Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling
After a strange electrical storm, the residents of Nantucket discover that their entire island and its surrounding waters have been sent back to 1300 B.C. Now this society, which is mostly based on a tourist economy, must figure out how to establish a new identity in prehistory… I have a thing for time-travel novels — especially the Survivor-style stories in which modern people are forced to live in more uncivilized and unsophisticated times. Island in the Sea of Time has the added fun of actually having modern conveniences but not having the power or fuel to run them. Thus, the people of Nantucket must disassemble their cars for sheet metal while raiding their museums for whaling and milling antiques. There’s more to this story than survival and industrial revolution, though. Island in the Sea of Time is full of characters who feel like real people — people you might actually know…. Read the rest.
I liked the premise of that book a ton and some of the ideas he used about technology transfer between modern day and the time they were moved to. I didn’t like many of the characters….which for me is the kiss of death for a series.
I see your point John. You are right that even though the characters are realistic and understandable (except I mentioned that the villains are over-the-top), there aren’t any that you fall in love with. If there had been, I’d probably have started the sequel immediately because the premise is so compelling. If I read the sequel, it’s because I want to find out how the civilization advances — I’m definitely not attached to any of the characters.