At left, author Tyler Tichelaar, who lives in Marquette, has written a new book, “Odin’s Eye: A Marquette Time Travel Novel.” The novel is about going back in time, and then back to the present, in Marquette. The book cover is pictured at right. The novel has a different angle from Tichelaar’s previous works. (Photos courtesy of Tyler Tichelaar)

By CHRISTIE

MASTRIC

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Tyler Tichelaar’s 24th book, “Odin’s Eye: A Marquette Time Travel Novel,” blends science fiction with local history.

Even though Tichelaar incorporates characters from his previous eight novels, such as “The Marquette Trilogy,” “The Best Place” and “When Teddy Came to Town,” he considers his newest book a standalone novel.

The novel’s title, “Odin’s Eye,” plays on theories that Vikings visited upper Michigan centuries before Columbus.

Although history has been a major focus of previous books, with “Odin’s Eye,” Tichelaar said he wanted to try something different.

“I love Marquette history,” he said. “So, I always had thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a time machine so I could go back in time to see what Marquette was like in this past?'”

Of course, there is no time machine.

Thus, he turned to a literary alternative and a creative idea.

“I’ll write a book about somebody that actually is able to do that — someone from the present who can go back to the past and see what Marquette is like,” Tichelaar said. “A lot of time, in time travel fiction, the person goes back to the past and they change something that then messes up the future.

“I thought, ‘Well, what event in the past would I like to have had changed, or what event would really change the future for Marquette?'”

Tichelaar said he wished the Longyear Mansion had not been moved from the area around Ridge and Cedar streets to Brookline, Massachusetts.

“I think if Marquette still had the Longyear Mansion, it would be fabulous,” he said.

“Odin’s Eye” begins when the main character, a 19-year-old man, wakes up with amnesia in an unfamiliar place. The Allen family of Marquette, which befriends him, assures the man that the year is 1900. Since he can’t recall his name, the family calls him John.

John tries to regain his memory with the help of his teenage friend, Hugh Allen. While much of Marquette looks familiar to him, some areas appear strange. He also has memories of unexplainable modern devices he can’t name. As he tries to remember his identity and his past, John sets in motion a chain of events that could have consequences for Marquette’s existence.

Tichelaar didn’t want to give away too much of the plot, but he did say that one notable Marquette person lives instead of dies, which relates to what happened to the Longyear Mansion in the novel.

“Eventually, the main character goes back to the present, realizes things are different,” Tichelaar said. “There’s problems with what happened.”

The modern section of the novel takes place in the summer of 2021 just as people were being vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tichelaar said.

“I started writing the novel during the worst parts of the pandemic, and also the year after my brother died unexpectedly,” he said. “I felt like the world had become surreal and I was living in an alternative universe and that was some of the inspiration for the time travel. My character feels displaced and finds himself in an alternative version of time. I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling during the pandemic.”

Tichelaar, a seventh-generation resident of Marquette, already has many connections to the city’s past. His ancestor, Basil Bishop, worked with Amos Harlow on his forge, while another ancestor, William F. McCombie, helped disassemble the Longyear Mansion for its move from Marquette to Massachusetts. That effort, he said, took 19 railroad cars and three years to accomplish.

His grandfather, Lester White, was the caretaker at the Longyears’ Ives Lake home at the exclusive Huron Mountain Club when Tichelaar was a child. In fact, the Huron Mountain Club, the Longyear family and the Longyear Mansion all play key roles in “Odin’s Eye.”

Tichelaar already has received acclaim for his past works, having won the Reader View Historical Fiction Award in 2008 for his novel, “Narrow Lives.” In 2011, he received the Outstanding Writer Award in the Marquette County Arts Awards as well as the Barb H. Kelly Historic Preservation Award for “My Marquette.”

The Marquette Regional History Center produced Tichelaar’s play, “Willpower,” with a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council. In 2021, “Kawbawgam: The Chief, The Legend, the Man,” was named a U.P. Notable Book.

“Odin’s Eye” is available locally at Snowbound Books, Michigan Fair, the Marquette Regional History Center and Touch of Finland. Paperback and ebook editions are available from online retailers and Tichelaar’s website at www.MarquetteFiction.com. Retailers can order via Ingram at www.ingramcontent.com (ISBN-13:979-8-9872692-1-3).

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.