Time travel with some twists in the American West (4 stars on Amazon)
By Dr. Gregg E. Townsley on April 23, 2015
What started out as a Facebook conversation about writing, turned into a pleasant three-day read in Robert A. Boyd’s Overland: A Steampunk Novel. I was attracted to the title because I’m the author of a series of Westerns set in Nevada during the 1880s. Overland fit my professional interests, and since I’ve spent some time trying to understand early railroads in the American West, Boyd’s book about an fictional journey by rail to California seemed apropos.
...it is interesting fiction and the book kept me engaged for a good couple hundred pages before I looked up and wondered if I was almost done. Straight up, Overland surpassed my expectations, lent me an extraordinarily rich understanding of 19th century rail travel and geography, and kept me well entertained until the end.
Here’s the gist: man takes journey, meets an alluring and unusual woman, discovers she comes with an equally unusual man and situation. Time-travel twists and turns compliment throughout, though what I enjoyed most was Boyd’s character development and use of language. And like a teenager, I even found myself looking for more sex. Fellow writers, pay attention here—he writes those scenes very, very well.
In the end, I was struck by how much of the Boyd man was found in the material, so to speak, given the author’s interest in model railroading and history. He’s gained a friend in the publishing industry, and a colleague in whatever community of authors there is in the world. In the future, I’ll look forward to seeing what else Robert A. Boyd is up to, because this book was a pleasure to read.
Author's Note: I have since learned that this work is not strictly a 'Steampunk' novel, but rather a 'Period SF'. The cover has been amended accordingly.)
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