To Turn the Tide (Make the Darkness Light, 1)

A gripping tale of probability meddling that is so improbable as to be heartwarming, like a children’s fable for well-read adults. A group of advanced scholastics gathering in a world of imminent chaos find themselves unexpectedly thrust though time; they must, for the survival and advancement of their new timeline, become a team.

Personality developments, speculations, and background data are largely presented via introspective narration, the point of view of the chief protagonist, Arthur Vandenburg. A battle-hardened scholar with a richly varied background, he must cope not only with their new environment but his own profound losses. There is team-reciprocal dialogue for variety and depth.

This tale, a thinly veiled tutorial, skirts the “show, don’t tell” error. However, Mr. Stirling’s always adept mastery of sensorial immediacy, conflict, and historicity make it safely past that possibility. As usual with his intriguing plunges though time and dimensions, there is diversity galore: racial, sexual proclivities, and bents. Of course, there is a lesbian couple, half fierce warrior and half nurturer, an artificer of eminent deftness of mind… An afterword that begins with “For Nerds Like Me” made me feel positively embraced. Any writer or reader in this genre should put cash forward… fast!