Books: The Time Wars: The Ivanhoe Gambit by Simon Hawke (1984)

“In the year 2613, with the advent of time travel, where war is a thing of the past, soldiers are now dropped into the great battles of history and people evaluate their performances. It’s how disputes are settled. One of their bosses has gone rogue, though. A referee named Irving Goldblum has travelled back to 1194 and captured King Richard the Lionhearted. Goldblum has undergone cosmetic surgery and take Richard's place in history -with one major exception. Goldblum has no intention of dying at Chaluz in 1199. Such a major change would seriously damage the timeline. So, Lucas Priest, Bobby Johnson, Finn Delaney and Corporal Hooker are sent to stop the fake King and keep history on course. Priest and Hooker take the place of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe and his squire. Finn Delaney with his martial arts skills (including the quarterstaff) and great height takes the place of Little John. And Bobby Johnson becomes Robin Hood. And thus, the adventure begins.” 

Hawke wrote twelve of these tales, some which are connected to famous works of literature, such as Ivanhoe in the first book, The Scarlet Pimpernel. The Prisoner of Zenda in later volumes. The first three were released in 1984, and I remember buying probably half of the eventual twelve, but only reading maybe the first three. After reading another series by him earlier this year, I decided to re-acquaint myself with the books and give them another try. 

While Hawke is excellent with his action scenes and playing out his spy games, the downfall is spending pages and pages on too much exposition –which brings his clever action sequences to a halt. I admit it’s fun to read some of that historical background –I’m sure he did his research- but it becomes tiresome after a while and you end up sort glossing over it.

In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Doctor Who, if the time travelers were soldiers and not a bumbling Time Lord with silly companions. Goldblum is very much The Master, and I could see Lucas somewhat as the Doctor. We’ll see if the books get any better over the coming months.

Interestingly, the original mass market versions have been out of print for decades, but in 2023, they’ve been reissued in both physical and digital formats.