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Caesar's Bicycle | Rating | |
| B | |||
| John Barnes | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Timeline Wars | Patton's Spaceship, Washington's Dirigible, Caesar's Bicycle | ||
It's been a few years since the events in Washington's Dirigible, and Mike Strang is now a highly-regarded senior agent. And when timelines start becoming mysteriously unstable and closing, unavailable to cross-time travel, something is definitely going on. Some major event is predicted, one that will affect the entire war. Could the end be in sight? Or is a third party going to enter the scene? And will they be for the ATN or the Closers, or their own side? Mike Strang, it seems, is to be crucial to finding the answers to those questions. But in order to get things to go right, he'll need to go to ancient Rome and assassinate Julius Caesar!
There's nothing really wrong with this book. I was a little disappointed that Barnes chose a setting as well-worn as the dawn of the Roman Empire, but that was less of a problem than it might have been thanks to the technological changes ATN agents had already put in place. A mail service, hot air balloons, and, of course, bicycles are all in there, among a few other additions. The moral and philisophical quandry presented by the unique circumstance of Strang knowing what his mission is and how it must be achieved before he goes back was also a nice addition, a twist on the usual way things are done. It raised all sorts of free will questions, and they're actually resolved in a very satisfying manner.
But the book also has nothing really spectacular about it. The fights are fun, but they're just fights. The battles are just battles. Julius and Pompey, the two flamous Romans Strang interacts with most, certainly seem plausibly like real people, and there's a smattering of humor in the book as well, but there just isn't anything to write home about.
Caesar's Bicycle was done well, and wraps up the series rather nicely. I rather wish there were more books in the setting, though - Barnes missed the chance to explore a good many possible strange worlds by ending the war in book three. Still, fans won't be disappointed by this volume.
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