Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset

By Varun Sayal

“I reckon that you’re a time-reader. Normal human beings don’t know these things about us. I loathe your kind because, like a silent serpent, you read and document out movements and secrets. I believed we wiped out your race around five hundred years ago. I strangled the lask known time-reader Alek with these very hands. But it seems we were wrong in assuming you all were gone for good.”

Demons of Time is the first in a series of three books by the same author who wrote the short story collection Time Crawlers. If you are an avid science fiction/fantasy reader this book is for you.

Tej and his mother are running from a time-demon known as Kumbh. Right as they are caught a sage, Rigu appears. Rigu saves the day, for now. Time passes and Kumbh has escaped from the prison he was held in. Like any demon, he plans to destroy mankind. Tej knows he must act to stop him and seek revenge for his mother’s death but can he follow through after he discovers who he really is?

As with Time Crawlers, the mythology of the eastern world is weaved in wonderfully. It alone is my favorite thing about this book and budding series. It is rare to see eastern lore in science fiction, and really in fiction as a whole.

Demons of Time is a good science fiction read for the science fiction lover and someone who is venturing into the genre. The plot is pretty easy to follow and the time traveling aspect is digestible. I appreciate the amount of research and time Sayal put into developing Demons of Time, not only to produce a story that is for all types of science fiction readers but also short. The length of science fictions books and series is one of the reasons I stay away from the genre- if that is something that keeps you from reading science fiction you don’t have to worry about that with Demons of Time.

My one struggle with Demons of Time was the fact it became “hard science fiction” very quickly. I do not read science fiction often and prefer to stay in the “soft science fiction” area. If you don’t read science fiction, but still enjoy the genre, you will enjoy the story but might have to stretch your imagination a little further than you normally do. If science fiction is one of your favorite genres to read, you’ll gobble Demons of Time up.

Overall, if you are looking to find not only a new author but a new science fiction series with an eastern influence look no further than Demons of Time. Demons of Time is a perfect read for teens and above, though teens are not the target.

Do you want to read Demons of Time? Have you read Time Crawlers?