Gail L. (divine-ms-m) reviewed on 4/22/2006 + 312 more book reviews

Asa Steele was a paleontogy instructor from a small western college- and just about fed-up with it. He returned home to rural Wisconsin on sabbatical to think things over--and to investigate what he thought might be the site of a crashed UFO that he remembered as a boy. Like so much else, it was still there unchanged. The fragments that he escavated came back from the university lab as belonging to an unknown alloy with extraordinary properties. Yet there was nothing else that really proved an extraterrestrial origin. That is, until his dog started to bring back dinosaur bones and other artifacts from the gateway that the ship had punched through the space-time fabric....

While kids will love this story, it isn't really a child's book. The adult character development is quite good. So are the plot complications (of course the government would try to seize a gateway into the past to hand over to its corporate masters.) But the theme of unlimited, pristine, uninhabited worlds ready for the taking are what really sets this particular book apart. I know that I would pack up and take off to them in a heartbeat.

This book is absolutely FABULOUS!! If you like Jurassic Park and books concerning ancient creatures, READ THIS BOOK! What I liked was the alien. It was a unique type--almost like E.T. except cooler. A review I found for it: "Cliff Simak's unique genius is that he can relate the small, warm intimacies of human relationships to the great sweep of time and space. This is one of his best!"

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