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Firstborn (A Time Odyssey book 3) by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
02/02/2008 . Source: Sue Davies 
pub: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. 364 page hardback. Price: $25.95 (US), $32.00 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-345-49157-2). Buy Firstborn in the USA - or Buy Firstborn in the UK  check out website: www.delreybooks.com
This is the continuing story of Bisesa Dutt who first came to the reader in 'Time's Eye'. She travelled through an all-seeing eye into a world that was a rough tapestry of the Earth in various ages. The 'eyes' are sentinels observing the human race as it makes its mark on the Earth. The patchwork worlds, alternative Earth contains samples of some races, species, and times in a sort of zoo in an alternative fake universe.
In the second book, Bisesa is delivered back to Earth five years older but the day after her 'trip' where she has to cope with events in 'Sunstorm'. Now in the third and final book she wakes up from a long cryogenic-like sleep known as 'estivation'. It is nineteen years after she took her little nap and people need her. Her daughter, Myra, wakes her up to face a new problem. A weapon is making its way towards Earth. It looks like the end for the planet. Myra's friend Alexei helps the pair slip off the planet and get to Mars. Bisesa realises that once again 'The Firstborn' are determining her future.
Once again, this is highly readable and very intense when it comes to the description of science but I would not recommend it if you like some human emotion with your Science Fiction. What I don't like about it is the lack of humanity in the pages. I never got attached the characters. My gut never wrenches when they are in dire straits. Believe me I am easy to engage if you just make a little effort. This does not ding any dongs for me. The science I am sure is immaculate but its vision of the future is soulless.
Sue Davies
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