No Enemy But Time

Michael Bishop

1983

This book contains two different story strands, one in the present of the main character, one Joshua Kappa and the other developing his background.

Joshua is a very confused child. Born to a mute Spanish whore of an American father, his mother ends up giving him up to the American military base, where he's adopted by an American/Latino couple, which went part way to hiding his unusually dark complexion.

As his mother was unable to speak with him as a baby his adoptive parents were afraid he would be slow off the mark learning to speak. But it was not until he had his first lucid dreaming event that they knew the true meaning of fear. But what was it that could so terrify the youngster?

It was not until John-John was able to read that he discovered the giant creatures he dreamed about had really once roamed the Earth. Throughout his teens, he knows what he's dreaming of, but not why, or how. After a talk by the eminent palaeontologist, he's more convinced than ever that he dreams truly but he little realises just what he's letting himself in for.

After finding himself called up into the military, he finds himself in the Great Rift Valley in Africa, where he learns how truthful his dreams were.

The story of his time in the far distant past is interspersed with the story of his upbringing in sixties American. Although this technique often does not work that well, Michael Bishop actually pulls it off quite well. The method of time travel is rather unusual - Joshua does not actually travel in time. Through a combination of drugs and hypnosis what he experienced was a simulation of that past - a very realistic simulation, mind you!

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This is a Gollancz Classic Science Fiction Edition

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