Pilot X

by Tom Merritt

Overview

"Tom Merritt's time-bending space adventure had me hooked from the start." —Gary Whitta, screenwriter of Star Wars: Rogue One and The Book of Eli, author of Abomination

What if a time traveler lived in a world where disrupting the timeline could destroy everything in the universe — everything but himself?

Pilot X is Ambassador of the Alendans, a race with the ability to move through space and time as guardians of the timeline. Locked in ongoing conflict with the Sensaurians, an organic hive mind that can send messages in thought throughout its own history, and the Progons, a machine race who can communicate backwards in time, Pilot X finally manages to create peace among the three races.

But when Pilot X discovers that a secret dimensional war fought in hidden parts of spacetime threatens the fabric of the universe itself, he faces unseen enemies and a deeper conspiracy, bringing him to the ultimate choice: erase the existence of all three races, including his own people, or to let the universe be destroyed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942645313
Publisher:	Inkshares
Publication date:	03/14/2017
Series:	Pilot X , #1
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Tom Merritt is an award-winning independent tech podcaster and host of regular tech news and information shows. Tom hosts Sword and Laser, a science fiction and fantasy podcast, book club and publishing imprint, with Veronica Belmont. Tom has published several science fiction and technology books, including Citadel 32: A Tale of the Aggregate, The Year in Tech History, Sword and Laser Anthology, and Lot Beta. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs.

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2017
As earnest as an episode of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, this retro space opera takes its protagonist from naive time-ship pilot to guilt-laden savior of the universe in appropriately convoluted fashion. Pilot X, one of the time-traveling Alendans, earns his license and receives the Verity, a quirky time ship with a developing personality. As courier for the chief executive secretary, he solves interstellar crises and establishes peace among other time-warring races. Soon, X discovers the existence of the Dimensional War, which was fought in secret and left devastated worlds across the universe. Contacted by a group of “linear” Alendans who avoid time travel, X tries to go back and stop the slaughter. Merritt (host of the Parsec Award–winning podcast Sword & Laser) details his alien cultures with bits of folklore. However, even as X is continually hailed as “the last hope of the universe,” his attempts to stop Armageddon are blocked by a bureaucratic insistence on tidiness. The story will suit readers who enjoy seasoning their planetary romps with a dash of cynicism. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Time-travel enthusiasts will love this action-packed, labyrinthine ride through time and space. Merritt delivers, putting his mastery of the genre on display. This space opera is the sort of vintage sf that you settle into and can’t put down, well thought out and beautifully executed. Intrigue abounds." —Booklist

"A retro space opera...for readers who enjoy seasoning their planetary romps with a dash of cynicism." —Publishers Weekly

"Tom Merritt's time-bending space adventure had me hooked from the start. Inventive, stylish, and fun!" —Gary Whitta, screenwriter of Star Wars: Rogue One and The Book of Eli, author of Abomination

"Pilot X is a captivating story about time travel for sci-fi fans who want something more than the usual bending time & space trope. I was so engrossed by Tom Merritt's book that I may have lost track of time reading it, which seems like the best way to enjoy a time travel tale." —Bonnie Burton, Author of The Star Wars Craft Book and Planets in Peril

"Pilot X is not just mind bending but mind breaking. A brilliant heart-racing sci-fi adventure...an absolute playground for lovers of time travel." —Charlie Hopkins, Fantasy Faction

"Full of timey-wimey goodness! Merritt has created a fascinating world that you'll want to get lost in." —Veronica Belmont, co-host of Sword & Laser

"Tom Merritt has a wonderful ability to imagine a distant, yet plausible future filled with stellar mysteries and human deceit." —Andrew Mayne, author of the ITW Award-nominated Jessica Blackwood series

"The kind of high-concept science fiction that you just don't see anymore. Merritt brings it all back with a tale that fires the imagination and makes you look at the future in new ways." —J-F. Dubeau, author of The Life Engineered and A God in the Shed

From the Publisher

03/15/2017
When we first meet the titular protagonist, he is Pilot X, but over the course of the novel, he has other names—Ambassador X, Instructor X, Citizen X. His people, the Alendans, face two adversaries in a secret struggle known as the Dimensional War. These foes are meddling with the stability of the space-time continuum, and X is the key to stopping them. If some of this setup seems familiar to fans of the long-running TV show Doctor Who, that appears to be a calculated move on the part of Merritt (cohost of the podcast Sword and Laser, and author of Citadel 32: A Tale of the Aggregate). His Alendans are Time Guardians rather than Time Lords, but plenty of clues sprinkled throughout the narrative wink at his influences, such as a planet that is an anagram of "Gallifrey" and X's self-aware spaceship Verity, which holds a singularity at her heart, allowing the ship to be significantly "bigger on the inside." VERDICT Whovians may enjoy, forgiving the sometimes unpolished prose for the sake of the adventurous plot. Others could give this one a pass.—MM

Library Journal