There Will Be Time (Signet SF, Q5401) [Mass Market Paperback]

Poul Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 1973

Jack Havig, a man born with the ability to move at will through the past and the future of mankind, must save the world from a doomed future of tyranny before his time runs out. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The bestselling author of such classic novels as Brain Wave and The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson won just about every award the science fiction and fantasy field has to offer. He has won multiple Hugos and Nebulas, the John W. Campbell Award, The Locus Poll Award, the Skylark Award, and the SFWA Grandmaster Award for Lifetime Achievement. His recent books include Harvest of Stars, The Stars are also On Fire, Operation Chaos, Operation Luna, Genesis, Mother of Kings, and Going for Infinity, a collection and retrospective of his life's work. Poul Anderson lived in Orinda, California where he passed away in 2001.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: New American Library; 1st edition (March 6, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451054016
• ISBN-13: 978-0451054012
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,804,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best time travel books extant, March 18, 2006

By 

Darren B. O'Connor (Norfolk, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: There Will Be Time (Signet SF, Q5401) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite books. It's one of the few I can reread about every year, and enjoy as much as when I first read it. Poul Anderson was one of the science fiction genre's brightest stars, able to write sword and sorcery fantasy and hard science fiction with equal facility. This story is one of his best.

Those familiar with Anderson's work will recognize that this book ties in (however peripherally) with some of his other stories, about a post apocalyptic future where a New Zealand/Micronesian amalgam culture known as the Maurai come to dominate the world after a nuclear holocaust, and having been less hard hit by the catastrophe, are left strong enough to impose their vision of a less industrialized, more ecologically balanced ideal on the rest of the world. This story concerns a group of time travellers (whose ability is inate, and due to a genetic mutation, rather than any external time machine), led by a charismatic, but bigoted and ruthless 19th century American, whose aim is to break the Maurai domination, and re-establish industrial civilization.

The book tells the story of a bright, thoughtful, 20th century American who at first joins this group, then rebels against the ruthlessness countenanced by the group's leader. (But despite this, the book is clearly not some politically correct paean to eco-nazism, and the Maurai philosophy is represented thoughtfully as a way which does embody some genuine good, but which also became rigid, dogmatic, and even repressive -- in fact this is one of the best aspects of the story: neither side is wholly right or wholly wrong, but are each representative of good ideas and bad mingled together. This is highly realistic, as two sides in any conflict almost always have their valid points as well as their indefensible wrongs.) In addition to the adventure of the main character's war against his erstwhile comrades, there is a twofold romance story (understated, but well written), an engaging account of the protagonist's activities in the late 12th/early 13th century Byzantine Empire, and an interesting philosophical speculation about the nature of time tavel and fixed destiny versus free will.

This book is now out of print, but pick up a used copy if you can. As I said, Anderson was one of the giants of the science fiction genre. There is no author writing today who is his equal. This is a great little story by a master of the field, and is simply entertaining in its own right as well, and well worth the read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mutant who can travel through time at will., September 11, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: There Will Be Time (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the cleverest of time travel novels, in this one a child is born with the mutant power to range through time. Otherwise normal, that power gets him into trouble, especially as he struggles to figure out what to do with it, and how to contact others of his own kind. A mutant who isn't a superman, a time travel story that has many suprising twists in a genre that often seems worn out, this work is HIGHLY recommended

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best time travel stories., December 13, 2000

By 

Patrick McCuller "reader" (The Mortal Plane) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: There Will Be Time (Mass Market Paperback)

In the genre of time travel stories, travel by will alone is fairly rare. This book posits that some very few people have an innate ability to move through time, as though walking.

The main character has to deal with this reality from birth, and he does so believably. This ability is more a curse than a blessing, and his struggle to find meaning in his bizarre life, isolated from the rest of the human race is poignant and palpable.

This is a love story, and a good one. Though I haven't seen my copy in years, I think about it often. If you can find this book, get it, and read it. You won't regret it.

Update 2.5 years later: I found a signed first edition copy of this book. I am never parting with it.