3 out of 4 stars
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30th Century: Escape by Mark Kingston Levin is the Volume 1 of the 30th Century Trilogy. Captain Jennifer Hero has a mission to save the Naturals, original humans, from the Syndos, genetically-altered humans. Jennifer and her team are going to travel back in time from the thirtieth century to the twenty-seventh century. The objective of the mission is to correct the Syndos' DNA with a virus that will correct their moral compass. If the Syndos' moral compass is corrected, they will not exterminate the Naturals in the thirtieth century. Jennifer sends her team to the twenty-seventh century, but she goes back to the twenty-first century. She abandons her team because she needs to grieve for the death of her partner, Professor Zexton Ho. In 2015, Professor Marty Zitonick and his marine research team rescue Jennifer from the Moruroa atoll. Jennifer comes up with a convincing cover story, but she struggles to hide her enhanced physical and intellectual abilities. Even though she has some difficulty adapting to the primitive culture of the twenty-first century, she manages to start a fulfilling new life. Her guilt over abandoning her team and a revelation might change everything.
Mark Kingston Levin's background was the main reason I chose to read 30th Century: Escape. The author is a scientist who worked on the Apollo and Mars projects and served as a science advisor to President Gerald Ford. In addition, Dr. Levin completed his PhD under the guidance of the Nobel Laureate Paul Dirac. I was interested in reading his fictional take on time travel, which is an important theme of the book. Surprisingly, the author discusses several scientific subjects throughout the story. Examples are marine biology, cosmology, archeology, and physics. He also discusses history, ancestry, and culture. I enjoyed reading about these academic subjects because I am an academic myself. My favorite aspect of the book was reading about dark holes, time travel, and the expansion of the universe.
My least favorite aspect of the book was that the writing is a bit boring. The scientific explanations are too long, particularly in the dialogue form. The characters have some academic conversations that seem more appropriate for an academic journal than a novel. This type of academic writing contrasts with the erotic nature of the novel. I felt like I was reading two different books within the same book: an academic book and an erotic book. The author, however, succeeds in writing beautiful descriptions of islands and marine life.
The structure of the book is a little incongruous. This book is classified as a science fiction and erotic novel. However, the first half of the book does not contain erotic material. Suddenly, the tone of the book changes, and the second half focuses on Jennifer's sexual behavior and the theme of polyamory.
I rate 30th Century: Escape 3 out of 4 stars because Dr. Levin discusses several interesting and mysterious scientific subjects. I particularly enjoyed reading about time travel, dark holes, and the expansion of the universe. I also found it quite interesting how he portrays the future. I really hope the next books of the series focus more on these themes. As I stated before, I felt like I was reading two different books within a book. As a result, I deducted a star. There are a few grammatical errors too. I would recommend this book to adults who are interested in scientific themes. Readers of erotica might like the second part of the book the most.
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30th Century: Escape
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