Beyond the Elastic Limit

Epic Fables #1

by Howard Loring

THE EPIC FABLE

Loring’s books are epic fables, simple stories with universal implications. The narrative is dialogue driven, sweeping in scope and action.

Each book deals with time, but the plots are unconnected. Both share similar language and employ the same technology -- a time-viewing machine.

Though technically defined as Science Fiction and/or Fantasy, Loring’s novels defy classification. Both works embrace similar genres: mystery, detective tale, historical fiction, adventure saga and love story.

Each novel possesses a dual literary nature. Both are fables, usually defined as simple tales conveying a moral, or moral lesson. As well, they are epics, larger stories that dwell on internal changes that lead to personal growth.

In Beyond the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable, a time-viewing machine used by an advanced civilization malfunctions and time explodes, creating havoc. Actions employed to rectify the situation force characters to explore larger issues. This novel probes human values, multiple gods, social development and civil ethos.

Piercing the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable, takes a mysterious “Old Man” through time using the machine. He meets such historic figures as Julius Caesar, Christopher Marlow, Robert Schumann and others, in order to defeat foes that are deliberately distorting the flow of time. This novel incorporates the theme of business and technology run amok, and how each can be misused for devious ends.

UNIVERSAL THEMES – MYTH, LEGEND AND FOLKLORE

Both books are redemptive tales, dealing with basic philosophical concepts such as truth and justice, good and evil and “might makes right vs. right makes might.”

As in any epic, flawed characters evolve as a result of their quests, gleaning insight into these universal human ideals. All must grapple with difficult personal choices. Hard decisions, forced by dire circumstances yield unforeseen consequences, challenges that must be met and overcome.

As in any fable, the narrative style is simplistic, yet the action is layered with fast-paced sequences often presented through flashbacks and proceeding from different points of view. In the end, each major character develops a personal morality.

Beyond the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable is technically a myth, a story dealing with ancient gods who hold dominion over human activities.

Piercing the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable is properly folklore, fiction based on real characters as opposed to legend, traditionally considered stylized portrayals of actual historic events.

Genres: Time Travel, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy

389 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2010

About the author

Howard Loring is currently trapped within the elusive ELASTIC LIMIT of TIME

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book with the author constantly promoting it in the Time Travel GoodReads group. And who the heck is Howard Loring anyway? The publisher's website explains that Howard isn't his real name and no amount of sleuthing (a small team effort) could bring more than 1 real hint that kind of fizzled before it got started. Plus, this Howard character is always making off-the-wall or philosophical tangents in our forums that had begun to make us wonder ... was this book going to be utter crap or it was going to be just as fabulous as he'd made it out to be? And was the book going to make any sense? As you can probably guess from the star rating, I ended up loving the book and all its twisty epic innards.

The book is extremely well-told. And since the book is written out of order (much like a time traveler would view time), you find yourself with some light bulb moments when you realize that Person A from the beginning of the book is actually the person you've just been reading about. I liked that the characteristics of the characters were memorable enough that the "ah-ha" moments of realizing who was who wasn't too difficult despite their name changes. Reward your readers with ah-ha moments and you hook them quite well.

It's definitely an interesting book containing cavemen, a forest monster, time travelers, space ships, love triangles, gods, a beast, warring factions, holy water, people that don't appear to age, and an old hag ... among other things. And the book definitely is epic in proportion since the time travelers don't age during their travels into the past and since the story spans the galaxy.

I had a feeling that the "epic" ending would be an Adam & Eve scenario. It was set up too well for it to not end that way. I did like the twist of learning that Primus was a computer. That I didn't see coming. But I have to wonder why Primus felt the need to seed the universe with "grunts" unless it was the only logical way to keep an evolving population from eventually annihilating itself completely. I also am wondering what the purpose of the time machine in the story actually was. Yes, the people assigned to the station were supposed to view history and step in if needed, but what type of events would require such interference? Also, was the idea to bury the station and have new station masters come around thousands of years after the initial seeding to make the changes? Would equipment last for thousands of years without simply breaking down from time? Maybe I didn't understand the purpose of the station that housed the time machine in the first place. I think, though, that perhaps the other Epic Fable by Loring, Piercing the Elastic Limit might shed some insight on this since the author mysteriously won't give me a straight answer to my questions about the true purpose of the time machine.

So, yes, I've got to read Loring's other book ... and employ more identity sleuths ...

P.S. For anyone wanting to read this, don't buy the paperback version available on Amazon. Instead look for the version available on Smashwords since it's the edited version. Loring made quite a few revisions to tighten up the narrative after comments from some of his first readers, so be sure to get the newest edition if you're going to read it.

[Lance Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how Howard Loring thinks of all the creative twists of these time travel novels. He has some imagination, which I admire greatly. I aspire to being this good a writer. I actually believe that he cheats. He really is a time traveller, and therefore has a great, and unfair, advantage over the rest of us poor mortals.As with his first novel, Piercing the Elastic Limit, it takes some time before the unravelled ends of the rope start coming togehter to form a rope. In the analogy that he actually uses in this book, it is more like the tributaries of a great river, of time, coming together to form the powerful body of water meandering its way through the jungle towards the might ocean. Having read numerous time travel books, from Robert Heinlein and HG Wells onwards, I have always thought of "The Arrow of Time" being straight, true and swift. Loring puts me in mind of the spaghetti of time: locate the end of a strand, and guess which other end it is connected to.In this story, there are a team of leaders who are seeking out the "heretic" who is jeopardising the future, or should that be the past?, of the whole universe. Who is who? In what time frame? And where? And when?It is fun to puzzle out the answers to all of these questions as you read through. Go for it! I recommend this book to all time travel fans.One quote from this book, which I particularly like, has to be mentioned in this review."What rubbish anyway, he thought with scorn, an all-powerful god that was everywhere at once yet nowhere to be seen. These grunts believe anything, he thought with distaste."By the way, I thought of two of the characters as a likely, abandoned and alone on the planet, Adam and Eve, long before the author revealed them as such at the end of the book. That was a bit of a 2001: A Space Odyssey moment.

[Glynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished this book. I have been busy with non-book type things and so was only reading this on and off. I think this book needs a more concentrated effort in reading. It involves a lot of complicated plot twists and philosophical/theological questions. The time travel and time unraveling aspect only added to my confusion. Nevertheless, I enjoyed many aspects of the story and especially the action packed descriptions of battle scenes and intrigue. I was less impressed with the love triangulation, etc. but I think that is just me and not the author’s fault. I agree with some other reviewers that this story could use a bit more editing. I am confident that the sequels will resolve these issues. I would have given it 3 ½ stars but couldn’t with the goodreads rating system. All in all a recommended fun read.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, considering that I was lucky enough to win it in a Goodreads giveaway. So I tried really hard. The introduction struck me as wordy and somewhat puerile, and I'm afraid the rest of the book is no better.

If it could be said in ten words, here fifty are used. It's poorly written and desperately in need of a strong editor. There may be a decent story in there somewhere but it would take a pickaxe to unearth it.

I'm so sorry to write such a brutal review, but this was seriously stinko.

[Tabitha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received Beyond the Elastic Limit through the GoodReads First reads program.
I was attracted to this book for the interesting designation of being an 'epic fable.' The author definitely delivers on providing an interesting mix of aspects from both writing styles. The story is epic, in that it aspires to delve deeply into a vast tangle of plots. The wording has some fable-like qualities, a little perceived magic, names that describe the characters they belong to. Sometimes this is very effective in drawing in the reader and giving an other-worldly sort of sense while reading. Unfortunately more often the combination comes off wordy and over-wrought.
I really enjoyed the non-linear/linear timeline of the book. Scanning the table of contents gives the impression of a non-linear timeline. The beginning of the first chapter supports this feeling too. It gives the reader a pleasantly frustrating sense of joining the story just -after- something important was revealed. On the other hand, as you continue to read the book, it feels more and more like its all in the 'right' order, but you're still not getting the info as quickly as you'd like; there's something that's kept from you, and you know it. (Whether this is true or a writing ploy to maintain interest can be left up to the individual reader.)
Unfortunately there are some problems with the book that I just couldn't keep overlooking throughout my reading. It could use a good solid edit-down for content. The basic problem is the telling of the story got in the way of the actual story to hear.
---- Spoiler? -----
The characters that we should have cared about were really un-developed. They are supposed to be Adam and Eve in this version of 'how it all began', and by the end of the book I was actually less interested in them as people by the end of the book than when they were introduced.
---- end ----
Generally all the characters had pretty much the same voice and weren't very well developed but those two bothered me the most, considering who they were supposed to be.
All in all, at the base and end of it, there is very interesting, worthwhile story buried in this book. The author just trips over himself sometimes trying to get it out.

[Carol Brannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I won this on GoodReads. I don't think this was a masterpiece but I did enjoy most of the book. The first thing that stand out in my head is how vague the description is. I felt disjointed in the beginning without having any basic synopsis but I do believe that was the authors goal. It gets much easier to read once you hit the 4th chapter and flows much better. It still jumps around a bit but has a semblance of a plot.

I liked the jumping around to a degree once I was used to the writing style. The story as a whole was good but not brilliant. There were definite weak aspects and it is difficult to be specific without giving much away. The idea of how the "Grunts" were brought together did not seem to hold much water as a plausibility based on what is known in our own past. Some areas dragged on for a while while other areas could have been expanded upon. Again this could be done on purpose since time is a specific plot device. The one part that I found a bit trite and a bit of a "cop out" was the very last little bit. I think I rolled my eyes when I read the last couple lines especially since it could have been so much more original.

So overall- I enjoyed most of the read once I got used to the writing style. The writing style could have had better pacing but that I think may be intentional and the very last lines were a waste. Not bad- not great...just OK.

[Lincoln · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is self proclaimed weird by the author himself. That does not deter me. Weird usually means original, different, or just hard to classify. It does not mean bad. That being said, please be patient with my review.

First off the book is not written in order. I had to refer back to the table of contents were the four parts of the books have titles...Part 1 is After the Beginning, part 2 is Before the ending, Part 3 is the beginning and Part 4 is The ending.

I suppose things being out of order emphasizes the fact that time does not seem to make any sense at all in this book. Time literally explodes putting caveman, medieval knights, and modern folk all together in the same back yard.

This book is a thinker, it is loaded down with religious and moral overtones and asks the reader to decide for themselves what is right and wrong in a world gone ape crazy. Is killing justified to restore the timeline?

Parts of this book is overly verbose but develops the characters nicely in short order so you feel very invested as you struggle to wonder what is right thing for the characters to be doing.

I say pick it up but know this is one not to be taken lightly it will stretch you beyond the elastic limit.

[Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Debut story across different scopes of time tying together in a story of self discovery and exploration. The writer tries a different style of writing the command of english language used in this story is good. Was all round not bad story.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I edited this novel. It's novel! Unique, fun, page-turner.

[Rsj.2320 · Rating 1 out of 5]

At initial the novel looked promising, but soon the storyline faded away and it was hard to deduce the true correlation between the different characters and their storylines. It required a major share of concentration just to follow the true storyline, as the storyline progress it becomes extremely difficult just to stay on track with the original characters. The sentences are stretched beyond advisable limits which makes it extremely difficult to deduce out the true meaning of what the sentence reflects, I do appreciate the authors unconventional writing style and combining reality with fiction but throughout the novel, there are several complexes turns and shifts that makes it hard to enjoy the novel and savor its true reflection.
In the end, I would like to say that I'm sorry for giving such blunt and bitter review but as for me the novel felt more like of a complex entanglement of dimensions that were not meant to be together, this steals the true essence of the novel and thus just leaves it as a complex entanglement which readers cannot untangle to find the true meaning.

[Lars Dradrach · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 Stars for an imaginative storyline and an inventive structure

2 stars for execution and editing

Like so often with self published novels, it’s the story of lost opportunities.
This could have been so much more with a tighter editing.

What remains is still a time travel / creation tale out of the ordinary.

[Tara van Beurden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a giveway on goodreads, as well as self-published debut novel, which is impressive in its own right. The blurb doesn't exactly give away a huge amount about the plot and a part of me is reluctuant to add anything, as I think this is part of the author's point. Having said that, just as a general overview, the overall story is around the concept of a religious diety and his mandates, and the subsequent response of his people to both that mandate and a particular situation that throws into disarray everything about that mandate. Honestly, it took me probably the first half of the book to understand what was going on, and who was who (as the story actually starts about halfway through the middle of the event and then goes back and tells the beginning) but one I did I was engrossed. I won't deny that Loring's writing style is a little bit unusual, and there was some flaws with the editing (I found a few typos) and the general formatting which sometimes made things hard to follow, but overall, I thought it was a great debut and unlike anything I'd come across before.
On the scale of Stephenie Meyer to 10, it's a solid 7. :)

[Glenn Younger · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were to look at just the story line itself in an outline form, I'd say it had a solid premise, filled with imagination and pleasing tilts. However, I didn't love how the book often read as a draft copy and not a finished piece of work, which is why I give it two or three stars and not four or five that the story premise in and of itself warrants.

"Show don't tell" is the writer's adage that comes to mind here. By and large, characters were rendered two dimensional through the telling about them, rather than showing the reader who they are through character driven dialogue and their subsequent actions/reactions. Had the author directed his attention towards showing rather than telling, then he might not have repeated himself as much as he did, and certainly wouldn't have used/misused words that were often contradicted in the next sentence. Plus, the dialogue would have changed rhythms based on who was speaking, lending itself to a richer reading experience with a better flow for this reader.

[A.R. Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific time travel story, well written. Where some authors, myself included, provide detailed description of the setting, Loring’s style is to peer omnisciently into the heads of his characters to develop his characters between the action. That is not to say that there is no action. There is more than enough for an action movie, especially in the latter half of the book. This is a space-opera of sorts, after all. However, I like the first part of the book better, where the mystery and suspense of this complicated story pulls you along, and each time you unravel part of the puzzle you fall deeper into the maze. I didn’t see the ending coming, as satisfying as the “epic fable” was, because I was caught up in the chaos of temporal disturbance. Very enjoyable.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this novel, but it was challenging to read. You need to commit to thinking more deeply, and be willing to look deeper than just simple truths. You may have to, as I did, set up a chart and time-line, to keep track of some of the events.
Well done, Howard!

[Joshua · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d like to preface this by stating that this review was originally accepted by Amazon and posted in May of 2016. However, due to the author being unwilling to accept genuine criticism, he had it removed. (Update: It is now December 31st, 2016, and I am submitting this review YET AGAIN, as it is suspiciously missing from the product’s listing AGAIN)

(Update again: It is now January 4th, 2017, and the review is down AGAIN, and I’ve received an email from Amazon in which they inform me someone has claimed they believe I’ve manipulated Amazon’s ratings/feedback system. This is a demonstrable falsehood. I can refer anyone interested to any number of people in the industry who will speak on record to my ethics and integrity in the field of narrative.)

This is an objective review, provided based on the story’s merits as read, a review provided upon the request of Mr. Loring after I made the offer to provide said review at no charge, but with the understanding that what I wrote up would be an honest and objective feedback. If Goodreads or any representative thereof would like, I can provide documentation proving that Mr. Loring personally accepted that the material would be reviewed, and that I would not be dishonest in my findings. He submitted his work to me knowing full well the range of possible outcomes.


‘Beyond the Elastic Limit’ is, without a doubt, one of the worst works of genre fiction it has ever been my misfortune to have submitted to me for reading and review consideration. The work was offered to me by the author himself, a claim which can be substantiated upon request with screencaptures of my email inbox. Despite Mr. Loring’s attempts to claim that I did not read this work properly, as individual stories, I have previously proven with captures of a dialogue he and I had that this is not so. I asked him if it was to be read and reviewed as a whole, singular tale; he replied that yes, it was. After the initial review, he tried claiming this was not the case, and I called him out for it. It is my belief that this displays a startling lack of ethics on his part.

Anyhow, into the notes I took for the reading.

On page 9- ‘he knew she held the same opinion about him.’ This immediately rings overt. Perhaps ‘strongly believed’ or ‘he knew she’d said as much the same of him’. Unless ‘the husband’, thus far unnamed, is psychic.

Pg 10- The dialogue between ‘husband and wife’ is expository and an infodump to the Nth degree. At least, it’s an attempted infodump, because we don’t actually get any effective narrative here.

Pg 11- ‘the rising sun revealed the formally hidden world’... I suspect Mr. Loring meant ‘formerly’, given the context. A minor quibble.

If taken on its own, this first part strikes me as an oddly empty exercise, almost a smug self-congratulations to start the book.

Pg 13- “This statement shocked her.” I realize this is explained right off next sentence, but it arrives deadpan, flat. Show, don’t tell, Mr. Loring.

Pg 13-14- The male, ‘Hank’ as we finally learn he’s named, and his fiancee’s dialogue on these pages comes across as bizarrely stiff and insincere, staged more plainly than the conversation in a WWII propaganda film or a sex ed flick from the 50’s/60’s.

Pg 15 (top)- ‘stated with gratitude, whispering the obvious into her long red hair.’ Did he state it, or whisper it? This is contradictory in sensation and redundant. Possible rephrase: ‘he whispered gratefully through her fiery locks.’ Also, this is the first time we get any kind of real description of the female character.

Pg 16 (whole page)- The entire continued dialogue here is vague, and continues to be wooden. There’s no sense of the setting in which this conversation takes place. The library we started at on page 13 had NO establishment of sensory input, and as the engaged couple is on their way to the Administration Building, we still have no sense of their surroundings or much about them in the form of description or personality. In short, the reader still has no reason to care about anything in the narrative, if it can even be called narrative.

Pg 17- ...doing here?”, suddenly asked an elderly gentleman…” Very awkward sentence structure, both jarring and disjointed.

Pg 18- ‘stated the now stunned Hank.’ Again, this wording comes across flat and unskilled. Even were we to accept it as it lies, ‘now stunned’ should be hyphenated, and even then, this is just amateur hour stiffness.

Pg 19- It may just have been a formatting thing, but there is NO break from Fran sitting down to wait outside of the Committee Room and the reveal of said committee and Hank being seated for his hearing. NO BREAK.

Pg 21- ‘The Maestro smiled, pleased that his request had been granted.’ No need to explain that he was pleased, or why. Again, Show, Don’t Tell. The reader can SEE he’s pleased BY THE SMILE. And by the way, pages 20 and 21 here, and I have almost no idea what the room or its occupants look like. Sykes is an older chap (vaguely mentioned), the Maestro is diminutive, and that’s it for descriptors other than a ‘long table’. Minimal everything, and flat characters equals a terrible reading experience.

Pg 22-23- These pages are filled with time travel theory of a rather vague structure, material which, while academically intriguing and highly appealing to mathematical or physics theorists, is about as far from entertaining or appealing, as it’s written, as golf would be to the indiginous people of gala pagal, the Island of Living Electronics!


By page 25, I have not experienced any notable or memorable sensory inputs or character developments or attachments whatsoever. There’s nothing here to actually make this drivel feel like an actual story. As for the characters, none have really been made either relatable or 3-dimensional. Granted, the line spacing is wide, but by now the grain of this title, I suspect, is not about to change toward something more than what it has been; a dry and self-satisfied examination of the author’s sense of theoretical cleverness.

If Mr. Loring’s prose is a style readers enjoy, they may do better to indulge in poetry, which is also minimalist in word count, but which at least uses some imagery. I, personally, am not a fan. The theories of time travel, if they are indeed expounded upon throughout this work, might be best served as an essay rather than as a commercially offered book labeled as sci-fi.

Mr. Loring may argue that his work was ‘over my head’, or that I ‘didn’t get it’. He may even challenge that I didn’t give ‘Beyond the Elastic Limit’ a fair chance by stopping at page 25. I would counter that my observations should make plain for anyone to see that he did nothing to hold my interest long enough to give the book that chance.

At 2.99 on Kindle or 13.99 in paperback, you’d be better served converting this money into pennies and flushing them down the toilet. At least in that instance, every now and again the toilet will back up, and you’ll get your money back.