The Ocean of Time by David Wingrove

The Ocean of Time by David Wingrove
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Category: Science Fiction
Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
Summary: Mad, twisting, and hugely ambitious, The Ocean of Time is the second in the The Roads To Moscow series. Shifting times and merging plot strands make for an exhilarating read at times – although it's also rather easy to get hopelessly lost…
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 560	Date: March 2015
Publisher: Del Rey
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9780091956172
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The War for Time continues. From the frozen tundra of 13th Century Russia to the battle of Paltava in 1709 and beyond, Otto Behr has waged an unquestioning, unending war across time for his people. But now a third unidentified power has joined the game across the ocean of time, and everything Otto holds dear could be unmade…

I read the first in this series about a year ago, and enjoyed it – although I worried that the immensely complicated plot twists may serve to put me off future instalments. Now Book 2 is here, I can't help but feel a mixture of relief and disappointment.

Wingrove is a hugely experienced writer, with the popular but rather troubled Chung Kuo series (going from a nine book series to an eight book series, and now potentially expanding to be even nineteen or twenty books, if publishers can stick to the plan), and several Myst novels written too. It's clear from reading The Ocean of Time why he's so popular – his books have a tapestry like quality to them, plots and characters threaded skilfully throughout to form a closely woven whole. And The Ocean of Time is no exception – this is a time travelling thriller that is not for the lighthearted – don't approach this wanting an easy read, as this a book in which you really have to concentrate in order to follow what's happening.

And therein lies my issues with this book – not a sequel to The Empire of Time but a direct continuation, The Ocean of Time does not give the reader a chance to readjust to this (to steal a phrase from Dr Who), timey wimey, wibbly wobbly world, but plunges the reader straight back into the plot, and before they have a chance to catch their breath, introduces new, even more complicated plot elements! I spent a lot of time flicking back and forth between the plot and the character glossary at the start, which does take someone out of the action somewhat. However, I do believe that I was reading the book wrong – it looks like The Empire of Time, The Ocean of Time and forthcoming third book The Master of Time are intended to be read as one huge novel – and I can see this working far better, with the plot flowing seamlessly and the complications lessened. Perhaps I'll give the whole series a read then, and come out a little less confused! Many thanks to the publishers for the copy.

For further reading I would recommend Snowpiercer Vol.1 - The Escape by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. A fantastic Sci-Fi story in Graphic Novel film (also adapted into a recent and underrated film), Snowpiercer is, much like The Ocean of Time, action packed and exciting – but the slower pace allows the reader to take in the detail of the intriguing world built on the train.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Ocean of Time by David Wingrove at Amazon.com.

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