In the 11 years or so of time2timetravel history I’ve only written one live review. It’s high time to write another!
“Novikov Windows: A Time Travel Novel” by Chris Cosmain
Way back at the end of last August, Chris Cosmain contacted me about his new time travel novel Novikov Windows: A Time Travel Novel.
I checked it out on his website where I learned Chris was trained as a scientist and writes “psychological hard science fiction”. I read further to find out what that meant, and when I did I realised reading a time travel novel in this genre was something I couldn’t pass up!
It’s clear from the few emails that we’ve exchanged that Chris has read a wide range of time travel novels – and has seen many movies of the same ilk too. This bodes well for Novikov Windows!
I started reading almost straight away!
Reading Pleasure
On a personal footing, I find flipping paper pages is a much nicer pleasure than double tapping an e-book on an unresponsive screen that shows only a paragraph or two in cold text. And writing my notes is much easier to scribble with a pen in the margin of a paperback than getting a second device and typing them into a document. So reading an e-book, especially for the purpose of review, is a tough process for me.
But it’s even tougher with Novikov Windows – but for a good reason! It makes me think, and that means more note taking. So much more so that it’s becoming even more disruptive to my reading pleasure.
So now I’m caught in a paradox! I don’t want to pick up the e-reader because I’ll read a paragraph which inspires thoughts, and then spend too long note taking. It’s becoming an academic process which takes me out of the story! (= bad 🙁 )
On the other hand, thinking is good!
Up for Starters
So the solution to get me out of this pickle is the live review. Instead of writing my notes and ordering them and writing them up into a review article, I’m going to write them straight into a blog post and update it every now and then as I go along.
But first things first (even for a time travel enthusiast). After 4 months I’m still only on “Page 65 of 411” but I’ve already got an insane amount of notes that can’t be ignored.
So stand by for a ‘starter’ where I get them ordered and written up. Then we’re all set for the imminent live review!
Podcasts and Promotional Videos
Meanwhile, if you’re interested, Chris discusses some time travel paradoxes and how he deals with them in Novikov Windows. in this podcast with Paul Levinson.
And think about checking this out too – Chris did the soundtracks for his promotional videos – which naturally give you an insight into his novels!
A brief word of honesty…
I usually avoid reading reviews and watching trailers and so forth before completing a read so that I read with a completely open and unbiased approach. But I must admit I sneaked a look at the promotional video…
There was a scene there which was very different to what my mind’s eye had created when I’d read the corresponding part in the novel. It’s often the case between reading books and watching movies I suppose…
I clicked the video away – and bookmarked the podcast which I’ll read later – so you’ll have a head-start on me!
Paul
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