"The mercenaries of the time" is actually the first volume of a trilogy (and the only published in Italian) whose two sequels are headed No Brother, No Friend and Vestiges of Time .
The whole saga has been published in several editions in English with the catchy title The Timeliner Trilogy, which I've got a used copy on the Internet, in good condition and at a nominal price.
sull'arcinoto The story is the theme of parallel universes, however, that in these novels is brought to a level, so to say, extreme. Its originality lies not so much the idea of \u200b\u200bskiing, as in a clever and intriguing as it is developed.
Eric Mathers, the star, sells la sua opera professionale di soldato ad una misteriosa popolazione aliena, i Krith , che gli affidano incarichi di guerra attraverso gli infiniti universi paralleli. Il protagonista si muove quindi fra molteplici “linee” temporali alternative, e così scopre via via tasselli di verità che ignorava, e che accrescono gradualmente il suo disorientamento e l'angoscia di essere strumento di una macchinazione gigantesca, sullo sfondo di una guerra senza quartiere fra misteriosi Krith e una fazione di umanoidi che a questi si oppongono. La maggior parte degli eventi storici che avvengono, e delle guerre che si combattono in tutti i mondi, si configura pertanto come la manifestazione apparente, nell’ here and now of each parallel dimension, a timeless conflict between these two antagonistic groups of power, each pursuing its own goal occult.
The first novel starts in a line where you fight a centuries-old war between Great Britain, who suffocated in the blood both the American and French revolution and a modern Holy Roman Empire that controls the mainland of Europe to then twist in the basement of headquarters' American Republican Army, or the underground army fighting for the independence of the United States from England.
At the end of the story told in the first book, the protagonist comes to the certainty of being been the victim of a "big lie", whose true nature is likely to unveil, and not at all, only in the two later novels. Against the backdrop of war, fought in different universes sometimes with advanced weaponry, sometimes with rudimentary tools, it carries the inevitable love affair with a woman, Sally, and a large number of possible adventures Mathers with the most beautiful women and sensual world of each visit (in this respect, the ease with which these women fall at his feet is quite unbelievable, to be honest, but you can not turn a blind eye on this male weakness).
At the end of the story told in the first book, the protagonist comes to the certainty of being been the victim of a "big lie", whose true nature is likely to unveil, and not at all, only in the two later novels. Against the backdrop of war, fought in different universes sometimes with advanced weaponry, sometimes with rudimentary tools, it carries the inevitable love affair with a woman, Sally, and a large number of possible adventures Mathers with the most beautiful women and sensual world of each visit (in this respect, the ease with which these women fall at his feet is quite unbelievable, to be honest, but you can not turn a blind eye on this male weakness).
In the two later novels, scenarios in which the protagonist moves, during his daring escape from incessant and both factions are completely different from those used in the first. Overall, the trilogy is configured as an epic militaristic, Odyssey space-time, running through worlds with unpredictable implications. You go from dark trench warfare of the first novel in a setting tones slightly steampunk in the second, up to a more classic science fiction-style in the third book, which became the prevailing theme of time travel and that, almost ante-litteram of human cloning (the third novel dates back to 1978).
surprising about how some of these elementi narrativi siano trattati con un’abilità e una disinvoltura che altri autori mostreranno non meno di dieci o venti anni più tardi, con riflessioni, soprattutto sull'argomento clonazione, che anticipano discussioni a carattere etico piuttosto posteriori nel tempo.
Questa miscela di temi così diversi fra loro potrebbe sembrare azzardata, ma in realtà la sapiente capacità dell’autore di districarsi fra mondi differenti e credibili (che cresce in modo tangibile, al pari del livello di scrittura e capacità di affabulazione, dal primo al terzo romanzo), e la coerenza di un io narrante che si impone sui vari mondi senza mai perdere la sua forte identità, la sua ricerca di giustizia e libertà, rappresentano Indeed the strength of a story which, although so long, never falls into repetition and monotony (subject to certain digressions in the second and third novel, which are useful, however, presumably as the first narrative connections for those who not read the three books in one block).
surprising about how some of these elementi narrativi siano trattati con un’abilità e una disinvoltura che altri autori mostreranno non meno di dieci o venti anni più tardi, con riflessioni, soprattutto sull'argomento clonazione, che anticipano discussioni a carattere etico piuttosto posteriori nel tempo.
Questa miscela di temi così diversi fra loro potrebbe sembrare azzardata, ma in realtà la sapiente capacità dell’autore di districarsi fra mondi differenti e credibili (che cresce in modo tangibile, al pari del livello di scrittura e capacità di affabulazione, dal primo al terzo romanzo), e la coerenza di un io narrante che si impone sui vari mondi senza mai perdere la sua forte identità, la sua ricerca di giustizia e libertà, rappresentano Indeed the strength of a story which, although so long, never falls into repetition and monotony (subject to certain digressions in the second and third novel, which are useful, however, presumably as the first narrative connections for those who not read the three books in one block).
The language is quite simple, to the point of being understandable to those who mastered English in a complete, and soon becomes a habit with jargon that the author creates in order to characterize the two warring factions, such as "Timeliners", supported by Krith and "Paratimers" incurred by their opponents, with their kits and means to move weapons among the thousand worlds.
A reading that advice to the few remaining fans of so-called "hard science-fiction."
To conclude, I would say with a bit of satisfaction that during these two years I managed to get in touch with the author's wife, Joy, who has appreciated my Wikipedia page creation on him, providing also some useful information to complement them.
I also learned that an American independent filmmaker, Robert H. Gwinn ( site) , intends to acquire the film rights to shoot a movie based on the novels of Richard. I hope that this project will soon come to see light ( in the bottom of this post the first draft of the cover of the screenplay based on the novels ). Please
costs just a click .
Or rather, as the author to represent the leap from a "line" in a parallel timeline, just a "flicker".
This post is also on the news portal and sharing literary imieilibri.it "
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