Customer Reviews

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century

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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~]

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.

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".

Like most short story collections, "The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century" is uneven. There are classic Twilight Zone-like tales such as Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" and Richard Matheson's "Death Ship." There are also a few stories that I found almost unreadable and yet here they have been included in this anthology with the word "best" in the title.

This is not a great collection of stories, but it is a great collection of writers. Maybe by reading this book you'll get acquainted with a writer you haven't come across or maybe you'll enjoy a true classic like "Sailing to Byzantium" for the first time.

The stories in this volume are themselves great, and I'm admittedly biased because he very first story happens to be my favorite time travel story ever.

But the best part, in my opinion, are the wonderful introductions to each story, where teach author's work, style, and contributions to the sci-fi genre are explained in caring and specific detail. I read the book for the stories, but I bought the book because of the intros, which offer a good set of suggestions for reading follow up, and gave me a really good justification for who I should by this, considering I had ready some of the stories before.

This book does have some of the best time travel stories of all time. But the title is a lie. It does not have the best time travel stories of the 20th Century. Robert Heinlein's "By His Bootstraps" would have to be included for it to truthfully claim such a lofty title.

It's called The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century and yet it does NOT include Robert Heinlein's "All You Zombies...", or as someone else pointed out, his "By His Bootstraps" - two essential time travel stories.

Sorry. It fails to live up to its title. Other than that gaping hole, it's a better than average collection. By still, not the best.

I'm not sure I would pick the same 16 stories Harry Turtledove and Martin Greenburg did as my favorites from the twentieth century. But they have selected some very good ones to share with us. They hit the mark on an important feature of story collections, too--the introductions. Each intro in this anthology is a well-crafted balance between a brief author bio, overview of primary works, and a story set-up that whets expectations without spoiling. Nicely done!

The offerings are of two kinds: great stories and classic stories. While a few fall into both camps, the reader does get a sense that most were selected to fit only one category. The great stories speak for themselves, with interesting ideas, unexpected twists and memorable characters. The classic stories are sometimes less complex or polished, but have important places in the historical development of time travel fiction. They are the good-for-us vegetables to be eaten along with the tastier main course items.

My favorite two classics are:

Henry Kuttner's "Time Locker" has the feel of a mid-twentieth century detective story told from a criminal's viewpoint. Its mystery is complicated by an uncalibrated time machine in a nondescript piece of office furniture.

L. Sprague de Camp's "A Gun for Dinosaur" is one version of the now-cliché hunting expedition to the prehistoric past story. It's still an enjoyable trip, with one or two surprises for first-time readers.

My favorite two "great" stories:

Robert Silverberg's "Sailing to Byzantium" introduces us to a man from the 1980s who must cope with society tens of thousands of years in the future. We learn this new world along with him as he slowly discovers who and what is real. And what can be done about it.

Ursula K. Le Guin's "Fisherman of the Inland Sea" follows a man who gives up much in his quest for other worlds--and finds that his regrets both drive him forward and draw him backward. This is good writing, imaginative anthropology, and innovative technical speculation all in one. It's a good introduction to this talented author, in case you've been needing one.

The collection is highly recommended. Fans of good time travel shorts may also enjoy Time Twisters and Time Pieces.

When I read a collection of short stories, I generally start not at the beginning, but with the shortest stories first. If those first few "really short" stories whet my appetite, I'll move up to the longer stories.

This collection grabbed me from story #1. Just about every one of them held my attention and my imagination. Granted, some of them read like episodes of "The Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits" (in fact, several were adapted for TV). This only adds to their appeal, in my opinion, especially if you've seen the episodes - you get to see just how much was left out (even from a short story).

Perhaps the weakest (or most incoherent) story was "Timetipping", but it is overloaded with great stories. I think the best thing about this collection is that it spans the range of *ways* of time traveling: machine, magic, aliens, future visitors, and even just leaving it mysterious about what is happening or why. There's even suggestions in the forward for other yet-to-be-written stories. In other words, it's not all "Back to the Future" "butterfly effect" stories, and that makes it fun.

If you're a sucker for good science fiction then this is the book for you.

With inclusions by such notables as Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury this is a book that doesn't disappoint (though admittedly "Sailing to
Byzantium" is probably the weakest of the entries).

While it's true that modern science tells us that actual time travel is beyond our means, it's also true that in this book of dreams you get to consider the ever fascinating what if of if it could actually occur.