Wednesday 6 June 2018

Johnny Havig And His Uncle Jack

(Does anyone know what the "bonus stories" are in this edition?)

A biographical novel begins by describing the central character's childhood so what is a mutant time traveler's childhood like? (Johnny Havig, born in 1933, is like Hugo Danner or Clark Kent but with a different "power.")

Johnny:

is bright, imaginative and a loner;

frequently "vanishes" until he learns to hide his ability to do this;

aged four, is not in his bed one morning but is returned at midnight by a man whose hat hides his face and who is not there when Johnny's father tries to thank him;

stops wandering and acquires one friend, bigger than him although John, no longer "Johnnie," dominates the friendship;

grows fast, both physically and mentally, in a few months;

tells his friend, Pete, that his Uncle Jack has taken him to an Indian camp and in an airplane;

describes the smell of drying hides and dung fires and a "jet" plane without propellers, bigger than a house, almost soundless, with a Technicolor movie shown on board.

We recognize time travel. Doctor Robert Anderson recognizes imagination and ingenuity but will learn more.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I recall how John Havig grew fast, mentally and physically. And that was because of the weeks and months he spent in other "times" before going back to Senlac not long after he left. He was older than he would have been if he had not been able to time travel.

Sean