Link to buy Geared to the Present: Jones Whitman Time Traveler Series
Story Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review:
Geared
to the Present follows the exploits of Jones Whitman, a young inventor who
completes work on his first time machine in 1891. Jones used to be a
mischievous young man, which resulted in his father sentencing him to study in
China with a Hung Gar Kung Fu master. The training worked wonders for Jones,
who returned home to Boston prepared to be an upstanding citizen.
Best
intentions and new-found self discipline don't keep Jones from running afoul of
the local priest. Father Carlini dislikes Jones for his transcendentalist
beliefs and his engagement to one of the priest's pretty young parishioners.
Jones' fiancée doesn't have much interest in inventions, but instead seems
primarily focused on getting Jones to give her some of his time and attention.
Jones is
optimistic about a test of his time machine, until something goes wrong and he
accidentally lands 120 years in the future and thousands of miles away. It's in
modern-day Washington State that the adventure really begins.
This is
an entertaining book, and Jones is a likeable main character. He's funny,
jovial and a generally honorable guy. His old fashioned manner of speaking
gives his modern friends pause, but for some reason they seem satisfied with
his explanation that he comes from Boston.
There
are some problems here though. For one, there is surprisingly little conflict
while Jones is in Washington. His problems had largely been left behind in
1891, and he isn't even aware of trouble brewing back there with the meddlesome
priest. Considering the fish-out-of-water nature of the story, one would expect
some unfriendly locals or other issues to put a monkey wrench in his visit to
the future. Those never materialize, however.
Another
troubling issue was the time travel itself. Jones created a contraption that
not only moved through time with absolute precision but also moved through
space. He started in Boston and landed in Washington. That aspect of his
invention deserved more attention than it got.
Overall,
this is a good steampunk time travel tale with an intriguing main character at
its heart. Young Jones Whitman will doubtless travel again.
Reviewed
by Amanda
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