The Gate of Time facts for kids
First edition of The Gate of Time
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| Author | Philip José Farmer |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Belmont Books |
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Publication date
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1966 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 176 |
The Gate of Time is an exciting alternate history novel by American writer Philip José Farmer. It was first released as a paperback book in the United States in October 1966. Later, the author revised and expanded it into a new version called Two Hawks from Earth, which came out in May 1979.
In 2017, a new adventure called Man of War: A Two Hawks Adventure was written by Heidi Ruby Miller. It continues the story from The Gate of Time.
Contents
What is The Gate of Time About?
The story begins with Roger Two Hawks, an Iroquois pilot fighting in World War II. He is shot down over Romania. As he parachutes, he feels a strange dizziness. When he lands, local people hide him. He quickly notices they do not look or sound like Romanians. Instead, they look like Native Americans and speak a language similar to his own tribe's.
Discovering an Alternate Earth
Roger soon learns a huge secret. He is in a world where the continent of America does not exist! It has been covered by water for all of human history. Because of this, the ancestors of Native American tribes did not cross the Bering Strait. Instead, they traveled west into Europe. They settled in places where Slavic people live in our world.
For example, the Iroquois live in areas like Romania and Ukraine. The Algonquin people live where the Czech Republic is in our world. The Aztecs control a region similar to Russia. Other familiar places also have different names and cultures. England is called "Blodland," and Scotland is "Norland."
A Different Kind of World War
Even though this world is very different, it is also fighting a war. This war is much like World War II from Roger's own timeline. An aggressive nation called Perkunisha, similar to Germany, is trying to conquer Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Its people are Lithuanian, not Germanic.
This world is also colder in winter because the Gulf Stream flows differently without North America. Also, many things we know, like horses, tobacco, turkeys, and chocolate, do not exist here. This is because they originally came from the Americas.
Roger's Adventures in a New World
Roger Two Hawks quickly becomes involved in this new world's war. His knowledge and skills are very valuable. This world does not have airplanes yet, and his ability to fly could change the war. However, the allies fighting Perkunisha are struggling without help from a country like the United States.
Roger goes on many fast-paced adventures. He meets Hittites who still exist in the 20th century. He also encounters a German pilot from his own world who ended up here too. He visits an England that never had the Roman Empire or the Norman Conquest. This England has many elements from ancient Cretan and Semitic cultures.
He also discovers a mysterious island called Hivika. It is located where Colorado is in our world. On this island, he finds an underground Polynesian temple. This suggests that Polynesians explored and settled parts of North America in the 13th century in this timeline. Roger also experiences a passionate love story.
At the end of the book, a surprising fact is revealed. Roger Two Hawks is not from our world. He is from another alternate world where Kaiser Wilhelm IV, not Adolf Hitler, leads an aggressive Germany in its own version of World War II.
