20 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Oracle
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Oracle (Paperback)

by Ian Watson (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


5 new from £0.01 15 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 13 used & new from £0.01

Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (20 Aug 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575602260
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575602267
  • Product Dimensions: 17.7 x 11.1 x 1.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,812,215 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

Time-travel fantasy in which a Roman centurion is brought forward in time by experiments carried out by the British security forces.


About the Author

Ian Watson was born in 1943. He lectured in Tanzania and Tokyo and taught Future Studies at Birmingham Polytechnic. He began publishing sf with 'Roof Garden Under Saturn' for New Worlds in 1969 but it was with the publication of The Embedding in 1973 that he really established himself as a writer of rare power and vision.

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Slick and intense, 3 Mar 2007
By Mrs. K. A. Smurthwaite "Kell" (Aberdeen, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Whenever I pick up a book who's plot involves time travel, I get a bit wary - I read in constant fear of a paradox ruining the story for me, as I'll invariably pick it apart, proving that such-and-such couldn't happen because so-and-so did this, that or the other. It's rare for an author to pull it off without writing him or herself into a corner, but Ian Watson has accomplished it with flair. Not content with planting a first Century Roman Centurion in modern Britain, he also manages to delve deeper, adding politics to the mix and making it an integral part of the plot, even managing to show substantial comparison between events witnessed by the Roman and those happening in modern-day Ireland.

He doesn't faff around with phoney scientific explanations for the sudden appearance of a man from the past either - he gives the reason, but doesn't offer up scientific theory, which makes a refreshing change and also means that as science progresses, there will be fewer holes picked in this novel than in some others (hurrah!).

This would have been awarded 9/10 but for the ending which was rather abrupt and felt like a bit of a cop-out - it felt unfinished, like Watson had more to say but was edited in the final chapters, so a point is retracted. Still, what remains is an intense political thriller with terrorists and a Roman soldier in tow and it's a while since I've read something of this kind that was so good. It's well worth a look.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, tightly plotted, time travel thriller, 25 April 2002
By A Customer
This is the first watson book i have read, an entertaining and pleasingly convulted thriller involving time travelling centurions the IRA and a top secret government project to spy into the future. As a pure time travel novel it suffers from too much else being shoehorned into the available space, so that the wonder of such events is perhaps inadequately expressed. Still very enjoyable though, despite the dark Northern Ireland paranioa that suffuses it.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject














i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.