Customer Reviews

Time Mercenaries

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4 star:		(1)
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A story of a sea voyage which ended further away in time and space than any of the crew could have imagined when they set out, and of how a group of 20th century sailors saved a future human race which had become almost unrecognisable ...

This story starts with a 20th century submarine returning to base and being involved in an incident - at first it appears that they have narrowly avoided a serious collision.

The submarine sails back to her home port - but something is not quite right. The first sign that something very strange has happened is that one or two of the older people on board look younger than other crew members remembered them. And the sub's berth at the familiar naval base where they dock seems familiar but the base is strangely quiet, with the minimum of people there to meet them.

Not in their wildest dreams could any of them have imagined how far away from home in time or space they really are - or that they will be the only means of defence which mankind has against a ruthless alien invader ...

This book includes a lot of ingenious ideas, including an attempt to modify human nature to make war impossible which has unintended consequences, and an alien race which is forced into relentless aggression because they are completely unable to control their population growth. And how you might defeat such an opponent given that "every time you remove one of the enemy, you do him a favour".

There is also some excellent humour in this book, including some clever mockery both of the unscrupulous politicians who run a human society of the far future and of the demented bureaucrats who run that of the alien enemy.

I used to love Philip E High's science fiction stories at the time they were written, mostly around the 1970's. Many of them have dated - the science was not always brilliant even by the standards of 1970, and many of the stories present humans as uniquely talented in a way which jars somewhat now.

However, High's best stories have not dated and are still fun to read. "The Time Mercenaries" is one of the best: it was and is my personal favourite of all the Philip E High stories I have read.

The story starts with a 20th century submarine returning to base and being involved in an incident - at first it appears that they have narrowly avoided a serious collision. They arrive at their base - but something is not quite right. Rather like E.T they are lost, in a real sense totally alone, and millions of light years from home ...

This book includes a lot of ingenious ideas, including an attempt to modify human nature to make war impossible which has unintended consequences, and an alien race which is forced into relentless aggression because they are completely unable to control their population growth. Also, how you might defeat such an opponent given that "every time you remove one of the enemy, you do him a favour".

There is also some excellent humour in this book, including some clever mockery both of the unscrupulous politicians who run a human society of the far future and of the demented bureaucrats who run that of the alien enemy.

I used to love Philip E High's science fiction stories at the time they were written, mostly around the 1970's. (This one was first published in the late sixties.) Many of them have dated - the science was not always brilliant even by the standards of 1970, and many of the stories present humans as uniquely talented in a way which jars somewhat now.

However, High's best stories have not dated and are still fun to read. "The Time Mercenaries" is one of the best: it was and is my personal favourite of all the Philip E High stories I have read.

Received the book in very good time, via the post. The book was exactly as described, and just what I was looking for.