# Recommend a time travel book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657 "2012-08-06T20:57:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/21 "2012-08-07T18:27:04Z")
_Making History_ by Stephen Fry. (Who knew actors could write books that aren’t about the people they’ve slept with!?) All of his books are pretty good. _Making History_ centers around the idea “What if you kept Hitler from every being born?” The consequences are maybe not what you thought. I’ve recommended it to several people and have gotten the response “I will always read any book you recommend from now on.” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/22 "2012-08-07T18:31:23Z")
I have enjoyed _The Eight_ by Katherine Neville and _Outlander_ by Diana Gabaldon. And to a lesser extent, _Timeline_ by Michael Crichton. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/23 "2012-08-07T19:13:18Z")
I came in to suggest the following, all of which have already been mentioned. 1. The Anubis Gates 2. Replay 3. Lest Darkness Fall 4. The first few books of the Conrad Stargard series. The later ones get a little weird. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/24 "2012-08-07T20:18:21Z")
Another vote for Ken Grimwood’s _Replay_. Very good stuff. Peter David’s _Imzadi_ is hands-down my favorite _Star Trek_ time travel book (and there’ve been many). I was grinning like an idiot for the last third or so. In Audrey Niffenegger’s _The Time Traveler’s Wife_, the involuntary and uncontrollable time-travelling of a young man wreaks havoc upon his decades-long romance with his eventual wife. More a tragic romance than sf, but still very good. Jerry Yulsman’s _Elleander Morning_ does some clever things with the whole go-back-in-time-to-kill-Hitler concept. The mechanics of time travel are left a little vaugue (OK, a _lot_ vague), but it’s a nifty story. Robert Heinlein’s 1959 short story “—All You Zombies—” is also a must-read. Temporal paradoxes galore. > [@kayaker](#): > > …There is also one other book that I think you will like, but it doesn’t get published until 2019, unfortunately. I have already/will read that seven years from now/yesterday. ---
**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 7, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/25 "2012-08-07T20:35:39Z")
For a lighter take on things, try Harry Harrison’s _The Technicolor Time Machine_. It involves Hollywood discovering time travel. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/26 "2012-08-07T20:59:20Z")
I’m going to do my usual for these sorts of threads and (1) second/third/whatever the recommendation of _The Anubis Gates_ and (2) throw in a recommendation of _All of an Instant_ by Richard Garfinkle as something to read after you’ve read four or five other time travel books and think everything has been done. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/27 "2012-08-07T23:22:48Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Jack Finney’s _Time and Again_ and _From Time to Time_, he also has some short story collections that are mostly time travel themed. They are very good. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/28 "2012-08-07T23:31:46Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Jack Finney’s _Time and Again_ and _From Time to Time_, he also has some short story collections that are mostly time travel themed. Also by Jack Finney but not as good (IMO) as _Time and Again_, but still not bad: _Marion’s Wall_. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/29 "2012-08-08T00:00:33Z")
Whole-hearted agreements with: [ul] [li]_Replay_[/li][li]_The Anubis Gates_[/li][li]_The Technicolor Time Machine_[/li][li]\*Time and Again \*(but I didn’t think the sequel, _From Time to Time_, was nearly as good)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/30 "2012-08-08T15:39:06Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I have enjoyed _The Eight_ by Katherine Neville and _Outlander_ by Diana Gabaldon. And to a lesser extent, _Timeline_ by Michael Crichton. I have heard good things about the first 2 (by the same person, interestingly…heyy who are you really 🙂 ). But with all due respect, I must disagree strongly with that last recommendation. One of the worst, most uninteresting books I have ever read (well almost read; finally about 2/3 of the way through I finally admitted I was wasting my time), and I love time travel stuff. Wrinkle in Time I read as a teen and liked it but think it was best served as a book for kids/teens - but then it’s been a long time, just my recollection. I wish I had something to add but you all have taken mine. ☹ Although I’m curious about some of the others, thx for the suggestions… ---
**Author:** ![Jaymosch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaymosch/32/2820_2.png) [@Jaymosch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaymosch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/31 "2012-08-08T16:39:09Z")
Since no one has mentioned it, I enjoyed Octavia Butler’s [Kindred](http://www.amazon.com/Kindred-Octavia-Butler/dp/0807083100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344443841&sr=8-1&keywords=octavia+butler+kindred). ---
**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:** [August 8, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/32 "2012-08-08T17:16:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Robert Heinlein’s 1959 short story “—All You Zombies—” is also a must-read. Temporal paradoxes galore. Definitely a must read. > [@](#): > > _Millennium_ by John Varley (snipped because I hadn’t read the other two) > _The Door Into Summer_ by Robert Heinlein Also must reads. Varley wrote a short story, “Air Raid”, and expanded it into _Millennium_, and then turned it into a movie script. The novel’s chapters are almost all titles of previous time travel short stories or novels, and the book assumes that you are familiar with time travel concepts. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/33 "2012-08-08T17:43:24Z")
A bit off the beaten track, but I liked [The Fall of Chronopolis](http://sciencefictionruminations.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/book-review-the-fall-of-chronopolis-barrington-j-bayley-1974/) by Barrington J. Bayley. ---
**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 8, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/34 "2012-08-08T18:07:47Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Varley wrote a short story, “Air Raid”, and expanded it into _Millennium_, and then turned it into a movie script. The novel’s chapters are almost all titles of previous time travel short stories or novels, and the book assumes that you are familiar with time travel concepts. Nitpick, but I think the actual order was he wrote the short story, expanded and adapted that into a movie script, and then adapted the script into a novel. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/35 "2012-08-08T18:11:54Z")
> [@Jaymosch](#): > > Since no one has mentioned it, I enjoyed Octavia Butler’s [Kindred](http://www.amazon.com/Kindred-Octavia-Butler/dp/0807083100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344443841&sr=8-1&keywords=octavia+butler+kindred). See post #14 - \*\*RealityChuck \*\*gives it a recommendation. I enjoyed it, a lot, but don’t think of it as a classic Time Travel book as much as an exploration of African-American identity. It is no more or less a TT book than some of the others mentioned, but it feels more serious intent vs. a cool thought-provoker like Replay. And, per **Snowboarder Bo** , in movie format nothing beats **Primer**. Love that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jaymosch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaymosch/32/2820_2.png) [@Jaymosch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaymosch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/36 "2012-08-08T18:32:39Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > See post #14 - \*\*RealityChuck \*\*gives it a recommendation. I enjoyed it, a lot, but don’t think of it as a classic Time Travel book as much as an exploration of African-American identity. It is no more or less a TT book than some of the others mentioned, but it feels more serious intent vs. a cool thought-provoker like Replay. Oops, that’s what I get for posting at work. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/37 "2012-08-08T22:15:46Z")
The Time Traveler’s Wife - guy travels through time abruptly and winds up at different random points in his life (and the people he knows). LOVED IT! They turned it into a movie which was pretty good too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/38 "2012-08-08T22:17:39Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > The Time Traveler’s Wife - guy travels through time abruptly and winds up at different random points in his life (and the people he knows). LOVED IT! > > They turned it into a movie which was pretty good too. See post 24. I really liked the book but was disappointed in the movie, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/39 "2012-08-08T22:28:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _The Man Who Folded Himself_ by David Gerrold pretty much covers it all. > [@cmyk](#): > > I found [The Accidental Time Machine](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441014992?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links) by Joe Haldeman to be a lot of fun. I enjoyed both of these very much and it was from this board I learned of them. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/40 "2012-08-08T22:28:43Z")
You might like to check out the Paratime stories of H Beam Piper. All of them except Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen are out of of copyright. I actually have them all on paperback, but downloading them and reading for free on my tablet is actually better. You don’t lose your page when you fall asleep. [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science\_Fiction\_%28Bookshelf%29#P](http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_%28Bookshelf%29#P) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657.md?page=3)