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The Thunder ChildScience Fiction and Fantasy |
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Book Reviews
Tear in Time begins in 2005, with teenager Trae Williams sitting on the porch of his house in Chatttanooga, Tennessee, watching his little sister play in the yard. They seem like a typical teenager and cute sister...but they live in a bad neighborhood and they are suddenly attacked in a drive-by shooting. The little girl, Lena, survives long enough to be taken to a local hospital where she is operated on by a young doctor, David Warner, who is unable to save her life. Distraught from his failure, Warner leaves the operating room and takes an elevator down...down...down..and when he steps out of it he has gone back in time, to June 7, 1862. On this day, Union troops have attacked Chattanooga, and Warner walks straight out into the battlefield, and soon sets to work assisting Doctor Jeb Morgan do what he can for the wounded. Thus begins the saga of Dr. David Warner, who struggles to discover how he came to travel back in time, and how he can return to the future, while at the same time becoming embroiled in the war itself, first employing his medical skills and then actually being promoted to command troops in battle. Civil War aficionados will love this book. Author Christopher David Petersen is obviously well versed, not only in medical technology (which we see a little bit too much of, in this reviewer's opinion) but also in the various battles of the War Between the States. We meet plenty of historical figures here, from Brigadier General James Negley who led the Union attack on Chattanooga in 1862, where Dr. Warner first appears, to General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Gettysburg, to General Grant at the Battle of Antietam. The book is a little wordy--during our introduction to the Civil War time period we are also introduced, through many, many pages, to every little detail of how a surgeon goes about amputating a limb...although this mirrors the detailed description of what steps Dr. Warner takes, in 2005, to attempt to save the life of little Lena Williams. Petersen does a good job in contrasting the speech patterns of a modern day man such as David Warner, with the more ornate speech patterns used by men during the Civil War. The time period is evoked wonderfully. We grow to like David Warner as the story unfolds, and the suspense...not to mention the little twists…that occur as he attempts to return to his own time will keep you on the edge of your seat. |
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