Classic science fiction novel, first published by Doubleday in 1957; this is a trade paperback edition. A unique plot element sets the story in motion: 15000 years ago, a small group of space-traveling aliens crash on Earth; their ship hopelessly damaged. They place themselves in suspended animation, expecting to awaken in the future when Earth has developed its own technology for spaceflight. But they awaken 200 years too early...
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Time Travel the Slow Way,
By
This review is from: The Winds of Time (SF Rediscovery Series, No. 10) (Paperback)
Despite having been written in 1957, The Winds of Time remains an interesting twist on the usual time travel novel because these time travelers don't use any sort of time machine to project themselves more than 15,000 years into the future. Rather, they use a potent drug to place themselves into suspended animation and let time itself travel at its normal pace. When they awaken, they are in the future. But all is not well.
Doctor Wes Chase, on a fishing vacation with his wife in Colorado, has his life forever changed when he is taken prisoner near a remote mountain lake by one of a group of aliens who crash landed on Earth some 15.000 years before his fateful encounter with them. When they crashed, these explorers, who closely resembled Earthlings, had been on a mission to find another race of men with whom they could partner up for the good of both groups. They quickly realized that Earth humans were in such a primitive stage of development that their only chance to ever see their home planet again required them to travel approximately 15,000 years into the future. Unfortunately for them, they awoke to find themselves still 200 years too early to expect any help from the people of Earth. That's where Wes Chase's life changing adventure begins. Chad Oliver, who died in 1993, was an anthropologist and his science fiction focused primarily on the kind of culture clash that results from the sudden contact of different cultural systems. Such a culture clash, and the way that both sides adapt and change each other in the process, is the most fascinating part of The Winds of Time. Oliver's style and his vision of what alien contact would be like influenced countless writers who followed him and he is regarded by many to be the equal of Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke. I have a fondness for time travel novels that goes back all the way to my teen years and that's why I picked up The Winds of Time. I was disappointed when I first realized that the novel did not employ the use of some kind of time travel hardware and relied instead on medicine to get the job done. But the longer that I read, and the more that I considered this twist, the more I realized that if time travel is ever to occur, Oliver's idea is one of the more likely ways that it could actually happen. This isn't a complicated novel, nor one filled with exotic battles and weaponry, but it is definitely one that fans of the genre will enjoy. It deserves to be remembered as one Science Fiction's early classic volumes.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MASTERPIECE no doubt,
By
This review is from: The Winds of Time (SF Rediscovery Series, No. 10) (Paperback)
Let's get a few things out of the way. Yes, this is a book from the 50's. Yes, the author doesn't go overboard in sci-fi. Yes, this book seems to have gotten 2 3-star ratings and 2-four star ratings, as well as 1 5-star rating (mine being the second 5-star rating).
Getting those out of the way, I will start off. I really don't like to read. I, most of the times, have to force myself to read. There have only been a few books that I have ever sat down and actually read because I WANTED to read them. When I was a kid it was the Harry Potter series, when I was a teenager it was the Last Vampire series, and now I read but I hardly ever find that book that I WANT to pick up and read. Chad Oliver's "The Winds of Time" was one of those rare books I WANT to read, and I did. I won't spoil the story for you as many of the reviewers have already given you a summary, but there are some great points I want to touch on: 1) The book has likable characters 2) The book actually gets you to care about the characters 3) there is suspense and disrepair but also life and joy. Usually this never happens, but at the end of the book my eyes swelled up with a tear or two. I am one of those people who usually won't cry unless there is something to cry about but this book honestly drew me in so closely that I shed a tear for the characters at the end. Was it a tear that the characters were successful or that they had failed? I can't say. Just do me one favor as you read this review. I beg you. Gather up the $0.50 they are asking for, pay the $3.99 shipping, and please buy this book. Not for me as I gain nothing from you buying the book (I am not even Chad Oliver. He died in 1993). Buy this book for you. For you. 5/5 John McAdam: Were Ancient Gods From Other Planets? Am I Mad Or Coherent?
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sci-Fi the way it was.,
By
This review is from: The Winds of Time (SF Rediscovery Series, No. 10) (Paperback)
This older Sci-Fi novel is a gem. It is fun to read it and see what the authors of that day thought of space travel and the enjoy the words they used and the concepts they had. Heck, the ship landed vertically. It didn't send a space shuttle down or beam them up. It is just plain old fun to read it. But the story is good too. With all their advanced technology the travelers still miss their mark for waking up. And it takes some good 'ole Earth medical knowledge to utimately save them. The handling of the language issue is very good and some fancy and unbelievable translation device is not used. Enjoy this old classic, it is a great read.
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