I was really disappointed with Ben Elton's latest book. The idea was of course extraordinary as with all Ben's novels but the execution, I thought was surprisingly poor. The dialogue and soppy main character bored me to tears in the first half of the book and if I had to hear about how much he missed his wife and children one more time - I was going to throw the book out the window! After meandering through the first half of the story repeating the same points again and again, the second half of the book felt like Ben had lost interest and just wanted to finish it. New characters were introduced fleetingly and then abandoned. The consequences of trying to change historical events for the betterment of future generations were of course repeatedly unsuccessful. Obvious from the outset and consequently not thought provoking like Ben's other works. I remember Ben Elton for his talented writing of the Blackadder series. The 'blurb' attracted me to purchase this. Its the e-book that I read.Novels are something new to me, by him.I enjoyed this it was an interesting idea and quite well executed.I enjoy science fiction, especially when mixed with some version of reality. This book has a couple of interesting twists in it that would be considered spoilers if discussed in a review. The story flicks between 2024/5 and 1914. The main protagonist is an ex special forces, and TV survivalist (too close for comfort I would have thought with a certain real life individual). He is bounced back in time to complete a mission to save the 20th century.While reading it I couldn't help drawing parallels between other science fiction (books and film) of this genre - The Butterfly Effect, Terminator series - springs to mind. It also seemed to me that there was a bit of confusion about what the main style should be. There was the science fiction element of time travel and alternate reality, several 'set pieces' such as the Orient Express, romance and action sequences. The secondary characters aren't particularly well developed, making them more of scenery than people. Unfortunately the scenery (worlds of 2024/5 and 1914) also lack development. The world of 2024 relies on our perceptions of 2014 to flesh it out. The historical 1941, likewise, relies on the readers' to fill in the banks. One could be cynical and suggest that this work was written with the primary aim of making it attractive to a film producer...we shall wait and see.As I said. Enjoyable. Also easy reading and interesting ideas. Three stars because there were a few plot lines that really didn't go anywhere - Bernadette being one of them - and some confusion over the novel's identity - sic-fi, historical, romance, action?
Do You like book Time And Time Again (2014)?
I enjoyed the read, as always with Elton, but I was a little disappointed with the ending.
—christell
Loved this book! This was first Ben Elton book, I'm a fan now.
—antolestra
