11 September 2016

This week saw the publication of “ The elements of time”, a collection of science fiction stories by writer and Astronomer Duncan Lunan. Duncan will be well known to readers of the JHC for his “Hawke’s notes” , which provide both insight and a scientific viewpoint on each of the HAWKE stories.   He has had an intimate connection with JEFF HAWKE for many years and wrote or collaborated in the writing of ten of the later Hawke stories.

“The elements of time” brings together   seven short stories written over the last thirty years, all of which deal with the theme of time-travel. Some have appeared in such prestigious publications   as ANALOG and the Isaac Asimov Sci-fi magazine. As a bonus each of the stories is accompanied by full page illustrations by Sydney Jordan , as well as the colour cover. The stories themselves, although all very different , all contain a technical and scientific detail which makes the worlds they create, seem credible and believable.   One deals with a sort of futuristic re-run of the ’45 rebellion and another with an air accident investigator who has the perplexing problem of dealing with the wreckage of a plane which has not yet had its maiden flight! My own personal favorite is “ Riding the fire”   which has an Earth colony on a distant volcanically active planet ; their means of transport are a series of hang-glider capsules whose pilots  ride the thermals created by the volcanic vents.

Thought provoking and original the book is well worth the modest £10 price tag at Amazon.  Skipper Prossit