Micronauts
The Time Traveler Trilogy Book 2
By Steve Lyons

     The first book in this trilogy conjured up classic era SF with superheroes and bug-eyed monsters breaking through from another dimension and loose in a small Colorado town. Now the second part conjures up Orwell’s 1984, as the armoured protagonist Kel Nanissar (a.k.a Acroyear) awakens in his apartment in Micropolis to the good morning message of the System. This is a city that can be easily imagined, run by a corrupt leader, aided and abetted by the Levellers (the police of this police state) and filled with people dreaming of freedom. Ryan Archer is there too, no longer living in Angel’s Gift but in the same block as Kel and together they will take on the System.

     A tale more dissimilar to the first part cannot be imagined and I wondered for the first few pages whether this was book two of another trilogy but no, this is the right one. This is a novel from another SF tradition, and whereas we first had Ryan narrating, now there is Kel who has a very different voice but having the protagonist telling the story gives it a sense of immediacy that suits such a fast-paced tale. If you are thinking that there is nothing very original about this plot then you are right, but marrying it to such a different first part is something of an artist’s flourish. The main part of this tale is adventure and excitement and those pages turn fast as the pair plus Persephone pit their wits against the evil ruler and…well, read it and find out for yourself. I found myself swept along by it all and surely all true SF fans will rejoice that here is some more real traditional SF for today’s readers. I cannot imagine what Steve Lyons will do for the third and final installment…