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Maxine McArthur
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Time Future Kindle Edition

by Maxine McArthur (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
In the universe of enigmatic aliens & complex politics, one woman must entangle interlocking mysteries in a race against time. Halley must solve the mystery of a locked room in closed space, before Jocasta erupts in an explosion of terror & death.
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  1. Print length
    465 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Aspect
  4. Publication date
    December 2, 2008
  5. File size
    2.4 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Commander Maria Halley of the deep space station Jocasta is tired--tired of struggling to communicate with the alien ambassadors of the Four Worlds; tired of her presence being demanded by the Seouras, who are blockading Jocasta; tired of the increasing system failures that mean she can't even take a hot shower. Making her job tougher are divided feelings on the station. Some believe the Four Worlds will rescue them, others that, considered members of "inferior races," they have been abandoned. Suddenly a tiny ship bearing a few humans in suspended animation appears inside the blockade. A Four Worlds alien is found murdered where the mysterious ship is docked. DNA traces identify the killer as a Q'Chun, a tireless, viciously imaginative warrior thought to be extinct. The human liaison to the ambassadors vanishes, leaving Halley a cryptic message about information concealed in the Earth ship. Halley must risk life and command to discover what so many powerful races want and how to turn it to her advantage. McArthur's debut is breathtaking, and a sequel is in the works. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Maxine McArthur is an Australian writer of science fiction.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001MSVS1E
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aspect; 1st edition (December 2, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 2, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.4 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 465 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

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Maxine McArthur

Maxine McArthur

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
18 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Travelmel
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourite books
    Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017
    Stifling and exhausting, i love this story each time i read it. Well-written, interesting characters, a very original situation and hard sci-fi - its got it all. I can't remember how i got onto it in the first place but i'm very glad i didn't read the bad reviews first, i would have missed out on a book that i keep taking out to read again and again.
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  • Cindy
    4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2012
    I really liked this book, which I picked up at a second hand bookstore. I think it may appeal to readers who like C. J. Cherryh's novels, as well as readers of space opera. Some interesting aliens, and some difficulty communicating in a crisis situation, with appropriate results. I looked for other novels by McArthur, and have ordered Time Future. I don't see anything recent, and am disappointed that she has not continued to write. Our loss.
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  • K. Maxwell
    5.0 out of 5 stars High technology and low skulduggery in an enjoyable SciFi mystery
    Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2005
    This future is not a bright and shiny place. Halley is the governor of a remote human run space station under siege - held hostage to alien space ships who have blockaded them for the last six months and shoot down anybody who attempts to escape the station.

    In the midst of dealing with equipment breakdowns, alien politics and a chronic shortage of most the things needed to keep the station running, a ship from 95 years in the past suddenly and improbably appears in their space badly damaged. The ship has three survivors who tell a strange story of a secret flight from Earth with alien help. Then a legendary alien killing machine appears on station and all hell breaks loose.

    This is book full of realistic characters. People who get tired, make mistakes and have limitations. There are no superheroes here, be they human or alien. This is essentially a mystery novel, but it one that leaves an impression of a future that while technologically advanced is still inhabited by human beings with the same frailties as those we meet everyday. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel to this book TIME PAST and am only sorry I didn't find this book when it was first published.
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  • Rodney Meek
    1.0 out of 5 stars Shudderingly Bad
    Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2002
    It's taken me some time to get around to this review, since upon completion of the novel I did my best to expunge my mind of every memory related to this debacle. Unfortunately, the nightmares have continued, so in order to achieve closure, I feel obligated to dash off this warning.
    This book is just plain bad. It reads like the second-rate novelization of some colossally wrong "Babylon 5" episode that was itself so awful that it was never aired. The characters are idiotic and their actions make no sense, the backstory is irrelevant fluff that is awkwardly shoehorned into the main storyline, and the plot is riddled with contradictions. I mean, in order to break the monopoly on FTL travel, everyone within the confederation is all hot and bothered to get their hands, claws, and tentacles on some uber-special starship hyperdrive controlled by one specific alien member race. Yet no one, aside from the alleged heroes on the beleagured station, has any evident problems flitting about at will from one system to the next. From the evidence, quite a few folks have their own very capable FTL drives. So why the big hangup over this one?
    And as for the heroine of the story, her actions beggar belief. She's in charge of thousands, yet she undertakes every task personally. She gets about one hour of sleep over the course of a week, because she's handling every routine interview, investigation, surgery, repair, and talent show herself. She all but breaks out a mop and bucket and starts doing some janitorial work just to round out the bill.
    And her detective work fails to impress. Basically, she picks up clues because people walk up to her and say, "I saw someone who looked funny", and she manages to spin elaborate theories out of happenstance. There's no reason why she should believe any particular story told to her, or why any witness should happen to have seen random actions that nevertheless turn out to be critical, or that on a station of thousands of beings, the heroine continually bumbles into the right person to give her the next piece of the puzzle. It's all hogwash.
    I'm going to gargle with some Drano now to get the foul taste out of my mouth.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Valerie
    3.0 out of 5 stars Time Past just sets the stage
    Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2001
    If you are looking for a rip-snorting action-packed adventure, this isn't it. I found it a bit slow and tiring to read but still worth the effort. The space station is cut off from outside support by hostile alien ships which have damaged the station and killed several in the process. The station is overloaded with refugees plus an assortment of enigmatic and haughty aliens. They can't escape, they can't yell for help. They can only survive. Now toss in the arrival of a mystery ship with sleepers from 100 years past. Add in the station commander's divorced husband who is into deep intrigues (nor is he the only one!) and, for good measure, let's have an invincible biological killing construct. Our intrepid station commander stumbles thru it all constantly in need of sleep. I wouldn't say the book was exceptionally well done but there's a lot of stuff going on. A picture was painted. Maybe not vividly, but I feel like I know these people and I can practically see parts of the station. I found some new (to me) ideas and treatments of things and it all kept me going. It will never be my favorite book, but I'll buy the next one, Time Past, when it comes out.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Travelmel
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourite books
    Reviewed in Australia on December 11, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This has become one of my favourite books. Although exhausting to read, as one crisis follows another with Halley never seeming to get sleep, it's absorbing, imaginative and very well written. It also has good mystery elements and believable aliens. I also like the Australian touches which you rarely see in sci-fi.
    I'd recommend this as a very good 'hard' science fiction book - its sequel Time Past is set on Earth and not quite so enjoyable but it's interesting to read as an adjunct to this book.
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