# Recommend a book re time travel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616 "2008-08-19T23:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/21 "2008-08-20T14:59:25Z")
Ooooh, I can’t wait to get started on some of these! As for the Time Traveler’s Wife, I started on that one years ago, but got bored with it and quit after a few chapters. I thought about Wells’ The Time Machine, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to read a book after seeing a film version. I keep comparing the movie with the book and find it distracting. I’m going to visit my library now (online) and reserve one of your recommendations. Thanks very much everyone. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/22 "2008-08-20T15:02:25Z")
Another vote for _Replay_. It’s incredible. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/23 "2008-08-20T15:13:09Z")
**Replay** and **The Man who Folded Himself** are definitely great places to start. I didn’t much care for **Time and Again** – it’s all setting, no plot, and solves everything with a paradox that makes the time travel trip impossible. **Slaughterhouse Five** by Kurt Vonnegut is a must read. Obviously the author of **The Time Traveler’s Wife** did – her basic premise was lifted from it (opening line of **Slaughterhouse Five** : “Billy Pilgrim had become unstuck in time.”). It also influenced **Quantum Leap**. Pilgrim lives and relives his life by jumping back and forth within it. **No Enemy But Time** by Michael Bishop – wonderful novel about a man who finds himself in the ancient past among primitive ancestors. **Kindred** by Octavia Butler. A black woman keeps traveling back in time to the antebellum south and, among other things, keeps being forced into slavery and has to make sure an ancestor of hers is born. **The Big Time** by Fritz Lieber – The centerpiece of his “Time War” stories between the Spiders and the Snakes. John Varley’s **Millenneum** is a pretty good time travel adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/24 "2008-08-20T19:46:01Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Another vote for _Replay_. It’s incredible. [/QUOTE] On the basis of this thread, I’ve decided to reread _Replay_ again… this must be my twelfth time to read the book. Damn, what a great book. I’d love to see if anyone could make a movie of it. ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/25 "2008-08-20T20:02:26Z")
I can enthusiastically recommend [Time On My Hands](http://www.amazon.com/Time-My-Hands-Peter-Delacorte/dp/0671023241/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219262386&sr=1-4), but it may not mean much, since I loved, loved, loved _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ and the OP couldn’t get through it. Although the two books are really only similar in that they deal with time travel and I really liked them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/26 "2008-08-20T20:03:33Z")
Maureen Corrigan raved about a time travel book on NPR today. [The Little Book](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93787567) by Seldon Edwards. It sounds like it has everything the OP asked for, and more. Another vote for _Replay_. How many is that now? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/27 "2008-08-20T20:15:56Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] On the basis of this thread, I’ve decided to reread _Replay_ again… this must be my twelfth time to read the book. Damn, what a great book. I’d love to see if anyone could make a movie of it. [/QUOTE] There was a piece on NPR ~ a month or two ago discussing the book, and I immediately bought a copy. Someone apparently bought the movie rights but hasn’t acted thereon. I’m almost afraid to see a movie of it, because the book was so damned good. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/28 "2008-08-20T23:55:16Z")
After reading all your high praises for Replay, I was eager to get it from my library, and I found it in the library’s catalogue online, but when I tried to reserve it, they said is wasn’t available. ☹ So I reserved Time and Again at the library, then went to Amazon and bought an expensive paperback of Replay. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/29 "2008-08-20T23:56:41Z")
Oops - correction; I meant inexpensive paperback. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/30 "2008-08-21T00:01:21Z")
For a time travel romp, that is good fun, and the characters aren’t completely 2D, check out [The Accidental Time Machine](http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Time-Machine-Joe-Haldeman/dp/0441016162/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219276736&sr=8-1) by Joe Haldeman. It’s a pretty recent novel, but has a humble beginning with an epic ending. I liked it a lot, but I am a sucker for time travel. Not very lengthy, nor complex, but you’ll be entertained. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/31 "2008-08-21T03:30:05Z")
You might want to check out [Matter of Time](http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Time-Glen-Cook/dp/0441522130/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219289053&sr=1-3) by Glen Cook. I enjoyed it, although it isn’t one of Cook’s strongest offerings. And, of course, there’s the classic Heinlein short story _All You Zombies_, which is an absolute must read if you haven’t already. Meantime, it sounds as if I should check out _Replay_. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/32 "2008-08-21T03:48:42Z")
[QUOTE=Morgyn] Meantime, it sounds as if I should check out _Replay_. [/QUOTE] You won’t be disappointed. It’s impossible to put down! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/33 "2008-08-21T05:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] I’ll second The Time Traveller’s Wife. Great premise, well written, and an all around great read. [/QUOTE] Another vote for this one. It’s not sci-fi; the time travel aspect is essential to the story and twists your head around a little bit, but the story is not about time travel per se. The story doesn’t explore the physics or potential paradoxes of time travel. In fact, the guy who time travels doesn’t even know how it happens, it just happens, like some people get hiccups. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s an engaging story. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/34 "2008-08-21T08:39:25Z")
_Woman on the Edge of Time_, by Marge Piercy. Time travel sci-fi alongside present day hard drama. Great book and one of my all-time favourites. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/35 "2008-08-21T10:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] Another vote for this one. It’s not sci-fi; the time travel aspect is essential to the story and twists your head around a little bit, but the story is not about time travel per se. The story doesn’t explore the physics or potential paradoxes of time travel. In fact, the guy who time travels doesn’t even know how it happens, it just happens, like some people get hiccups. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s an engaging story. [/QUOTE] I came in to say The Time Traveller’s Wife too - it’s an absorbing read, as it slowly unveils the consequences of the way he travels through time. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/36 "2008-08-21T11:34:00Z")
_Elleander Morning_ by Jerry Yulsman. Great book, I mention it in every time travel or alternative history thread I come across, but so far nobody else has ever read it. It begins in an alternate history in which WWII never took place. It’s out of print, but you ought to be able to get it via inter-library loan. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/37 "2008-08-21T23:49:22Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **Kindred** by Octavia Butler. A black woman keeps traveling back in time to the antebellum south and, among other things, keeps being forced into slavery and has to make sure an ancestor of hers is born. [/QUOTE] Oh, yeah! I really enjoyed that book. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/38 "2008-08-22T00:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=SkeptiJess] _Elleander Morning_ by Jerry Yulsman. Great book, I mention it in every time travel or alternative history thread I come across, but so far nobody else has ever read it. It begins in an alternate history in which WWII never took place. It’s out of print, but you ought to be able to get it via inter-library loan. [/QUOTE] Or at Amazon for a penny! I panicked when the first Amazon page showed only a paperback for $16. $16! But there are hardcovers available and they’re cheaper. I looked at Yulsman’s [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Yulsman). He sounds like a fascinating character. Thanks for mentioning this book. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/39 "2008-08-22T01:01:49Z")
As a slight diversion, Isaac Asimov wrote a couple of short stories about time travel and Larry Niven did an excellent analysis of the way the Universe could cope with time travel (starting with the paradox where you go back in time and kill your grandfather :eek: ). ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616/40 "2008-08-22T01:15:00Z")
Robert Silverberg’s Up The Line Two things stand out; 1.) The probabilty of your existence is diminished by existing in many times. 2.) You did what with your Grandmother? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-re-time-travel/460616.md?page=3)