Timelapse

That rare phenomenon, a well-produced space opera with a sense of humor and never a dull moment: Nighbert's appealing debut. Cyborg-enhanced Anton Stryker's mission is to assassinate dictator and would-be emperor Jacob Tessarian (who may or may not be Stryker's father, and who may or may not have killed Stryker's mother). Stryker's only clue to Tessarian's whereabouts is drug-dealer Hersule, whom Stryker discovers to be occupying the fearsome cat-like body of an alien! According to Hersule, a reformed character with a state-of the-art spaceship, the renegade scientist Kirillov is about to clone Tessarian a new body. Stryker arrives in time to kill Tessarian and the clone - but not before Tessarian transfers his mind into the body of an eight-year-old girl, Sabrina. Stryker, following Sabrina's directions but unaware that Tessarian has taken her over, heads into space where awaits a planet-sized alien transport system; here, he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Mara. Then Tessarian grabs Mara and blackmails Stryker into travelling back in time in order to sabotage Sanctuary, the galaxy's nerve center. So, somehow, Stryker must save Sanctuary, nail Tessarian, and save Mara - but in the process he discovers that Mara is his mother. . . and that he's his own father! An exuberant, cheerfully inventive gallop through strange territory, reminiscent of Keith Laumer and Harry Harrison: fine, talented work, encouraging to weary reviewers and jaded fans alike. (Kirkus Reviews)