# 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:** 3
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/41 "2012-08-08T22:35:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. You might be right about “Air Raid”/Millennium. I know that the short story came out first, and then the novel, but I wasn’t quite sure where the movies script came in. John Varley also wrote _Mammoth_, which I enjoyed, but I don’t think it’s quite epic. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/42 "2012-08-09T02:59:23Z")
_To Say Nothing of the Dog_ - Connie Willis ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/43 "2012-08-09T18:34:50Z")
[Slaughterhouse Five](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five) by Vonnegut might join this list. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/44 "2012-08-10T08:11:58Z")
I’m not a big fan of Dean Koontz, but I did enjoy _[Lightning](http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Dean-Koontz/dp/042523360X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344586174&sr=1-1&keywords=lightning)_. ---
**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 10, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/45 "2012-08-10T08:56:57Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ - Connie Willis Great story. Also, I just remembered _A Tale of Time City_ by Diana Wynne Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/46 "2012-08-10T13:30:13Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > A Wrinkle In Time. 🙂 > To quote from Wikipedia: “A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy[1] novel by Madeleine L’Engle, first published in 1962.[2] The story revolves around a young girl whose father, a government scientist, has gone missing after working on a mysterious project called a tesseract. The book won a Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.[3] It is the first in L’Engle’s series of books about the Murry and O’Keefe families.” This is an excellent book, but there’s no actual time travel anywhere in it. There’s a lot of teleportation, but no going into the future or past. Still, absolutely great read. ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/47 "2012-08-10T22:02:32Z")
I love time travel books, and movies as well, so I apreciate all of these great suggestions! I have one book I loved that I haven’t seen listed here, [_Time Craft_](http://www.amazon.com/Time-Craft-Mark-A-Ely/dp/1449915531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344635856&sr=8-1&keywords=time+craft). Really enjoyable read, especially if you like Back to the Future type stories. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/48 "2012-08-11T00:20:57Z")
I really liked [_Glimpses_ by Lewis Shiner](http://www.amazon.com/Glimpses-Lewis-Shiner/dp/1596063513/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344642784&sr=1-1&keywords=glimpses+lewis+shiner). A reviewer called it the “first rock and roll time travel novel”, but it is more substantial and thought-provoking than that makes it sound. Or maybe I just liked the idea of what “might have been”. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/49 "2012-08-11T12:18:25Z")
_Glimpses_ is excellent! Also fun is [Time Travellers never Die](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/jack-mcdevitt/time-travelers-never-die.htm) by **Jack McDevitt**. Or there’s _Behold the Man_ by **Michael Moorcock** , in which a time traveller goes back to check out the life of Jesus… Set in the same time, but quite different (includes a dinosaur!) is [Corrupting Dr. Nice](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/john-kessel/corrupting-dr-nice.htm) by **John Kessel**. ---
**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 11, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/50 "2012-08-11T17:48:46Z")
There’s a whole series of time travel books by Kage Baker. They get a little odd towards the end, but they’re very good. The first book is [In the Garden of Iden](http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Iden-Company-Kage-Baker/dp/0765314576/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344706662). I was going to suggest _A Tale of Time City_, but Lynne beat me to it. It’s not one of Jones’ best books, but anything by her is delightful. And I’ll umpteenth recommend _The Anubis Gates_ and _All You Zombies_. [A Matter of Time](http://www.amazon.com/A-Matter-of-Time-ebook/dp/B00725W3T2/ref=la_B000AQ26ZQ_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1344706760&sr=1-6), by Glen Cook, is well worth looking into. It’s a mystery, but the time travel is crucial to both triggering it and solving it. For another Star Trek book, try [Fallen Heroes](http://www.amazon.com/FALLEN-HEROES-STAR-TREK-SPACE/dp/B001VV6BRS/ref=sr_1_14_title_2_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344707141&sr=1-14), by Dafydd Ab Hugh. I don’t normally read books set in commercial universes (they’re bad so often), but a friend of mine gave me this and said, “Read it. Some of the stories written by authors who don’t create their own worlds are actually pretty good.” He was right, too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/51 "2012-08-11T18:23:17Z")
Poul Anderson: _The Dancer of Atlantis_ & _The Corridors of Time_ Kim Stanley Robinson: _Galileo’s Dreams_ Alfred Bester: “Disappearing Act” & “The Men Who Murdered Mohammed” Both are hilarious. H.P. Lovecraft: “The Shadow out of Time.” Not your standard time travel story, but one of Lovecraft’s best works in my opinion. A.E. van Vogt’s \*The Weapon Shops of Isher \*has some time travel elements. ---
**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 11, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/52 "2012-08-11T20:35:22Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Poul Anderson: _The Dancer of Atlantis_ & _The Corridors of Time_ Poul Anderson has an episodic book, collections of his \*Time Patrol \*stories. I’m to lazy to try and find the title. ---
**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 12, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/53 "2012-08-12T02:23:47Z")
Ward Moore’s Civil War time travel novel _Bring the Jubilee_ is flawed but still worth a read. A historian in the backwater and powerless 1950s U.S. - the Confederacy having won the war decades earlier - goes back in time to study the Battle of Gettysburg firsthand. By his very presence, he inadvertently changes the course of the battle, resulting in Lee’s defeat. The Confederacy ultimately loses the war, and the historian finds himself stuck in _our_ timeline. ---
**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 12, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/54 "2012-08-12T02:45:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ward Moore’s Civil War time travel novel _Bring the Jubilee_ is flawed but still worth a read. > > A historian in the backwater and powerless 1950s U.S. - the Confederacy having won the war decades earlier - goes back in time to study the Battle of Gettysburg firsthand. By his very presence, he inadvertently changes the course of the battle, resulting in Lee’s defeat. The Confederacy ultimately loses the war, and the historian finds himself stuck in _our_ timeline. Well, that fellates with great alacrity. ---
**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 12, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/55 "2012-08-12T04:17:27Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Well, that fellates with great alacrity. Do you mean for the historian in the book, or on its merits as a plot? ---
**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 12, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/56 "2012-08-12T12:39:10Z")
For the historian. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HansH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@HansH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HansH)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/57 "2012-09-12T20:09:37Z")
I enjoy time travel books. Most time travel stories like to put a modern person in the past. People love history, and a good many time travel stories are really historical fiction. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s is my preferred in this category. [Yankee](http://www.amazon.com/Connecticut-Yankee-Arthurs-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199540586/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_z) A very different kind of novel is The time traveler’s wife. This is no ordinary fantasy in which someone is sent back to a more romantic era but a complex and bittersweet story happening in our times. [The Time Traveler Wife](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14050.The_Time_Traveler_s_Wife) Another different book, a new one this time: Io Deceneus Journal of a time traveler. A book about the past of an alien planet intersecting with Earth’s own timeline. [Io Deceneus](http://iodeceneus.com/?page_id=2) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/58 "2012-09-12T21:25:07Z")
> [@HansH](#): > > Most time travel stories like to put a modern person in the past. People love history, and a good many time travel stories are really historical fiction. You’re right about that. Anybody know of any good books in which one or more people from the past visit the modern world of today? (_Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ is the only example I can think of offhand that has any of this, but that’s a movie, not a book.) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/59 "2012-09-12T21:28:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You’re right about that. Anybody know of any good books in which one or more people from the past visit the modern world of today? (_Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ is the only example I can think of offhand that has any of this, but that’s a movie, not a book.) Another movie example of this would be _Kate & Leopold_. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657/60 "2012-09-12T21:53:39Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You’re right about that. Anybody know of any good books in which one or more people from the past visit the modern world of today? (_Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ is the only example I can think of offhand that has any of this, but that’s a movie, not a book.) Asimov did a nice little short story called The Immortal Bard. It’s just a couple of pages of dialogue between a physics professor and a English instructor during a faculty function. The physicist is a bit drunk, so he starts talking about his secret time machine and the historical figures he’s met and introduced to modern times. He says he tried scientists first, with Newton, Galileo, Archmedes, etc. But he found that while these guys were smart, they weren’t flexible enough to adjust well to the cultural differences. So he brought Shakespeare forward. Said he did relatively well, and wanted to know all about how history was dealing with his work. He was amazed at all the meaning that scholars had squeezed out of words he’d often written without really thinking deeply about them at all. But the story got horrifying to the young instructor when he was told that William Shakespeare had attended the young man’s class on The Bard. And the instructor had flunked him. You can find the story in its entirety online, but I don’t think that’s copyright-kosher, so I won’t link to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-time-travel-book/630657.md?page=4)