Alchemist of Time

I have been a fan of Karen Ripley since her first book, Prisoner of Dreams. First books are not always the best for any author but she pulled it off with excellence. I put her up there with the best story tellers of our time in sci-fi--ANY authors. The books, this and the follow up story, The Tenth Class, an excellent sequel, are crisp, exciting reads and immensely enjoyable and excellently plotted. There strongest points are the believability of the things she has created in her stories and the day to day events. It's a shame these stories never caught on as happened with the Liaden novels of Sharon Lee and Steave Miller. They too didn't sell at first. Karen's stories are that good. And it is a shame Karen Ripley doesn't write more pure Science-Fiction, as I think it's her finest medium, but then, Fantasy is very big these days. In these two stories, especially, she combines technical data, even though it may be imagined, with human interaction and movement through settings that envite page turning. Very tallented, as a writer, I'd like to see more of these future universes of hers come to life in more sci-fi works. I sincerely hope you get the opportunity to read both of these novels. They are excellent in every way. Thanks Karen, for some great escape and dreams of what may someday be. We all need to dream.

The stories are full of action. The author makes you feel for the characters. I found myself self unable to put her books down. I was always eager to get back to my reading.