ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (02/09/86)
THE CROSS-TIME ENGINEER by Leo Frankowski
Del Rey, 1986, $2.95.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Conrad Schwartz, loyal citizen of Communist Poland, goes to sleep in
the basement of an inn and wakes up in 1231 A.D. In the best "Connecticut
Yankee" tradition, his knowledge revolutionizes the society he falls into.
Of course, he does all this in the spirit of good Marxist dedication. He
doesn't worry about the paradoxes of trying to change history so that the
Mongols are defeated in their (in our universe, successful) attempt to
over-run Poland in 1241. (There are some time travelers in the future who
are watching him via a viewscreen who do talk about this, so the reader
doesn't feel cheated.)
Other than the aforementioned similarity to A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN
KING ARTHUR'S COURT, and a somewhat gratuitous emphasis on nude saunas, the
only drawback this book has is that it's Book 1 of a 4-book series and
leaves, as they say, "more loose ends than an explosion in a tinsel
factory." Assuming the last three are the same level as the first, wait for
all four, then read them as a set.
Evelyn C. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl
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* Get a Usenetter on the ballot at Confederation! *
* Nominate MARK R. LEEPER for Hugo for Best Fan Writer in 1986! *
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