3 out of 4 stars
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30th Century: Escape by Mark Kingston Levin, PhD is the first book in the 30th Century Trilogy. This book is both science fiction and erotic fiction. It tells the story of Captain Jennifer Hero. In the 30th century, humans are known as “Naturals”. Unfortunately, there are also “Syndos”. The Syndos are lacking a moral compass and wish to wipe out the inferior Naturals. Captain Hero’s mission is to lead trans-time teams to the 27th century to alter the development of the Syndos. Jennifer Hero belongs to the non-violent Secret Society that plans to correct the genetic code of the Syndos. They believe that once the Syndos are allowed to develop morally, they will no longer wish to wipe out the Naturals in the 30th century.
Jennifer’s partner, Zexton Ho, was a Nobel Prize winner. He created the trans-time machine that Jennifer and her team will use to go to the 27th century. Zexton was assassinated by the Syndos five years before the beginning of the book. Jennifer is burned out by a difficult life as a spy and by the loss of her partner, Zexton. After sending all the trans-time teams to the 27th century, Captain Jennifer alters her own trans-time coordinates and sends herself to the year 2015. The story centres mostly on Jennifer’s adjustment to the 21st Century.
I really enjoyed the parts of the book that involved Jennifer and her trans-time team. They were quite intense and exciting. They were also too short for my liking. A lot was packed into the last chapter. For a book with so much detail, the last chapter was surprisingly concise. I also really enjoyed Jennifer’s journey of discovery in the 21st century. She had to adjust both practically and emotionally. Jennifer had to restart her life and figure out how her past, present, and future would all work together.
I found this book to be an unusual combination of action, time travel, daily life, explicit sex, and very detailed archaeological, anthropological, and physics discussions. I will admit that I did not realize the book would qualify as erotic fiction when I chose to review it. It came as quite a surprise when the explicit sex scenes showed up, in great detail, in the second half of the book!
I felt that there was too much detail about archaeology, physics, and the sexual situations in the story. Having some information was great, but there was enough information provided for at least 4 different books. Any combination of the action, past/future adjustment, erotica, physics, and archaeology would have been fine. It was just too much to put in one book.
30th Century: Escape was an enjoyable science fiction story with interesting characters and creative ideas. I enjoyed the focus on Jennifer’s adjustment to the 21st century, but I would have preferred some more emphasis on the trans-time teams as well. I found that the detail in other areas was just too much for the story. It seemed like the book struggled to understand its own identity at times. As a result of these thoughts, I give 30th Century: Escape 3 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy time travel stories and are curious about how someone from the future might fit into the 21st century. I would also recommend this book to those who are interested in detailed discussions about the field of cosmology known as dark energy and those who are interested in the history of Polynesia. This book is definitely for mature audiences only. It includes multiple, varied, and explicit sex scenes.
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30th Century: Escape
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Once it was there and then it was gone! I enjoyed your review and I might possibly read it as well if it will be available again. I love sci-fi and seemingly it's not a bad book, despited its shortcomings.
