# Please recommend some worthwhile time travel fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336 "2008-09-06T13:42:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/1 "2008-09-06T13:42:02Z")
I recently finished “The Anubis Gates” by Tim Powers, which I found fascinating and “impossible to put down,” as the blurbers say. Can anybody recommend other entertaining time travel fiction? Thanks in advance, Michael (Literature goes here, right? If it’s a better fit for MPSIMS, please move it. Thanks!) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/2 "2008-09-06T14:16:54Z")
[http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ForesightAmerica.htm](http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ForesightAmerica.htm) A shameless plug for my own work. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/3 "2008-09-06T15:26:09Z")
Audrey Niffenegger’s _The Time Traveller’s Wife_ will make your head–and then your heart–hurt. Definitely worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/4 "2008-09-06T15:33:51Z")
Here’s a funny short story someone recommended on another forum: [Wikihistory](http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/5 "2008-09-06T15:39:14Z")
One time travel book that’s recommended by just about everyone is _Replay_ by Ken Grimwood. I’ve never encountered anyone who didn’t love it. I just finished _Elleander Morning_ by Jerry Yulsman. It’s OOP but there are copies at Amazon. WWII never happened because Hitler was assassinated in 1924. It’s fascinating, if a bit romancey. ---
**Author:** ![TNWPsycho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@TNWPsycho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNWPsycho)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/6 "2008-09-06T15:51:41Z")
“Time Machine” by H.G. Wells is a classic. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/7 "2008-09-06T15:53:41Z")
[_Time and Again_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_Again_(novel)) by Jack Finney. In it, a government project is trying to see if someone can be sent to the past by making them _believe_ he is there.¹ A set is constructed of a particular apartment in the Dakota² known to be empty on the target date in 1882 and for days, he sees and hears, and eats nothing that would tell the traveler, an artist, that is is not in 1882. Naturally, it works and he spends time in 1882 New York sketching things; the book is illustrated with period illustrations of what he saw. There’s more, of course, but it was interesting how historical events of 1882 NYC were woven into the story. ¹Yes, the same trope used in _Somewhere in Time_. The novel was out ten years before. ²When John Lennon was shot, I knew exactly where that was. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/8 "2008-09-06T15:59:42Z")
The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. Actually it straddles the line between time travel and alternative history, but it’s an excellent read in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/9 "2008-09-06T16:39:20Z")
While Ken Grimwood’s _Replay_ is not your typical science fiction time-travel romp, it is still a fantastic novel, exploring the idea of being able to relive your life from an earlier point in time. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/10 "2008-09-06T20:28:02Z")
Century Rain by Alistair Huxley. It’s got a very film noir feel to it and an interesting concept which will be totally ruined by my explaining it to you. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/11 "2008-09-06T20:40:33Z")
**Weapons of Choice** by John Birmingham Picture the movie **The Final Countdown** as a novel only it is a future fleet of the year 2020 Vs the Imperial Japanese Navy. Great fun. (Featuring the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hillary Clinton)😉 > **[Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1): Birmingham, John:...](https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Choice-Axis-Time-Trilogy/dp/0345457137)** > > Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1) \[Birmingham, John\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/12 "2008-09-06T20:57:41Z")
The last part of Heinlein’s _Time Enough for Love._ No question of causal paradoxes, which the physics of the universe of discourse rules out; just a man’s visit to his childhood, and a glimpse of a long-lost America Heinlein himself dimly remembered from his own. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/13 "2008-09-06T22:34:22Z")
Anything by Robert Westall, especially Devil on the Road for 17th Century England. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/14 "2008-09-06T22:36:34Z")
I loved ‘Timeline’ by Michael Chriton! The movie was a huge disappointment, but the book was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/15 "2008-09-06T22:36:59Z")
**Time Patrol** and **Annals of the Time Patrol** by Poul Anderson are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/16 "2008-09-06T22:39:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The last part of Heinlein’s _Time Enough for Love._ No question of causal paradoxes, which the physics of the universe of discourse rules out; just a man’s visit to his childhood, and a glimpse of a long-lost America Heinlein himself dimly remembered from his own. Since _Guns of the South_ was mentioned already, there’s another good Heinlein time travel book _The Door Into Summer_. Light on the science, but interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/17 "2008-09-06T22:47:58Z")
There’s a couple of Heinlein short stories that must be read. “-All You Zombies-” and “By His Bootstraps”. Read “By His Bootstraps” first. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/18 "2008-09-06T23:21:25Z")
I second the recommendation for _The Time Traveller’s Wife_. It’s a great look at a much more personal sort of time travel. Very powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/19 "2008-09-06T23:45:00Z")
Try the 1632 series by Eric Flint. An entire town time travels. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/20 "2008-09-06T23:52:41Z")
If you want romance, try the [Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=diana+gabaldon&x=17&y=25). Feisty heroine, red-headed Scot who’s an outlaw, Jacobites, witches, forced marriages, the King of France…what’s not to love? Gabaldon writes with a sense of humor that despite having read the series about half a dozen times (I’m in the middle of Book 3 again) I still cry and laugh at parts I’ve lovingly wallowed in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336.md?page=2)