The Time That's Given

by David Litwack

Overview

When Burt is surprised by a magical guide, and says he wants to become a hero in a fantasy realm, he discovers a more complex world than he'd expected.

Burt Higgins' retirement is not going well. With too much time on his hands, he broods on the state of the world, obsessively following the worst of cable news and the Internet. Increasingly angry at the state of affairs, he nurtures a fantasy that a dark lord from another realm has foisted these problems on humankind. If only he could transport to that world, he'd confront the demon and use the magic found there to defeat the beast and end despair forever.

On a particularly bad news day, Burt learns that, indeed, one must be careful what one asks for.

EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a speculative, magical realism, fantasy adventure from David Litwack, the multiple award-winning author whose books have received such extraordinary acclaim. This one will entertain you, to be sure, but it might also cause you to reconsider your life, your dreams, and your goals. Brought to you by the author of such award-winning greats as "The Seekers" series, The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky, and Along the Watchtower.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798890250650
Publisher:	Evolved Publishing
Publication date:	04/25/2024
Edition description:	2nd Second Softcover ed.
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	787,108
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

The urge to write first struck David Litwack at age sixteen when working on a newsletter at a youth encampment in the woods of northern Maine. It may have been the wild night when lightning flashed at sunset, followed by the northern lights rippling after dark, or maybe it was the newsletter's editor, a girl with eyes the color of the ocean, but he was inspired to write about the blurry line between reality and the fantastic. Using two fingers and lots of white-out, he religiously typed five pages a day throughout college and well into his twenties. Then life intervened. When he found time again to daydream, the urge to write returned. David now lives in the Great Northwest and anywhere else that catches his fancy. He no longer limits himself to five pages a day, and is thankful every keystroke for the invention of the word processor.

Editorial Reviews

2019-11-01
Traveling to a dreamlike realm, a man embarks on a difficult quest but may have trouble returning to reality in this novel.

Burt Higgins spends his post-retirement days alone in his Massachusetts home. His wife, Betty, a retired art teacher, is in New York studying for her MFA. One day, Burt lights a candle he bought in Prague, where the shopkeeper claimed the item was magical. A boy appears and says he's Burt's guide to take him wherever he wishes to travel. He chooses to go to "the source of despair," apparently the origin of the "murky shadow" connected to the guide. In this other world, two children, Matthias and Hannah, mistake Burt, still in his bathrobe, for a wizard. He befriends them and their mother, Elizabeth. When someone later abducts one of the kids, Burt revises his mission—ending all despair—to include a rescue. This is possible, as the guide is the "scribe" of Burt's story. But it means Burt will be part of this world and have a harder time returning to his own. Soon, he's recalling memories of life with Betty and their two kids and questioning which world is the real one. Litwack (Along the Watchtower, 2018, etc.) doesn't hide the possibility that Burt is dreaming. But there is definite mystery, as the protagonist suspects the realm he believed was real is actually a dream. This makes for intriguing dual worlds: The alternate one is often familiar (a family much like Burt's) while the real world has fantasy elements (terrorists are cruel in the same way as storybook villains). Ultimately, the tale excels as a fantasy, with elements like portals and an enchanted sword, and as a drama, with breast-cancer survivor Betty having undergone a biopsy, its results unknown at the narrative's start. But the author truly shines in more conceptual moments. Burt contemplates a version of the afterlife that is, essentially, a "forever dream" of accumulated, imagination-enhancing memories.

A keen and delightful multigenre tale about a hero grappling with two worlds.

Kirkus Reviews