From Publishers Weekly
Readers nostalgic for the juvenile SF novels of Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton will find much to enjoy in alternate-history master Turtledove's time-travel novel, the first of a new series, in which a late 21st-century world has eliminated pollution and resource scarcity by exploiting the resources of various alternative realities. The Solter family spends their summers in one such reality, on the frontier of a Roman Empire that never fell, trading Swiss Army knives and other hi-tech trinkets for grain. When the mother suffers an appendicitis attack, the Solter parents travel back home to Southern California for treatment, leaving their teenage children in charge. Then things start to go wrong-the parents are stuck back home and can't communicate with the kids, while invaders lay siege to the Roman city near their summer place, and ever-efficient Roman bureaucrats start asking the kids embarrassing questions. Turtledove (In the Presence of Mine Enemies, etc.) presents his teenaged heroes with a series of moral choices and dilemmas that will particularly resonate with younger fans. This is a rousing story that reminds us that "adventure" really is someone else in deep trouble a long way off. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
The current master of alternate history honors genre founding father H. Beam Piper (1904-64) in a story set on an exhausted, early-twenty-second-century Earth that draws resources from a host of parallel time lines, in some of which the planet is a wilderness, in others inhabited--or uninhabitable. Jeremy and Amanda Solter, typical L.A. teenagers, are spending the summer with their grain-trading parents in a time line in which the Roman Empire never fell. The promise of an interesting experience evaporates when, in rapid succession, their parents go home because of their mother's appendicitis, the cross-time-traveling machine goes down, and the Lieutvans (avatars of the Lithuanians) invade. Tough as they are, Jeremy and Amanda discover that real war is indescribably more ghastly than described war, and dealing with slavery, fur-wearers, and other nonamenities of premodern civilizations is pretty grueling, too. Seemingly a series opener intended to introduce the concept of parallel worlds and Turtledove's take on it, the book succeeds as an homage to parallel-worlds pioneer Piper and a well-told, engaging tale. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Readers nostalgic for the SF novels of Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton willl find much to enjoy. A rousing story that reminds us that 'adventure' is really someone else in deep trouble a long way off."


Book Description
Jeremy Solter is a teenager growing up in the late 21st century. During the school year, his family lives in Southern California-but during the summer the whole family lives and works in the city of Polisso, on the frontier of the Roman Empire. Not the Roman Empire that fell centuries ago, but a Roman Empire that never fell.

For we now have the technology to move between timelines, and to exploit the untapped resources of those timelines that are hospitable to human life. So we send traders and businesspeople-but as whole-family groups, in order to keep the secret of Crosstime Traffic to ourselves.

But when Jeremy ducks back home for emergency medical treatment, the gateways stop working. So do all the communication links. Jeremy and his sister are on their own, Polisso is suddenly under siege, and there's only so much you can do when cannonballs are crashing through your roof...

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Harry Turtledove, the King of the Alternate History, has come up with an intriguing premise for his Crosstime Traffic series -- the technology to visit an infinite number of alternate worlds that have branched off from our timeline!

In the late 21st century, when two chronophysicists discover a way to secretly travel back and forth between worlds with alternate histories, many of the world's biggest problems are solved. Several of these parallel worlds have invaluable resources and raw materials -- food, fuel, and artwork -- that can be bartered and brought home.

Jeremy and Amanda Solters are teenage siblings living in Southern California. During their summer break, their family travels to Agrippan Rome, a preindustrial world where the Roman Empire never fell. Living in the frontier city of Polisso, they pose as traders and sell primitive pocket watches, razors, and mirrors for grain that can be used back in their own world. When Jeremy and Amanda's mother gets sick and needs emergency surgery, their father takes her back to their own timeline for treatment. But while their parents are gone, all connections with their timeline are severed. When a neighboring kingdom attacks Polisso, the two California teenagers are suddenly stuck right in the middle of a primitive war!

The great thing about Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic series is that each new installment could potentially unfold against any alternate-history backdrop. With so much creative potential (the possibility of parallel worlds is infinite!), this saga could be one of Turtledove's best ever. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Jeremy Solters is a teenager growing up in the late twenty-first century. During the school year, his family lives in Southern California - but during the summer the whole family lives and works on the frontier of the Roman Empire. Not the Roman Empire that fell centuries ago, but a Roman Empire that never fell: a parallel timeline, one of an infinity of possible worlds." "For in our timeline, we now have the technology to move among these worlds. Some are uninhabitable; some are ghastly, such as the one where Germany won World War II. But many are full of resources that our world can use. So we send traders and businesspeople - but to keep the secret of Crosstime Traffic to ourselves, these traders are trained, in whole-family groups, to pass as natives." "It's a lot of work, especially since they're not willing to own slaves like everyone else in this version of Rome. And they spend a lot of time dealing with the local rules and regulations, where unofficial clout matters as much as official status and almost as much as money. Still, most of the time it's reasonably easy for the family to do good business, trading multigadget pocketknives and elaborate windup pocket watches for wheat." Then Jeremy's mother gets sick - really sick, the kind you can't cure with antibiotics. Both parents duck out through the gateway for a quick visit to the doctor. But while they're gone, the gateway stops working. So do the communications links to their home timeline. Jeremy and his sister are on their own, the Lietuvans are invading, the city is besieged, and there's only so much you can do when cannonballs are crashing through your roof.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Readers nostalgic for the juvenile SF novels of Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton will find much to enjoy in alternate-history master Turtledove's time-travel novel, the first of a new series, in which a late 21st-century world has eliminated pollution and resource scarcity by exploiting the resources of various alternative realities. The Solter family spends their summers in one such reality, on the frontier of a Roman Empire that never fell, trading Swiss Army knives and other hi-tech trinkets for grain. When the mother suffers an appendicitis attack, the Solter parents travel back home to Southern California for treatment, leaving their teenage children in charge. Then things start to go wrong-the parents are stuck back home and can't communicate with the kids, while invaders lay siege to the Roman city near their summer place, and ever-efficient Roman bureaucrats start asking the kids embarrassing questions. Turtledove (In the Presence of Mine Enemies, etc.) presents his teenaged heroes with a series of moral choices and dilemmas that will particularly resonate with younger fans. This is a rousing story that reminds us that "adventure" really is someone else in deep trouble a long way off. (Dec. 10) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Christopher Moning

What if the Roman Empire never fell? That is the premise of Hugo award-winning author Harry Turtledove's latest offering; book one of his "Crosstime Traffic" series. During the school year, Jeremy and Amanda Solters are just like any other teen brother and sister in 21st century Los Angeles. When school lets out, however, Jeremy and Amanda accompany their parents to the alternate universe of Agrippan Rome, a world where Roman emperors have ruled for centuries. The Solters family become traders. Their mission is to blend into Roman society in order to barter for natural resources to transport back to their own world. Although sickened by the prominence of animal fur and human slavery prevalent in their new home, the family obtains large amounts of grain in return for their one-of-a-kind watches and Swiss army knives. When their mother falls ill and needs to make an emergency trip back home, Jeremy and Samantha are left to fend for themselves. Their predicament is compounded when communication between worlds suffers a breakdown. Will they be stranded there forever? At the same time, their Roman city is under siege by attacking Barbarians. Jeremy and Amanda learn many lessons in self-reliance, using their wits and quick actions to help them survive in an alternate world gone mad. 2003, Tor, Ages 12 to 16.

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