Literary Las Vegas: “The Momentaer” by Patrick Cristobal

“The Momentaer” is the sequel to the 2010 novel “The Orbiter,” written by UNLV student Patrick Cristobal. Sixteen years after Pierre Zeyfur stopped Lance Torrent from ruling the universe, Zeyfur’s daughter, Claire, has her own adventure. She finds a watch, the Momentaer, which allows her to travel through time. Unable to remove the watch and with only three months left before it kills her, Claire endeavors to remove the deadly contraption on a journey through time.

EXCERPT FROM ‘THE MOMENTAER’

“So where is this Mineania?” I asked Terratoph as we rode the boat to the land of Automania.

“It’s due east of Automania. The first Automatronicl was, of course, the Grand Motherboard. She created the first lot of Automatronicls with her own hands, using what resources she had. Believe it or not, the first Automatronicls were made out of nature’s bounty — flora. Made out of leaves and twigs, they were quite amazing. They were able to perform team-bounded tasks fairly easily. Although just twigs, they were durable and everlasting. One day, a meteor crashed into the village where the Automatronicls stayed, destroying all the Automatronicls except the Grand Motherboard.

“Fortunately, they meteor was rich in iron and tintanium. That’s what we are made of actually, iron and titanium. She crafted a perfect Automatronicl on her first try. Its functions were prcise and sharp. But the Grand Motherboard didn’t know about feelings back then, so that’s when Automatronicls were all mindless machines.”