Branch Point

By Mona Clee and Brando Skyhorse

In time travel, there is a starting point, an end point, and a point of no reutrn. From a journal written in 1836, in a city which will not be called San Francisco, here are the memoirs of a girl chronicling her voyage back in time from the year 2062 to the year 1962, and how the world was saved from nuclear war.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441002919
• ISBN13: 9780441002917
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A romp

Ever have the fantasy of going back in time and fixing something from history? My own favorite is trying to prevent the Civil War. Branch Point takes that idea and gives it a twist -- the heroes prevent the nuclear war that (in their alternate future) came from the Cuban Missile Crisis, but then had to keep doing it again and again as the world insisted repeatedly on obliterating itself.This book, like Overshoot, is probably of more interest to Boomers than younger folks, as much of its appeal comes from the heroes living through the '60s, early and late. I mean, what person now in his or her '40s did not, as a child, want to meet and talk with Jack Kennedy? The treatment of Kennedy, incidentally, is in considerable depth, depicting a realistic outgrowth of his less delightful characteristics as well as the Camelot image. The characters of Jeffrey and of the narrator's Russian lover also come clear and deep.One of the twists to the story is when the last jump is made, and the last preventive fix is in place, and the book ends -- and you realize where YOU are living, compared to where the heroine now is. Less serious than Overshoot, Branch Point moves faster and is more of a lark.

Great book!

I loved this book. I especially liked Clee's keen grasp of recent history. I even learned a couple of things. Without giving anything away, I can say that the history courses I took (during the height of the cold war) never mentioned those particular Russian forts. If you are interested in recent social history or alternate history/time travel this book should interest you. It is well-written and the first line of the book is one of the best hooks I've ever read. I just wish I could get a hardback copy.

Lots of Fun! Highly Recommended!

This is a time travel/alternate worlds book that is highly entertaining. The cover plug is right on about "beautiful, poetic prose" but the writing style is also very accessible and draws you right into the story. The book has a serious side in addition to the humor and to Clee's vivid re-creation of several period in recent (and not so recent) history. I hate books that are obviously written with sequels in mind, and this isn't one of them. Hopefully there will be one -- I spotted one place where I think Clee left the door open for a second book, not as free of the spectre of nuclear war as the one surviving main character would have wished.

A feast for time-travel/alternate-world junkies!

I'll read any novel involving time travel or alternate worlds, but this one's at the top of my list. The depth of historical detail is impressive -- Clee certainly did her homework. As a San Franciscan, I thoroughly enjoyed how the final "branch point" in the book (no spoilers!) made use of a little-known but pivotal event in California history. The characters were vivid and believable (especially the narrator, Anna), the pacing of the story just brisk enough, and the book wound up with a very satisfying ending.

so good I got carsick trying to finish it on the train!

"Branch Point" is what the series "Sliders" *ought* to have been. This is the cleverest treatment of time-travel and its inherent paradoxes that I've ever read, and the narrator's dry wit makes this book a sheer pleasure to read.