A Journey to “Journeyman”

My wife saved me from a perilous journey of self marriage in order to pick up my copy of Journeyman by Mark J. Rose.

Schrodinger’s Cat Wandason’s Wife

When Mr Delivery man brought me the first two installments of “Matt Miller in the Colonies” (“Journeyman” and “Prophet”), kindly sent by author Mark J. Rose (there’s my disclaimer! 😉 ) he didn’t live up to his name.

Mr (Non) Delivery man decided that instead of delivering my package he was going to shove a letter through my letter box explaining to my wife (who was at the time, sitting in the lounge on the other side of the letter box) that she wasn’t home and he was taking the books back to a collection point. For our convenience.

A couple of days later, collection might have been a bit tricky. In this wibbly wobbly world of wrong doing, privacy is becoming ever more important – hence my online ‘pen’ name of “Wandason”. So like the existence / non-existence of my wife in the lounge, Paul “Wandason” both exists and doesn’t.

This latter point made it rather difficult for Paul Wandason to show ‘his’ ID at the collection point. And coupled with the non-existence of his fluency in the Dutch language, explanations to the clerk were going to be more than difficult.

As on so many other occasions, my gallant wife came riding to the rescue on her white horse bike. Because she was picking the books up for her husband, her ID didn’t need to match the name on the package as mine would have done. Result! So as well a being the proud husband of my wife, I’m now also the proud owner / reader / reviewer of Journeyman and Prophet! 🙂

It makes me wonder though. In order for me to have been able to pick up my books myself, I’d have had to have pretended to have been married to myself! Definite echoes of the brilliant “The Man Who Folded Himself” by David Gerrold, and Robert A. Heinlein’s “By His Bootstraps”!

(And definite echoes of “have” which appeared 3 times in that last sentence…)

Well, thankfully my wife is married to me, and I’ll be doing the reading – and the review!

Meanwhile…a quick peek forward to a trip back in Journeyman

The back cover blurb of Journeyman tells us that scientist Matt Miller finds himself in colonial America and “…must meet the challenge to survive in a newly forming society where he seemingly has no relevant skills.”

Paul Wandason lost in Holland?

I can empathise!

I’ve no knowledge of history, so if I were to go back in time I’d have no advantage in hindsight. (Or would it be foresight?).

I guess that would make my own story of time travel into the past pretty interesting, throwing Grandfather paradoxes left right and centre thanks to mind blowing oblivion when it comes to recognising people or places of historical note. I’d probably chuck in a few ontological paradoxes for good measure too if I was feeling home-time-sick and wanted to bring back some of my knowledge with me.

But the differences between me and the time-locals would be minimal as far as context-based current affairs would be involved. Indeed, they would probably have the upper hand!

So naturally I’m very curious as to how Matt will deal with his situation, complete with his “twenty-first century knowledge of science and technology” – perhaps I’ll learn something along the way too!

Time will tell – I’ll keep you posted!

Paul

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