Black Cliff Chronicles by Steve Sterling: A fascinating mix of sci-fi and darker themes

In a world where time travel intertwines with the haunting echoes of history, Black Cliff Chronicles by Steve Sterling emerges as a gripping exploration of courage, sacrifice, and the impact of our choices.

Spoiler-free Plot

Black Cliff Chronicles Three intertwined time travel rescue missions, reveal how ordinary people rise to extraordinary acts of valor, driven by selflessness and a willingness to sacrifice for others.

The thriving university town of New Jerusalem nestles in the secluded hill country north of the Ozark National Forest in rural Arkansas. New Jerusalem is a wonderful place to put down roots as long as you don’t go into the experimental forest and find Black Cliff, a place of dark power.

Was it a simple misstep in 1989 when high school seniors Mary Sanders and Charlie Barrows became lost during a fall hike and stood facing Black Cliff? Or were other forces at play?

Before they can flee, Black Cliff entangles Mary in a web of time travel, strands that transport her back 300 years in history to a horrific civil war in the Ukraine and a daring solo rescue mission.

Months later, Mary returns to New Jerusalem and to 1989, battered by her war experiences and heartsick over those she left behind. Once home, her struggles continue. Time travelers and friends gather to help Mary and Charlie. They have less than three days to rescue America from a plot to seize the presidency.

My take on Black Cliff Chronicles

Steve Sterling, author of Black Cliff Chronicles, is a writer with a mostly low profile and who had already made some publications for a few years, although his latest works, The Youngest Doughboy and this work that brings us here, have had a much darker and deeper approach, with more serious themes, in which war stands out as a common element. Both stories have an approach very oriented towards being movie scripts, or at least they have a way in which that type of adaptation could be made.

The story takes us to a town called New Jerusalem, a classic location that seems ideal to stay and live for the rest of your life, although, as often happens in these types of stories, it has some hidden and terrifying secret, in this case, it is Black Cliff, a place that is located deep in the forest near New Jerusalem. As we mentioned before, the work has a structure somewhat similar to a movie script, so we find conversations well accompanied by descriptions of the settings and situations that help to have a much more “immersive” experience in what is happening.

Mary Sanders and Charlie Barrows, young people who are in their last year of high school, get involved with the Black Cliff, which leads to a journey through time that changes the lives of our protagonists forever. The experience of living firsthand what was a civil war, leaves enormous consequences that are much more noticeable once they return to their time. In fact, the way Sterling handles that is very interesting because, although it involves something unreal like time travel, the reactions and changes in the characters are quite realistic and this is an extra point for Black Cliff Chronicles.

The story is divided into a first part that covers the time travel, a second that covers the return of Mary and Charlie to their time, with all that implies, and a third part that is the twist in the play that, possibly, is not seen coming at first but that has a huge impact on the United States, directly involving the presidency of the country.

The situation takes on a critical tone since they have only a few days to prevent certain events from occurring. This adds an element of urgency and even anguish that changes the pace of the story that, up to that point, was a little slower. Sterling gives us a little bit of everything in this work.

Although Black Cliff Chronicles has dark elements that could lead one to think otherwise, the truth is that deep down, it talks about the human capacity to do things beyond their limits, or at least those mental limits that we often put on ourselves. This being a much more positive message than one might expect from this work at first glance.

Black Cliff Chronicles is designed for mature readers who can appreciate its complex themes and subtle undercurrents.

Trigger warnings:

Suicide, rape, death.

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