The Bones of Time

Rating:
Summary: The Bones of Time - a very favorable impression
Review: I picked this book up because it was 20% off; I'd never heard of it or Ms. Goonan. It was a great find. Ms. Goonan is current on all of the cutting edge science - cloning, genetic manipulation, nanotech, and even the cutting edge super-string theory of physics, which implies the possibility of time travel. All of this could be incredibly boring, though, but Ms. Goonan hangs it all on a great plot populated by some memorable characters. The novel is set in Hawaii. Some of the characters are native Hawaiians, and members of the underground Homeland Movement; another is the Japanese daughter of the founder of Interspace, an organization with the lofty goal of settling the stars, but as corrupt and underhanded as any modern organization. The way all of these elements are tied together is really incredible. You'll have to read it to see for yourself

Rating:
Summary: Barely kept my interest
Review: I thought Bones of Time would be either really good or really bad. It turned out to be less than mediocre. It took me weeks to read it, sometimes I read another book at the same time and switched between them. It wasn't a time travel book although it sounded like it could be from the back cover; it was flash backs to an earlier time. There was just enough to hold my interest, wondering how it would end, to finish it. The ending was strange.

It made me feel bad to read how the United States finagled to get Hawaii from the Hawaiian rule. It reminded me of how the Indians were mistreated when their land was taken. However, although this subject was thrown in often throughout the book, it wasn't part of the plot.

Although it was interesting to read about locations on Oahu or the Big Island where I've been and get the author's concept of what they could be like in the future, it wasn't enough to reprieve the book. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone, and it's going into my stack for trade-in at the local used bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting, suspenceful, intriuging
Review: Ms. Goonan creates a hauntingly beautiful love story, a suspenceful high-tech thriller, and a policaly charged story of both the future and the history of Hawaai - all in one. Her power to weave seemingly seperate storylines, decades, even centuries apart is captivating. This is THE BEST historical Science Fiction book I've ever read. There is nothing like it. The closest would be "The Diamond Age" or "Lincon's Dreams". THE BONE'S OF TIME has the power to make me care deeply about a long dead Hawaain princess. It's the story of a math genius boy named Century who's in love with a girl seperated from him by time. It's also the story of a political struggle in future Hawaai, and cloning, and space travel, but ultimately it's a story about time; how it binds us and how we can break those binds.