Timescape

Physicists as rock stars. Meh. While I did find Benford's style of writing to be very readable, the overall problem I had with this book; it's kind of boring. Benford has an almost mystical reverence for 'The Equations' and spends an inordinate amount of time inside his character's heads as they think about and work upon 'The Equations'. Sorry, but that does not make a compellingly nail-biting storyline. At least not for me.

My other complaint is - with a couple of exceptions - the lack of character development. Also, the rather provincial depiction of the female personalities. For a book published in 1980, Timescape feels like a book at least 10-20 years older. The tone makes Benford appear to be an author out of touch with his times.

On the plus side, the central concept of the story is actually very interesting and I really enjoyed the way Benford dealt with how the 'time-travel' aspect affected his characters and their worlds. Too bad it all gets bogged down by paragraph upon paragraph of exposition about the coolness of physics. Not really my cuppa...