# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/61 "2002-11-18T07:29:39Z")
There’s been so many…my favorites are the ones that explore alternate realities. **Guns of the South** is one I read recently that was surprisingly good. In 2014 a radical group of South African white supremacists have stolen a device that transports you app. 150 years backwards in time. They intend to rewrite history and make the Confederacy a stronghold of racism in modern times, and do this by providing the Confederacy with 100,000 AK-47s. The story is told from the point of view of a few different characters, mainly General Lee and a soldier from North Carolina. The background of the time travellers comes out in clues obvious to modern people, but it’s not too long before some of the historical characters find out what’s going on too. The story moves quickly - the actual war is less than half of the book, and the remainder tracks the changes and problems faced by the Confederacy over the next several years. Another interesting element is that nearly every character in the book is based on a real person, even minor characters, although some had details changed to fit the story or to fill in blanks. It reads as really good historical fiction, it’s obvious the author did his research and knew his stuff. The false history that results from the changes made by the time travelers has a feeling of reality to it that makes one wish you could read more about it, i.e. the war between the USA and Britain, the battles with escaped slaves who formed greatly feared bandit tribes out west…a lot of stuff gets mentioned in passing that I wish had been elaborated on. ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/62 "2002-11-18T13:36:23Z")
I just want to second the mention of Kage Baker’s “The Company” series–it begins with In the Garden of Iden. Wonderfully inventive stories of time traveling cyborgs! Another one that was a favorite of mine in high school is Time After Time by Karl Alexander. It’s about H.G. Wells inventing a time machine that gets used by Jack the Ripper and Wells has to go forward in time to stop him. Hmmm, now that I think about it, it may be time to drag that one out for a reread. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/63 "2002-11-18T13:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Leo Frankowski wrote a series of books starting with “The CrossTime Engineer”. I think there’s about 6 of em all told. Kinda cheesy and “overly male” (I don’t want to say misogynistic 'cos I think that’s a bit strong) but a fun read all the same. > > Fella gets transported back to medieval poland, and ends up creating an empire for himself based on his wits and technical savvy. Interesting digressions on shared property, the capitalist model, use of base-12 arithmetic, industrial chemistry etc. > > Anybody else familiar with these? > > 'vark Take a look at my post above , **haardvark**. I mentioned 'em. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/64 "2002-11-18T13:47:52Z")
Another vote for Heinlein’s **The Door into Summer**. A great book and great paradoxes. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/65 "2002-11-18T17:04:34Z")
Here is another vote for Tim Powers’ ‘Anubis Gates’. I just reread it again and it is an amazing adventure and includes your 18th century England and Eygpt plus 14th century England. How about Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse 5’? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/66 "2002-11-18T20:05:14Z")
“Behold the Man” by Moorcock was originally a novella. As such, it was one of the absolute greatest sf stories of the 60s, of all time, really. But I remember the book-length version as being incredibly disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Canyon\_Surfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Canyon\_Surfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canyon_Surfer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/67 "2002-11-18T20:40:58Z")
One that I enjoyed was [Island in the sea of time](http://www.sfsite.com/04a/isl30.htm) by S M Stirling. The link gives a brief overview of the novel and also mentions that this is the first of a trilogy. Have not finished the second book yet, but the first one on its own is a good read. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/68 "2002-11-18T20:42:37Z")
I love Twain’s _Connecticut Yankee_, mentioned by quite a few others on this thread. Another great nineteenth century novel was Edward Bellamy’s _Looking Backward, 2000-1887_ in which he describes the US in 2000 as a type of socialist utopia, in contrast to the horrendous working conditions and the pains of industrialization during the Gilded Age. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/69 "2002-11-19T06:27:22Z")
Yep. Definitely **The Door Into Summer**. One of my favorite books. ---
**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 19, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/70 "2002-11-19T12:10:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by haardvark \* > **Leo Frankowski wrote a series of books starting with “The CrossTime Engineer”. I think there’s about 6 of em all told. Kinda cheesy and “overly male” (I don’t want to say misogynistic 'cos I think that’s a bit strong)** I don’t. The scene in the third(?) book where the woman is raped and all the characters _including the hero_ stand outside the door cheering and making jokes isn’t all that woman-friendly…and the fact that the rape _works_ as a romantic gambit (she marries the rapist, 'cause all a woman needs is a good f\*cking to make her fall in love :rolleyes: )is pretty damned misogynistic. And there’s never **any** challenge or threat. He’s NEVER in any danger. Conrad is such a Mary-Sue of a character that he could outfight Juan Rico (in full battle-armor), outthink Hari Seldon, outsneak Lazarus Long, etc. :rolleyes: He knows _everything_ (th’ guy writes a book on nuclear physics, he just happens to know the locations off all ancient mineral deposits, he’s an agricultural genius, he’s a master chemist and metallurgist, all this in addition to being an engineer who can build _anything_.) I’m just fine with heroes being heroically competent, but this is insane. In the horribly named **Conrad’s Quest for Rubber** , you’ve got retarded Oompa-Loompas (who look like the kind from the book, not the fat orange kind from the movie) living in South America AND you have Magic godlike Time Travellers who solve all Conrad’s problems. THAT makes for good reading :rolleyes: Th’ upshot is that Conrad decides he needs rubber and sets sail for South America. He gets there, meets the tribe of Oompa Loompas, gets married to one :rolleyes: and spreads European diseases amongst the native people of South America and then, when the epidemic is to pandemic proportions, the magic time travellers show up and give Conrad a Serum of Deus Ex Machina. And that makes everything all better. :rolleyes: The first book is still a fun romp but each subsequent book is like ten times worse than the last. And for God’s sake, stay away from **Fata Morgana** by Frankoski. It makes Pel Torro’s work look like Urusla K. LeGuin’s. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/71 "2002-11-19T16:09:38Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned _Roadmarks_ by Roger Zelazny. In that book, the protagonist drives an old pickup truck along a highway with exits that take you to different times and places. One of my favorite scenes is where he pulls into a truck stop along the way and his windshield is washed by a soldier from one of the Crusades, who’s hoping a priest will show up to release him from his vow of chastity. (One of the characters is a talking copy of _Leaves of Grass_.) I wish somebody would make a good movie version of _Connecticut Yankee_, and bring back Twain’s truly vicious satire rather than playing it as a farce. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/72 "2002-11-19T16:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I wish somebody would make a good movie version of Connecticut Yankee, and bring back Twain’s truly vicious satire rather than playing it as a farce. I very much second this. But it’s not usually done as farce – twice it’s been a vehicle for a star (Will Rogers, Bing Crosby). The problem is that nobody is going to present Twain’s criticism of Catholicism. I have yet to see a version that approaches the material (all of it) as Twain did. Hell, I’ll settle for a good version of the “restoration of the Holy Fountain” sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/73 "2002-11-19T18:50:12Z")
I should have known that **Fenris** would beat me to posting the name of “Elsewhen.” And I want to be about the fifth vote for _The Door Into Summer_. But perhaps the most poignant time travel story ever written hasn’t been mentioned: Asimov’s “The Ugly Little Boy.” – Polycarp (who has found his own door into summer) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/74 "2002-11-19T19:27:29Z")
Interesting how few women are being mentioned here as authors. Let me add one more. Octavia Butler’s _Kindred_ is about a black woman from 1976 who is brought into the past, over and over, to save the life of the white slaveowner who would be one of her ancestors. Without her intercession he would die and she would never be born. But to do that she has to live as a slave in the early 19th century. Haunting book. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/75 "2002-11-19T20:12:34Z")
I’d have to go with the one I just read. Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch. Also, Heinlein- Farnham’s Freehold, and Asimov-The End of Eternity. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/76 "2002-11-19T22:01:44Z")
How about The Eight, by Katherine Neville, Exapno? It’s not my favorite time-travel book of all, but I enjoyed it very much. It’s been a while so the plot details are fuzzy, but it has to do with Charlemagne’s chess set. ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/77 "2002-11-19T23:43:18Z")
Maybe not time travel so much as a different perspective on time, but Billy Pilgrim becoming unstuck in time in Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s **Slaughterhouse Five** has to rank right up there as one the most original. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/78 "2002-11-19T23:59:45Z")
_[Live From Golgotha](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140231196/qid=1037749811/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-0735029-1886209?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)_ by Gore Vidal. Funny as hell, and a compelling conspiracy/mystery. A weird synthesis of Kabbala and “cyberpunk” forms the principal conceit-- that a “hacker” has infected the gospels with a destructive virus, which, when it runs its course, will cause the phenomenological universe to cease to exist. One of the lesser apostles is contacted by agents from the future and charged with inscribing a covert account of the gospels, to avert a premature apocalypse. Meanwhile, television networks engage in all manner of intrigues in order to beat each other out for the opportunity to carry exclusive “live” footage of the crucifixion. You must read this book, if only to learn the secret origin of Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/79 "2002-11-20T00:02:43Z")
And I second **Kindrid**. ---
**Author:** ![Merrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Merrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merrin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/80 "2002-11-20T04:37:14Z")
Have to put in a vote for Mike McQuays “Memories”. It’s out of print but I remember reading it as a kid and thinking wow. If I could get hold of a copy maybe I’d be able to give an adult opnion (it was kinda an adult book, I’m sure my Mother wouldn’t have approved). Still it was good at the time and I’d love to get hold of a copy, even Amazon don’t offer it, I guess it’s time for 2nd handbook shops. Merrin [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010.md?page=5)