Healer Gillian Thomas never dreamed, that when she was escorted to East-Side MedCenter on a case, she'd end up in a forced coma. But then, the peacekeeper using her as bait never dreamed that she'd escape into the past, either.
In 2001, the Office of Homeland Security was given the task of eliminating the threat of terrorism, not only within the US, but around the globe. The OHS was granted broad powers, autonomy, and told to do whatever it took to accomplish its objective. To succeed, the OHS will eventually have to be given the authority to act globally as well.
What if an agency like the OHS became the centerpiece of a global peace effort, and that in turn created the need for a global government with the power to maintain the peace provided by that agency? What if it was so successful that peace was enforced for over a century? Now imagine your world and its people faced with the threat of extinction, and the one thing preventing you from doing something about it was that very same agency. What would you do?
"The Shoals of Time" is about such a world. Except that after the conflict between peacekeeper and revolutionary was reduced to a game of cat and mouse between their leaders, the cheese escaped into the past.
Excerpt
“Wrong?” Mantee barked. “The TPC kept the peace all that time. How can that be wrong?”
“Oh, we kept the peace, all right,” Vacca agreed. “But there’s a price. What’s the human race
accomplished since the Global Directorate took over? Nothing. It’s been stagnating. And we — you and
me and every other agent of the TPC — are to blame.”
Professional Reviews
(from Writer's Digest self-published book competition)
THE SHOALS OF TIME is one of the more intriguing science fiction novels in the genre category. It's an ambitious novel in both size and scope, and is so surefooted in its concept and execution that it's certain to find a solid readership.
THE SHOALS OF TIME is a pleasant change from the dystopic "sci-fi" novels that are so popular still. Mr. Zack's refreshingly Utopian vision is crafted from solid stuff, and the underlying metaphysical musings don't get in the way of its rather unique approach to time travel. The concepts of the TimeStream and the "twisted causality" are well handled and effective (and thank you for avoiding so many of the cliches that dog so many time travel stories nowadays). It's a big book, but it holds together from start to finish even as it mixes together characters from different centuries (Healer Thomas is my favorite of the bunch).
So, what impresses me most about THE SHOALS OF TIME? The fact that Mr. Zack dedicated himself to the idea of a big novel that's richer, more intricate, and has more going on than most of the science fiction novels on the shelves these days (plus uses time travel in a way that's not wholly new but that still isn't dogged by worn-out tropes) -- and finished it! The field could use more like him.
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