Timeshift (The Timeshift Trilogy, Part 1)

Rating:
Summary: A good start to a career
Review: Although I don't usually read science fiction, once I adjusted to the terminology of "Time Shift" by Phillip Ellis Jackson, I was hooked. Using real life drama, authentic sounding dialogue and believable action the reader is drawn into the midst of a thriller plot. The author's talented blend of murder, suspense and romance will keep you turning pages through to the apt ending. Science Fiction fans this is one you will definitely enjoy.
Add "Time Shift" to your shopping cart, this well written narrative is a worthy read.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge

Rating:
Summary: What a unique story!
Review: Beta Light is the best new spin on a time travel story that I've come across in a long time. Timeshift is a good mixture of science and technology with real, life-like characters who aren't always perfect. They make mistakes, and struggle to figure things out just like real people do. I loved the ending. It brings closure to the original story while setting things up for the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Unique Perspective
Review: For a first time SciFi author Phillip Jackson has hit upon something really unique. Beta Light is the place to be...who wouldn't want to explore the past to determine what is truth, supposition, fact or fiction. Bring on some more.

Rating:
Summary: Something A Little Different
Review: I stumbled across this book and gave it a read because I've always been interested in the paradox of time travel. In Timeshift, instead of traveling into the past a "jumper" is inserted into a holographic "Beta Light" stratum to view images just as they happened. It's an interesting twist that works for the most part. The author Jackson weaves a pretty good tale that involves an attempted political coup through manufactured Beta light evidence. By the end of the book we learn that it's actually possible to enter the past, which I assume sets things up for the sequel. This isn't so much a SF book as it is a mystery that's set a few hundred years in the future. Read on that level, I found it rather clever and enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Book
Review: This is a fun book that puts a new spin on time travel stories. Instead of bombarding us with incomprehensible techno-babble, the author focuses on the characters to make the book work. We come to know even the minor characters well (their foibles and all.) This isn't for the hard core science junkies, but it doesn't try to be, although the "science" is at least as believable as a Star Trek episode. I really enjoyed the beta light machine that works like a fiber optic device, transmitting sound and images through light.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Idea; Terrible Execution
Review: Timeshift is an attempt to use a different technique than the standard SF "time travel" to connect different points in time. Phillip Jackson's novel revolves around a future in which the people of Earth are imperiled. Learning about some previously secret events in the past is the only solution. The author creates a concept of "beta" photons that somehow remain in the vicinity of Earth (unlike normal photons). Using a specialized device, beta photons can be captured and used to produce an animated image from the past, like a hologram. This is fine. The problem is that the author lacks some basic knowlege in science which leads to shocking gaffs and makes reading the novel painful. Two examples. The protagonist wanders into the beta photon holograph room and is warned to leave quickly since shortly "billions of gigabytes of power" will be unleased. Billions of gigabytes sounds impressively large, but unfortunately is not a measure of power (that would be watts). When the holograph forms, the individuals are not only seen but also heard to speak. Sound is a function of pressure waves in the atmosphere and would not be captured by "beta" photons. The setup should produce a silent movie. There is nothing wrong with the author coming up with some explanation of sound with beta photon holographs. The problem is that he is apparently unaware of the scientific incongrueity and takes no effort to explain this paradox. The result is an amateurish novel that I am surprised any publisher accepted.

Rating:
Summary: Something A Little Different
Review: Timeshift is an attempt to use a different technique than the standard SF "time travel" to connect different points in time. Phillip Jackson's novel revolves around a future in which the people of Earth are imperiled. Learning about some previously secret events in the past is the only solution. The author creates a concept of "beta" photons that somehow remain in the vicinity of Earth (unlike normal photons). Using a specialized device, beta photons can be captured and used to produce an animated image from the past, like a hologram. This is fine. The problem is that the author lacks some basic knowlege in science which leads to shocking gaffs and makes reading the novel painful. Two examples. The protagonist wanders into the beta photon holograph room and is warned to leave quickly since shortly "billions of gigabytes of power" will be unleased. Billions of gigabytes sounds impressively large, but unfortunately is not a measure of power (that would be watts). When the holograph forms, the individuals are not only seen but also heard to speak. Sound is a function of pressure waves in the atmosphere and would not be captured by "beta" photons. The setup should produce a silent movie. There is nothing wrong with the author coming up with some explanation of sound with beta photon holographs. The problem is that he is apparently unaware of the scientific incongrueity and takes no effort to explain this paradox. The result is an amateurish novel that I am surprised any publisher accepted.