze Age. After ten years, a new generation is coming up, while making inroads with the ancient civilizations of North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Near and Far East. While the story is good and exciting, its a bit confusing, jumping from one group to another, with some groups getting very little time and explanation on their activities. Stirling is also light on detail and description, which is confusing when trying to distinguish some of the characters and their purpose. Overall, the main action is the Nantucketers gaining allies to fight off renegade Coast Guard Officer Walker, who is slowly taking over the ancient empires for his own.
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I am really enjoying this series. They are not small books which is usually a good sign and it sure was with this one too. I am not going to spoil the book or give a synopsis you can get that from the book description. They continue the story from Island in the Sea of Time and its a very fascinating story. Its interesting to see how they are dealing with issues that come up with the limits on the technology they have to work with while stranded in the distant past. How the historians are starting to not know whats going to happen because of the changes they have made is also very interesting and well thought out.
