Rating: 
Summary: A university physics discovery leads to an Eden-like world.
Review: TWISTOR was my first novel. It's about people doing scientific research, about breakthrough physics discoveries, and about adventures in a "shadow world"
that parallels our own.
David Harrison, a young physics postdoc and and Victoria Gordon, a graduate student working together on a "table-top" experiment in a small lab at the University of Washington stumble on a world-spanning breakthrough discovery, the Twistor Effect. Soon, because of dirty tricks by industrial spies, David
and two small children are trapped in a "shadow" world, an Eden-like twin of the Earth with its own ecology of strange plants and animals, including a peculiarly colorful "tree-bird", a dextrous six-legged "shadow kitten", and a giant tentacle-mouthed "shadow bear".
David has most of a laboratory full of custom-built equipment but no electrical power. Vickie has the technical knowledge, but her hardware has gone with David and the industrial spies are closing in.
Can David and the children ever get back to their own world, or are they trapped forever in the the beautiful but dangerous shadow world?
Rating: 
Summary: Twistor - A Fine Story
Review: Cramer's blend of physics and a believable story in the near future makes for a book that is difficult to put down. The physics is real with only slight modification to make it acceptable in a fictional novel. This makes for more realistic fiction than the more far-fetched 'star wars' type. All in all, it's a book that I found very readable. The only annoying feature was the continual break in story line to recount a fairy-tale to the two children. I hope he writes more books along the same lines.
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Summary: At Last: A Science Fiction Book With Science
Review: I am often bemused by customer reviews that criticize a science fiction book because it has science in it. This is the type of book that a lot of "science fiction" fans won't like: It contains some actual, fairly believable science; it takes place in the present; it is not a space opera. Twistor uses the concept of a shadow universe to provide us with a most interesting thriller. If the modest amount of science is over your head you can safely skim through it. My only annoyance was with the fairy tale that the protagonist told to two children in stages throughout the book. While I can grasp the author's intent in telling it, I didn't like the plot interruption. All in all a most worthy book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great hard sci-fi
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is set in the present time and approaches the story as something that could be happening at a University lab right now. Some people won't like it because the characters aren't morally bankrupt, but if you like hard science fiction with a happy ending this is it. The story is somewhat predictable, but keeps you interested.
Rating:
Summary: Great hard sci-fi
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is set in the present time and approaches the story as something that could be happening at a University lab right now. Some people won't like it because the characters aren't morally bankrupt, but if you like hard science fiction with a happy ending this is it. The story is somewhat predictable, but keeps you interested.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite hard sci-fi books.
Review: I remember reading this book back in 1990 or so and not being able to put it down. It completely captured my imagination and remains one of my all-time favorite hard sci-fi books. For comparison, my other favorites include works of James Hogan and Greg Bear. Each of my friends that borrowd my copy of Twistor share my enthusiasm for this book and author. In addition to some really well thought and written hard sci-fi, I really enjoyed the main character who is a graduate student that is easy to relate to. I am very excited to discover that John Cramer has written more books! (I hadn't realized this until surfing Amazon.com for the first time last week.)
Rating:
Summary: Twistor--Good ride.
Review: I was surprised by Twistor...The cover promotes it as a "hard science fiction" book, which I like and looked forward to reading. However, this book is NOT hard in the sense that it is a thoroughly enjoyable book. It drew me in nearly as well as many of my other favorite authors' work. The "hard" science is truly deep, but well explained, while the story is rich and visual.
I also highly recommend Cramer's other book, "Einstein's Bridge".
Rating:
Summary: As close as it gets to real science!
Review: If you want realistic science fiction, this is it! As a scientist, I really appreciate Cramer's physics background and his ability to write about it in a captivating way. Real science is sometimes even more intriguing than science fiction. And both of Cramer's books begin with a strong foundation in cutting-edge physics and then step into scientific speculation, not wild frictionalizing. While time/dimensional travel might not be a new topic, Cramer deals with it in an incredibly realistic way. It is also quite easy to follow and understand the complex physics he talks about. Twistor is one of the best science fiction books EVER! His second book, Einstein's Bridge, is even better!
Rating:
Summary: As close as it gets to real science!
Review: If you want realistic science fiction, this is it! As a scientist, I really appreciate Cramer's physics background and his ability to write about it in a captivating way. Real science is sometimes even more intriguing than science fiction. And both of Cramer's books begin with a strong foundation in cutting-edge physics and then step into scientific speculation, not wild frictionalizing. While time/dimensional travel might not be a new topic, Cramer deals with it in an incredibly realistic way. It is also quite easy to follow and understand the complex physics he talks about. Twistor is one of the best science fiction books EVER! His second book, Einstein's Bridge, is even better!
Rating:
Summary: Intrigue, Spies, & High Powered Physics.
Review: My edition of "Twistor" was published in 1989. I found Cramer's predictions in the afterword to be quite an accurate reflection of what the internet has become...starting from BitNet. Its a good story with the kind of plot that is hard to put down. Now if only he'd write that sequel he alluded to in the afterword...
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