This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)

I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.

This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.

I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 stars.

This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)

I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.

This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.

I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 stars.

What a thrilling conclusion to an absolutely magnetizing series. I read the series at least three times a year. Conrad is the thoughtful, generous, thrilling, competent, and manly guy that all men want to be. Don't we all wish we could have the heroism that he has? Not to mention Francine, Cilicia and aaaallll the others! What a wonderful series!!!!!! (By the way, is the rumor true that another book is coming out?)

A non-stop parade of fresh ideas, wild inventions and creatures, and original characters. One whopper of a good time!

THE ONLY WAY THAT I CAN DESCRIBE HOW GOOD THIS BOOK WAS IS TO SAY THAT READING A BOOK TAKES ME MONTHS TO ACCOMPLISH, BUT WITH THIS BOOK I COULD NOT STOP READING EACH FASCINATING DETAIL, AND BEFORE I NEW IT I HAD FINISHED THE BOOK AFTER ONLY A DAY AND A HALF!!!

All of leo frankowskis' books are very good science fiction. There are no "fairies" or dragons or majick. His books just tell you why a railroad works and how a windmill can be used to pump water or thresh grain and WHY this is a good thing.

I have read all 5 of the "original" books at least ten times and had to put them down for years and hope to forget them. They have been, by far, some of the best science fiction I have ever read. Being an engineer myself I find his methods of getting things done and especially the way they get "Polishly" done hilarious. I have made the mistake of lending these books to people over the years and thought I was doomed when I found they were out of print and my books had never been returned. But joy of joys, Mr. Frankowski has finally re-emerged and with a sequel. Now it's time to start over and read the entire series. Except for the fact that Book 2 is not being reprinted and unavailable. Please beseech the powers that be to find it wihin their scaly hearts to reprint and allow me to move forward again! They really are the kind of book/s you just can't put down once you get started. Give number 1 a try!

This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)

I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.

This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.

I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 stars.

I have read all 5 books in this series many times. I find Conrad Stargard an entirely sympathetic character. In following his adventures so often I find myself thinking "if only I were him".

I have searched in vain for more books by Leo Frankowski other than Copernick's Rebellion and would really appreaciate it if anyone out there can direct me to more of his enjoyable work.

I read a lot of different things and must rate these books among my all-time favourites.

Similar storyline to Twain's 'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' - only this time, it's a Polish engineer in 13th century Poland.
It's a fun read, although I found it a bit convenient that the hero was an engineer - it would have been much more fun & challenging if the hero only had a rudimentary knowledge of how things worked.
A similar book to these that I'd also reccommend is 'Enchantment' by Orson Scott Card. That book and the Stargard series are the only time-travelling in Poland fantasy books I'm aware of.

I started reading this series with the second book the High-Tech Knight and only realized that I missed the first book after reading the third. It doesn't matter though as Frankowski's writing holds up very well throughout this series right up until the last two books which accelerate quickly downhill.

This book tells the tale of Conrad Stargard's (nee Schwartz) inadvertent journey back through time to medieval Poland. He there finds himself put upon to use his preponderant knowledge of engineering (and future events) to change the course of history. While he enjoys the comforts of the time (ahem) he also works to improve the lifestyle of all the people that surround him. In the process of making friends he also makes several enemies which engenders more than a few exciting moments.

The mixing of the future and the past makes for a tantalizing tale of fantasy, history and science fiction come together. This book starts it all and is well worth the effort to obtain as the information given here is referenced in several of the following books.

I have every single one of these books and excepting the last two books (Lord Conrad's Lady, only average, and Conrads Search for Rubber, which really should be avoided at all costs) they are all exceptional works.

This book and the next four in the Conrad Stargard series are excellent. A talented and well educated 20th Century Polish engineer is accidentally dumped into 13th Century Poland. The Mongols are due to invade in 10 years!

Conrad makes a decision to try and alter history and save Poland from the Mongol invasion. To do it he will have to create the industrial revolution and something resembling a modern military in that time.

This series traces Conrads political and technological hurdles he faces to modernize a very backwards society. Fascinating reading. Read the first 5 in the series, avoid the 6th which focuses on a 13th century Polish peasant and is not nearly as good of story.

Worth reading, but dramaticly weaker than the previous 3 in the series (which were delightful!).

The last 1/4 of the book isn't even story, more like a set of authors notes created to help him map out the future world.

There are several outright flubs, such as the hints about how they shouldn't have bragged about East Gate being impervious (which goes nowhere). Such as the last 20 pilots all "crash" landing at once, and they all die except Lambert who is unharmed? Like what happened with the Duke? Why the sudden ending with all the mongols in one place? The entire "time is shifting" angle seems to be thrown in to justify a few random changes in events (almost like the author wanted it both ways in one particular case), but goes nowhere. Weak.

Leo Frankowski is a master of the first person story. The first 3/4 of this book was full of wit and fun technical details. However, this is still by far the weakest of the series. Books 1, 2 and 3 were some of the best SF work I have ever read. The last part of the book was a description of Conrad's world instead of the wonderful first person story that made this series so much fun..

This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)

I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.

This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.

I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 stars.

Do any of the female readers agree with this?
What started out as a wonderful character has disintegrated into a womanizing jerk. He was a decent person, bring his 20th century morals to 13th century Poland. The way he acts in this book is contrary to what made him desirable in the first book. He worked to make life for the women better, then commands one to go topless because he likes it that way. I can only hope he gets the plague in later books, but I think that would be hoping for too much. At least at the end of this book the author claims to be unmarried. If he approves of the way his character has developed, its no wonder. I felt like sending this book back, collect, since it isn't worth the shelf space to collect dust. The series has developed into a yound man's wet dream.

This is the best time travel series in a realistic timeline ever written. Before these books, L. Sprague De Camp had held that title for decades with his "Lest Darkness Fall", but it was too short. Mark Twain may be the most famous with his "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", but that is more light hearted than serious, and disappointing at the end. The Conrad series delivers on all the promise, and even after 5 books, it still leaves you wanting more. (There is a sixth book now, but Conrad is a minor character, and I've reviewed it separately.)

I say realistic timeline, because Conrad isn't really from our timeline. I was a little suspicious right from the start, but it wasn't until Conrad reminisced about the Mongols invading France that I thought "Hey, wait a minute". It turns out that it didn't happen to us (even without Conrad). But the historians I read agree that it would have, except the great Khan died and the Mongols had a war of succession which they never recovered from. This is often used as an example of the actions of one person changing history. I never even heard the story, until Conrad got me to look it up. Go figure.

This is an action story, with fighting and sex, where Conrad overcomes insurmountable obstacles, and usually has a good time along the way. The author doesn't just ignore the time travel though. He writes a science fiction sub-plot about that too. In fact, the author is obviously an engineer, not just because it takes an engineer for Conrad to build the things he does, but also from the way the books were planned out and crafted. Obviously the author planned the Mongol invasion and built the series around it, but he also foreshadows romantic sub-plots 3 books in advance.

I love these books, and share other reviewers disbelief that they haven't been reprinted since 1993. If you've already read them, and love them too, you might want to try "The Misplaced Legion (Videssos Cycle, Book 1)" by Harry Turtledove, about elements of one of Caesar's legions travelling into Rome's future of the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the real Byzantine Empire, it's a parallel universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's Byzantium during the 1100's written by a Byzantine historian. And of course you'll want to read the "Island in the Sea of Time" series by S. M. Stirling, about modern day Nantucket going back in time to the Trojan War. These works are different, but also 5 stars.

This was a fun read! Infidel Moslems, and the return of the insufferable Sir Stefan make up the first half of the book, but the Radiant Warrior really shines (no pun intended) in the second half when Conrad attempts to build a US Army-style boot camp for his new Army. Highly recommended!

Leo Frankowski just doesn't know when to quit, and that's too bad. I read Frankowski's _Crosstime Engineer_ series and thought that it was a fun and charming updating of a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court, with a lot of interesting facts about medieval European history thrown in besides. But this latest book of his stinks on ice. The idea behind the Fata Morgana is that two engineers on an extended yacht trip have an accident in the Atlanic Ocean and run aground on the fabled Western Isles. What Western Isles you ask? Well these are the Western Isles of yore, that apparently were really a massive chunk of tenuously anchored lava off of the coast of France until the year 1099 when it broke loose and floated free in the world's oceans. Since then the isles have been floating free, isolated from contact with the world's civilizations and a thriving civilization has developed there, in isolation, until our protagonists come along. Now, the first question you might ask is how a chunk of rock large enough to support a civilization of 12,000 people could have floated free for the last 900 years without ever being discovered. Frankowski "explains" this by saying that it had been discovered, but no one believed any of the discoverers because the island kept moving. But wait, it gets lamer. You, the discerning reader, might ask how this island remained undiscovered in our modern era of high altitude reconnaissance and satellites. Well Frankowski "explains" this by saying that no spy satellite had ever looked down at this island and that it was too small to show up on the images from weather satellites. Now, if you can swallow this then you can swallow the rest of the novel, which, quite frankly, isn't that interesting. Our two protagonists, both engineers, are noble and hard working souls who land on this island, show the natives how it's done, foil the evil archbishop, get some hot native tail and in general save the day, all the while bloviating on various topics such as political correctness, women's lib, religion, etc. Now, Bob Heinlein, may he rest in peace, could get away with this, even when it got thick in novels such as _I Will Fear no Evil_ and _Number of the Beast_ because he kept the story moving and because his characters were interesting people who found themselves in interesting predicaments. Not so Frankowski. There are a few interesting ideas in the book, the most being a form of Christianity based upon the teachings of the Apostle Thomas (doubting Thomas), but these are basically throw aways and not enough to redeem this book. Summary: AVOID

I enjoyed this book. It was another fun read from Leo Frankowski, but different from his other books I have read. I was expecting that he had gotten tired of his Conrad books, as authors do, or felt that he had brought that story line to a natural conclusion, but was looking to do the same thing all over again with new characters in a new universe. It turns out I was wrong.

He spends a few chapters in the beginning introducing and developing his characters to a much greater extent than he has before. I really feel like I know the two engineers. Then he puts them in an unusual situation by shipwrecking them on the floating island. So far all in line with what the jacket cover and reviews lead me to expect. His greater depth of character development, I chalk up to a more mature author. He did a similar job in the opening chapters of "a Boy and His Tank".

Then he spends the whole middle of the book describing the Island, both the physical and social history. This is where I was surprised. Conrad, in the series which will always define Leo Frankowski for me, spent his time building things, and fighting. The new characters start off very action oriented, then turn into vehicles who ask questions so that the author can describe the Island. Then they talk to themselves about society in the real world and how it compares to the Island (the only part I didn't care for). They set out to build things, but don't have Conrad's luck, at least not at first. They try to avoid conflict, and in this they have more luck than Conrad, although they aren't completely successful of course. The Island is the main character in the middle of the book, not the people. But the Island is fascinating, and this is not a bad thing.

Then the end, just kind of ends. The author did a good job of keeping me guessing. Right up until the last few pages, I wasn't sure which way he was going to go with it. But when he finished, it was a bit abrupt, and I said "oh" instead of "Ah!". I really got the feeling that the author reached the length the Publisher required, so he stopped writing.

This book is a "what if" book not an action adventure book. What if this Island existed? Wouldn't that be cool. What if you were the ones who found it? Wouldn't THAT be cool! Guess what, it would be cool. Now that I'm done reading, I still think about it, the true measure of a good book. But I'm thinking about the Island, not the people.

It alarms me to see all of the people that write comparing Frankowski to Heinlein, or who try to over-analise (yes I meant that) his work.

I find this book, like most of Frankowski's books, to be a pleasent diversion from being forced to think in ruts. It takes the kind of tounge in cheek humor that appears in spurts in the Conrad Stargard series and focuses more on it, as did A Boy and His Tank.

It alarms me to see people reviewing it as if it were the Bible, when really it is a scapegoat, a diversion from having to think. Read a few chapters, then close your eyes and imagine "what if"...thats the key to Frankowski's books. I would have given it 4 and a half stars if I could have, just because the ending is somewhat dissastisfying (allthough nothing like A Boy and His Tank, I wanted to kick something when I finished that).

In a way he is like a somewhat more technologically savy Douglas Adams. The explination of why the isles had never been discovered reminded me of Adams explanation of the race of beings that had never developed space travel, simply because it had never occured to them to look up. The unfounded accusations of bias and stereotype are pretty much nullified when you consider that Frankowski usually justifies almost everything his characters believe, at times to a fault. In my opinion this is probably due to his "method writing" style, and it helps to develop characters.

All in all I would say that this book is an interesting diversion that allows you to ask "what if" without forcing you to think, if you don't want to. Don't try to make it something its not; Its not Heinlein, its not Tolkin, its not Verne (allthough I think Verne and Frankowski would feel a kinship), no matter how much you want to compare it to them, realise that its probably closer to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" than it is to anything else.

I enjoyed this most recent addition to the Conrad series, and hope there will be more coming. I see a fundamental problem for the author in continuing this series however. Life has become too easy for Conrad. By this point in the series he has done it all, he's way ahead of the competition, and it's hard for the author to come up with any more challenges for him. I believe that is why Conrad was relegated to the status of a minor character in this book, i.e. so that the story could focus on the challenges of a "mere mortal" character. Understanding this, didn't make it any more enjoyable though. Conrad is the character I came back to see more of. It was disappointing to only see him in passing.

What was more disappointing though was that the author did create a challenge for Conrad, and he couldn't handle it. In the end he got outside help, which was almost like cheating. I want to see the protagonist rise to the occasion and overcome his own obstacles, not have them solved for him.

I was not offended by the gratuitous sex throughout the book myself, but I can see how some of the other reviewers were. As sex goes, this was really very mild. It is only because this is supposed to be a science fiction/fantasy book and not an erotic novel that it is even noticable. That said, I would like to point out that it is rather repetitious that the girls are always 14 years old, even the ones who have been around for years now. I understand that life expectancy was shorter in the middle ages, and people were old in their 20's and dead in their 30's, but the author could mix it up a bit with some 15 or 16 year old girls, just for variety.

It was a great day when I stumbled on to the 6th installment of the Conrad series. I had given up on Leo Frankowski revisiting the facinating story of Conrad in 13th Century Poland. I devoured this book in one night. I found the story very entertaing and a great read. I enjoyed the tangent of telling the story thru a new character yet I thought we could do with a lot less background, come on we all have read the first 5 books and don't need a complete rehash of them. Just one chapter to establish the new character's background should be enough. Frankowski's piggish attitude towards women reaches new lows with this book. The characters Maude and Baboo are very insulting. One a bio-engineered Super-Woman, the other a primative simpleton treated like a house pet. The author has tread into dangerous waters here and should tone it down in future books. Exploring the 13th Century world with a new and young character is quite exciting as it ads personal drama to the quest. In the future I would like to see Conrad have to deal with and interact with the real historical characters. Including Holy Roman Emporer Fredrick, Alexander Nevski of Novograd, and of course Kublia Khan would add great villans and allies to this already rich series. I would love to see Conrad sucked into the Crusades by Pope Ignacius Conrad's Confessor.

Book 6 marks a change in story presentation. The main story is told through the diaries of Josep, the son of a baker who lives and works at Okoitz.

This book gives us the perspective of the next generation. A story from a young peasant child growing into manhood during the arrival of our primary hero, Conrad Stargard. Here we see the divergence from 13th century life in medieval Poland through Conrad's sweeping "modernizations".

The "exploration" of the rest of the world is a logical "next-step" for the Christian Army.

I found Conrad's naming of various "newly discovered" land-masses and territories to be entertaining, and somehow right. Leo shows us a wonderful era in a time that wasn't but should have been!

And if this story isn't enough for all of Leo's fans...

Wait til you see what book 7 is like...

BTW: If enough people were to contact the publisher, it's possible that Leo might finish Book zero, the prequel to the Adventure's of Conrad Stargard...

And if enough people clamored at the publisher, perhaps Leo might be persuaded to take this story beyond book 7...

There's a LOT of potential story material waiting!

This book is fun to read just like all of the other Leo Frankowski books! it is especially intersting to read it now with the whole bombing going on in the Yugoslavian region! Also the idea of dream world is similar to some of the new hit movies, The Matrix? I love this book! Please let there be a sequael!

William Huang

This is a 4-star rating for books in this genre, not 4 stars against my other rated books. That said, this is really good pulp sci-fi. It's a fast read (2 hours or less), with a moving story, interesting premise, and good characters. I thought the ending was a bit bizarre, (and I'm DYING to read the hardcover ending that everyone has so-far panned) and could well be the weakest part of the book, but I didn't mind. It was a nice mental diversion, and probably something I'll re-read on some other summer afternood with nothing to do.

If you enjoyed Alan Cole and Chris Bunch's STEN series, you'll probably like this. It's basically military sci-fi, with plenty of sexual imagery thrown in for good measure. High-tech tanks and other weaponry are well described for the enthusiast, and the action is pretty quick in coming (most of it actually occurs in a virtual environment called the Dream World). The protagonist is a wry, worldly fellow with more-than-average mental skills (a common formula for this genre), and is easy to like. The book lulls a bit toward the end, with a short pick-up and a final let-down. You won't care. Read it; it's not supposed to be high art.

The planet of New Kashubia is a ball of heavy metals in orbit about a pulsar that bakes the planet's surface with deadly radiation. The people are the poorest in the universe, having to import carbon, oxygen and even dirt. They live in tunnels drilled into the layer of gold because it is the LEAST dangerous metal to their health, giving birth is a crime and they go around naked because they can't afford clothes. You would think being inserted into a smart tank that will feed you, take care of you and allow you to do almost anything you want in virtual reality would be a good thing when compared to being sent to the hydroponic vats.
And it was a good thing...till you and your tank had to face REAL combat.

Disjoined plot lines interspaced with adolescent sexual fantacies. I consider myself one of Leo's fans and was very disappointed in this effort. Have read all of his previous SF works and consider some of them masterpieces. This one I almost couldn't finish because it never went anywhere interesting.

This is a fun little book, but not great. It is important to know that the book has nothing to do with Conrad himself. (I suspect it must have been the publisher's idea to put "Conrad" in the title.) It is the story of how his cousin invented (discovered really) the time machine that Conrad later stumbles into. You can read the first 12 chapters on the web to see how you like it. All you have to do is go to the Baen web site and click on "schedule", then find this (or another) book to read the beginning.

This book really divides itself into three parts. The beginning, which is almost entirely available on the web for free, is the story of Tom (Conrad's cousin) and his two buddies working to develop the time machine. The book then quickly transitions into the middle where the buddies are (rather suddenly) Lords of their own country. Here you get a fun glimpse of what it would be like to have anything and everything you ever wanted, or thought you wanted. This is the sort of stuff a story about being the first on your block with your own time machine should be. Finally there is a cataclysmic event and everything is wrapped up quickly, leaving plenty of room for a sequel.

I found the ending to be weak, short, and unsatisfying, and to detract from the book as a whole. Conversely though, there isn't much of it, so it doesn't detract that much. All in all, it's a fun couple of hours of reading. Just don't expect it to measure up to the brilliant Conrad series and you won't be disappointed.

Sure I was disappointed that it was a prequel to the outstanding Conrad Stargard series, but then I realized it was the thoroughly thought out and quite imaginative work consistently found in Frankowski's books. He's a lot more practical than most authors and his characters are generally more lively, funny well-rounded human beings than those found in too many of the hundreds of SF novels I've read over 3 decades. There's a lot of big ideas in here, particularly the most thoroughly considered "what if you had a time machine" premise I've found yet and it's always been a favorite topic of mine. This is a gentle novel of exploration and ideas, in the vein of "Copernick's Rebellion" or "Fata Morgana." Maybe his next one will go back to combat