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A review by ponch22
Dead Time by D. L. Orton
4.0
[Full disclosure: I received a pre-publication copy of the manuscript to proofread but my review is unsolicited. I just need to review every book I read because #OCD]
I really enjoyed the world & characters that [a:DL Orton|13506103|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1427753745p2/13506103.jpg] created in her first two books—[b:Crossing in Time|24934981|Crossing in Time (Between Two Evils, #1)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423942336s/24934981.jpg|44980455] & [b:Lost Time|30119294|Lost Time (Between Two Evils, #2)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462488827s/30119294.jpg|50544780]—and I was looking forward to reading more of the series and finding out how our heroes save the world!
[b:Dead Time|34829188|Dead Time (Between Two Evils #3)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491754623s/34829188.jpg|56054960] picks up right where Lost Time left off—Shannon has been kidnapped by a bunch of backwoods religious nutballs while Diego is stuck in C-Bay where this universe's version of his true love Iz can't stand to look at him.
We find out Shannon was taken to be put into an arranged marriage, Bella (this universe's Iz) believes Diego is her universe's James who supposedly died twenty years earlier, oh and yeah, some of the biodomes might be in danger of collapsing...
I'm really interested in the outline/plan Orton has for our characters. Crossing in Time set up an amazing idea—a multiverse-ending apocalypse that can only be prevented by some time-travelling, star-crossed lovers. Lost Time explored one alternate universe as one lover got sent off course to fix everything. Dead Time stays in that same "wrong" universe, is the longest book of the series so far, and doesn't really focus on the apocalypse much at all!
There is a lot of drama within this one universe, but I'm still left wondering what is happening with Matt back in Earth Prime, what's happening with Tego in his universe, and where was Iz taken as she was nearly dying at the end of book 1?
I love the ideas and characters and story lines—but there are just so many balls in the air, it's hard to remember all the details from previous books (like a note from Book 2 that appears in Book 3 or even the fact that Lani, one of the three main characters, was the street-smart girl in the first few chapters of Book 1 all grown up!). I can't help but imagine this story as a movie, but it's hard to figure out what pieces of the puzzle would make a quality film. The first two books each end on huge cliffhangers, but since I'm not a screenwriter, I guess it doesn't matter much...
Orton does more of what she's done previously—alternate chapters with different narrators (once again Diego, Shannon, and her mother Lani). The differentiation seems to be getting slightly better from chapter to chapter—there were a few Shannon chapters that really felt like they were the thoughts of an 18-year-old girl. There's fewer R-rated scenes (none really that I remember) but still some nice romance between different sets of characters. One relationship feels very much like Diego-Iz relationship with the way the two fight (but perhaps that's done on purpose?)
My only main complaint is the ease with which everything wrapped up in the end. It felt a little too convenient (perhaps a deus ex machina situation) how everything that needed to happen was able to happen as time ticked down. Looking back, I wonder if there could have been a different split point between Books 2 & 3 that may have balanced the lengths a little more and given the final few chapters here time to grow and events happen in a more realistic manner.
Still, we're learning a few more details about how the time travel machine works (it feels a little like a McGuffin) like how it targets the universe it's traveling to. But we still have more to learn (like why the sock, where are the notes coming from, and how are the targeting "beacons" gathered and sent between worlds?) so I'm sure I'll be back for Book 4. Even if I don't get to proofread it!
I really enjoyed the world & characters that [a:DL Orton|13506103|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1427753745p2/13506103.jpg] created in her first two books—[b:Crossing in Time|24934981|Crossing in Time (Between Two Evils, #1)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423942336s/24934981.jpg|44980455] & [b:Lost Time|30119294|Lost Time (Between Two Evils, #2)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462488827s/30119294.jpg|50544780]—and I was looking forward to reading more of the series and finding out how our heroes save the world!
[b:Dead Time|34829188|Dead Time (Between Two Evils #3)|D.L. Orton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491754623s/34829188.jpg|56054960] picks up right where Lost Time left off—Shannon has been kidnapped by a bunch of backwoods religious nutballs while Diego is stuck in C-Bay where this universe's version of his true love Iz can't stand to look at him.
We find out Shannon was taken to be put into an arranged marriage, Bella (this universe's Iz) believes Diego is her universe's James who supposedly died twenty years earlier, oh and yeah, some of the biodomes might be in danger of collapsing...
I'm really interested in the outline/plan Orton has for our characters. Crossing in Time set up an amazing idea—a multiverse-ending apocalypse that can only be prevented by some time-travelling, star-crossed lovers. Lost Time explored one alternate universe as one lover got sent off course to fix everything. Dead Time stays in that same "wrong" universe, is the longest book of the series so far, and doesn't really focus on the apocalypse much at all!
There is a lot of drama within this one universe, but I'm still left wondering what is happening with Matt back in Earth Prime, what's happening with Tego in his universe, and where was Iz taken as she was nearly dying at the end of book 1?
I love the ideas and characters and story lines—but there are just so many balls in the air, it's hard to remember all the details from previous books (like a note from Book 2 that appears in Book 3 or even the fact that Lani, one of the three main characters, was the street-smart girl in the first few chapters of Book 1 all grown up!). I can't help but imagine this story as a movie, but it's hard to figure out what pieces of the puzzle would make a quality film. The first two books each end on huge cliffhangers, but since I'm not a screenwriter, I guess it doesn't matter much...
Orton does more of what she's done previously—alternate chapters with different narrators (once again Diego, Shannon, and her mother Lani). The differentiation seems to be getting slightly better from chapter to chapter—there were a few Shannon chapters that really felt like they were the thoughts of an 18-year-old girl. There's fewer R-rated scenes (none really that I remember) but still some nice romance between different sets of characters. One relationship feels very much like Diego-Iz relationship with the way the two fight (but perhaps that's done on purpose?)
My only main complaint is the ease with which everything wrapped up in the end. It felt a little too convenient (perhaps a deus ex machina situation) how everything that needed to happen was able to happen as time ticked down. Looking back, I wonder if there could have been a different split point between Books 2 & 3 that may have balanced the lengths a little more and given the final few chapters here time to grow and events happen in a more realistic manner.
Still, we're learning a few more details about how the time travel machine works (it feels a little like a McGuffin) like how it targets the universe it's traveling to. But we still have more to learn (like why the sock, where are the notes coming from, and how are the targeting "beacons" gathered and sent between worlds?) so I'm sure I'll be back for Book 4. Even if I don't get to proofread it!