Crossing in Time: The First Disaster is D. L. Orton’s first book in the Between Two Evils series.

In short, Isabelle needs to go back in time to rescue her failed relationship with Diego to save the world. It’s not difficult to see where Crossing in Time has its two focuses; a science fiction element encompassing time travel, and the relationship between Isabelle and Diego.

We’re not allowed to judge a book by its cover, but I’ll give a brief heads-up to the chapter header pages; some think the following might be a small point but I like it; they have a hand drawn picture on them which is slightly descriptive (as is the chapter title) and helps to give the book a feel of real craftsmanship.

There’s also an indication of the subject of the first person who varies between three or four main characters. It’s sort of obvious from the reading, but the chapter heading makes it clear right from the start and you can get straight into the mindset of the first person character without that frustrating initial who is this? moment.

Writing Style

D. L. Orton is clearly well versed in science fiction from literature and movies, and this percolates throughout the novel. This comes in the form of various quotes and references or parallels drawn in similar circumstances and again makes me feel that I’m reading a well crafted product.

Woven within the plot itself is subtle humour; it’s really well done because it doesn’t negate or lower the tone which D. L. Orton has skillfully set into place but enhances feelings and emotions felt by the characters. This isn’t a comedy novel, rather comedy is used as a tool within it.

In addition to the scientific placing and the developed characters, there’s the shifting point of view with multiple first person characters who give differing angles and views on events (and other characters). The final concoction is a well thought out novel with interesting characters, situations and a fascinating underlying plot!

Time travel

There are some brilliant time travel and related science fiction ideas in Crossing in Time. At times though I felt that they could have been introduced or explained a little more instead of simply mentioned in passing. It’s not that it was too complicated; I just thought there were some missed opportunities to expand on some fantastic ideas where other areas of the novel seemed to attract a huge amount of (unnecessary) attention.

Diego is the first to time travel. Actually, this is after much testing – though some may argue not enough! ? A team of scientists develops theories into the worlds of parallel universes and timelines, as well as instrumentation such as peepers to gain insights into them.

Through these scientific tests and discussions over the results, we learn more behind the mechanics of the time travel element. The ubiquitous bureaucracy, red tape, and village idiots inject a certain amount of realism and credibility to the saga.

Whereas Diego’s trip in time has huge question marks hanging over it, things are a bit clearer for Isabelle, and indeed we follow Isabelle back in time to when she was with Diego in their early years together. Isabelle now has a younger body back in this history, that is to say, a body commensurate with the date. I immediately questioned whether she’d taken her old self’s place, or whether she was the second version, and if so, where was the ‘original’? Just as I was starting to think a hole was developing, clarity came in the text!

Actually, this happens quite frequently in Crossing in Time – I’d think there was a discrepancy or something vital missing only to read the explanation moments later. Note this is just me – it’s my own weakness that I ask too many questions, and in this case, I slowly learned that D. L. Orton would answer my questions at the proper time!

Isabelle and Diego

I’m giving this a separate section as it’s an important part of the novel, though I’ve only got three main things to say about it.

• I thought that D. L. Orton captures really well an older Isabelle in a younger body meeting her boyfriend again. She retains memory and wisdom from the older self and still has the excitement from the early days.
• A mysterious man in a Panama hat buys lunch for Diego and Isabella. I’m always suspicious of “mysterious” people in time travel novels as more often than not they turn out to be a key character from the future. Hopefully, I’m wrong here!
• I was saddened that Isabelle thought that the best way to keep her and Diego together in the future was to teach him primarily how to respond to her sexual desires. Marriage is deeper than that.

Apart from these observations, I can’t think of much else to say about it. Just lovey dovey stuff and erotica.

Erotica

D.L. Orton ‘warned’ me beforehand that there was erotica in Crossing in Time and was curious to know what I thought about it from a male perspective. That comes as a relief, because for me to give a female perspective would be either impossible or painful. So here it is.

I didn’t like it.

To be honest, it wasn’t as explicit as I was expecting, in fact, it struck me as being done quite tastefully, but yes, it was graphic.

I’ve nothing against erotica being in a novel – it’s what couples do. We also wait for buses and do the laundry but the point is that I’m just not interested in reading about it. Isabelle and Diego may as well have planted some grass seeds and watched them grow, or painted walls and watched them dry. So what?

In fairness to them, sex seems to be the crux of their relationship (see the last bullet point above) and of course, that’s up to them, but that’s not really my issue.

But that’s just subjective personal preference. My main gripe in its inclusion isn’t the content. It’s how it drags on and on, adding nothing to the depth of character (please don’t take that the wrong way…) or obstinately not taking the plot forwards. I simply felt awkward reading it (for the reasons I mentioned above) and I gained nothing from it.

A volcano with no eruption

Crossing in Time is not self-complete. Perhaps this is an unfair thing to comment on in a review of a book which quite clearly says “Book 1” on the cover, but I feel especially cheated because for the last quarter of the novel I was wasting my time reading about the physical relationship whilst the plot stagnated.

I was reminded of a recent visit to Mount Etna.

Flashback: A little while ago I went on an organised tour up Mount Etna. It was a really early start (4:15 am) and on the way, we stopped for a bite to eat. It took 3 hours. We also stopped off to be pressured into buying some tourist crap. For an hour.

Eventually, we got to Mount Etna and took a cable car to take us 500 m higher. Excellent stuff! At the top were off road vehicles which could take us right to the smoking rumbling crater rim; the stuff we’d come for!

But we’d arrived at the site too late; there was only half an hour before the last cable car left to take us back down. I was gutted. The whole purpose of the trip was to get to the top of an active volcano but too much time was wasted beforehand. Instead, we could only rumble around the barren rocky landscape.

And it’s the same with this novel. Pages and pages of leg caressing and touching inner thighs…and then…the book ends. There’s no off-roader to move the story line on.

*Growl*

So is this a teaser for Book 2? Maybe, but I’d fear that Book 2, and subsequent books until the last one, will end similarly.

But the story line is strong and ultimately I’d love to read the whole series to see how it pans out.

And Finally

A little while ago a friend asked whether I read predominantly male-written books. I’d never really thought about it before; to be honest I go straight for the book descriptions and things. Judging a book by its cover is quoted for being bad, judging one by the sex of its author I think is insane.

But that said…it turns out that most books on my read list are written by men. That’s not me deliberately picking out male books, and equally, I hope that it’s not that I have a natural preference for male-written books. Or come to think of it, I hope it’s also that there aren’t enough science fiction books out there written by women (or girls).

So somehow that makes Crossing in Time special in that somehow it’s made its way from the mind of a female author through my eyeballs and onto my retina, tumbling into my brain and providing me with much enjoyment.

Because it’s written by a woman?

No. Because it’s a great novel with some brilliant science fiction written against a knowledgeable (and humourous) backdrop!

Rating * * * *

Crossing in Time has a foot in two camps – romance (actually, sexual attraction) and science fiction. The trouble is that almost literally the legs are split too far between these camps.

The story line is strong and engaging, and there’s a wealth of juicy time travel ideas and gadgetry in there. I’d love to read the whole series, so for these reasons I’m giving Crossing in Time 4 stars, losing a star due to the prolonged and unnecessary slushy stuff. I’m cautious, though, because focusing on this single book is like judging a meal by the way the waitress walks when she brings you the starter.

(And in this case, the waitress wrote the menu pretty well too! ? )

Paul

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Disclaimer: A copy of “Crossing in Time” was sent to me free of charge to read and review. This it!

Star ratings:

| 5* Excellent! | 4* Good | 3* OK | 2* Not good | 1* Crud |