Magic Time

Rating:
Summary: A choppy read
Review: A secret research project Goes Horribly Horribly Wrong, messing up a bunch of people's lives. Watch them suffer.

I had a very hard time getting started with this book. At first, a lot of characters got introduced, in snippets no more than two pages long. Then some stuff started to happen... in snippets no more than two pages long. You can really tell that this story started off life as a movie script. But I can tell why they never made it... there are just too many characters thrown at you too fast.

Then stuff starts to happen, and we start checking in with all our characters, round and round and round again. Some of them get together. Some of them just disappear, and you find out later that something more final happened to them. Some of them seem to just achieve their purpose and walk off.

I think this work would benefit greatly if the authors picked one or two viewpoint characters and stuck with them, rather than visiting the viewpoints of so many of them.

Warning: this book is clearly the first in a series. It ends with several serious outstanding questions, and our heroes preparing to deal with more stuff. It never answers the fundamental question of what the heck is really going on... and what might happen if our heroes did manage to "deal" with it all.

At this point, I recommend you wait for the paperback, or even take it out of the library to see if it's to your taste. I don't know Zicree's work, but Hambly fans should look at it only for completeness' sake. There's not much of her 'voice' in here.

Rating:
Summary: A choppy read
Review: A secret research project Goes Horribly Horribly Wrong, messing up a bunch of people's lives. Watch them suffer.

I had a very hard time getting started with this book. At first, a lot of characters got introduced, in snippets no more than two pages long. Then some stuff started to happen... in snippets no more than two pages long. You can really tell that this story started off life as a movie script. But I can tell why they never made it... there are just too many characters thrown at you too fast.

Then stuff starts to happen, and we start checking in with all our characters, round and round and round again. Some of them get together. Some of them just disappear, and you find out later that something more final happened to them. Some of them seem to just achieve their purpose and walk off.

I think this work would benefit greatly if the authors picked one or two viewpoint characters and stuck with them, rather than visiting the viewpoints of so many of them.

Warning: this book is clearly the first in a series. It ends with several serious outstanding questions, and our heroes preparing to deal with more stuff. It never answers the fundamental question of what the heck is really going on... and what might happen if our heroes did manage to "deal" with it all.

At this point, I recommend you wait for the paperback, or even take it out of the library to see if it's to your taste. I don't know Zicree's work, but Hambly fans should look at it only for completeness' sake. There's not much of her 'voice' in here.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable, but not finished, yet.
Review: As always, I thoroughly enjoy anything Barbara Hambly publishes. This particular book starts off in "sound-bites," bringing in all the characters in a somewhat fragmented fashion. I make allowances, as Ms. Hambly did not write this book alone and it definately has the "taste" of another hand, Marc Scott Zicree, in the mix. It hasn't the usual character development one tends to expect from Ms. Hambly, and something more along the lines of pacing one would see in a televsion program. However, I was very pleased that not all the characters gave in to their "darkest desires" and are being re-shaped into finer beings then as they began. It is obviously not a complete story, since we know that Cal is preparing to track down his missing sister Tina, (the damsel in distress), and needs to realize his relationship with Colleen, (the experienced right hand, Xena-type). I believe there is room to continue to develop Agent Shango, as well. This is a very good beginning of a "Good versus Evil," (or perhaps, Good versus Bad, Thoughtless Government), story. I eagerly await the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable, but not finished, yet.
Review: As always, I thoroughly enjoy anything Barbara Hambly publishes. This particular book starts off in "sound-bites," bringing in all the characters in a somewhat fragmented fashion. I make allowances, as Ms. Hambly did not write this book alone and it definately has the "taste" of another hand, Marc Scott Zicree, in the mix. It hasn't the usual character development one tends to expect from Ms. Hambly, and something more along the lines of pacing one would see in a televsion program. However, I was very pleased that not all the characters gave in to their "darkest desires" and are being re-shaped into finer beings then as they began. It is obviously not a complete story, since we know that Cal is preparing to track down his missing sister Tina, (the damsel in distress), and needs to realize his relationship with Colleen, (the experienced right hand, Xena-type). I believe there is room to continue to develop Agent Shango, as well. This is a very good beginning of a "Good versus Evil," (or perhaps, Good versus Bad, Thoughtless Government), story. I eagerly await the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: Barbara Hambly and Marc Scott Zicree are experts at created sci-fi and fantasy fit to a mold. They write with skill but not inspiration. Generally all they do is write books based on what other people made up, not adding anything really new. This book is no exception. It's an easy, mostly fun read, but pure commercialism and it strings you along to a completly unneccesary and profit motivated "To be continued..." ending.

Rating:
Summary: I feel cheated...
Review: Barbara Hambly and Marc Scott Zicree are experts at created sci-fi and fantasy fit to a mold. They write with skill but not inspiration. Generally all they do is write books based on what other people made up, not adding anything really new. This book is no exception. It's an easy, mostly fun read, but pure commercialism and it strings you along to a completly unneccesary and profit motivated "To be continued..." ending.

Rating:
Summary: A very good read
Review: Bought this book last night and have been glued to it since. A well-paced, enjoyable foray into an unique universe.

It IS the beginning of a series, but with such a good story, the promise of more is a bonus.

-AE

Rating:
Summary: Magic Time Comments
Review: I am a first time reader of Marc Scott Zicree and Barbara Hambly. But I loved this book. It combines my love of science fiction & fantasy. The futuristic setting, that is sprinkled with monsters, held my interest throughout the book. I am anxious for the next two installments to come out over the next two years. This would make a great TV series on the Sci-Fi Channel! I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Comments on "Magic Time"
Review: I am long time fan of Hambly, but cannot recommend this book. One of Hambly's great strengths is her character development skills. I feel that they were stifled here. The characters in this novel are at best two dimensional. Perhaps this is due to the fact that she was working with a writer whose credits mainly include television scripts.

The pace of the book is choppy and lacks the detailed scenes and backdrops that are the hallmark of Hambly's work.

Read any of Hambly's fantasy novels or any of the awesome Benjamin January series for a true representation of what Barbara Hambly is all about.

Hopefully she will avoid any further work with her writing partner for "Magic Time".

Rating:
Summary: entertaining read
Review: I really enjoyed this book, but it had one problem -- it was too short! I loved the characters and the story itself made me laugh in parts. Mr. Zicree knows what he's doing when it comes to screenplays and this one seems made for the big screen. The problem stated above still stands however. The book ends with a vague ending. I suppose that it's setting up for the next book in the series.

Pick it up! You'll be glad to lose that night of sleep.