If you are expecting the Robert Asprin of "Phule's
Company" or the "Myth" series, you'll be disappointed. The
Asprin whose "light" touch kept the "Thieves World" series
from unreadable heaviness is missing. This novel is
unrelentingly serious.
Too bad: A little comic relief might have helped the
book's Swiss-cheese plot and indecisive premise. SAS Captain
Trevor Stirling must pursue a villain back into time itself
to prevent the historical King Arthur's assassination.
Overthrowing Briton stability too early would mean Saxon
dominance and destruction of our present time line. The
villain, a militant Ulster Orangeman, plans to kill as many
Irish as possible and destroy a Britain that betrayed
Protestant Ulster. An IRA-sympathizing female mathematician
is pulled into his plot as a scapegoat.
And then the whole mess goes south.
Asprin's/Evans' time-travel premise is ridiculous. The
three personalities are projected into past compatible hosts
in 500 A.D. (Good trick: Even less possible than bodily time
travel, however.) Once in place, there is some conflict with
the "host" personality, but the authors repeatedly cheat on
their own concept. Does the host "know" everything the time
travelers know? If so, they would use it to benefit their
own kingdom. There is never once a battle of wills to
control the body that both inhabit. After the initial shock,
the two personalities never simultaneously try to use arms or

legs for different purposes. The invading personalities can
take over the host body, at exactly the most convenient plot
moments. Meanwhile, in the future, the time-travel
scientists can't figure out how to call the three back with
their computers before a (villainously) pre-set time limit
(not that a hundred hackers within a day's journey couldn't
do it.) From the book's mid-point, it is obvious that the
heroes are going help Arthur, changing history. Of course,
that would cause the major alteration they were trying to
prevent, but benign intentions prevent any harm. Sure.
Why, then, has this book received such high reviews?
Simply, Asprin and Evans present a realistic, accurate, alive
sixth century Britain. The writing is excellent and the
characters stongly bring Arthur's era to life. As a reader,
I wished that they'd skipped the gee-whiz time-projection
nonsense and stranded three moderns in Arthurian Britain for
keeps, glossing over the method entirely.
You will probably enjoy this book, but concentrate on
the action rather than the logic or science. A historical SF
purist will have trouble finishing it.

This book takes alternate history and time travel to new places. Scientifically transfering only consiosness to the past, where you share the body with the present inhabitant.
Place in the mix a former SAS officer, recovering from injuries suffered in Belfast, a rogue Orangeman set to kill off the Irish and English pre-emptively, and a heroic woman working for the IRA.
The pace is quick, and little time is spent groping, more is spent doing. An excellent read.

(This review refers to the second edition.) The Great Psychologists is just what the title makes it out to be. The book is an account of the evolution of psychology by examining eminent figures in the times leading up to the development psychology and the men who later devoted themselves to scientific work in the subject. Each chapter examines an individual, a well explained overview of his thinkings, and the cultural and historical contexts in which he worked. The biographies of each person are detailed and seem to be included more for history than science. One gets a definite sense of how psychology came to be. A good background in the subject would be of benefit. This edition is copyrighted in the late 1960s and thus does not go beyond this point in time. It is an old graduate level textbook from when my father was receiving his doctorate. The last chapter very much dates the book. The wording at times can be verbose, and the book itself is very long. The last two chapters seem to lose the reader's interest as the last one especially is a long list of names and fields of study. More current editions of this book would probably be of much more value.

(This review refers to teh second edition.) The Great Psychologists is just what the title makes it out to be. The book is an account of the evolution of psychology by examining eminent figures in the times leading up to the development psychology and the men who later devoted themselves to scientific work in the subject. Each chapter examines an individual, a well explained overview of his thinkings, and the cultural and historical contexts in which he worked. The biographies of each person are detailed and seem to be included more for history than science. One gets a definite sense of how psychology came to be. A good background in the subject would be of benefit. This edition is copyrighted in the late 1960s and thus does not go beyond this point in time. It is an old graduate level textbook from when my father was receiving his doctorate. The last chapter very much dates the book. The wording at times can be verbose, and the book itself is very long. The last two chapters seem to lose the reader's interest as the last one especially is a long list of names and fields of study. More current editions of this book would probably be of much more value.

The biographies in this work were useful and informative.

This dreary book fails to deliver on its title, but even if one forgets the title, it is difficult to enjoy this badly written book. The question and answer sessions with Grandmasters are unmemorable, there is very little useful advice, and the book is so full of misspellings and bad grammar, one wonders who or what did the proofreading. There are some good games and the biographical information is of some interest, but there is nothing else in this committee production to interest players at any level of strength. If you can find a used copy for a couple of bucks, you probably won't feel robbed. Otherwise, it's best to go find a real chess book.

This is where bookstores come in handy. I thumbed through this book many times before finally buying it. For the beginner seeking instruction, this book will not offer much. For those on a quest to puncture the mystery of chess, or for those who are just nuts about chess books this offers considerable browsing pleasure -- a sort of chess coffee table book. The intermediate player overwhelmed by the game will take considerable solace in all the GMs and IMs disagreeing vehemently from page to page on how to improve one's game!

This is a great book. The only problem is that the title is inappropriate and misleading. It should be titled "Opinions on Chess by the Top Players." This is not a book on chess theory but rather a transcript, if you will, of GMs and IMs giving their general opinions on the game, namely on how to improve, recommended books, and anecdotes. If you have ever wanted to "interview" a top player, buy this book. It's eye opening to see how much these players disagree on a lot of hot topics. If you love to collect books as much as playing (as I do) this is a must for your library. And, of course, anything with Jeremy Silman's name is going to be enjoyable.

I had really enjoyed Time Scout and its sequel, Wagers of Sin, so I eagerly grabbed a copy of Ripping Time when I found it. The characters were pale imitations of the earlier works in the series. They are now motivated by nothing beyond pure revenge, and the graphic violence in the story (not only in describing Jack the Ripper) gives the whole novel a depressing feeling. Had I not enjoyed the first two books so much, I would not even have finished it.

Granted, I did begin to feel interested in the outcome, but only in time to find out that the book doesn't end-- it's just to be continued in a future story. But no matter, these characters are all shallow enough that I will completely have forgotten about them by the time the next book comes out. Buy the sequel? I don't think so.

I recommend this book highly but be warned, It does not have a conclusion but a "to be continued.." on the last page. I eagerly await "The House that Jack Built" but would have appreciated a warning that "Ripping Time" is only the first half the story. I hate reading in installments and would have shelved it until the conclusion (I hope?) came out, had I known. So, If you are like me, buy it and wait for the rest of the story. If not, buy it and read it now, then wait. But BUY it. While waiting, check out the previous books in this series. They provide many of the characters who appear in "Ripping Time" and are enjoyable reads on thier own.

As noted by other reviewers, this book was a bit of a "rip" off since it ended with the words "To be continued" and no resolution of the major plot points. Luckily, I was warned about this flaw and didn't start the book until I had the sequel, "The House that Jack Built," in hand (now available from Amazon).

This book is as well-researched and textured as the other books in this series-- a great deal of time has clearly been put into the historical descriptions of Victorian England. While I'm sure there are mistakes, this authors clearly spend a great deal of time on this and it makes the books delightful to read.

Together, the two books are quite gripping. I recommend them. Just don't start them on a day when you have other things to do.

One side note: although this is nominally a science fiction novel taking place in the late 21st century, the descriptions of technology (except for time travel) seem right out of the EARLY 21st century. Interestingly, authors who have a clear vision of the past don't seem to have as much imagination about the future.