[AXZ]≡ Read Free Only Time Will Tell The Clifton Chronicles Jeffrey Archer 9780312539559 Books

Only Time Will Tell The Clifton Chronicles Jeffrey Archer 9780312539559 Books

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Only Time Will Tell The Clifton Chronicles Jeffrey Archer 9780312539559 Books

I overheard two separate conversations this past month praising Jeffrey Archer’s Clifton Chronicle series and although I have no desire to tie myself down to reading all seven books my interest was piqued. I decided to read just the first. Big mistake.
It was soon clear to me why the author has sold in excess of 330 million books. His exceptional gift for storytelling kept me up all night to finish (despite the fact that I knew a cliffhanger was inevitable, as that’s how a book series works).
Archer steers the plot forward at a cracking pace. He is also able to handle several characters in the first person viewpoint, presenting parallel viewpoints, something few authors seem to manage well. Also clever is the way in which he hints at plot twists, often resolving them in the same chapter and ending many chapters with a suggestion as to the next looming crisis, thereby maintaining tension and anticipation for what is to come.


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Only Time Will Tell The Clifton Chronicles Jeffrey Archer 9780312539559 Books Reviews

The main "Plus" in this book is the artful way the 'same' story is told by each of the principle characters in succession. While this can be monotonous, I thought this was masterfully done. Each character related his/her own insights, feelings, conclusions, motives behind the events of the previous versions without it feeling redundant. Reading the next person's take on events, I had some 'aha' insights into the way different people said or did what they had. This was the best example of that writing device I've ever read, and the first time I've ever felt it truly worked.
That's the good part- now the downside The story plot could only lead to one conclusion, so without resolving this multi-version tale, a too-long fading finish ends up kidnapping the reader into the beginning of the next book. Even a series should have SOME type of resolution or end shape to each independent story. Let him sail off into the sunset, but don't sucker me in. The only clue to this treatment was the cover art, which did not at all match this plot, but the next. Interesting new way to foreshadow. I felt betrayed. I will not read on in this series.
Jeffrey Archer has long been a favorite author of mine and this book did not let me down. He is a master of words and storytelling. Every character is developed to the point that you know them. This story flows easily and you are finished and left wanting more. Luckily, there IS more as it is a series. These sagas are Archer at his best. This first book is set for the most part in England around 1920's up until WWII. Archer easily takes you back to the feel of that time period. There are many characters and each has their own story to tell and yet they are also deeply intertwined, although some do not know it until late in the book. I don't want to tell the story, will leave that to you to discover but I will say that I recommend this book to all who want a good story, great and individual characters, different settings and just great writing style. The ending is a twist that may leave you with your mouth hanging open but that's ok because there is a next exciting book just waiting for you.
The first book in Archer’s seven-book Clifton Chronicles series follows protagonist Harry Clifton from his childhood years in a single-parent home in Bristol, England in the post–World War I era through his grammar-school days and into young adulthood. Hindered by poverty and haunted by the mystery surrounding his dead father, Harry fights to escape his circumstances and find a better life for himself and his mother. Along the way he makes some unlikely friends, some predictable enemies, and some life-changing choices that take him from the streets of Bristol to the halls of Oxford to the bridge of a merchant ship in the opening days of World War II.

For fans of Archer’s previous epics (KANE AND ABEL, THE FOURTH ESTATE, SONS OF FORTUNE), the story will have a familiar feel. The rags-to-riches storyline and sparse storytelling technique have served the author well for many years, and ONLY TIME WILL TELL is cut from the same cloth. It’s not exactly ground-breaking fiction; on the other hand, the writing is good enough that the story feels comfortable if not particularly gripping. The author employs a mixture of first-person and third-person narrative, breaking the book into eight distinct parts retelling the same events from different characters’ points of view. The resulting gradual revelation of motivations and backstory creates a satisfying depth that for the most part overcomes some heavy-handedness in the description of events. The author also weaves in enough references to real-life people and events to give an authentic historical feel, and the book ends on a cliffhanger that leaves the reader ready to begin volume two (SINS OF THE FATHER, 2012).

ONLY TIME WILL TELL is not Jeffrey Archer’s finest work, but it is nevertheless a welcome start to a lengthy series by one of the world’s best modern storytellers.
This is the first volume of a six (so far) part series chronicling the life of the Clifton family. This volume introduces the main characters Harry, his girlfriend, Emma and her brother, and Harry's best friend, Giles, and various others that pop in and out throughout the series.

In this volume, we follow Harry from his early teens to his graduation from grammar school (which in the US would be high school), which is shortly followed by World War Two.

I made the mistake of starting with volume five, and then going back to the beginning, so it is easy to see how many of the conflicts Archer establishes in this volume set the stage for the narrative tension in the later books. I highly recommend reading them in order...not jumping around like me.

I loved volume five, but this volume reads like what it is a book used to introduce characters, relationships, and conflicts which will be more fully developed in later volumes. So in that sense, this is my least favorite of the chronicles. On the other hand, without this one, the remaining volumes don't work as well.
I overheard two separate conversations this past month praising Jeffrey Archer’s Clifton Chronicle series and although I have no desire to tie myself down to reading all seven books my interest was piqued. I decided to read just the first. Big mistake.
It was soon clear to me why the author has sold in excess of 330 million books. His exceptional gift for storytelling kept me up all night to finish (despite the fact that I knew a cliffhanger was inevitable, as that’s how a book series works).
Archer steers the plot forward at a cracking pace. He is also able to handle several characters in the first person viewpoint, presenting parallel viewpoints, something few authors seem to manage well. Also clever is the way in which he hints at plot twists, often resolving them in the same chapter and ending many chapters with a suggestion as to the next looming crisis, thereby maintaining tension and anticipation for what is to come.