16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Idea-driven SF, August 15, 2002
One of the things I like about James P. Hogan's fiction is that it's so largely idea-driven. He makes plausible projections from present-day science and uses them as the basis for a story (which generally includes the story of the discovery of the scientific principles at issue).
This is one of my favorites. In it, Hogan explores a mind-blowingly cool scientific concept: what if it were possible for information to travel from the future to the past?
"Classic" SF treatments of time-travel themes leave something to be desired -- even Robert A. Heinlein's fine short story "By His Bootstraps," which depends for its success on several narrative tricks that work in the story but aren't very realistic elsewhere. (The protagonist has to relive the same series of events several times, from different points of view, without really being able to _make decisions_ as this happens.) Others allow the possibility of changing the past but allege that _actually_ changing it would somehow make the universe go blooey. A few allow the past actually to be changed but don't explain how it's possible (in particular ducking the obvious paradoxes).
So Hogan started from scratch and tried to provide a plausible scientific basis for his own tale. And what he came up with was a way that information from the future _can_ change the past -- with, let's say, _very_ interesting consequences for his characters, including a host of brand new moral problems and hard choices. As I suggested above, the story is (like most "hard" SF) fundamentally idea-driven rather than character-driven, but Hogan's characters are believable and interesting all the same.
If you enjoy this sort of thing, you'll also want to read his later novel _Paths To Otherwhere_ for exploration of the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. And check out _The Proteus Operation_ for yet another fascinating twist on the time-travel/changing-the-past theme.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Makes a wild idea plausible, May 31, 2004
Thrice Upon a Time is my first Hogan book, but I have followed up by ordering more. Time travel is a favorite topic of mine. I've read so many I've lost count. This one stands out in that it is very heavy on science and theory. If you like to ponder the possibilities and ramifications of communication across time, this book will appeal to you as it did to me. It has an excellent treatment of the paradox dilemma. One guage I use to measure a time travel novel is believability...Hogan has managed to be creative while at the same time presenting a plausible scenario. The consequences of altering the future are explored in a satisfying (and believable) manner. Those reviewers who found the book dull are not people who have spent a great deal of time pondering the theories. The book involves the reader in trying to figure out the theory, because once the ability to send communication back in time is discovered, the next step is figuring out how it's done and how the paradox situations fit into the equation. The true nature of time is explored thoroughly. It is not a book of rip-roaring action, but definitely a book for those who are enthralled by the idea of communication through time. I found it immensely satisfying.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read, worth visiting, September 3, 2001
I've read this book twice. Once when I was younger, and again recently. It was what I would consider a Good book. Hogan always seems to turn out an entertaining book, a book worth reading, but not a Snow Crash. I could read this book again when its turn comes up. Worth buying and reading.
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