Customer Reviews

John Titor A Time Traveler's Tale

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I enjoyed this book. If anything, the book was a thought provoking look into what is on the physics drawing board. I found it interesting that John Titor repeatedly stated that we was a historian and not a physicist but when asked very technical physics questions such as Singularities, Hawkins radiation, etc, he was very well versed and could debate the issue in depth?? I am starting to think he is a Physics PhD having a little fun. He should consider another career as a fiction writer. Was the book worth $13? Yes it was, I was entertained. YMMV

It's an interesting read and handy to have in printed form. Obviously, you could read this entire story over at johntitor.com, so from the point of view of buying the book maybe you should read the online content first before deciding if you want it in printed form.

In terms of the content itself, I find it intriguing. Am I a "true believer"? I'm undecided. But the course that he said the U.S. would take is generally unfolding in a strikingly similar fashion to what he predicted. And this was BEFORE 9/11. Here are some rather interesting points to bring up in its favor.

- At the time John Titor was online, there was no book and no commercial efforts. That was back in 2000. Just because the printed version comes out in 2004 does not show this to be a money scam. To all the skeptics who repeatedly bring this up, please... Its hardly going to make anyone a millionaire, and certainly a bit late in being capitalized on even if it were true.

- Most of his predictions about the emerging police state, and the possible upcoming civil war were made long before 9/11. As preposterous as it might have sounded back in 2000, well look at where we are today with the Patriot Act, and all of its implications. Frankly, with our current Republican agenda both internally to our country and internationally, I'd be amazed if his predictions didn't come true. Time will tell soon enough since John said that by 2008 there would be no doubt to our country being in a civil war.

- People keep saying that since he could not exactly describe every little detail about his time machine or time travel in general, then he must be a fake. Please... get serious people. If I pull a even a high ranking army veteran to explain the physics behind why his machine gun works right down to exact engineering calculations, most of the won't be able to. And why should they? We don't require the infantry to be PhD's in mechanical engineering. The fact that John could explain as much as he did in a logical manner does him credit, not debunk him. How many average people could even describe why most of our technology today works? A small percentage. How many of you can describe down to engineering calucations how a combustion engine works? Very few, and yet we all drive cars to work everyday. The likelihood that a 'time traveler' would have to be as intelligent as Albert Einstein is ridiculous.

I could go on and on, but I don't feel like typing that much. The overall story whether true or not has many implications to where we are today and where we're going as a nation and a species. I think its good food for thought in terms of our social priorities and what we want this great nation to become. You don't have to get caught up in all the 'time traveling' aspects of his story to appreciate how things are changing around us and how similar these events are to what John Titor predicted. You can see that if we continue on this course, we could be assuring our children of a worse world than we have enjoyed. Maybe we ought to think about that for a moment.

So should you buy the book? Only if you like the online content well enough to have an organized hard copy of it. It's a good read even if treated as science fiction. And I think it will stimulate thought to our future in terms of the current events around us today. I probably would consider myself a skeptic believer, but I have to admit that I am surprised by some of the predictions coming to pass. Check it out for yourself. You don't have to treat this as a gospel to appreciate the many points it brings up.

I purchased the book about 2 weeks ago. I was impressed with the story and the details. I was really shook up about the happenings connected with the predictions. We have a chance to change the future, one person at a time. Why all the negative comments about the book. Is it fear on the part of the negative reviewers. Are they so afraid that thjey would rather criticize than work to make the future better? I would encourage those of you who are thinking about reading this book to make your own decision, and not be negatively influenced by those in our society who are afraid of tomorrow. I have heard that a radio version of John's story is around, I look forward to finding it.

I had hoped to get a nice, paperback copy of what John had said during this whole interesting ordeal; however, what I recieved instead had been heavily edited and, in places, entire sections containing multiple paragraphs had been removed. I can understand the removal of some of the corporate names and such but I've noticed certain key words changed, entire paragraphs removed, and more "artist license" taken than I feel they had a right to take.

I've had to go through the entire website penciling in large sections of text because you never know where he could have innocuously hidden something important. There is also a couple of places where the editor makes it clear that he doesn't really understand what he/she is editing and screws up the meaning in an attempt to "fix" it. Single words that change the entire meaning of the statement. Had I known that it would require this much work to go back and repair I would have simply printed the website out and kept that.

I don't really know whether or not I believe this rather fantasic story; however, I am quite disappointed in the process that brought it into paperback form. You'd be better off just printing out the website.

To all you people giving this book 5 stars (or anything above 1 for that matter), I sincerely hope you are doing it for solely the entertainment value included. If you really do take this seriously, then I am at a loss for words. It doesn't take a genius to realize this guy is nuttier than a pecan log.

I agree that there was something very haunting about what much of Titor said. He wasn't just some wacko who decided to post random nonsense, he actually did some research on his hoax (and yes, it was a hoax, this has been proven). Much like a cultist leader's flowery prose, Titor's strange charm drew many people in. Yet I suspect that most people who believe Titor do so because they desperately want to believe in time travel, and don't really care for conclusive proof.

Titor's time travel explanations have been disproven by Dr. Robert Brown of Duke University, who states that what Titor did is impossible in both theory and practice. Titor plagiarized older science fiction novels such as Alas, Babylon and non-fiction works such as Michio Kaku's Hyperspace. He also relies on Hollywood movies (a reliable source as any on the dynamics of time travel!) such as 12 Monkeys and the Terminator series. Titor also uses modern diction as he speaks, which seems strange considering he allegedly grew up in a completely different world.

On his website Titor claimed that his favourite hobby was reading history, which should give him a significant amount of information on the period from 1998-2036. Yet despite this, he knows very little about his own period. When asked about the environment in the future, Titor replied that he resented the tone of the inquiry, and spoke only in generalities. Seems strange that he knew less about his own period than the one before it, despite being an eyewitness.

Titor is just a logical extension of science's obsession with time travel. It would be fascinating if it were true, but it's just so ridiculous. As for the people who believe it (the "Titorites"), it makes me wonder about the current state of their mental health.

Okay, I'll admit that John Titor was most likely a hoax. But, it's a fascinating hoax. When you really dive into John Titor's story, its a fascinating tale that is remarkably consistent. I don't doubt that it is certainly the works of a very bored, but very creative person. That alone is enough to capture my interest.

The book is just a compilation of all of John's posts on the Internet. If you're familiar with the story, then the book is a good way to read all his posts in one place. If you're not familiar with the John Titor story, then the book will probably be inaccessible to you. The writing and layout are not very good. But, I accept that this is because it is very hard to translate Internet posts into a linear novel format.

One of the key things in Titor's story that is most interesting is the concept of "worldlines." You have to understand that key concept to really understand the whole story. He doesn't talk much about it, but when he does it adds a fascinating dimension (no pun intended) to his story. And the science behind his story is mostly valid. Sure, there are a LOT of missing pieces. But, nevertheless it's an enjoyable story.

One of the reasons I really enjoy this story is because of how it demonstrates how powerful a myth can become. Overtime, myths can have a profound impact on society. And while Titor isn't the most profound or even most powerful, its nevertheless interesting to think that some of the values, ideas, concepts or faiths we hold, may be nothing more than a collection of John Titor stories

A few things you should know before you read this book:

- There is no such thing as the John Titor Foundation.

- John Titor has no real mother; the author, who unsurprisingly has chosen to remain anonymous, created her fictional character.

Whether you believe that Titor's claims were true or not, you should keep the points above in mind. The book is essentially a sexed up print out of the site compiling his entire post collection at http://www.johntitor.com. Buy the book for a hard copy if you desire, but remember you can get it all for free without the deceptive decorations at the site.

Cheers.
http://www.timetravelforum.net

Well a lot of people seem to think that John is a hoax. If it was, what a great hoax!! Fairly well thought out, don't you think? I think so many people believed him because this is such a conceivable future he describes, as sad and tragic as it may be. I hope humanity realizes just how much more they're capable of, besides the usual hate, prejudice, racism and war.

World War 3 (or 4, as some people think the Cold War was the third one) would be a nightmare to say the least. 2015 is when it'll happen according to John Titor. Look at what happened to the people of Japan in World War 2!!! Earth could have the greatest future if the humans that occupy it understand what they could accomplish without violent conflict.

To Tony Chau from Worcester, MA United States. You said you pay $10000.00 USD to all who wrote a review granted that this man is right (written 2/2/2004 AT 12:59AM). I'm going to hold you to that if a civil war erupts in USA in 2005.

Now, at least for you Tony Chau, they're two reasons to really hope that the future than John Titor warned people of does not come to be a reality.

Fight against the dying of the light!

"The literature is very good, very consistent with current day physics, there are many dimentions, and it is possible to kill your grandpa, and still exist, therefore he could have seen his kid self. I enjoyed it, and waiting. "

Imagine time as a stack of papers all in perfect order, and flat. To put in terms us humans can fathom, each piece of paper is a segment in time, say, one second. Now we (in this world, you and me) are on one of these papers. Every second paper we are on moves up the hieght of one paper, because a new paper is added underneath the pile. What ever happens on our paper has no adverse effects on any other papers. This is because our paper is seperate from the rest.

On the other papers is an exact copy of ourselves, one second ago, (or multiple seconds, depending on how far away we are). If you were to time travel back in time until you went to a paper that your great grampa was on, then killed him, you would not be born. Would would only not be born on that particular paper. So if you return to your paper, the world is normal.

John Titor claimed that there was subtle differences in his world, compared to ours, because he had effects on our "paper". If he returns to his own time, or "paper" his paper will be unscathed.

The Titor Saga began at TimeTravelInstitute.com where John Titor first posted and it ultimately leads to Celebration, Florida. Now Time Travel Institute itself leads to Celebration, Florida.

Celebration Florida is "all Disney" and both TimeTravelInstitute and Magical Mouse lead back to Disney Corp. This evidence has caused Timetravelinstitute.com Webmaster Raul Burrier to state that he knows who John Titor really is but refuses to give his identity. Now many people believe that timetravelinstitute.com was set up purely for the hoax and the webmaster of the site was involved somehow.

The John Titor foundation attorney Larry Haber and his son Brandon Haber are both linked to Celebration, Florida, The Book, the Radio Promo, Coffee Mugs, T-shrts, etc. All these different men being linked to Celebration, FL really is a strange coincidence.

Having a time traveller story that does not ask for money would add credibility - even better for a forum.