# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/21 "2008-09-07T01:00:24Z")
Tim Powers also did some more time travel fiction in [Three Days to Never](http://www.amazon.com/Three-Days-Never-Tim-Powers/dp/0380798379/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220749145&sr=1-1). It’s not as good as The Anubis Gates, but still pretty good. Finally, if you’re willing to go a bit afield, check out Larry Niven’s collection, [The Flight of the Horse](http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Horse-Larry-Niven/dp/B000GELQQ2/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220749086&sr=8-15). Without getting too in depth, the original story in the collection was written after Niven decided that the various paradoxes involved in time travel made the whole concept nothing more than a fantasy. I don’t wish to spoil anything for this book, but it’s a lot of fun. Truuuust me. Why wouldn’t you trust someone who calls himself Loki? Hmm? Finally, on the fluffy side, Robert F. Young wrote a number of charming little time-travel stories. My favorite of these is [Eridahn](http://www.amazon.com/Eridahn-Robert-F-Young/dp/0345308549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220749185&sr=1-1). A time-travel operative is sent back to the Cretaceous period to investigate the recent discovery of a _Homo sapiens_ fossil dating from that period. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/22 "2008-09-07T01:07:06Z")
I was going to recommend Time and Again also, but **DesertDog** beat me to it. On another note–I’m not going to say that it’s the greatest book ever written, but if you’re interested in the time travel genre, you should certainly read the seminal _Looking Backward, 2000-1887_ by Edward Bellamy. It was published in 1888, 7 years before The Time Machine! It’s about a guy who Rip-Van-Winkles his way to the year 2000. Very interesting perspective. And it’s short and an easy read, so it’s worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/23 "2008-09-07T01:18:49Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > I recently finished “The Anubis Gates” by Tim Powers, which I found fascinating and “impossible to put down,” as the blurbers say. Gah! I hate being an outlier! I’m finding that damned book nearly impossible to pick up. I’ve been reading it for months. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/24 "2008-09-07T02:56:25Z")
Another good one is [A Shortcut in Time](http://www.amazon.com/Shortcut-Time-Charles-Dickinson/dp/0765305798) by Charles Dickinson, a writer who has never disappointed me. It’s not “heavy” like some time travel stories – it’s charming and believable and there’s plenty of tension and drama. ---
**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 7, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/25 "2008-09-07T07:25:54Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions! That should keep me occupied for some time. **jsgoddess** , what’s ticking you off? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/26 "2008-09-07T12:20:03Z")
I’d add _The Man Who Folded Himself_ by David Gerrold. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/27 "2008-09-07T13:31:38Z")
Three more that I forgot: all by Connie Willis. First, a pretty bleak examination of the Black Death in England, and a bit of a look at what a modern pandemic might be like: [Doomsday Book](http://www.amazon.com/Doomsday-Book-Connie-Willis/dp/0553562738/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220793886&sr=8-1). Not as bleak, but still a bit of a downer, and still a good read, is [Lincoln’s Dreams](http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Dreams-Connie-Willis/dp/0553270257/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220793886&sr=8-2). Technically I really don’t think of it as time-travel, rather than just a linking between a modern woman’s dreams and those of Robert E. Lee. For a more light-hearted time travel romp, there’s her [To Say Nothing of the Dog](http://www.amazon.com/Say-Nothing-Dog-Connie-Willis/dp/0553575384/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220794185&sr=8-1), which is a send up of both Jerome K. Jerome’s [Three Men in a Boat](http://www.amazon.com/Three-Men-Boat-Nothing-Editions/dp/0486451100/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220794185&sr=8-2), and the works of P.G. Wodehouse. It’s a bit confused at first, in a large part because the viewpoint character is suffering from major sleep deprivation when the story opens. But once you get past the first couple of chapters it starts to run. Also, it’s worth noting that To Say Nothing of the Dog and Doomsday Book take place in the same universe, but have only the lightest of links between the two books. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/28 "2008-09-07T18:26:08Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > **jsgoddess** , what’s ticking you off? I’m not sure. It just isn’t clicking with me at all. I’m about 80% done and haven’t enjoyed it at all. I don’t know why I’m still reading. To be fair, though, when I started it I was reading it very intermittently, so I didn’t have a huge chance to get into its rhythms. Then by the time I had more time, I didn’t want to read it any longer. So this could be as much an attitude problem as anything. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/29 "2008-09-08T04:07:36Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > [http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ForesightAmerica.htm](http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ForesightAmerica.htm) > > A shameless plug for my own work. Thanks for the plug, it was an enjoyable read. ---
**Author:** ![luvtinayothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@luvtinayothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvtinayothers)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/30 "2008-09-08T05:17:46Z")
Isaac Asimov’s The End Of Eternity is pretty darn good > **[The End of Eternity: Isaac Asimov: 9780575071186: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/End-Eternity-Gollancz-SF-Library/dp/0575071184)** > > The End of Eternity \[Isaac Asimov\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The End of Eternity ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/31 "2008-09-08T05:50:39Z")
It is a bit of a different spin on time manipulation, and has some racy parts, but I thoroughly enjoyed [_The Fermata_](http://www.amazon.com/Fermata-Nicholson-Baker/dp/0679759336) by Nicholson Baker. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/32 "2008-09-08T06:05:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Isaac Asimov’s The End Of Eternity is pretty darn good This book was Asimov’s attempt to prove that he could write a good time travel story. He failed. It’s not a book about time travel, it’s just a space opera (and a fairly mediocre one at that) with the word “planet” changed to “century”, “space” changed to “time”, and “time” changed to “metatime”. A similar criticism can be applied to Well’s _The Time Machine_, though not as bad, since the resulting work ended up better than Asimov’s. Really, Wells was just using the machine as a literary device to present a world like-and-yet-unlike our own: It could just as easily have been a completely separate alternate universe, and the story would have been almost unchanged. Contrary to popular belief, incidentally, _The Time Machine_ was not the first story to feature a machine that enabled traveling through time. There was a short story that preceded it called “The Clock that Ran Backwards” (I can’t recall the author) that actually is a pretty good time travel story. And I’ve tried to read _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_, but the first chapter was so long on the incredibly sappy romance, and so short on the science, that I just put it down. Does it get any better? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/33 "2008-09-08T09:01:58Z")
Time Travel I’ve read and loved: Replay by Ken Grimwood: Man travels back into his former self and relives his life multiple times, meeting a fellow replayer The Green Futures of Tycho by Wiliam Sleator: Teen boy finds mysterious egg shaped device that allows time and tries to prevent multiple possible tragic personal futures The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold: One of the quintessential time travel novels - man inherits time travel belt and duplicates himself with it. Mostly explores his personal development, the philosophy and mechanisms of time travel, and the relationships he has with his duplicates. TimeFall by James Kahn: Man and wife archeology professors find skull artifact that is older then recorded history, go on jungle adventure to find origin, where they discover a series of caves that lead to other time periods where they have to save the universe from coming undone. Technically third in a series, but the first two are very different and not needed at all to understand this one. All You Zombies and By His Bootstraps (short stories) by Robert Heinlein: Classic time travel stories in which protaganist ends up being all the characters in the story including his recruiter and both is parents. Time Travel I haven’t read but hear is good and intend to read: Time’s Arrowby Martin Amis: A story about a Nazi doctor told entirely in reverse so that eating becomes regurgitating, killing becomes giving life, etc. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: The story of a man who lives his life out of order and his romance with a woman who lives her live linearly. A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones: Girl in WWII London is kidnapped and gets involved in a mission to save Time City, a future city which is the home base of the Time Police. The Little Book by Selden Edwards: A sort of Forest Gump time travel story - protaganist and his family end up meeting important historical figures or playing a part in major historical events. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/34 "2008-09-08T11:23:58Z")
> [@Daerlyn](#): > > 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. It’s **Alastair Reynolds** who wrote it, not Huxley… Good book. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/35 "2008-09-08T12:10:09Z")
**Rivers of Time** , if you can find it. L. Sprague de Camp amplified and extended his short story “A Gun for Dinosaur” (his response to Ray Bradbury’s “The Sound of Thunder”) into a series of stories, then collected them into a single volume before he died. **Lest Darkness Fall** – de Camp’s classic time travel story – what if a knowledgeable historian got sent back in time to a crucual instant in the Fall of the Roman Empire and tried to prevent it? Very interesting for how hard it is to bring modern technology to the ancient world – his hero, Martin Padway, fails as often as he succeeds. **TimeMaster** by Robert L. Forward. Forward , a Hughes Lan physicist (and later head of his own company, Foward Enterprises) wrote some pretty good hard SF . This is his time travel novel. Forward didn’t believe in the Grandfather Paradox, saying he’d like to see a believable physical proof of it. This is his attempt to see what happens when you go back in time and interact with yourself. **A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court** – Twain’s book isn’t your classic time-travel novel, although it really was the first to treat a lot of themes, especially the Modern Man of Science and Technology trying to bring modernity to the ancient world (a big influence on de Camp’s story above). Twain was poking as much fun at his 19th century whiz kid Hank Morgan as he was at Arthur’s 6th century ignorance, a point most people seem to miss. Twain’ s descriptions of Morgan’s “miracles” – Eclipse prediction, blowing up Merlin’s Castle, restoring the Holt Fountain – are wonderful. But the single most outrageous image has to be the Knights of the Round Table riding bicycles. James Hogan **The Proteus Project** – Nazis go back in time to change WWII, so Allies go back in time to undo it. An old idea by the time Hogan got his hands on it, but he did a good job. He also does something I’ve never seen a tiome-travel writer do – he got permission of the still-living figures (like Isaac Asimov) to use them in his story. And, of course, my one-sentence time-travel story, one of my first sigs: > [@](#): > > “Of course,” said my grandfather, pulling a gun from his belt as he stepped from the Time Machine, “There’s no paradox if _I_ shoot _You_!” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/36 "2008-09-08T12:24:58Z")
More stuff: “Vintage Season” by Catherine L. Moore. It’s in several anthologies, including “THe Science Fiction Hall of Fame”. Also (sorta) “All Mimsy were the Borogoves”, also a classic. Both have been turned into movies, which aren’t as good as the stories (all ambiguities are gone and the ends are prettied up) but are still better than the general run of SF films. Leo Frankowski’s **The Cross-Time Engineer** series. Frankowski has a de-Camp style acquaintance with how hard it is to change people in ancient times. De Camp’s short story “A Gun for Aristotle”. Unexpected results when you try to introduce your favotite philosopher to new ideas. Michael Moorcock’s **Behold the Man** – short story later turned into novel. Gets an award for sheer ballsiness – what happens when a Time Traveler goes back in time to see Jesus Christ and maybe prevent the Crucifiction? **Up the Line** and **Hawksbill Station** by Robert Silverberg. The first is about a time-travel tour company set in ancient Byzantium, the latter about a penal colony set up back in the Paleozoic. Interesting work. **Deathbeast** – not really great, but another entry in the “Let’s go back in time and hunt T. Rex” type of story. Gerrold said this was his attempt to treat a T. Rex like “Jaws”. Lotsa blood. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/37 "2008-09-08T12:35:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I’ve tried to read _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_, but the first chapter was so long on the incredibly sappy romance, and so short on the science, that I just put it down. Does it get any better? Oh my god yes. It’s absolutely astonishing, and painfully beautiful. Recommendation thirded or fourthed. And _The Door Into Summer_ seconded too. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/38 "2008-09-08T12:46:31Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I loved ‘Timeline’ by Michael Chriton! The movie was a huge disappointment, but the book was excellent. Pretty much exactly what I came in here to say. I read the book first and was SUPER excited to see that it was coming out on the big screen. That movie was a turd. But, the book was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/39 "2008-09-08T12:52:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I’ve tried to read _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_, but the first chapter was so long on the incredibly sappy romance, and so short on the science, that I just put it down. Does it get any better? I like the book. But if you’re complaining about it being short of science and the sappy romance in chapter one, I’m not sure you’ll enjoy finishing it. I loved the characterizations in the book, and the romance, too. But I found Niffenegger’s attempts later on in the book to explain her protagonist’s time travel to be more distracting than helpful. I’d have been much, much happier with the book if she’d left the time travel jumps as unexplained. If you’ve not been drawn in by chapter one, I’d suggest dropping it, honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336/40 "2008-09-08T13:10:26Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > [_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. I loved both of those movies. Time and Again was better, but they’re kind of apples and oranges with the exception of the time travel thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-worthwhile-time-travel-fiction/462336.md?page=3)