The Time Traveling Healer – Jim Bates

Pages: 128
Released On: 26/01/2025

When he fails to help curb the worldwide pandemic in the 21st Century, time-traveling healer Torak loses confidence in himself. When his boss Master Healer Robbikan sends him back in time to help with a plague that is sweeping the land of Anon, Torak vows to do better with this second chance.

In Anon, he meets good people like the innkeepers Gwene and her husband Axande, and their daughter Lillen and her friend Jana. He also meets bad people like the highwayman Zork and his two ruthless henchmen. Torak succeeds in healing the sick and becomes instrumental in helping defend against the bad guys. He regains his confidence. However, the evil Zorandon rules the land. He is a sadistic human being whose only pleasure is inflicting pain and suffering on others.

When Torak takes on two young girls as assistants who are Trorcs (half-troll and half-orc) who have escaped torture and certain death at the hand of the evil king, life becomes complicated. It’s made even more so when Zorandon becomes ill with the plague and calls for Torak. It is then the healer must make a fateful decision: should he try to heal the psychotic ruler or let him die? They are two tough choices, made even tougher because Torak knows whatever he decides, he and his friends must live with the consequences.

*****

Thanks to Jim for sending me a copy of his latest book in return for an honest review.

I don’t say this very often about a book but I wish it was longer. It definitely has the legs to become a really good sci-fi/fantasy novel, which would give us more time to get absorbed into this world and the characters. What it is currently is very good, but I wanted more.

It is full of heart. Some sci-fi/fantasy type books seem to replace emotion with the fantasy, which is fine, I don’t mind that to a degree, but you need something to connect to. So I thought this story was deeper because it manages to keep that emotional element with the reader.

It’s a story of redemption and believing in yourself and your abilities. It’s full of action and adventure and magic, and really held my attention throughout.

It’s a short book and therefore quick to read, so if you’re after a story you can fit into an hour’s downtime, then this is the one for you.

Jim’s books are always interesting. On the surface they feel like fun, interesting stories, and whilst that is true, there’s often a deeper layer to them that makes you really think, rather than just enjoying them on the surface.

It touches on Covid – not in so many words, but it does mention a pandemic in the 21st Century. But it’s an interesting look at it; rather than look at it from the POV of the sick, the dying, or the leaders, it looks at the healthcare worker, the healer, and how they couldn’t save everyone.

I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again – there is nothing wrong or lesser about self-publishing in the slightest. But there are some books that are traditionally published that have all the hype and the marketing around them that personally I just don’t think are up to scratch. And then you have writers like Jim, whose stories are going under the radar because they’re not traditionally published. And I think that’s a shame. I really think he would find a huge fanbase if it was pushed like a traditional book. People are missing out on them and they really shouldn’t be because they’re fabulous.