Added to my e-bookshelf … <em>“Downtime”</em>

Added to my e-bookshelf … “Downtime”

Posted on June 30th, 2016 by Jeff McDonald

In her book “Downtime,” Cynthia Fleece offers us a love story and a science fiction story … maybe it’s the guy in me, but I wish there could have been a little more ‘science’ in the story.

Don’t get me wrong … I enjoyed the read, and I recommend it to others. It’s a recent addition to a long tradition of stories that illustrate the complications that arise when love blossoms across a disjointed time stream. Rod Serling tackled it 50+ years ago in “The Long Morrow” … and before that, there was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It’s still makes for a good story today in films and television … and in books like “Downtime.”

My gripe about ‘more science?’ I blame it on my biblio-upbringing. Fifty-some years ago, my introduction to science fiction was through hand-me-down paperbacks of stories by Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clark, and later on some Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury … good fiction, good storytelling, with generous doses of of good (if hypothetical at the time) science and technology added to the mix.

While I read through “Downtime,” eager to get to the conclusion to see how the characters might fare and the story might end, I also found myself wishing for a little more detail on the jelly bean, the stellerator … and, of course, that all-important elixer.

BUT, while I’ve devoted a lot of words to my little gripe … it really is a LITTLE matter. All-in-all, I recommend “Downtime” to you as a good read, and a good addition to that tradition I mentioned earlier … illustrating the complications that arise when love blossoms across a disjointed time stream. You’ll want to read “Downtime” to the end … and discover whether those complications might be overcome.
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NOTE: I received a free e-copy of this work through LibraryThing in exchange for a review.

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Jeff McDonald

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.