Time-travel, maybe; romance, perhaps; historical, certainly; Walt Socha’s Conflict combines present and past in a very cool tale of modern characters who help people relive America’s history through the ancient arts. When this busy crowd are thrust into reliving history for real, those arts, convincingly portrayed, combine with some seriously clever improvisation to rescue a group of children from tribal warfare and worse. But the enemy might want its victims back.

The author’s research is offered with an satisfyingly light and natural touch, extending beyond convincing details of weapons into medicine, astronomy and more. As this tribe of time-displaced explorers copes with indigenous enemies, old traditions, and new ills, they'll find that quests for vengeance and forgiveness clash as surely as personalities. Cultural taboos insert their curious rules, and a man who’s struggled to value himself learns his strengths and weaknesses.

Conflict stands alone as a smoothly written, wisely engineered and researched novel that blends myth, science, mystery and history. But an overarching tale casts a recurring shadow, and more novels must surely be in the works. They’ll be well worth looking out for.

Disclosure: I bought it on a deal. ( )