RoC, 2000, $6.99, ISBN 0-451-4578-3, 630 pgs.

Dang! I broke my rule again of never buying a series book at the end. I wasn't paying attention, and I popped open this book to find out it's the third in the series.

As best I figure, the Island of Nantucket was whooshed back to 1200 BC, which precipitated a world war as other time refugees seek to establish their empires. Of course, it's a mix of technologies and humans adapt quickly as they trade, steal, or capture the technologies. William Walker, a coast guard officer, not the mid-19th century Nicaraguan adventurer, leads a dictatorship while the folks of Nantucket create a republic democracy. Additional monarchies (Egyptian, Persian, etc.) are around and get drawn into the fighting.

Coming in on the third act, it's difficult to get a handle on the characters and their backgrounds. The battle scenes are o.k., if rather dull. I found the battle of Rourke's Ford a plain recounting of Zulus and British at Rorke's Drift--surprise, eh? I found the naval battle better, the siege dull, and the winter battle somewhat confused.

In all, not a bad novel, and probably better if you started from the front. I was displeased with the ending--had it occurred earlier, we could have saved 500 pages. Alas, it did not.

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