Timemaster [Hardcover]

Robert L. Forward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

Randy Hunter, a billionaire industrialist, communicates with aliens, develops an interstellar flight, explores other worlds, and becomes immortal in a world where human dreams come true. By the author of Dragon's Egg.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in 2036, this latest hard - science novel by Forward ( Dragon's Egg ) deals with fringe physics and explores the exciting possibilities of relativity and quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, the author's characters and plot exist only as a pretext for his numerous, inventive gadgets and tricks. Protagonist Randy Hunter's astroengineering firm discovers a lifeform dubbed "Silverhair," which contains negative matter rather than antimatter. By carefully engineering the Silverhair, Hunter and his associates develop a method of building starships that reach near-light speeds. Negative and positive matter are also used to produce gravity-balanced black hole masses, artificial wormholes, means of instantaneous travel, and, eventually, time travel. The scientific speculation is fascinating, well-researched and believable, but the heroes are cardboard, the villain a paper tiger, the plot a wish-fulfillment fluff of cotten candy. Although this book exhibits great potential, it is not up to Forward's standard and will disappoint fans.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The latest novel by the author of The Dragon's Egg (1983) tells the life story of remarkable billionaire business mogul Randy Hunter. Hunter excels in everything he does, from choosing a wife to pioneering the latest technologies--including the discovery of an alien life form that can facilitate instantaneous travel through space and time. Forward is one of sf's most imaginative and playful writers, wreaking cheerful havoc with temporal paradoxes in a story that owes a considerable debt to Robert Heinlein's Lazarus Long novels. Unfortunately, the lack of immediacy and suspense makes this otherwise ingenious story a marginal selection for libraries.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312852142
• ISBN-13: 978-0312852146
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,339,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Robert Forward's Best. . ., October 2, 2003

By 

David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timemaster (Mass Market Paperback)

This reviewer has noted time and time again, that Dr. Forward's novels excel in "hard science" but not so much in depth of character or development of plot. In "Timemaster" we still have the outstanding science -- with enough of an improvement in character and plot to satisfy most Sci-Fi fans.

When dealing with his "neg matter" plants -- and the opportunities such creatures would provide for relatively intstaneous space and time travel, Forward continues to fill his books with life forms radically different from anything we have (or can really imagine) on Earth -- and make them believable.

This one is a good read. I highly recommend it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books, August 20, 2001

By 

G. Ralph Kuntz, MD "grk" (Denville, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timemaster (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read several of Dr. Forward's books, and this is, by far, my favorite---I read it twice and am considering a third reading. Dr. Forward writes "hard" science fiction, and Timemaster is no exception, sticking closely with the known laws of physics. The concepts presented in this book are intriguing and Mr. Hunter's solution to the problem of his nemesis in a delightful surprise. Highly recommended!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun, fun, fun!, July 9, 2000

By 

Kyle Jones (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timemaster (Mass Market Paperback)

Reading Robert Forward's books is just plain fun. Forward takes an idea and develops the hell out of it and does everything you'd want to see done plus a few things you haven't thought of. In Timemaster the key discovery is that of negmatter. The ramifications of that discovery for one very lucky entrepreneur are explored. A high velocity space drive, wormholes and time machines fall out this one discovery and Forward explores them all, within the frameworks of a somewhat juvenile plot. It is the ideas and exploration that drive this story, and I read it with a delight that I can only remember from my days of reading Campbell-era SF when stories weren't so dystopian and serious.

If you like hard, idea-driven SF, you don't want to miss this one.