# Your Favorite "Time Travel" Novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2002, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010 "2002-11-16T08:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/1 "2002-11-16T08:44:10Z")
With me I guess it all started with **The Time Machine** and then evolved (de-volved?) from there. I loved the film **Somewhere In Time** , and it is one of my most prized videos, but I digress… I’m being a bit selfish, here, but what I **really** want y’all to do is to recommend some time travel stories I might not have read yet. I am especially fond of the ones that take the reader to 18th or 19th century New York or London. And I love references to the Flatiron Building! 😃 Quasi ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/2 "2002-11-16T08:56:38Z")
_Millennium_ by John Varley. I need to dig my copy out again and re-read it. It’s absolutely amazing. Check out the chapter titles… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/3 "2002-11-16T11:10:50Z")
_The End of Eternity_ (I think that’s the title) by Isaac Asimov ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/4 "2002-11-16T11:28:34Z")
The Heinlein people need to help me out on this one. A short story, _Somewhere In Time_ (???) A professor had his students listen to some sort of recording and they vanished into some sort of alternate universe/ other time. One student became an angel, a couple became some sort of ultra-future queen and king warriors… Not really time travel per se, but still a fascinating story. Plot twist spoiled on next one: There was also another one, title a complete blank, where a “time viewer,” “chronoscope” was invented and lied about, because it didn’t allow viewing distant past, but only recent past. However, it allowed a viewer to see anywhere. Setting it at say, one second in the past, allowed a viewer to spy on anyone in almost real time, thus ending forever any sort of privacy. I would love to reread either of these stories, if I could just find the real titles. So, Heinlein experts… ideas? Not really a hijack. These are great time travel type stories that you might enjoy, Quasi. RIF! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/5 "2002-11-16T14:12:43Z")
It’s out of print, but if you can find it, I highly recommend _ **The Ivanhoe Gambit** _ by Simon Hawke. It’s the first book in the “Time Wars Adventure Series” which was up to 8 or 9 books I think, before Hawke quit writing them. I quit reading them after about the third or four book since he killed Lucas Priest who was the main character up until that point. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/6 "2002-11-16T15:03:28Z")
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. A romance time travel story. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/7 "2002-11-16T15:16:22Z")
Jack Finney is the man for you. _Time and Again_ is about a man who goes back to NYC in the 1880s, and has the added bonus of being illustrated with nifty period reproductions. Finney does a great job of combining the mystery plot elements with fascinating little tidbts about the differences in day-to-day life that surprise the time traveller. The sequel, _From Time to Time_ is also pretty decent, although the plot is a little more stereotypical. My favorite though is his book of short stories, _About Time_. Most of the stories are witty and light, a few are insightful, one of them was heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/8 "2002-11-16T15:38:07Z")
Can’t believe no one has mentioned: “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” All time best time travel novel. IMHO. D. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/9 "2002-11-16T15:54:00Z")
Another vote for _Time and Again_. “Allow me, Sir.” ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/10 "2002-11-16T16:32:26Z")
I’m partial to Octavia Butler’s book Kindred. It’s about a modern black woman who finds herself whisked back to slaveholding times. Very good read & very thought provoking. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/11 "2002-11-16T16:41:33Z")
I’d have to say my favorite is _Connecticut Yankee_, though Stephen Fry’s _Making History_ wasn’t bad, it just had a bad ending. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/12 "2002-11-16T16:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. > > A romance time travel story. > > Trust me. \*\* Oh yeah!! I second that! 😃 I cannot recommend Outlander, or the entire Outlander series for that matter, highly enough. Amazing books. You also might want to check out The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis. Time-travel in the time of the plague. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/13 "2002-11-16T16:53:57Z")
I just recently finished _Pastwatch: The redemption of Christopher Columbus_ by Orson Scott Card. It was an interesting read. One thing about the _Outlander_ series - they are definitely written from a woman’s point of view. I enjoyed them, but I can only think of one male friend who did. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/14 "2002-11-16T16:55:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*The Heinlein people need to help me out on this one. > > A short story, _Somewhere In Time_ (???) A professor had his students listen to some sort of recording and they vanished into some sort of alternate universe/ other time. One student became an angel, a couple became some sort of ultra-future queen and king warriors…\*\* “Elsewhen” which can be found inthe collection **Assignment in Eternity**. It’s a fun llittle story, but for Heinlein’s two best time travel stories, try “By His Bootstraps” and “All You Zombies”. One can be found in **The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathon Hoag** and the other…erm…in one of his other collections ( **The Menace from Earth**?) \*\* > [@](#): > > Plot twist spoiled on next one: > > There was also another one, title a complete blank, where a “time viewer,” “chronoscope” was invented and lied about, because it didn’t allow viewing distant past, but only recent past. However, it allowed a viewer to see anywhere. Setting it at say, one second in the past, allowed a viewer to spy on anyone in almost real time, thus ending forever any sort of privacy. > \*\* It’s not Heinlein, it’s Asimov: “The Dead Past” available in a billion collections (and the last line is NOT “Happy Goldfish Bowl” or “Welcome to the Goldfish Bowl.”. But everyone misremembers, 'cause it should be. Laumer’s **Dinosaur Beach** is another classic of time travel. Fenris ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/15 "2002-11-16T16:57:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > (and the last line is NOT “Happy Goldfish Bowl” or “Welcome to the Goldfish Bowl.”. But everyone misremembers, 'cause it should be. > \*\* (Erm…but it’s awful damned close. I have no idea what I was thinking when I typed that.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/16 "2002-11-16T17:03:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Greywolf73 \* > \*\* > > You also might want to check out The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis. > Time-travel in the time of the plague. \*\* And, for a funnier Connie Willis time travel story in the same “world”, read “To Say Nothing of the Dog”. ---
**Author:** ![koawala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@koawala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koawala)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/17 "2002-11-16T17:22:01Z")
Another vote for Jack Finney’s books. His are some of the few books that I keep after reading. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/18 "2002-11-16T17:23:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*There was also another one, title a complete blank, where a “time viewer,” “chronoscope” was invented > > RIF! \*\* That sounds like THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS [The Light of Other Days](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812576403/qid=1037467399/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/103-4120834-0745447?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I liked Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates, especially the code for identifying other time travellers in 18th centruy England (whistling McCartney’s “Yesterday”.) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/19 "2002-11-16T17:24:36Z")
**Fenris** is, of course, correct. Heinlein’s “By His Bootstraps” and “All You Zombies” are required reading. I also love his “The Door Into Summer” - another time travel paradoxer, this time a full novel (the other two are Novellas?". It was written when RAH was at the peak of his storytelling powers. Great Stuff! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/20 "2002-11-16T17:57:45Z")
Thanks **Fenris** , those are they. Another vote for Orson Scott Card’s **Pastwatch: The Redemption Of Christopher Columbus** a very unique take on time paradoxes (paradi?) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010.md?page=2)