Joe Simmons finds himself completely lost in time and space in ajungle that definitely is not on Earth. His only company is Tamarina,an enchanting young woman from a culture that regularly wandersthrough countless planets. But she has no idea where they are now,and blames Joe for stranding them there. This is the breezy beginningof Renegades of Time, a fast paced, adventurous jaunt throughimaginative, alien settings.
In large part, this may seem to be just a very silly fantasy-adventurestory, harking back to the Warlords of Mars fantasies of EdgarRice Burroughs. Mostly that's all it is -- harmless and colorfulfun. But some of the ideas are creative, such as the method oftravelling to other planets using not the space, but the time aspectof the time-space continuum. And the thoughtful look at theramifications of extreme individualism are interesting: The Algoranswho are the primary fictional culture of the novel can travel to anyof countless planets. But they've ended up neglecting their homeworldto the point of almost losing their own culture, while living asparasites on other planets.
The book is never preachy, but it does make a case for home andhearth, family and friends as opposed to pure, isolatingindividualism. And perhaps few books have ever imagined access to somany different worlds. The novel doesn't take us to them, but theAlgorans describe the places they can go to: truly worlds withoutnumber, populated by an endless variety of cultures.