She’s a no-holds-barred, kick-butt, don’t-cover-the-ugly-parts archeologist. History wants to teach her a lesson. Caitlin lands hard on the decks of an infamous ship—with only 24 hours before it sinks—and John is missing. Trapped in 1912 on the Titanic, sand is slipping through the hourglass as she tries to jump ship before it plunges to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. She meets Elizabeth, a … of the Atlantic Ocean. She meets Elizabeth, a woman with valuable knowledge about time travel and how it works. Yet nothing is ever easy, and her new friend’s memory proves to be unreliable.
As Caitlin searches for John, the grains of time slip away. She must put the pieces together, or she’ll find herself in lying in a cursed grave at the bottom of the ocean.
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Having read Northern Echoes, another story in the same series, I bought Sunken Echoes so I could follow Caitlin Benoit into the sounds and echoes of another time slip fantasy. Caitlin is a strong woman whose profession—an archeologist—adds a dimension of mining the past. Here she finds herself landing on the deck of the ill-fated ship, Titanic, merely hours before it sinks. Caitlin knows she has precious little time to find her friend, John, who went through the time slip with her, and rescue him before the Titanic takes her passengers to down the bottom of the sea. She befriends Elizabeth, whose advice she would like to heed—if only she could trust her shaky memory. Separating between good clues and errors is what Caitlin must do to find her way back with John by her side.
Despite the story being a short one, the era is richly detailed. “Flowers adorned each at crowning each woman’s head while men stood proud in double-breasted suits and straw hats.” I like that Caitlin reflects on the meaning of time, noting that the wound on her ankle remained with her in her travel back and forth through time, even though “An injured ankle should take a couple of weeks. But time has become a lot more complicated, and she was no longer sure what defined its passage.”
Delightful fantasy with a dash of suspense and the mention of a time paradox. “If they were going to make the jump through time, it would have to be done soon, before passengers crowded the decks. If survivors carried stories of two woman to shore… that butterfly effect could shatter history.”
Five stars.
This isn’t the first time travel story I’ve read by Melody Ash and it won’t be the last – Ms. Ash writes such fun tales, with an expertise in a genre that tickles my fancy, and I just love this series.
When we catch up with Caitlyn, she’s jumped from Chatling Hall and seems to be experiencing some sea sickness – as she takes in her surroundings and the clothing of an earlier era, she realizes she hasn’t time traveled back to her own time, but has landed – where?
In this fun adventure, Caitlyn meets a fellow time traveler named Elizabeth, a helpful ally with a terrible memory.
No spoilers, sorry – but where’s John?
I not only highly recommend this story, but the series itself, because these treasures bring a smile a readers face – specifically mine – Five golden stars awarded for this talented author’s entertaining prose and creativity.
I love this Web of Echoes series by Melody Ash. Sunken Echoes, Book 3 in the set, takes Caitlin, our feisty strong heroine, on another thrilling adventure—this time aboard the ill-fated ship, Titanic.
A short story in its own right, Sunken Echoes easily stands alone, but I’m so glad I read books one and two because the storyline is enriched with my knowledge of the previous two books.
Ash does a great job depicting the era as well as the class system, evidenced by the differing staterooms and clothing as Caitlin searches the ship level by level for John, her time travel companion—a remarkable feat in light of the story’s length.
I would love to see the author flesh out more fodder to create a novella or novel with each time slip. Her description and writing style thrusts me into the drama and time period in the first paragraph. And the added intrigue of Elizabeth foreshadows intrigue for book four.
I highly recommend this series as well as the author. A must read for time travel enthusiasts, short story lovers, and anyone who wants to escape for an hour into a wonderful fantasy world.
Melody Ash is definitely on my watchlist. I look forward to reading anything she writes, and am confident wherever she takes my imagination, I’m sure to have a great ride.
Sunken Echoes (Web of Echoes, Book 3) by Melody Ash was an exciting time travel short story that plops the reader down on the Titanic the day before she sinks.
Caitlin Benoit is a gutsy archeologist who finds herself flung back in time in this book, the third edition of the series. She arrives expecting her friend John, who “traveled” with her, to be somewhere on the boat, and spends much of her time racing from deck to deck to find him. They have to leave the boat before it sinks, and time is running out.
This short story works perfectly as a “standalone,” although now I’d like to go back and read book 1, where Caitlin is deposited on a plantation and lives with slaves in their cabin.
While on the Titanic, Caitlin is immersed in the world of classes, with details of the era nicely depicted. The suspense was thrilling, and the feeling of actually “being there” was strong. The tension of knowing that most of the passengers wouldn’t make it was also heartbreaking.
Kudos to her and to this author for a truly delightful tale.