Knights of the Continuum
from the Journal of the Time Builder
by Rick J. Fiore
Paperback, United Kingdom, Dec 2013, 500 pages

Cover art by Rick J. Fiore
Yes, it's Rick on the cover of his book with a sword in his hands; he also designed and created the ship on 3D software.

Rick Fiore in Great Britain, has written this novel based on time travel. A novel that was inspired by H.G. Wells' First men in the moon, War of the Worlds and of course, The Time Machine. The film adaption from 1960 is one of his all "time" (no pun intended) favorite films. This book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle, or you can also go to his facebook page named "The Knights of the Continuum" if you want to get a feel for the story. On facebook you will find lots of images and a treatment for the story.

Text on the backside of the book:

1869: A man is murdered in Westminster Abbey. The weapon used: Excalibur. 1899: John Arthur, the son of the murdered man, needs to find the truth about the death of his Father and claim the sword which still stands proud in the Abbey. It is only with Excalibur that John can unite a fellowship from distant worlds to defeat an enemy that threatens all of humanity. 1969: An American journalist intends to unearth the truth behind the now famous sword of the Abbey, only to find himself involved as time bends in upon itself resulting in a huge battle in 60's London. This book explores the history of John's Father and the mysterious pocket watch bequeathed to him by the equally mysterious wizard. It takes us through John's understanding of his duty and his relationships with Doctor Harry Kenner, the beautiful Katherine Canaveral, Captain Larry Faygun and Crusifious, the powerful King of Oyrinx. Join John Arthur on his journey through time, space and enlightenment. Follow him as he slowly becomes his own hero. A hero only time can create.

My review of the book will come later, but here are some words from Rick J. Fiore himself about the important differences between the 1960 and the 2002 Time Machine films:
N.B.: SPOILER ALERT!

My favorite version of The Time Machine film is the 1960 version without a shadow of a doubt. Some aspects of the remake were clever, but having the Morlocks attacking in daylight and speaking did not sit right with me and as for setting it in New York, why? The whole point was that London at the time was the hub and leader of human technical development. Why does Hollywood have to rewrite history, fact or fiction, in its own image? Don't even want to mention "War of the Worlds" from 1952, why was it set in some rural farm town? Budget? (I know it was produced by George Pal).

But then Pal got it right with "The Time Machine" and stuck to the plot and its location, and picking up on little things like the time traveller's want of meat at the meal with his friends upon his return, and the obvious interest in machines and engineering, points made in the book that hint his descendants would be Morlock rather than Eloi. The clever way H.G. Wells painted the other friends to be less interested in how time travel worked but instead found the experiment nothing more that a magic trick which set the foundation for the Eloi's disinterest in anything other than amusement. The idea of tying in the air raid siren was genius.

But the most disappointing thing for me in the remake was that the time traveller destroyed the machine thus severing any more adventures. George Pal also improved the story by not killing off Weena for as good as the book was a film needs that feel good factor and high impact ending. After all the ending of Jaws the film was better than the book as was the ending of the original Planet of the apes. I know I have waffled somewhat but in conclusion I agree with you that the combination of Wells and Pal make a fantastic story which is why I like "Terra Geopal Wells".

Rick J. Fiore

"It's only a machine" the time traveller in the 2002 film said, but in my fantasy novel he sold the blueprints which got copied and then sold again to Borim Luneshar, the Erkelzaarian farmer/soldier which became the Tranibor, the Sun Emperor of Matebia. The Kobarashian people built a time machine after his blueprint to replace the old one which got burned with the old Tranibor by Nikoforaz the Tyrant, the king of Erkelzaar. But the Kobarashian people managed to repair the old time machine, but they did something wrong, because it got floating in the air instead of travelling in time. But near Borim's arrival site at the West Gate of Portelan, the capital city of Matebia, is the Stargate, worshipped by the Chika'maarians from the neighbour kingdom. And Veriata, the princess of Erkelzaar must find her friend, lady Fenestra, lost somewhere in the Universe. Veriata, who always knows the truth because of a curse, know where she is. But Veriata also know that she, along with Shaqua, a young prince warrior and a gang of Chika'maarian warriors leaded by the warchief Chak'tzul'ha, first must go through the Stargate to the world Terra Geopal Wells. The warriors must fight against the morlocks in their caverns, because Veriata needs a zero-point-module to give the Stargate power and one more rock crystal from the remains of Tibet to give the old time machine its power back to travel in time, because its origin is here, in Terra Geopal Wells and not in Artezania, the homeworld of Veriata, Borim and Fenestra.

This I will write in my forthcoming fantasy novel "The Return of the Tranibor", because in 2016, 70 years after H.G. Wells' death, this world will be free. And our, mine and his universe is only a few bubbles in a neverending foam; interacting with each other. Terra Geopal Wells is a world created by H.G. Wells and visualised by George Pal in 1960. I saw this film when I was a kid and I wondered after its rerun: what world did the time traveller create with these three books? The world Terra Geopal, of course! And what if ...

I began to put thing together with the help of my DVD and its extras, and here is some scenes from Terra Geopal, showing that even Terra Geopal Wells has a number of sub-worlds, due to the time traveller.

Sandra Petojevic, Master of Arts in Art History and Visual studies, December 5, 2013 (Updated December 14, 2013)

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