# Book suggestion ... Similar to "island in the sea of time." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508 "2012-08-05T13:23:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/1 "2012-08-05T13:23:52Z")
I figure someone here will have a suggestion. I read, a few months back S. Stirling’s, Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. Needless to say I loved it. Can anyone suggest something along it’s line? The premise is that the modern day island of Nantucket is thrown back in time to 3000 b.c. The island’s population has to adjust to their new reality. Any suggestions? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/2 "2012-08-05T13:34:11Z")
Start with Eric Flint’s _1632_. A town in West Virginia is transported back to the Germanies in the middle of the Thirty Year’s War. There are a number of sequels now exploring the butterfly effect of this event, and books of short stories as well. A number of the latter started as authorized fan-fic, and fill in those little details of the daily lives of people that the main storyline may not have time for. Such as, what happens to transported wildlife not native to central Europe? ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/3 "2012-08-05T13:51:48Z")
Thanks Baker ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/4 "2012-08-05T15:23:00Z")
> [@Oliveritaly](#): > > I figure someone here will have a suggestion. I read, a few months back S. Stirling’s, Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. Needless to say I loved it. > > Can anyone suggest something along it’s line? The premise is that the modern day island of Nantucket is thrown back in time to 3000 b.c. The island’s population has to adjust to their new reality. > > Any suggestions? > > Thanks. If you haven’t read them yet, pretty much everything by S. Stirling relates to this type of concept in one way or another. The Dies the Fire series covers what would happen if condensed energy/explosions/etc stopped working all of a sudden, which causes everyone to go back to the pre-industrial age. One of my favorites is his stand-alone book Conquistador, in which a portal is found to an un-settled version of California. This unsettled land is promptly exploited for its resources. The political, economic, and social ramifications of this setup are explored deeply, which I assume you get a kick out of if you enjoyed his other works. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/5 "2012-08-05T15:35:14Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Start with Eric Flint’s _1632_. > > A town in West Virginia is transported back to the Germanies in the middle of the Thirty Year’s War. > > There are a number of sequels now exploring the butterfly effect of this event, and books of short stories as well. A number of the latter started as authorized fan-fic, and fill in those little details of the daily lives of people that the main storyline may not have time for. Such as, what happens to transported wildlife not native to central Europe? Darn, ninja’d by Baker. Actually I think the first 2 of that series are up on Baen’s free library, [BaenEbook.com](http://BaenEbook.com) I know I actually have all of them, there are 8 or 9 in the series now, though I got them collecting the free CDs bound in the hardbacks of other books from Baen. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/6 "2012-08-05T16:57:52Z")
Stirling’s The Sky People and In the Court of the Crimson Kings cover an alternate history where Venus and Mars were terraformed and seeded with life 200 million years ago by some unknown aliens known as the Lords of Creation. While this doesn’t seem to fit your criteria on its surface, clues in the second book make me think it actually does. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/7 "2012-08-05T17:08:55Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > If you haven’t read them yet, pretty much everything by S. Stirling relates to this type of concept in one way or another. The Dies the Fire series covers what would happen if condensed energy/explosions/etc stopped working all of a sudden, which causes everyone to go back to the pre-industrial age. > > One of my favorites is his stand-alone book Conquistador, in which a portal is found to an un-settled version of California. This unsettled land is promptly exploited for its resources. The political, economic, and social ramifications of this setup are explored deeply, which I assume you get a kick out of if you enjoyed his other works. Dies the Fire series is related to Island. The same event that sent Nantucket back caused the end of all the energy in modern time. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/8 "2012-08-05T17:31:41Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Dies the Fire series is related to Island. The same event that sent Nantucket back caused the end of all the energy in modern time. Right, but it always seemed kind of ham-fisted in to me. It would change pretty much nothing whether they were ‘related’ series or not. (BTW, not a spoiler to those who haven’t read them. I think this is actually mentioned on the back of one of the books) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/9 "2012-08-05T20:09:55Z")
If you start in with the _163X_ universe, be prepared for erratic product. There are the “main stream” novels, the "secondary’ novels, the short stories, the “Ring of Fire” collections, the “Grantville Gazette” collections (now up to what, #37 or so?) and so on. Some are excellent. Some are…not. All in all it’s a fascinating universe and the quality is generally high, so go for it. Seconding _Conquistador._ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/10 "2012-08-05T21:33:40Z")
I have to admit, I read this type of book and generally get the serious desire to line up most of the people involved and whack them all in the head with a brick. So frequently they do stuff that is seriously detrimental to continuing to live like _not_ fortify the town and set up sentries when you get popped back into central Germany in the middle of one of the largest wars going prior to Napolean heading to Moscow while there are roving bands of mercenaries out “foraging” :rolleyes: [for those who don’t know what renaissance mercenary foraging is like, roving around taking whatever you want from farmers and villages small enough to be taken by relatively few soldiers, be it food or loot, and killing the menfolk that will not ‘enlist’ and raping anything with an appropriate set of genitalia. Seriously NOT good.] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/11 "2012-08-05T22:23:11Z")
As long as others have mentioned several of Stirling’s recent works, I’ll also recommend _[The Peshawar Lancers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peshawar_Lancers)_. Another example of somebody traveling back in time and setting out to change history is the [Conrad Stargard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Stargard) series by the late Leo Frankowski. Be advised these are definitely not attempts at serious historical fiction. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/12 "2012-08-05T23:18:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another example of somebody traveling back in time and setting out to change history is the [Conrad Stargard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Stargard) series by the late Leo Frankowski. Be advised these are definitely not attempts at serious historical fiction. What? You mean you \*don’t \*get dozens of barely post-pubescent females willing to jump your bones when you time travel? Then what’s the point? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/13 "2012-08-05T23:31:20Z")
A hearty second to _Conquistador_ and _The Peshawar Lancers_. I really enjoyed _1632_ and _1633_. But then the series took a left turn into a maze of by-ways and side-stories and concurrent novels such that I had a hard time trying to keep up with the main thread of the series. Like _1634: The Galileo Affair_: it’s about some soccer-playing kids battling the Pope in Italy, or something. :rolleyes: I finally gave up on it. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/14 "2012-08-05T23:35:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another example of somebody traveling back in time and setting out to change history is the [Conrad Stargard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Stargard) series by the late Leo Frankowski. Be advised these are definitely not attempts at serious historical fiction. Total masturbatory fantasy by the author. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/15 "2012-08-06T00:17:14Z")
> [@Oliveritaly](#): > > I figure someone here will have a suggestion. I read, a few months back S. Stirling’s, Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. Needless to say I loved it. > > Can anyone suggest something along it’s line? The premise is that the modern day island of Nantucket is thrown back in time to 3000 b.c. The island’s population has to adjust to their new reality. > > Any suggestions? > > Thanks. There’s L Sprague de Camp’s “Lest Darkness Fall” - one man versus the fall of the Roman Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/16 "2012-08-06T00:22:05Z")
Besides books I suggest you join Alternate [History.com](http://History.com) which in the Alien Space Bats section as a whole bunch of stories and discussions about other “Island in the Sea of Time” scenarios where whole regions or areas time-travel. One of my favourites is when 2025 USA gets ISOTed to the Peshawar Lancers universe. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/17 "2012-08-06T01:18:40Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > A hearty second to _Conquistador_ and _The Peshawar Lancers_. > > I really enjoyed _1632_ and _1633_. But then the series took a left turn into a maze of by-ways and side-stories and concurrent novels such that I had a hard time trying to keep up with the main thread of the series. Like _1634: The Galileo Affair_: it’s about some soccer-playing kids battling the Pope in Italy, or something. :rolleyes: > > I finally gave up on it. Go back. Some of the side-novels are quite good. Just avoid anything by DeMarce. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/18 "2012-08-06T04:24:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Total masturbatory fantasy by the author. I can’t deny that’s present but that’s hardly all the series is. Frankowski also has a lot about how Stargard institutes political and economic changes between sessions with barely post-pubescent females. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/19 "2012-08-06T04:27:57Z")
Another good example of this genre: The [Axis of Time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_Time) trilogy by John Birmingham. A modern day naval task force gets sent back to World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508/20 "2012-08-06T06:58:27Z")
It’s fantasy, but I can highly recommend [The Doomfarers of Coramonde](http://www.amazon.com/The-Doomfarers-Coramonde-Brian-Daley/dp/0595437451) and sequel [The Starfollowers of Coramonde](http://www.amazon.com/The-Starfollowers-Coramonde-Brian-Daley/dp/144018447X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) by Brian Daley. The story involves an APC crew fighting in the Vietnam War who suddenly find themselves in a world of castles, wizards and dragons. Complete with damsel in distress, a prince on the run, and automatic weapons, I had a lot of fun reading these books last year when a friend loaned them to me. So much fun that I bought my own copies, even tho I almost never buy anything that doesn’t have a hardcover. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-similar-to-island-in-the-sea-of-time/630508.md?page=2)