Rating: 
Summary: Insightful work of sci-fi
Review: In 1921 Russia, anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin is near death when a stranger Anchee Mahur offers him an opportunity to live life anew in a healthy body. Without a look back at his past or any Faustian consequences, Peter accepts the offer to live albeit in 1999 Richmond, Virginia.
Peter finds a job, falls in love with Rachel Pederson, who helps immigrants adapt to the United States, and meets fellow time travelers. Peter soon sets the tone for community service by distributing food to the needy. Along with his out of time cronies, Peter concludes that Anchee is fostering his personal concept of how the future should look and that the out of time souls are the tools to create this brave new world. Peter questions what he and his peers are doing as he wonders if he should follow Anchee's vision that parallels his own desires for humanity or stop his mentor so that free will determines the future even if it is something he despises.
THE WATCH is an insightful science fiction that looks closely at the question of free will vs. determinism, but from a fresh perspective. The story line contains a deep message about choices and whether any means justifies the end. The cast is believable especially the displaced Peter who struggles with an enigma between his dreams and his actions to attain what he deems is best for society. Dennis Danvers provides a powerful novel that political and social science fiction fans will savor except those fanatics who insist they have the only answer. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Time Travel And More, A Lot More
Review: The aging Russian prince and noted anarchist writer, Peter Kropotkin, (an actual historical figure) is on his deathbed when he is given the chance to start life over as a young man, in America, in fact, in Richmond, Virginia, in 1999. In his pocket he carries a watch which is actually a time machine. That's the science-fiction aspect of the book. The rest is philosophy, a deep examination of choice and free will and what makes a person really free. Time-travel of course is loaded with paradox, as all sci-fi readers know. To visit the past (or the future) is to change it irrevocably. Kropotkin's time travel starts out as a lark, like Rip Van Winkle waking up in a new time, meeting some cool characters, finding a girlfriend, learning a new culture. But soon more people from the past are turning up. The lark begins branching off into a number of alternative futures, not all pleasant. Things start to get messy. The last third of the book turns very dark, as our hero learns that escape is not freedom and that choices may be painful but necessary. To time-travel out of slavery in Virginia may be easy. To escape from oneself, maybe not. There is so much packed into this book that I cannot truly say I understood it all. It was profound, yet at the same gracefully written, lucid, easy to follow, and often hilarious. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Sci-Fi used as a base for a philosphical statement
Review: The book isn't really about science fiction; in fact you will be disappointed if you're looking for Asimovish technology or Dune-like empires. The science part plays a fairly minor role, and is indeed neither detailed nor particularly convicing. It could, in fact, be safely replaced with some minor magic without affecting the story in the least. What Danvers does is to use his baby science/magic trick to create a situation rich with possibility, superimposing early 20th century anarchist ideas with present-day capitalism and 19th century slavery. It is this mix, with its contrasts and similarities, with its apparent superimposition of ideas, that is the real magic of the book. The character of Peter Krotopkin, based on the real life Russian anarchist, is drawn with a great deal of finesse (though the accounts of his past life tends to the clumsy on occassion). His actions follow a certain headalong buildup that gives the novel its energetic pace, but I felt the climax was rather unsatisfying. Krotopkin's release from jail feels very contrived; Danvers meanders in introducing too many different elements in effecting a simple jailbreak. The end of the novel feels a bit like he threw a lot of different ideas at it, in the hope that some might stick. The richness of the novel, however, is in the juxtaposition of an anarchist philosophy originally proposed against the communist system applied to today's capitalism, and in the open debates about individual freedom and slavery that Danvers outlines, and then leaves to the reader to answer. This, rather than the weak science in the novel, is what stays with you after you've put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: A work of love
Review: The Watch is a genuine "romantic novel" and does a nifty switcheroo on the 19th century American speculative political science fiction genre seen in Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward," that also employs time travel. The Watch got me banging on the kitchen table on page 99, and the ending, curling back on the author and the courage of the protagonist's indefatigable spirit, was a fine finish. I believe Danvers ate and fully digested all of the Anarchist Prince's writings as he deftly dishes up a double dose of Kroptikin spirit while he unveils a detailed history of --- and genuine love for--- his own hometown, Richomond, VA. I'll bet this is the novel Danvers always wanted to write. And one you'll wish you had written about your own home town and intellectual hero.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and thought provoking
Review: This a wonderfully written book which revolves around a fun science fiction gimmick and provides a thought-provoking view of the nature of the institutions of power in our so-called free society. The character of Kropotkin is well drawn and full of the contradictions that plague all idealists. I also enjoyed the character of the displaced slave Jonah with his endless curiosity and mechanical fiddling. On a personal level, I agree with the other reviewers about the ending of the book. As one said, Danvers seems to commit the same error he advises Mike against. But although I wanted something different, I can understand Kropotkin's reasoning -- is getting a good ending by cheating really that good? If we truly want that ending, maybe we should go out and make it happen.
Rating:
Summary: Anarchist Out of Time
Review: This is a very creatively constructed story with elements of both time travel and historical fiction. For his own reasons Dennis Danvers has made himself an expert on the obscure Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin, who died in 1921. In this book Kropotkin is sent to present-day Richmond, VA by a mysterious meddler from the future, who either wants to change history favorably with Kropotkin as the catalyst, or simply amuse himself by creating new time streams. The story is told as an autobiography by the displaced Kropotkin, and this leads to enjoyable musings on how a Russian from the last century observes modern America, and especially how he finds kindred souls among a group of punk rockers. Interestingly, and perhaps courageously, Danvers lays down a lot of criticism of his hometown of Richmond and its strange obsession with its hateful past, through the eyes of Kropotkin. Though many of the characters in this novel are quite well drawn and enjoyable, Kropotkin among them, he speaks mostly in the writings of the real-life anarchist, which Danvers clearly wants to bring to light for modern readers. That may have even worked with me, as my curiosity about Kropotkin's works has been piqued. But this method of storytelling leads to a rather implausible book in which Danvers is advancing his own theories and using Kropotkin's "classics" as a tool. The plotline also gets a bit out of hand toward the end, and the true motives of the mysterious future meddler remain vague. This is truly a fun and fascinating novel, and a great exercise in creative storytelling. But the use of Kropotkin's writings by Danvers to comment on modern society gets very heavy-handed and didactic. [~doomsdayer520~]
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