Review: Excellent prose but slow pacing.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 12, 2013
The Show continues the story of Grace Vandenburg, the girl that time traveller Joel Smith from 2002  fell in love with in 1941, in John Holt's novel The Mine. It begins with her racing after Joel when he returns to 2002, and follows the story of her finding him, only to lose him again when she finds herself transported back to 1918.Mr Holt writes excellent prose, develops his characters well and presents the periods he writes about very well, however he does tend to give more information than a story requires, and in this story, the amount of backstory he gives in the early chapters is on the edge of being too much. This could be forgiven if it was the only issue with the book, but even if we overlook the  coincidental meetings and, for me at least, unbelievable time portals (the mine I belived, the rest room, not so much), once we arrive in 1918, the main story thread loses momentum.We are introduced to more points of view, Grace's mother, father,  Aunt and the man next door, and much of this seemed to be a bit of a side track to me. I found myself skimming pages of personal and historical detail, much of which seemed superflous to me, eg the details of John's previous fiancee. The author lost me along with the forward momentum of the story and too much unnecessary detail. The part set in 1918 really needed a quicker pace.However, if you're not bothered by a slow pace, are looking for an excellent depiction of time periods, including the challenges faced by people within them, and you love details then this is the right kind of book for you.The story wound up well with some unexpected elements.