Review: Time Travel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2013
In the interest of fairness, I won a print copy of Linear Shift on an author giveaway.I'll be the first to admit it: I have trouble with time-shift stories. I have a hard time keeping it all straight in my head. The first time I watched Back to the Future I had to make a map to follow the story. So when I powered up my trusty Kindle to read Linear Shift, I approached it with trepidation (and a pencil and paper).This is a novelette-sized story, approximately 13,000 words, and it involves time travel. Since this is the first installment and relatively short, there was no time travelling, so there was no need for my pencil and paper, yet.Like any good story, Part One of Linear Shift establishes characters and provides glimpses of the world they live in. For this story it is Peter, a down-and-out man with two kids to support.We learn about the miserable circumstances that he has dealt with for the past two years. Then we also see the unexpected chance offered to him, a chance to monetarily erase some of those previous bad circumstances. The reward is high, but the cost is higher. So he is faced with the dilemma of accepting the task, while knowing little of what is being asked of him.Paul B. Kohler does a good job of telling a story as he has done in Linear Shift. His characters are intriguing. In fact, I found myself at odds with his protagonist. Because of some of Peter's decisions, I found myself not liking him very much. I'm not sure why, maybe because he is too believable.Kohler provides plenty of hints of what's coming up. Seeing how he will unfold the story will be interesting.Linear Shift contains cursing and a couple of sexual references. Luckily, the sexual references are fleeting, and the author doesn't dwell on them too much.If you enjoy time travel, looking for a new author, and searching for a quick sci-fi read, then consider checking out Linear Shift by Paul B. Kohler. You won't be disappointed.This review is also posted on my blog: [...]