The Four Faces of Rath
Sequel to: Children of the Universe
Michael goes back in time in an effort to find out who he really is –or was- and gets stuck in the past with Zan and Rath, not entirely through his own doing or fault. But to get back he must get Max and Liz, Alex and Isabel, and the others all back together again and make them want a life they no longer remember when they have other lives now that some of them are quite content with… A daunting task even for Michael.
The Four Faces of Rath is the 4th or 5th book of the “Altered Time” series (You’ll see what I mean in a minute). It can be read and enjoyed as a separate story from the others, but to fully understand all the characters and how they got there, you need to read the first three (or four) stories first. For those of you who choose to read this one first, (and those who read the first three but would like to refresh your memories), here is a brief summary to bring you up to this point quickly while hopefully not spoiling any of the secrets or excitement of the others.
In Altered Time-Destiny in the Stars, Max and Michael are living on Antar. Kivar destroyed the earth several years before, and only Max, Michael, and one other person escaped with them and made it to Antar. Liz, Maria, Isabel, and the others are all gone. This, of course, won’t do, and Max and Michael set out in the “New Granolith” on a mission to change the past. They wind up with a lot more adventure than they expected, and Max and Michael are “seeing double” as they meet and deal with their younger selves. A couple of Antarian characters become regulars, marrying into our group (I won’t say to whom, but it’s not to Max, Michael, or Isabel). Oh yeah, look for Alex! He saves the world this time around! Then there is the awesome jah-ee! Oh, well, read the story for that!
In the 2nd story, Life in the Stars, a long-held bombshell secret concerning Tess and Liz’s distant pasts is uncovered. Then Max and group return to earth to show their kids, who range from 5 to 9 years old now and have their own unique "abilities," where they grew up. On earth, they recruit a number of helpers to help protect the kids. These helpers (readers of this story at the time) were people with trace amounts of Antarian DNA inherited from Maya, Andya, and JoLeesa, three Antarian girls who visited earth 12,000 years before with their parents and got into a lot of trouble. The podsquad and their families, and the helpers, who come to be referred to as “Antarians Too,” encounter an old enemy in a former alien task force agent, Dumas Zwolinski, who holds a very big grudge, and the children’s lives are seriously endangered. There is some angst, (okay, a lot of angst! But my stories never end sadly, and there is also a lot of fun!) Agents Diane Casey and Dan Klein become characters in "Life in the Stars," joining with and helping our friends.
The 3rd story, Children of the Universe, begins 10-11 years after Life in the Stars, and Max and friends are sad, depressed, and full of angst since a disaster of Antar-wide proportions 9 years before destroyed their lives, but don’t expect things to stay that way. Remember that “the darkest hour is right before the dawn.” There is lots of action, drama, adventure, humor, romance, and sci-fi here for all our friends, just as in the first two stories. And besides, have I ever let you down?
The 4th story is The Night The Dreams Died. Initially, The Four Faces Of Rath was going to be the 4th story, and in fact, 56 chapters of that story do occur before The Night The Dreams Died begins. However, I have reconsidered the reading order in an effort to avoid spoilers for The Night The Dreams Died. The Night The Dreams Died is a bit of a different story, in a way, because the heroes are our favorite characters' doubles in a different dimension. This group is just graduating from high school, and they do NOT escape at graduation. As the story begins, Liz wakes up from a coma and learns what happened to her and that the others are all dead, but her persistence eventually leads Sheriff Valenti to exhume the graves of the others, which turn out to be empty...? The Night The Dreams Died and The Four Faces Of Rath come together briefly around chapter 56 of Rath and thirty-something of Dreams, then they diverge again. But they are inextricably tied together after that.
Melinda Metz and the creators of Roswell, the TV series, Jason Katims et al, deserve the credit for the characters from the TV show and for whatever mention, if any, there might be of any event that occurred on the TV show. All other characters and storylines, for better or worse, are mine.
Gerry
Sequel to: Children of the Universe
Michael goes back in time in an effort to find out who he really is –or was- and gets stuck in the past with Zan and Rath, not entirely through his own doing or fault. But to get back he must get Max and Liz, Alex and Isabel, and the others all back together again and make them want a life they no longer remember when they have other lives now that some of them are quite content with… A daunting task even for Michael.
The Four Faces of Rath is the 4th or 5th book of the “Altered Time” series (You’ll see what I mean in a minute). It can be read and enjoyed as a separate story from the others, but to fully understand all the characters and how they got there, you need to read the first three (or four) stories first. For those of you who choose to read this one first, (and those who read the first three but would like to refresh your memories), here is a brief summary to bring you up to this point quickly while hopefully not spoiling any of the secrets or excitement of the others.
In Altered Time-Destiny in the Stars, Max and Michael are living on Antar. Kivar destroyed the earth several years before, and only Max, Michael, and one other person escaped with them and made it to Antar. Liz, Maria, Isabel, and the others are all gone. This, of course, won’t do, and Max and Michael set out in the “New Granolith” on a mission to change the past. They wind up with a lot more adventure than they expected, and Max and Michael are “seeing double” as they meet and deal with their younger selves. A couple of Antarian characters become regulars, marrying into our group (I won’t say to whom, but it’s not to Max, Michael, or Isabel). Oh yeah, look for Alex! He saves the world this time around! Then there is the awesome jah-ee! Oh, well, read the story for that!
In the 2nd story, Life in the Stars, a long-held bombshell secret concerning Tess and Liz’s distant pasts is uncovered. Then Max and group return to earth to show their kids, who range from 5 to 9 years old now and have their own unique "abilities," where they grew up. On earth, they recruit a number of helpers to help protect the kids. These helpers (readers of this story at the time) were people with trace amounts of Antarian DNA inherited from Maya, Andya, and JoLeesa, three Antarian girls who visited earth 12,000 years before with their parents and got into a lot of trouble. The podsquad and their families, and the helpers, who come to be referred to as “Antarians Too,” encounter an old enemy in a former alien task force agent, Dumas Zwolinski, who holds a very big grudge, and the children’s lives are seriously endangered. There is some angst, (okay, a lot of angst! But my stories never end sadly, and there is also a lot of fun!) Agents Diane Casey and Dan Klein become characters in "Life in the Stars," joining with and helping our friends.
The 3rd story, Children of the Universe, begins 10-11 years after Life in the Stars, and Max and friends are sad, depressed, and full of angst since a disaster of Antar-wide proportions 9 years before destroyed their lives, but don’t expect things to stay that way. Remember that “the darkest hour is right before the dawn.” There is lots of action, drama, adventure, humor, romance, and sci-fi here for all our friends, just as in the first two stories. And besides, have I ever let you down?
The 4th story is The Night The Dreams Died. Initially, The Four Faces Of Rath was going to be the 4th story, and in fact, 56 chapters of that story do occur before The Night The Dreams Died begins. However, I have reconsidered the reading order in an effort to avoid spoilers for The Night The Dreams Died. The Night The Dreams Died is a bit of a different story, in a way, because the heroes are our favorite characters' doubles in a different dimension. This group is just graduating from high school, and they do NOT escape at graduation. As the story begins, Liz wakes up from a coma and learns what happened to her and that the others are all dead, but her persistence eventually leads Sheriff Valenti to exhume the graves of the others, which turn out to be empty...? The Night The Dreams Died and The Four Faces Of Rath come together briefly around chapter 56 of Rath and thirty-something of Dreams, then they diverge again. But they are inextricably tied together after that.
Melinda Metz and the creators of Roswell, the TV series, Jason Katims et al, deserve the credit for the characters from the TV show and for whatever mention, if any, there might be of any event that occurred on the TV show. All other characters and storylines, for better or worse, are mine.
Gerry
