Micronauts
The Time Traveler Trilogy, No. 1
By Steve Lyons 

     I always look forward to getting any ibooks to review, because their SF titles seem to manage to capture that sense of wonder that classic era novels seemed to invoke so effortlessly. They conjure up a time of pulp novels and comic books with bright covers, a time of superheroes and bug-eyed monsters. Micronauts is that sort of story, only for a modern audience. Ryan Archer and his famous scientist father Dallas have come to the small town of Angel's Gift to witness a spectacular happening. A rift has opened up from another dimension and the town is playing host not only to tourists but also to the Micronauts, small-sized beings of varied and exotic appearance. Mayor Delaney and Dallas Archer are thrilled that these beings want to give us more advanced technology, but only Ryan and his new friend Klingon Bill, a nerdy conspiracy theorist, are less than happy and think that there is something more sinister going on. Ryan has dreams that once he, too, lived in this other dimension in a different life, and is being visited by a mysterious being he calls the Time Traveler who warns him that there is danger ahead.

     If you are thinking that there is nothing very new about this plot, then you are right, but it is what the author does with his story that keeps the pages turning. Ryan himself tells the story in the present tense, which helps it to rattle along, but there is something irresistible about the whole scenario. Miniature aliens, portals into other dimensions, robots, visions of evil tyrants ruling far-off galaxies are the stuff of SF dreams and Lyons serves up his tale like a master chef giving his own unique twist on a classic dish. Threaded through the exciting plot is Ryan's uneasy relationship with his father, and Bill, who desperately wants his theories to be true, but is not sure what to do when they are. Real traditional SF for today's readers and highly recommended.