I’m itching for a good Alternate reality, or time travel type of book. I am not proud of it, but I love a book about some guy that gets transported from our world into another, or is in this world, but is really from another (a la World of Tiers or Chronicles of Amber, oo, or Riverworld, how I wish there were more like that).
I have read most of Christopher Stasheffs “A wizard in Rhyme,” and loved those (also loved the Rouge Wizard series, so I know it doesn’t fit the bill of the OP but you can definately recommend similar books to those too).
I have read quite a few series, but don’t have the greatest memory, so I won’t but a big list, but it can’t hurt if somebody recommends a series I have already read.
Well, you’ve probably already read them, but there’s Laumer’s “Worlds of the Imperium,” John Barnes’ “Patton’s Spaceship,” series, and Andre Norton’s “Witch World” series (much better written than the stuff that came after).
Replay by Ken Grimwood seems to be on just about everyone’s list of favorite time travel books, with good reason.
Epimetheus, I still remember how I felt reading To Your Scattered Bodies Go for the first time. What a great concept, and well done, at least in that first book.
I read a good time travel story last year – A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson. It’s his first venture into fantasy, and he did a good job. It’s not “epic” and there are no historical figures involved, but it’s a sweet little book.
Not really time travel, but Forever by Pete Hamill sorta feels like time travel. The main character is given “eternal life” and the story follows him from the 1700’s to now, so the effect is similar.
I’m at work, so I don’t have time to check all the links right now. Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both have categories where you can see certain kinds of books. Unfortunately there is so much information to work with there it all bleeds over each other. That and they tend to have only newer or the most popular books. Also most don’t have good reviews.
Personally I find better books when people recommend them. “This is a good book,” almost always lands me a great read. Surfing book sites takes a lot of time and energy and I end up with much less choices.
Evil Captor: I’ve not read any of those series. I like Laumer, but only ever read his stand alone books. I think I started to read Witch World once, but I had just finished reading something really good (Riverworld I think), and I had difficulty getting into it. I may have to give it another go.
A great alternate world novel is Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson. The main plot is that in the beginning of the 20th century,. Europe changes overnight into a jungle. All the people are gone, the plants and animals are unknown, but the geography is the same.
It’s a great twist on the alternate world concept.
My favorite time travel novedl is The Technicolor Time Machine by Harry Harrison. A failing movie company uses a time machine to film the vikings discoving America.
I loved it, I enjoy Farmer’s writing style and his imaginative concepts. I did read all the books (except the last I think, couldn’t find it at the library), and while the first book was the best, I did get into the others.
That makes me want to read it even more. The Time Travelers Wife is on my list of things to read, and I think this may complement it. Too many historical figures in time travel books is kinda hokey after awhile.
That sounds good. I read the Boat of A Million years by Poul Anderson, and really enjoyed it. For those that don’t know it is about a handful of people that find they don’t age (they can die, and some do, but they don’t die from old age). It is their story (they join the in chronological order by age) from their time until present and beyond. It is a very good read.
Oh, those both sound pretty interesting. The first a bit more so, but the second one could be really good too. Darwinia reminds me a bit of S.M Sterlings Nantucket series but kind of in reverse.
Oo, that reminds me! Thanks. I read that series (well, most of them). They are one of those series if I see for sale, I pick up. Unfortunately I alway see the same two or three.
The absolute best time traveler novel I’ve read recently is “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger (sp?). Basic premise: A guy becomes “unstuck” in time and is transported to different times in his life. He has no control of when, if, or where he is going to be transported. He is transported as he is at the time he transports. I don’t want to give anything else away, but IMHO, it is excellent.
The Star Diaries by Stanislas Lem contains two of the funniest and most philosophical time-travel stories ever written, and additionally every story contained therein is amazingly brilliant.
Also Philip K. Dick wrote a number of time-travel tales of varying quality; some of the best are found in the first volume of The Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick.
Epimetheus, if you liked the Riverworld books, are you sure you read all of the?
In addition to the main series, there are two Philip Jose Farmer Riverworld stories in his anthology Riverworld and other Stories that aren’t part of the main series.
In addition, he edited (and wrote two stories for) two anthologies of Rverworld stories by other authors, Tales of Riverworld and Quest to Riverworld.
In S.M. Stirling’s Nantucket series, the whole island of Nantucket, MA, is thrown back to 1250 B.C. Three well-researched, action-packed volumes – without one gratuitous limerick, oddly enough.