The gordian protocol

In the present, Benjamin Schröder, a history professor in South Carolina, has a mental breakdown dealing with the sudden appearance of a second set of memories as real and compelling as what he thought of as his normal life. Then, as he nears recovery, Raibert Kaminski appears at his door. He claims to be a historian from the thirty-first century with a story of how sixteen alternate histories have been bound together in a Knot which Schröder holds the key to unraveling. If Schröder can't help, each of those universes will come to an explosive end. But the cost to Schröder is less abstract and incredibly monstrous, and soon the two are facing a ruthless threat that shows no respect for the denizens of the past. The usual Tom Clancy-esque exposition of technical details that readers expect from Weber are leavened by absurd humor and bloody action. Echoes of Robert Heinlein mix with the inventiveness of Charles Stross and lots of exploding temporal spaceships and bodies. Weber and Holo must have had a ball writing this action-packed temporal/multiverse-travel novel.--Don Vicha Copyright 2019 Booklist

This fun and thrilling standalone from Weber (Uncompromising Honor) and Holo (Disciples of the Dead) finds a 30th-century historian at odds with a world unfamiliar to him, and the fate of his universe rests in the mind of a 20th-century history professor who believes he's going mad. Raibert Kaminski is a time-traveling historian returning from ancient Rome when a chronoton event knocks his ship out of sync. Upon arriving "home," Raibert realizes he's in an alternate universe where cruel Csaba Shigeki is director general of the Department of Temporal Investigation. Raibert hopes to undo the time hiccup and restore the proper timeline of his own universe and 15 others, which have become entangled, but Shigeki is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Raibert from undoing the knot and ending Shigeki's existence. Benjamin Schröder is living in two worlds: one in which he has a great job and a wonderful fiancé, and another, devastatingly horrible, that he believes exists only in his mind, though it feels all too real. Some moment in this alternate reality is the key to Raibert's goal. There are the usual time travel pitfalls (why doesn't Shigeki go back in time to kill Raibert?), but time travel enthusiasts will enjoy the moral dilemmas, nonstop action, and crisp writing. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.