# Recommend me a Time Travel Novel that...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 15, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744 "2010-07-15T03:45:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/1 "2010-07-15T03:45:47Z")

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Recommend me a time travel novel (or story) that does **not** have:

1. a detective, sleuth or cop
2. the end of the world, unless…
3. travel to/involvement in historical events in the recent past (i.e., the last 400 years)
4. a romantic/love story subplot

I’m looking for a good science fiction, time travel story, with trips to the future, near and distant. Paradoxes, schmaradoxes. Bring 'em on.

I just finished The Accidental Time Machine. Read it all in one night. It was pretty good, but not enough depth, and too short.

So, whatcha got?

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/2 "2010-07-15T03:48:56Z")

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The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/3 "2010-07-15T04:13:28Z")

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Most “Rip van Winkle” plots would fill the bill – anything where a character “travels” to the future by going into some kind of suspended animation and finds the world interestingly changed. See Edward Bellamy’s _Looking Backward_ (has love-story subplot . . . of a kind :rolleyes:), H.G. Wells’ _The Sleeper Wakes,_ Larry Niven’s _A World Out of Time,_ and Matt Groening’s _Futurama._ Oh, and, of course, Woody Allen’s _Sleeper._

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/4 "2010-07-15T04:19:09Z")

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And _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century._ And _Planet of the Apes,_ and . . . well, you get the idea.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/5 "2010-07-15T04:24:58Z")

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See works listed on the TVTropes pages [Rip Van Winkle](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RipVanWinkle), [Cold Sleep Cold Future,](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ColdSleepColdFuture) and [Human Popsicle.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumanPopsicle)

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/6 "2010-07-15T05:48:55Z")

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_Up the Line_ by Robert Silverberg.

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/7 "2010-07-15T07:31:47Z")

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> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> Recommend me a time travel novel (or story) that does **not** have:
> 
> 1. a detective, sleuth or cop
> 2. the end of the world, unless…
> 3. travel to/involvement in historical events in the recent past (i.e., the last 400 years)
> 4. a romantic/love story subplot

I’m a bit confused about the “unless” part. Is it..

Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4  
Not 1, Not 2 unless (3 and/or 4)  
Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4

In any case, while I can see not wanting something like “The Time Traveller’s Wife” which focuses entirely on the love story, you’ll be seriously hard pressed to find any time travel story that contains no romantic or love story plot whatsoever.

My favorite time travel fiction in no particular order

1. Replay by Ken Grimwood - man dies of heart attack, reboots life again and again from increasingly later points in life giving him multiple second chances  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - own lifetime / love - moderate

2. The Green Futures of Tycho, William Sleator - kid finds alien time travel device buried under garden, explores multiple potential futures, YA novel  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - alien invasion / \<400yrs - own lifetime + more future / love - no

3. The Man Who Folded Himself, David Gerrold - 20something inherits timebelt from uncle, has existential adventures via his diary  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - mostly either vague references to long distance time travel or extremely short within a day / love - moderate but interesting

4. Timefall, James Kahn - archaeologist couple and their smuggler friend find out of place artifact with a map to time tunnels and a dangerous tribe in the Amazon  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - vaguely / \<400yrs - no / love - moderate

5. All You Zombies / By His Bootstraps, Robert Heinlein - short stories dealing with very complicated time travel geneology  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - own lifetime / love - gimmicky premise

6. The Time Travellers Wife, Audrey Niffeneger - his will jumping through time within his own potential lifetime.  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - own lifetime / love - YES main theme

7. A Tale of Time City, Diana Wynne Jones - 1939 girl kidnapped and brought to Time City to preserve history, YA novel  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - no / love - nah YA

8. In the Courts of the Sun, Brian D’Amato - Awesome first part in a trilogy, about a South American born American raised mathematical genius recruited to go back in time and discover the secrets of an ancient Aztec fortune telling game in order to prevent a future terrorist threat. A little challenging of a read, definitely not beach fare, but extremely worthwhile if you put in the effort.  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - somewhat / \<400yrs - no / love - minimal

9. Do Over, Dan Kirk - gay man has repeated chances to relive his life and loves, and also affect worldwide history through his role in the military  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - yes / \<400yrs - own lifetime / love - yes  
amateur fiction - [http://dkstories.gayauthors.org/do-over/index.php](http://dkstories.gayauthors.org/do-over/index.php)

Haven’t read, but have heard good things about:

1. Behold the Man, Michael Moorcock - time traveller becomes historical Jesus by accident  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - no / love - nah

2. Time’s Arrow, Martin Amis - Holocaust characters both victim and inflicter, experience time in reverse, also reversing the apparent tragedy…  
Coplike - no / Endofworld - no / \<400yrs - sort of, not real time travel / love - nah

3. The Little Book, Selden Edwards - Described as “A California Yankee in Doctor Freud’s Court.”  
Attributes - IDK, haven’t read it, but have seen a few good reviews. Look it up for yourself.

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**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/8 "2010-07-15T13:22:39Z")

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Have you ever read Kage Baker’s Company series? I’m in the middle of it now. You can look up the premise on Wikipedia’s Dr. Zeus Inc. page, but really I enjoyed getting it through the book more–the first volume is [_In the Garden of Iden_](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/In-the-Garden-of-Iden/Kage-Baker/e/9780765314574/?itm=1&USRI=garden+of+iden).

I second the recommendations for Connie Willis, William Sleator, and Diana Wynne Jones. _Doomsday Book_ has a wonderful sorta-sequel (set in the same universe) called _To Say Nothing of the Dog_.

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/9 "2010-07-15T13:23:21Z")

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> [@jackdavinci](#):
>
> 1. All You Zombies / By His Bootstraps, Robert Heinlein - short stories dealing with very complicated time travel geneology

It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but wouldn’t his novel _The Door Into Summer_ also fit the OP’s criteria?

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**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/10 "2010-07-15T13:33:24Z")

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You can skip the crappy movie they made out of it but _Michael Crichton’s_ **Timeline** was a fast easy read and has none of 1-4.

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**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/11 "2010-07-15T13:34:11Z")

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> [@jackdavinci](#):
>
> I’m a bit confused about the “unless” part. Is it..
> 
> Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4  
> Not 1, Not 2 unless (3 and/or 4)  
> Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4

Guess I could have been clearer. I’m looking for a time travel novel that does not have a detective or cop as its main character or protagonist, does not contain the premise that unless the time traveler does X the world will be destroyed/cease to exist, does not have the time traveler visit/affect historic events (why do so many time travel stories have the main character visiting the 14th through 19th centuries?), and does not contain a romantic/love story subplot.

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/12 "2010-07-15T13:35:56Z")

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> [@jackdavinci](#):
>
> I’m a bit confused about the “unless” part. Is it..
> 
> Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4  
> Not 1, Not 2 unless (3 and/or 4)  
> Not 1, Not 2 unless 3, Not 4

I think it’s:

The end of the world, unless [the protagonist goes back/forward into the past/future and gets the MacGuffin in time to bring it to Mary Sue in the future/past!].

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**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/13 "2010-07-15T13:40:01Z")

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> [@Munch](#):
>
> I think it’s:
> 
> The end of the world, unless [the protagonist goes back/forward into the past/future and gets the MacGuffin in time to bring it to Mary Sue in the future/past!].

you got it **Munch**.

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**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/14 "2010-07-15T13:44:17Z")

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> [@Finagle](#):
>
> The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

Her _To Say Nothing About the Dog_ has a bit of a romance subplot. Bit it’s a very little bit. And it’s funny–which you might need after reading the excellent _The Doomsday Book_.

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**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/15 "2010-07-15T13:55:34Z")

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It may have a dash of #4, but in so unexpected a way, you should find it quite satisfying: _The Man Who F—ed Himself_, by David Gerrold.

(Okay, it’s “_The Man Who Folded Himself_”–I just couldn’t resist the salacious inference!)

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/16 "2010-07-15T14:50:42Z")

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> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> You can skip the crappy movie they made out of it but _Michael Crichton’s_ **Timeline** was a fast easy read and has none of 1-4.

There are two romantic subplots in Timeline (Chris/Kate, André/Lady Claire).

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/17 "2010-07-15T15:07:38Z")

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_The Technicolor Time Machine_ by Harry Harrison

The _Time Scout_ books by Robert Asprin and Linda Evans

The _Time Patrol_ books by Poul Anderson

The _Time Wars_ books by Simon Hawke

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/18 "2010-07-15T15:29:08Z")

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_All of an Instant_ by Richard Garfinkle. It sort of has an “end of the world” element to it, but it carries time travel speculation a lot further than anything else I’ve read (and I’ve read most of the classic stuff by Heilein, Anderson, Bester, Niven, Zelazny, etc.)

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/19 "2010-07-15T15:30:03Z")

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> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but wouldn’t his novel _The Door Into Summer_ also fit the OP’s criteria?

Has a romantic subplot. Of a distinctly Heinleinian age-squick kind.

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**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:** [July 15, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-time-travel-novel-that/546744/20 "2010-07-15T15:39:27Z")

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If you eliminate books that have any kind of sub-plot even remotely involving romance, you are going to be left with a very, very short list. Seeing as how the sub-plot in _DIS_ occupies maybe two pages worth of material scattered over the entire book, I’d think it was safe under the OP’s guidelines.

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