Out Of Time

Out Of Time is a Christian science fiction and fantasy novel by author Mario Diana, and the first volume in the Synchrony series. Our charming central hero is Jay Aldan, officer aboard the EOS time travel ship, whose intrepid adventures have gained him quite a reputation in his career thus far. When Jay is called upon to deliver a precious artefact to its rightful owner, his journey will take him across time. With only a peculiar watch and his assistant Aurelia to aid him, Jay travels through such gorgeous vistas as the streets and canals of Venice and the sweeping landscape of Tuscany to seek out his quarry. And if he has to dodge a barrage of horrors along the way? Well, that’s all just part of a day’s work.

I know there are many readers out there looking for an all-out action novel that’s also a good clean read you could share with your children and parents alike. Well, Out Of Time is that very book. The highly descriptive quality of the novel makes you feel as though you’re actually walking the ancient streets of Italy and Switzerland, whilst the characters are realistic, hard-edged but highly likeable. I found myself really rooting for Jay from page one, and I felt he was a capable hero that you could always trust to make the right call. Mario Diana’s detailed prose makes Out Of Time the kind of book you have to really concentrate and slow down on, but it’s well worth the effort. A superb adventure for all.

Things go sideways for Jay Aldan on what was supposed to be a routine mission to check on the security of timelines on earth in Out of Time by Mario Diana. An artefact from the future, lost in ancient Italy, turns up at a construction site in Venice. The lovely young Aurelia insists on trying to find the owner of what appears to be an expensive watch, and becomes enmeshed in a mystery that may have drastic consequences for Aurelia and her friends. From the canals of Venice to the shops of Florence and a luxurious resort in Tuscany, Aurelia attempts to track down the origin of the watch. Jay, posing as a Danish scientist, expresses interest in the watch and offers to help. This only leads to more trouble, though, as Jay falls under Aurelia’s spell and time quickly runs out for the retrieval of the artefact. With her conscience and Christian beliefs as a guide, Aurelia insists on a course of action and learns an incredible secret. Will she and Jay make the right decision and prevent a loop in the fabric of time?

Quick paced and full of action, debut novel Out of Time by Mario Diana is an exciting read that covers romance, history, time travel, and the self-righteous actions of the Collective leaders in the future. Diana touches on the need for belief in spite of all the scientific progress in the world, with clear and genuine examples of how God fits into the picture. The characters are well developed, plot is tight, and the promise of more to come in the next volume of the Synchrony series is good news. Quite a surprise ending and I can’t wait to read more!

Out of Time by Mario Diana is a tale of time travel and its phenomenal consequences. After the last nuclear war, a global government is established. The world is hit by a global virus, greatly reducing the population. The solution to the virus and its effects is found by accident when a man disappears during a medical procedure. His vanishing opens the door to time travel. Under the controlling power of the Administration, a unique group of explorers, known as the Order, is created. The Order travels back in time and collects gene samples that allow the human race to continue in the future. During one of these conquests, an object is left behind in ancient Italy. During a routine mission, the object reappears in Venice, Italy, in the year 2016. This discovery causes the Order crew to jump into the forbidden period known as the Toxic Era. Operator Jay and Captain Marcus must retrieve the object, wipe the memories of any involved, and secure it on the ship before they get caught in a time loop, never to escape. Jay assures his captain that he will succeed. However, the one thing Jay doesn’t factor in is meeting Aurelia. Their chance meeting changes everything. Soon they find themselves running “Out of Time.”

Mario Diana creates a futuristic story of epic proportions in Out of Time. Diana takes his time shaping the plot of the narrative, creating intrigue and impatience simultaneously. The beginning chapters focus on the shaping of the dystopian world. The following chapters reveal the narrative's central setting of ancient and modern day Italy. The landscapes and scenes are descriptive and sensory, inviting the reader into the sights, sounds, and smells of Italy. It takes a while for the main characters to be introduced. At this point, the action increases and the plot unfolds. This fantasy science fiction adventure begins in the future, and then transports you to the past. However, the crux of the story takes place in the present. The cast of characters is diverse, with strengths and flaws making them engaging and notably interesting. But, you are just beginning to know them as the story comes to its conclusion. During the denouement, Diana includes a couple of surprises within accelerated action. Time begins to lapse in minutes, instead of days and hours, thus creating the sensation that time is truly running out. Diana totally baits readers with an element of mystery, leaving them longing for more.

Aurie (Aurelia) has discovered a priceless timepiece, a gold watch. Buried at the bottom of a canal in Venice, one that’s under renovation, Aurie is sure that what she discovered is an ancient artifact. Upon further research, however, she learns that its model number, engraved in its shell, has not yet been released. The timepiece is, in fact, from the future, even though it appears to have been buried in the muck of the canal for centuries. That’s when she meets Jay, the time traveller sent back in time to recover the timepiece before the time loops affect the future in which he lives. His time is the perfect existence, or so he believes. Governed by a Collective, everyone is modeled to perfection with perfect genes to ensure good health and good productivity. But why is this particular timepiece so important? And why does it result in a battle of life and death?

Mario Diana’s novel, Out of Time, is another bone chilling vision of a futuristic world, much in keeping with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, with an added twist of traveling through countless time periods, both past and future. The story really doesn’t start to make sense until about Chapter Nine when the time frame is 2016. This is where the action really starts to build up and all the information laid out in the previous chapters starts to come together slowly.

The theme of this story is certainly very relevant and the importance of accepting our Saviour is one that reaches out beyond time. Jay has run out of time in this story to appreciate the message, even though Aurie tries to make him understand and the clues left behind by his Captain also give him some points to ponder. Perhaps the next book in this series will help Jay unravel the truth that will set him free. An interesting read.

Out of Time by Mario Diana is a time travel novel that takes the genre into previously unexplored territory. The story follows a small crew on board a craft that sails through time, landing in different centuries on command. A timepiece from the future ends up in the wrong century. The crew of the ship, Captain Marcus, First Officer Jay, and the ship’s computer called EOS attempt the task of retrieving the artifact in hopes of preventing a time loop from happening. A simple task quickly becomes overly complicated when the timepiece is found by a beautiful girl named Aurelia. Jay has every kind of hi-tech equipment available to him to retrieve the artifact but he is still vastly unprepared for the strange attraction that he and Aurelia feel for each other.

I enjoyed Out of time very much. It’s a pleasant combination of plausible science fiction and an old-fashioned love story. I like it when a book surprises me with its plot and that was certainly the case with Out of Time. Neither the science fiction nor the love story played out as I had expected, but the story elements all weaved together into a delightful thought-provoking conclusion. The characters are believable, diverse, and likable. The science fiction elements were especially fun to read. I was reminded of the types of spaceships and crews of such movies as Alien and Prometheus, scaled way down and brought to Earth, landing in lakes and lagoons, reminiscent of the ship in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This is the beginning of a series called The Cognizant Series. Mario Diana's Out of Time does a fine job of setting the stage for what promises to be a roller coaster of cool science, intersecting timelines, and love that transcends the ages.

Out of Time by Mario Diana is an interesting novel with an intriguing storyline. The story starts in the future where time travel is a necessary tool to help save mankind from being wiped out by disease. Jay is part of the selected few trained to travel back in time to recover genetic samples, as well as retrieve objects left behind in the wrong eras to avoid causing serious rifts to the timeline. One retrieval mission proves to be a challenge for Jay, especially when he meets Aurelia, the one who found a mysterious object, and when he discovers something about his world that could challenge everything he believes in.

Some stuff about genetics and artificial intelligence, a whole lot of time travel, many lovely Italian scenes, potential romantic connections – this book has a pretty interesting mix of elements and it all makes for an enjoyable read. Out of Time is a good mix of fantasy and science fiction. Mario Diana’s prose is straightforward, yet nice and descriptive. The novel also has a fascinating premise that I really like. I think the idea of traveling back in time to retrieve good genes to help heal future generations is absolutely clever. Time travel is always a tricky thing to write about and I think the author was able to present it well, especially the time loop concept. The book runs at a good pace but ends a bit too abruptly for me, which just made me curious about the next instalment.