Conrad's Time Machine In the last years of his life, Leo Frankowski’s books had veered from their previous character—a solid bit of science fiction with occasional quirks. Conrad’s Time Machine was, strictly speaking, a sort of prequel to Frankowski’s somewhat famous Adventures of Conrad Stargard; certainly his publishers wanted to stress this fact, even though the book technically had nothing at all to do with (and certainly no mention of) Conrad.
In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension I’ve always had an affinity for science fiction about time travel; to the limited degree that I comprehend it, I like hard science too. Something about the fundamental and inscrutable nature of time intrigues me, and so picking up Dan Falk’s In Search of Time wasn’t a difficult decision. It didn’t turn out to be the book I was expecting, but it was enjoyable enough regardless.
Lord Conrad's Lady I don’t think I’m spoiling too much when I say that Leo Frankowski’s The Adventures of Conrad Stargard series is unlike Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in more ways than one. Specifically, however, Twain’s cynicism left his protagonist unable to effect change in the past, whereas Frankowski’s hero effects so much change that he begins to rip apart the fabric of spacetime and confound hundreds of years of knowledge about time travel. Which is to say, he soundly routs the invading Mongols in 1241—even at hyperinflated figure of 3 million Mongols, as opposed to the more realistic and historical 10,000—as a result of his widespread and effective technological (not to mention social) changes in 13th-century Poland.
The Flying Warlord The previous book in the series ended on a low note, pounding home a bitter note of chauvinism that presaged some of Frankowski’s work on the late 1990s. It also ended on the cusp of Poland’s fight against the Mongols in 1241, except in this alternate timeline, Conrad has industrialized Poland, starting a flight school, mass-produced modern weapons of war, and is in the process of training and arming about 150’000 Polish peasants to fight against an incoming horde effectively 3 million strong.
The Radiant Warrior Conrad Schwartz, humble Polish engineer, was stranded in the 13th century. Ever the resourceful technician, he put his considerable skills to use attempting to bring modern technology and engineering to bear on the dirty and backwards Poland of the dark ages. By the end of book two, Conrad had not only stayed alive despite the best efforts of rogue knights, bandits, and angry slavers with papal sanctions, but had positively thrived, introducing a crude cloth factory to his benefactor Count Lambert and starting heavy industry on his own new lands.