The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century: Stories by Arthur C. Clarke, Jack Finney, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, (Paperback)

~ Harry Turtledove (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor) "HARRY WRIGHT ROLLED over and said something spelled "Bzzzzhha-a-aw!..." (more)
Key Phrases: fire watch stone, big extension cage, churten field, New York, John Martindale, New Chicago (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

LEAP INTO THE FUTURE, AND SHOOT BACK TO THE PAST

H. G. Wells’s seminal short story “The Time Machine,” published in 1895, provided the springboard for modern science fiction’s time travel explosion. Responding to their own fascination with the subject, the greatest visionary writers of the twentieth century penned some of their finest stories. Here are eighteen of the most exciting tales ever told, including

“Time’s Arrow” In Arthur C. Clarke’s classic, two brilliant physicists finally crack the mystery of time travel–with appalling consequences.

“Death Ship” Richard Matheson, author of Somewhere in Time, unveils a chilling scenario concerning three astronauts who stumble upon the conundrum of past and future.

“A Sound of Thunder” Ray Bradbury’s haunting vision of modern man gone dinosaur hunting poses daunting questions about destiny and consequences.

“Yesterday was Monday” If all the world’s a stage, Theodore Sturgeon’s compelling tale follows the odyssey of an ordinary joe who winds up backstage.

“Rainbird” R.A. Lafferty reflects on what might have been in this brainteaser about an inventor so brilliant that he invents himself right out of existence.

“Timetipping” What if everyone time-traveled except you? Jack Dann provides some surprising answers in this literary gem.

. . . as well as stories by Poul Anderson • L. Sprague de Camp • Jack Finney • Joe Haldeman • John Kessel • Nancy Kress • Henry Kuttner • Ursula K. Le Guin • Larry Niven • Charles Sheffield • Robert Silverberg • Connie Willis

By turns frightening, puzzling, and fantastic, these stories engage us in situations that may one day break free of the bonds of fantasy . . . to enter the realm of the future: our future.

About the Author

Harry Turtledove was born in Los Angeles in 1949. He has taught ancient and medieval history at UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State L.A., and has published a translation of a ninth-century Byzantine chronicle, as well as several scholarly articles. He is also an award-winning full-time writer of science fiction and fantasy. His alternate history works have included several short stories and novels, including The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; American Empire novels: Blood and Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and Ruled Britannia. He is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1 edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345460944
• ISBN-13: 978-0345460943
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,540 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forwardback to Yestermorrow, March 16, 2005

By	doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

A compilation such as this proves that a genre can be difficult to define, and that talented writers can explore what appears to be a simple theme in myriad unexpected fashions. That's what makes this compendium of classic time travel stories such fun to read. Most of the short stories here, spanning from the 1940s to the 1990s, examine the personal or social ramifications of traveling through time and messing things up, and this strong focus can be attributed to editors Turtledove and Greenburg. The archetypal masterpiece about how even slightly altering the past can screw up the present, Ray Bradbury's awesome "A Sound of Thunder," is included here. That's the story from which most modern time travel literature springs, and it's also the source of the celebrated butterfly effect, though Bradbury didn't use that exact term. Other influential early classics such as "Time's Arrow" by Arthur C. Clarke and "A Gun for Dinosaur" by L. Sprague de Camp are also included. For the later stories, there are a few missteps, like the Vietnam obsession of Joe Haldeman's "Anniversary Project," and the heavy-handed gender politics of Ursula K. Leguin's "Another Story or The Fisherman of the Inland Sea." But most of the rest of the collection is perfectly enjoyable, with winners like Poul Anderson's "The Man Who Came Early," which illustrates how a modern American would be both unbearably obnoxious and pathetically helpless in medieval times, and R.A. Lafferty's "Rainbird" in which an inventor can't stop going back in time to set his younger self on a different path, with outlandish results. Remember - if you ever travel through time, don't change anything! [~doomsdayer520~]

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good collection of stories from across the genre, November 17, 2007

By	Mark Klobas (Tempe, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

For over a century time travel has remained one of the most enduring categories of science fiction. Authors such as Mark Twain and H. G. Wells established many of the ideas that were subsequently encapsulated in numerous stories that have entertained millions of readers. This anthology bring together eighteen stories from many of the giants of the field. Some, such as Theodore Sturgeon's "Yesterday was Monday" and Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" are true classics, while others like Connie Wills's "Fire Watch" are destined to join them as among the greatest stories of the genre.

With a collection like this, it is easy to criticize some of the selections. Many longtime readers will complain about the exclusion of a favorite tale or the inclusion of one that they do not like (my personal complaint is with the inclusion of Robert Silverberg's "Sailing to Byzantium, which while one of the best novellas ever written is not really a time travel story per se). Yet it is hard to complain about the collection as a whole, which has a good balance of stories from different premises, authors, and stories. Fans of the genre will find much to enjoy in this book, while anyone seeking to learn what the field has to offer will be impressed with the imagination and the writing contained within these pages.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic but a little disappointing, November 9, 2006

By	Jim Foley (St. Louis, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews

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I gave this book as a gift, then read it and regretted. The commentary was knowledgeable but the stories tended to be very pulp-y and, to me, only interesting for historic or nostalgic value. Most readers' tastes will have evolved past most of these tales. The worst aren't really even stories, in the sense of plot or characters, but have the quality of bad Twilight Zone episodes based entirely on a single "Wouldn't it be weird" punchline.

Sorry to be negative, but I was genuinely disappointed with at least half of the collection. Even the stories listed as good examples in the editorial review are mostly trivial and now cliche. For escapist time travel yarns, you might try Heinlein's "The Door Into Summer", Willis's "Doomsday Book" or "To Say Nothing Of The Dog", or (what the heck) Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".