Home Time is the Earth of the future. It is an age of time travel. In 27 years this will end. All time streams will become one. There are those who will do anything to stop this happening. Rico Garron, a former Specific or Time Cop, is in trouble again. A routine visit back to the Himalayas of 5000 BC to find a missing field computer turns into a murder investigation. His questions start to unravel an intricate conspiracy and incriminate some powerful people who can make Rico’s life very difficult. Rico is nothing if not stubborn.

Time’s Chariot is not one, but three seemingly disconnected stories. There is the story of Correspondent RC/1029 who arrives at Isfahan in 1029 and continues to interview humanity’s greatest thinkers throughout the centuries. Then there is Rico’s on-going investigation in Home Time. Finally there is a group of Home Timers who make a dubious alliance with a 21st Century Biotech firm. Ben Jeapes, the author, cleverly brings these stories together, withholding key identities. The reader is therefore left in the dark for much of the book with only pinpricks of light salivating ones curiosity. Like any good murder-mystery the author reveals all in the final pages. He still manages to spring a few surprises, one of which made me think differently about one of the characters.

Time’s Chariot makes good use of well-established ideas within science fiction and a robust concept of time travel. It is a genre that allows the author to ask deeper questions about power and morality and the basis upon which individuals make moral choices. Characters like Rico remain resolute and rigid in their moral code, while those in power view morality as more pliable and open to change.

A great, intelligent book for science-fiction fans aged 14 years plus.

2008-06-08