An ingenious weaving of three colocated strands from Roman Britain, the English Civil War, and twentieth century suburban Cheshire. It is possible to infer that the three adolescent men are all the same person spread over time but this is not made explicit. The last two pages contain a neatly enciphered text that is not essential to understanding the book but enhances it. Some people consider the sexual elements of the modern story to be inappropriate to the young adolescent audience that Garner seems to be addressing. ( )

Initially confusing, but hypnotic book with a vast sense of place. Deeply depressing though - I loved it circa age 20. ( )

I'm still confused!

The majority of the book is dialogue, straight, brief sentences of dialogue that snap back and forth in such a way I had to keep backtracking to see who said what. (Occasional dialect didn't help, either.) Really, writing this as a play would have been clearer; at least I'd know who said what when. Stage directions would also have been helpful, as people seemed to come and go with nary a warning. Sometimes the only way I could tell someone had left the group was the character would speak and no one in the group would respond, so I knew they were talking to someone else.

For me, this book had too much going on (I could tell! I just couldn't tell exactly what!) and too little in the way of description. Narrative? That would be nice. I really wanted to like this -- and I know Garner can be inscrutable -- but there just wasn't enough to grab on to.

I wish he'd made the method of storytelling more traditional in structure (accessible!). It's like he was being obtuse on purpose. And I don't think it was one of those "storyline reflected in the structure of the book" things. Maybe I should be treating it like a long poem. Writ in verse, and all. Hmmm.

At least the setting was clear. Sometimes.

Not time-travel, exactly, but a marvelous evocation of the Cheshire countryside throughout history. Intertwines three threads (Roman Britain, Civil War England, and contemporary suburbia) and the importance of individual decisions. Powerful and successful. ( )

This extraordinary book is among my Top Ten (top teen?) Favourite Works of Fiction. It follows the journeys of three tormented young men (or are they the same person?) - a Roman soldier in Britain in the fifth century C.E., a peasant in the English Civil War, and a student living in the present day.

After reading this book, I went to the small Cheshire parish church where some of the Civil War and present-day action takes place. The screen is there, as is the Victorian effigy... and the memorial describing the historic Civil War assault on the church. A very moving experience to see.

This book exists in several editions. Whatever you do, make sure that you obtain one with the encoded message printed at the end of the book - and do take the effort to decode it! This message is Garner's final gift to those readers who care, and it completely transforms the book's finale. (Hint: he uses the de Vigenère cypher.) ( )