As Sarah Miles drives down Eighteenth Street a stranger materializes in front of her car. She throws on her brakes, braces for impact and…drives straight through him. For a brief moment, his voice echoes in her head, “Saura.” Then he’s gone. Later that day, she discovers the SUNDIAL and her incredible journey through time begins.
“The Sundial” is a fun time-traveling western. Although it started with a ghostly appearance, the story soon veered from modern-day to Texas in a historical setting. This is where it all fell together for me in the 1800s. I loved how strong Sarah was and spoke her mind, even if it got her into trouble. Jesse was a perfect counterbalance with his loyalty and stubbornness. Monet, the cat, joined Sarah on her journey, and he added in some fun along with his protectiveness. The history and slang were nicely mixed into the action. This is a love that not only crosses through time but many lives, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
Sundial by Sandra Cox is a fine combination of time travel, fantasy and romance. It flows forward at an amazing pace despite some historical and cultural details. This captivating story would keep you guessing at a number of places with some action-packed scenes that have been described with panache. Sub-plot is intricately laid out and presented brilliantly. I really liked the fresh perspective of time travel, Sarah’s yearning to meet somebody who has been hers through all the eras and the way she deals with the challenges she faces. Cox knows how to keep negativity out of the story, as she delights you with the unexpected. What irritated me at places was Monet.
Sandra’s characters are crafted well but what I enjoyed the most was Jesse Adams, the brave hero, reckless yet tender-hearted – a typical trait of a romantic hero! It is his charisma and strong will-power that adds charm to the story. Without his presence of mind and wisdom, Sarah could have got lost in an unknown land. Hammer would win your heart with his unconditional loyalty. I enjoyed this feel-good book and highly recommend it. I wish we could have our own sundial in our backyard!
This Time Traveler Doesn’t Go To Scotland
Sundial is an original time-travel romance. If you are tired of reading about plucky modern females with astounding medical skills finding themselves in ancient Scotland, you’ll enjoy this breath of fresh air.
The Opening
The opening is thrilling quickly introducing the main characters and establishing their time differences. It effectively hooks the reader.
The Characters
Sarah is an intriguing character. Her mastery of art makes her stand out, but it is her love for her orphaned niece that establishes her as a sympathetic character and makes her appealing to readers. However, she is a stubborn person, and this leads to some implausible situations.
Jesse is a true gentleman and an amazing soldier. However, he frequently makes implausible decisions given his knowledge, experience, and his broad range of very powerful and wealthy friends.
At times, this story was reminiscent of playing a multi-level video game. It seemed to be divided into different sections, and in each section, a new antagonist was introduced like a level boss. This antagonist was always introduced by the previous antagonist and proved to be much tougher, more powerful, and difficult to defeat than their predecessor. However, the sheik’s character arc felt incomplete by the end of the novel.
Hammer and Monnet were my favorite characters. They are both wonderful and added great comic relief to the story as it develops. Sam Houston was also marvelous.
The Plot
The main conflict changes as the story develops, and it typically involves defeating the current antagonist. The end resolution of the novel is satisfying, but I have some reservations.
Firstly, there is a strong implication that the final antagonist is somehow immortal and will be met as a new incarnation in every age. I can’t say exactly what happened without spoilers, but this piece of foreshadowing is not completely followed through on. There were two characters mentioned in the final chapters that might have related to this, but they were not expanded upon.
Then there are many implausible decisions made by the characters. Sarah is provided with evidence that she is in danger. This is very convincing evidence and proves to be true time and time again. Yet, despite the growing evidence and multiple experiences, she never takes steps to remove herself from said danger.
Jesse is an experienced man with lots of powerful friends, and he knows about the dangers, yet he never makes use of his friends to provide sufficient protection for Sarah. The opposite occurs. He often acts to place her in more danger. With the number of contacts and friends he has, there should never have been a danger.
The main antagonist at the center of the story, DuBonne acts illogically. He must understand that his actions will make him the target of the most powerful people in his area who have the resources to easily defeat him, yet he still does what he does.
The Setting
The historic setting was wonderful. It was great to see Sam Houston in action. The ranch at the end was inspired.
The magic system created by the author was interesting but, in some ways, inconsistent and difficult to comprehend logically. I’ll need to expand on this issue a little.
The main magical connection between Jesse and Sarah is that they have lived many lives and been reincarnated at the same time over and over through history. For Wheel of Time fans, that’s the same as Gaidal Cain and Birgitte Silverbow finding themselves spun back into the pattern time and time again by the Wheel of Time.
However, the entire focus of this time travel romance is time travel. On this occasion, the two protagonists have not been born at the same time in history. Why? What is the reason for their need to time travel on this occasion when they have been born at the same time in every other incarnation?
And what do the witches get out of this…Zienna and Occala? Typically, in this kind of story, the magicians have their own motivations. Why would they work their powerful magic for free? They should either have some philosophical reason to act (morality/religion) or some benefit (increased power/monetary remuneration).
At the end of the story, I didn’t feel that the reason that this time was different was adequately addressed. Especially the role of the “immortal” antagonist in the final chapters.
Two other small issues to add. On page 227, the sheik confuses Islamic and Buddhist traditions in an implausible way. On page 230, apparently, it is possible to render someone unconscious by hitting them on the chin.
The Prose
This story is generally well written. The story is shown rather than told and the prose is engaging and immersive. However, there were occasions during conversations when I lost track of who was speaking, which became confusing.
Part of this was due to times when one character would speak several short paragraphs in a row. They were correctly punctuated, but because they were short paragraphs, my mind kept thinking a new character had begun speaking.
I didn’t like the occasional bit of head-hopping that occured in the story or interpretations mentioned that didn’t appear to be backed up by actions. For example, on page 150, Jesse thinks about how Hammer has become confused about something. However, instead of showing us Hammer coming to this confusing conclusion, we are told it through Jesse’s thoughts with no detailing of the proof leading up to his deduction.
There were a few other occasions when short snippets of the story became told rather than shown for no obvious reason. For example, on page 54 there is a dream sequence, and then we are told that this dream would repeat itself night after night ahead.
This is an occasion when the narrative deviates from the here and now and from the specific to the general. Why? It loses some of its power by being presented in this way.
There are a few tiny errors in the formatting of this book. For example, on page 31, the sentence: And why had he had felt her presence… And the last paragraph of page 302 is repeated in full at the start of page 303.
My Opinion
Despite some of the issues I raised in this review, I really did enjoy this time travel romance. It is action packed and takes us into an interesting historic period where we meet fascinating people.
I rate it as 7 out of 10, which will translate to 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and Amazon. If you enjoy time-travel romance, this is a must read.
This was very good book,I would read it again.