Clarke Arthur, Baxter Stephen. A Time Odyssey 01. Time's Eye

Time's Eye is a 2003 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey) and Stephen Baxter. It is the first book in the A Time Odyssey series. The next book in the series is Sunstorm.The story starts from two hominids, known as 'Seeker', a mother, and her infant daughter 'Grasper'. They are somewhere in the genetic chain between humans and apes. As they walked on the tranquil Earth 2 million years ago, they were suddenly captured by some blood-red beings, who turn out to be 19th century British redcoat soldiers.In the year 2037, the still-turbulent North West Frontier province of Pakistan near Afghanistan is being patrolled by UN peacekeepers. A helicopter, known as Little Bird, crewed by an American pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Casey Othic, a British observer, Lieutenant Bisesa Dutt, and back-up pilot Chief Warrant Officer Abdikadir Omar, an blond, blue-eyed Afghan who claims descent from the Macedonians who conquered the area in ancient times, is badly damaged by an RPG-wielding villager. Forced to ditch, the crew are met by soldiers based at nearby Jamrud fortress, which houses a garrison of British troops from northern India, part of the British Empire. The soldiers believe the year is 1885.1885, the North West Frontier. Rudyard Kipling is witness to a British army action to repress a local uprising. And to a terrifying intervention by a squadron of tanks from 2137. Before the full impact of this extraordinary event has even begun to sink in Kipling, his friends and the tanks are, themselves flung back to the 4th century and the midst of Alexander the Great’s army. Mankind’s time odyssey has begun. It is a journey that will see Alexander avoid his premature death and carve out an Empire that expands from Carthage to China. And it will present mankind with two devastating truths. Aliens are amongst us and have been manipulating our past and our future. And that future extends only as far as 2137 for that is the date Earth will be destroyed. This is SF that spans countless centuries and carries cutting edge ideas on time travel and alien intervention. It shows two of the genre's masters at their groundbreaking best.