Millennium [Paperback]

John Varley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1983

In the skies over Oakland, California, a DC-10 and a 747 are about to collide. But in the far distant future, a time travel team is preparing to snatch the passengers, leaving prefabricated smoking bodies behind for the rescue teams to find. And in Washington D.C., an air disaster investigator named Smith is about to get a phone call that will change his life...and end the world as we know it.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Varley is the author of the Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, and Demon), Steel Beach, The Golden Globe, Red Thunder, and Mammoth. He has won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards for his work.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (June 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425062503
• ISBN-13: 978-0425062500
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,062,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't watch a movie before reading the book very often, October 2, 2002

By 

S. Smith "ltcolkiranerys" (Arvada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Millennium (Mass Market Paperback)

It's not normal practice for me to watch a film prior to reading the book it's based on, but when I do, watching the film can lead me to some very good books. Such was the case with Millennium by John Varley. I had seen the film with Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd a number of times but had been frustrated in my efforts to obtain a copy of "Air Raid", the original short story the film was credited as being based on, until one day when the book almost literally fell into my lap.

I gotta tell you, Millennium was one of those books I could not put down. From the first page, I found myself absolutely enraptured by the characters of both Louise Baltimore and Bill Smith. Varley's Smith is actually very close to the character that Kris Kristofferson portrayed in the movie, but his Louise Baltimore is a very tough, take-charge kind of gal that's unlike the one played by Cheryl Ladd in the film. That Louise always seemed to be looking to her personal robot, Sherman, for advice, whereas the Louise of Varley's book might have depended on Sherman for emotional support at times, but generally kept her own counsel and scoffed at the very notion that Sherman's ideas could be taken seriously in a critical mission such as the one she was running to Smith's time in order to get her lost "stunner". The funny thing was, in the end it was the Big Computer who was running everything, and not Louise or Bill or even Sherman.

I am currently on my 6th copy of this excellent time-travel novel (the other 5 have worn out due to repeated readings), and I hope that all of you who are sci-fi enthusiasts will take the time to pick up a copy and read it, if you haven't read it already. It's a definite page-turner.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars post millenial, February 2, 2000

By 

henry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millennium (Mass Market Paperback)

I disagree with the other writers. I have read a lot of Varley and think this is just about his best. The Titan series was very enjoyable but also very adolescent (nothing against teen agers, mind you, I find the T & A in Titan tiresome). Anyway, Millenium is an interesting, well thought out, time travel book, with some very original premises. It seems sort of goofy at first, but ties together very well by the end. The characters are real people (even sherman, the robot!), and they act in beleivable ways. The plot is well thought out, moves along at a good clip, doesn't get too bogged down in the complexities of time travel, and has a reasonably fulfilling ending. What more could you want? Ophiuchi Hotline was my 2nd favorite of Varley's. Steel Beach was a real disappointment.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, keep it, read it every couple of years, January 26, 2001

By 

Matt Coyle (Vinton, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millennium (Mass Market Paperback)

Millennium is one of my "keepers" and the one I lend out to get my friends hooked on science fiction. This is the kind of book tou take to the beach in the morning and end up going home only because it's getting too dark to read. The two person; 1st person viewpoints (burnedout, middle-aged NTSB crash investigator/Type A-personnality girl from the umpteen century)is a neat way to tell a story and makes this a fast and enjoyable read.