# 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:** 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 20, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/81 "2002-11-20T04:47:23Z")
And then there’s David Gerrold’s _The Man Who Folded Himself_, the twistiest novel about time travel complexities ever conceived of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/82 "2002-11-20T05:13:05Z")
The absolute best time travel story ever written or ever likely to be written is Heinlein’s “By his Own Bootstraps”. Heinlein, in general, is capable of both extremes of the spectrum: His good time-travel stuff (BhOB, “All You Zombies”, _The Door into Summer_, _Time Enough for Love_) is all excellent, but his bad time-travel material (“Elsewhen”, _The Cat who Walked through Walls_, _The Number of the Beast_) is terrible. And I’d like to add a negative vote for _The End of Eternity_. There’s no time travel in it. All it is is a really bad space opera, with the word “time” substituted for “space”, “physiotime” for “time”, and “century” for “planet”. I mean, Eternity is supposed to be the _only_ medium for exchange between different Centuries? What, does the planet dissappear and start from scratch every time the year shows a double zero? Asimov’s best time travel story is probably “The Red Queen’s Race”. “The Ugly Little Boy” wasn’t too bad, but its appeal had nothing to do with the time travel aspect (which Asimov mangled as usual). And “The Dead Past” _was_ good, but it wasn’t really a time travel story. I’ll also throw in a mention of _The Stars My Destination_, here (I know I’m not the only fellow on the SDMB who likes that one). Who wrote that one, again? It’s a bit surreal, but definitely good if you like that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/83 "2002-11-20T06:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\*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 \*\* Not disagreeing about the quality of the books, but the main character in **Quest for Rubber** is not Conrad. And did you know that there is another one out in hardback? **Conrad’s Time Machine** Looked like more of the same. Lok ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/84 "2002-11-20T06:55:41Z")
Stanley Shapiro’s _A Time to Remember_ and [these](http://users.metro2000.net/~stabbott/timetravel.htm#books) others. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/85 "2002-11-20T07:32:56Z")
I agree completely with Greywolf73’s and Captain Amazing’s recommendation of The Doomsday Book, and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Thanks to Hazel to pointing out “Time Watch” from _Time Watch & other Stories_. Actually thank to all of you guys, this makes a great reading list. ---
**Author:** ![glassphyxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/76d3ee/32.png) [@glassphyxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glassphyxie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/86 "2002-11-20T07:49:23Z")
The Smithsonian Institution - Gore Vidal ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/87 "2002-11-20T15:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll also throw in a mention of The Stars My Destination, here … Who wrote that one, again? Alfred Bester ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/88 "2002-11-20T18:54:18Z")
Haven’t read many; vote best novel _Time and Again_. Worst, I’m sorry to say, is Madeleine L’Engle’s _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_then _Slaughterhouse 5_. best in short story, _April in Paris_by Le Guin. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/89 "2002-11-20T20:40:25Z")
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman ---
**Author:** ![Payne\_N.Diaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Payne\_N.Diaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payne_N.Diaz)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/90 "2002-11-20T22:14:05Z")
Many years ago I read one about a team of mercenaries who go back to the Alamo and hand out some whoopass to Santa Ana, all so a super-rich guy can gain control of the Mexican oil fields. They are stuck in that time, since there isn’t enough power in the world to bring them back. The day is saved when somebody from even farther in the future imports another Mexican army, and Davy and the boys get wiped out one day later. Anybody remember this one? ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/91 "2002-11-20T22:32:36Z")
I’m not a big fan of time travel books, but I’ll join the crowd and agree with the round of applause for _Connecticut Yankee_… it combines Arthurian fiction (one of my favorite genres) with some of the best satire this side of Monty Python. How can you _not_ like it? I’ll also second **Atreyu** ’s recommendation of _Replay_ by Ken Grimwood. One of the finest time travel stories i’ve ever read, if only because it takes it from a very unique perspective. My original recommendations… Stephen King’s short novel “The Langoliers.” Again, a refreshing take on time travel that doesn’t involve the reverse causality problems most time travel stories get into. A pretty good story, and an original one, with King’s usual footprint on it. 🙂 And though it’s not strictly about time travel, _Einstein’s Dreams_ by Alan Lightman is one of the best books I have ever read. Time travel (or ideas about time travel) certainly play a large part in most of its vignettes. I tried reading the first _Outlander_ book, after my wife recommended it to me. We lived near Gabaldon’s family and she was a frequent visitor in our local bookstores at the time (nice enough woman, at least then). I finished it, but I can’t say I was all that impressed. As a time-travel story, it’s a fairly standard progression of causality loops and such. As a historical romance, it’s above the cut of most books of that genre (and yes, I have read others). As a historical novel, it’s all right. An interesting book, in ways, but not compelling enough for me to read the rest of the series. She got the history mostly right, but the story was thin to me. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/92 "2002-11-20T22:44:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hazel \* > \*\*And “Timescape”. Can’t remember who wrote it. \*\* That would be Gregory Benford. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/93 "2002-11-21T03:12:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\*\ > And though it’s not strictly about time travel, _Einstein’s Dreams_ by Alan Lightman is one of the best books I have ever read. Time travel (or ideas about time travel) certainly play a large part in most of its vignettes. > > \\*\* Whoa! Hold on there! I read that book when it came out, mainly because of the positive quote from Salman Rushdie on the back of the book. When I finished the it, I was sorely tempted to send Salman a letter which said, “If you think that’s a great book, you really need to get out more.” ---
**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 21, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/94 "2002-11-21T03:43:57Z")
> [@](#): > > The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman Well, if we include that, we should mention the ultimate time-dilation story, Poul Anderson’s _Tau Zero_, in which the crew of a ramjet-type starship is unable to shut down their engine and stop accelerating, and consequently push so close to lightspeed that they actually ride out the collapse and rebirth of the entire universe. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/95 "2002-11-21T03:59:16Z")
Can I pleeeeze be the 48th person to also mention Finney’s _Time and Again_? It’s one of my favorite novels of all time and based on your OP, it’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/96 "2002-11-21T05:48:36Z")
_The Garden of Forking Paths_ by Jorge Luis Borges is an excellent short story as well, though more in the alternate-worlds mode, IIRC. I read it years ago. There’s a rather strange site based on the story right [here](http://www.geocities.com/papanagnou/). (As good as they are, I don’t think either Tau Zero or The Forever War really count as time travel, even though time is the whole basis for both. Read them anyway!) ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/97 "2002-11-21T07:16:59Z")
Julian May’s **Pleistocene Saga** is a tetrology that is also an absolute hoot, space opera in the grand style without being over the top even when you throw in a pair of alien races, a time warp in a French lady’s basement, advanced mental powers, kings and queens, combat on the fields of gold and the flooding of the Mediterranean Sea. Also near the absolute top of my time travel list is a short story by \*\*Clifford Simak \*\* called “Time and Again.” Similar titles, have been used for books which bear no relation to this gentle story about the way many of us fantasize about time travel. The hero goes to sleep one night and wakes up the next morning as a teenager in his old family home with all of his memories intact. His father finally figures out that his son is acting different and son confides in dad. They end up preventing a neighborhood murder that the son knows is coming. Top notch work by one of the most overlooked writers out there, IMHO. ---
**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 21, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/98 "2002-11-21T19:17:22Z")
Aarrgghhh. I hate people who don’t read through threads and then go and post something that had already been said. And here I go and do it not once, but twice, in the same thread. So my apologies to **Athena** and **Sam Stone**. I don’t know how I missed your posts, but I did, and I now feel like an idiot. Good thread, though, and good books, so I hope mentioning them more than once gets them noticed so at least some good comes out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/99 "2002-11-22T06:37:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hometownboy \* > \*\*Also near the absolute top of my time travel list is a short story by \*\*Clifford Simak \*\* called “Time and Again.” Similar titles, have been used for books which bear no relation to this gentle story about the way many of us fantasize about time travel. The hero goes to sleep one night and wakes up the next morning as a teenager in his old family home with all of his memories intact. His father finally figures out that his son is acting different and son confides in dad. They end up preventing a neighborhood murder that the son knows is coming. Top notch work by one of the most overlooked writers out there, IMHO. \*\* While Simak may have written a story with a similar plot, this sounds like _Time and Time Again_ by H. Beam Piper. It was originally published in 1947, so it predates Simak by a while. Lok ---
**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 22, 2002, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010/100 "2002-11-22T08:14:49Z")
**Hometownboy** and **Lok** , I’m positive that the story you are both describing is actually _Time and Again_ by Jack Finney. The murder involves the loan of the father’s gun, right? Did Clifford D. Simak and H. Beam Piper _both_ write similar stories, or are we all experiencing some sort of time-travel glitch, here? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-time-travel-novel/137010.md?page=6)