A Rebel in Time (Tor Science Fiction) [Paperback]

Harry Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tor Science Fiction | Publication Date: August 1993

Can history be changed?

Can the south still win the War Between the States?

Colonel McColloch thinks so...and his gold, his gun, and some very special blueprints stand behind him to help him prove it.

Sargeant Harmon is a black man who hopes not...and only his readiness, ingenuity, and wit stand behind him to help him stop it.

In the corridors of contemporary Washington and on the fields where Civil War battles have yet to be fought, these two men take each other on--and the winner will determine the course of history....

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Assoc Llc (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812539672
• ISBN-13: 978-0812539677
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American Civil War Almost Unfairly influenced, October 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rebel in Time (Tor Science Fiction) (Paperback)

Not many have much to say about time travel - and those that do can get bogged down with 'flux capacitors' and other such techno-babble. Harry Harrison is always a good read, and when it comes to time travel stories he has you constantly thinking about the possibilities and the accompanying paradoxes (what if you kill your grandfather, will you cease to exist ?). Rebel in time is a simple story about a white racist army officer, who, when he realises the possibilities of the time machine project he's assigned to, decides to go back in time (complete with gun blueprints and modern army expertise) to reverse the result of the American Civil War in favour of the South. The man sent to find him has a few problems. Hes black, and is also sent back in time. A modern day black man in the deep south at the onset of the civil war, has more than the normal set of problems to deal with - but he handles them well. A good read indeed and the idea of a paradox is always there. The ends are tied up fairly well in the last chapter, but theres just enough loose ends to leave you thinking.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing for Harrison, December 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rebel in Time (Tor Science Fiction) (Paperback)

Harrison usually has intelligent characters making reasonable decisions, but this book is premised on a decision that is so ridiculous, that I couldn't get past the first few chapters. The situation: A modern-day bad guy has taken the plans for a simple machine gun back in time to change the outcome of the Civial War. The obvious solution: Take a year to train a Seal Team for the mission (You can send anyone from anywhen to anywhen, so it doesn't matter how much time you take to prepare.) Send them back to a month before the bad guy arrived, so that they are ready and waiting for him when he gets there. Harrison's solution: Send a lone black man with no training and no weapons to pre-Civil War Virginia to arrive several months after the bad guy. That's silly.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty Good Time Travel Novel, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rebel in Time (Tor Science Fiction) (Paperback)

I found this book to be a pretty good read. I don't think Harry Harrison is quite the master of alternative history that Harry Turtledove is but he is a good writer. Most of the book deals with the present and is a detective novel. The last third of the book takes place juste before and during the civil war. I thought the first half of the book was very well paced and written and if the entire book had maintained the same tempo it would have deserved 5 stars. I felt the last part of the book, although satisfactory, was a little rushed and trite.

Definitely worth a read.