Hitting the Books

Island in the Sea of Time Against the Tide of Years On the Oceans of Eternity S.M. Stirling

Well, I’ve finally done it. Finished this series, that is. And I have come to a conclusion–I don’t really care for S.M. Stirling’s writing after all. I was hoping Dies the Fire was an abberation in his writing style. It wasn’t.

The premise to Island in the Sea of Time is really quite intriguing. One night in March 1998, a dome of blinding light covers the island of Nantucket. When it finally disappears, the whole island has been sent back through time to the year 1250 B.C. Being good Yankees, they call a Town Meeting to discuss what to do next.

There just happens to be a professor of Classical History (Ian Arnstein) visiting the island. He just happens to be a fan of alternative history fiction, so he “knows” what the Islanders must plan for in order to survive. The Coast Guard also just happened to have an old-fashioned sailing ship training nearby and it too was sent back in time, so the Islanders are not without a seaworthy ship. Its captain, Marion Alston, leads an exploratory mission to the British Isles to find trading partners. In the process, she rescues Swindapa, who just happens to be an important priestess of the Earth Folk.

The second half of Island in the Sea of Time surrounds William Walker, Alston’s XO, who decides he wants to carve out his own little empire in this time. Stealing a ship, supplies, and a blacksmith, he heads over to Britain and becomes a leader of the Sun People, who are trying to subjegate the peace-loving Earth Folk. This allows Stirling to write lots of scenes about battles, rapes, tortures (especially in the case of Dr. Alice Hong, Walker’s sadistic wife), and other blood-drenching acts. Of course, the Islanders can’t allow Walker to get away with this. So the Eagle People (as they come to be called) ally with the Earth Folk, and kick Walker out of Britain.

Against the Tide of Years has Walker taking over large swaths of Greece. In response, Ian Arnstein and his new wife Doreen (the astronomer who figured out the whole time thing in the first place) are sent to form an alliance with the king of Babylon. Book 2 ends with the Battle of Troy.

On the Oceans of Eternity consists of battles, more battles, and still more battles as the Eagle People/Amerikkuns try to defeat Walker. He is finally dealt with, the world is at peace, and the Islanders look forward to shaping the world while avoiding so many of the mistakes made the first time.

So much for the summary. Now for the review. As in Dies the Fire, Stirling seems to rely more on stereotypes than on actual characterization. The sadistic doctor, the Yankee police chief of few words, the engineer who only cares about his machines, etc. The most glaring example of this is Marion Alston. She’s black, from a poor Southern family, an older female officer, a martial arts expert, and a lesbian (her partner, Swindapa, is white, young, blond-hair and blue-eyes). Uber-P.C. stereotype.

Which leads to another issue I had with this series. Stirling seems to like writing deviant sexual relationships (including rapes and Walker and Hong’s S & M scenes) in detail. Normal sexual relationships get maybe one love scene per couple, typically involving little more than a kiss and implied actions, while Swindapa and Alston go at it almost every single chapter. The nearest thing I can figure on his obsession with their relationship is what a guy friend told me once. He said many men think “one beer good, two beers better.” That also translates to “one girl good, two girls better.”

And again, I really could not connect to most of the characters. I did enjoy the Babylonian storyline. And most definitely Odikweos. Otherwise known as Odysseus. Throwing him in the story made for some neat plot twists. But the rest…eh. Cardboard cutouts that exist only to populate Stirling’s numerous battle scenes, which seem to be his first love, not the plot or characters.

The plot is not much better. It plods and plods and plods, with all too many unnecessary battles (from what I’ve read, one of them–O’Rourke’s Ford in book 3–seems to be plagarized from the movie Zulu). Then, in the last few pages of the last book, Walker and Hong are dealt with. Wham! Not in battle, or brought to justice by the Islanders, but because they let their guard down. Talk about an unsatisfying ending. Sigh.

But at least it’s over with…for me anyway. Stirling left a door open for future books, but I shan’t be reading them. Things I like in books: rounded characters, moving plots, tight endings. Things which are lacking from this series. Instead there are pages and pages of blood, guts, and gore. Ok, fine, war has those things. But must the author dwell on them in such loving detail? And the unneccessary sex scenes? I don’t even like those in my romance novels. Sorry, Mr. Stirling, but along with losing Nantucket, you’ve lost me as a reader.