Review by Marian Powell   —   January 25, 2001

It begins quietly with the words, "On the day of the big rescue, Wil Brierson took a walk on the beach." He is remembering happy days spent with his family at the beach long ago. Within a few pages, we learn how truly long ago that was. His family is forever lost in time to him for he is separated from them by 50 Million years.

In the 21st Century, bobbles were invented. They are refered to as a "one-way time machine." Put a bobble over your house and you are held in stasis. Nothing can penetrate the bobble until it opens at the date you set. If you set it for 100 years, no time will pass for you but you will emerge 100 years later. There is no going backwards. You are irrevocably in the future. People began to use the bobbles in the 21st and 22nd Centuries for a variety of reasons. Some people invested their money, planning to be rich in a century or two. Others wanted or needed to leave their society behind. Some soldiers from opposing sides in a war hoped to carry on the war in the future.

All those who set their bobbles to come out after the 23rd Century came out to a world empty of man. Somewhere in the 23rd Century, the human race had simply vanished leaving no clue as to what had happened. This is the mystery and the threat that hangs over Marooned in Realtime -- What happened to the human race? Is this the Singularity? Did man finally wipe himself out in a war? Did aliens from outer space attack? If it's the latter, will they return to destroy the survivors? And even without that threat, how will the few people in their bobbles survive?

Two women begin a search for survivors, endlessly moving forward in time to be at the opening of each bobble, desperately hoping to find enough people to form a community. That is why the story begins 50,000,000 years in the future The survivor group contains less than 200 people -- too few for long-term survival. They know that one bobble had been sent 50,000,000 years ahead and it contains 100 people, soldiers of the enemy of the last war.

This fact has created a moral dilemma for the group. Should they let them join their group when their bobble opens? The bobble containing the enemy has slipped into a position deep underground that will kill its occupants when they emerge unless it is moved now. Half the group of survivors wants to leave it where it is. The rest argue that they desperately need the extra hundred people. It's an interesting moral question. Their group will then be made up of former enemies. Will they be able to work together?

The rescue is accomplished and it makes for a spectacular scene as the bobble is literally blasted out of the earth. Now they must wait for it to open and while they are waiting, one of their leaders is murdered.

In case you think I'm giving away too much of the plot, know that everything I'm saying occurs in the first 30 pages and there are almost 300 more to go. All this has been back story as seen through the eyes of Wil Brierson.

Wil is different from the rest. He never intended to enter a bobble or leave his family and his world. Wil had been a detective in the 21st Century. A criminal had bobbled him forward thousands of years to prevent him from testifying against him. Along with facing the stunning realization that the human race has disappeared, he is struggling with his own personal grief and anger at being permanently separated from his world. When the murder occurs, he realizes he is the only one with the skills to solve the crime. Why was there a murder? Was it personal or part of a larger plot to destroy humanity? Will the group hold together without their leader or will society collapse and the human race die out forever?

This is an remarkably rich story. Most books are content to be built around one idea. Marooned in Realtime pours out ideas with incredible generosity all the while zipping along for 300 pages with a fast moving story. An idea that is played with is the question of what will future biology look like. How will plants and animals evolve? Another idea is geology. What happens to the earth. What shape do the continents take. There is a real sense of wonder at the thought of being able to take home movies of the continent of Australia slowly colliding with Asia.

Then there is the question of what makes a civilization. The author seems to come down very strongly in favor of technology. If they can't hold onto the technology they have, they are doomed. They will not survive. This is an interesting question well worth debating, because frankly, I don't agree with the author. It's a pleasure to see an author take such a strong stand, however, because that gives you something to disagree with.

This is that rarity -- a thinking man's page turner. All these questions and ideas are woven into the story along with the complicated murder mystery and the efforts to turn the group of survivors into a cohesive group that has a chance to survive. Wil Brierson not only has to solve the murder mystery, he also has to be willing to let go of his own past if he is to have any kind of future.

Let me warn the reader in advance. The last third of this book is an absolute can't-put-it-down page turner. It is curious that it has gone out of print. Those that have read it are almost fanatical in their liking of it, yet it's not well-known.

One potential area of confusion needs to be cleared up. This book is technically a sequel to an earlier novel titled "The Peace War." I have not read it and had no trouble enjoying Marooned in Realtime without having read the earlier work. The two novels have been published together under the title "Across Realtime." However, I have another warning. Apparently Vernor Vinge wrote a story titled The Ungoverned which acts as a connecting link between the two novels. Some versions of Across Realtime include it. Some do not. This does not make sense, but apparently that is how it is.