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The Green Futures of Tycho
When eleven-year-old Tycho discovers that the mysterious egg-shaped object he dug up in his garden is a time travel device, he can’t resist using his newfound power. Soon he is jumping back and forth in time, mostly to play tricks on his bossy older brothers and sister. But every time he uses the device, he notices that things are different when he gets back—and the futures he visits are getting darker and scarier. Then Tycho comes face-to-face with the most terrible thing of his grown-up self. Can Tycho prevent the terrible future he sees from coming true?
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 30, 1981
13 people are currently reading
472 people want to read
About the author
William Sleator
50 books326 followersWilliam Warner Sleator III was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 13, 1945, and moved to St. Louis, MO when he was three. He graduated from University City High School in 1963, from Harvard in 1967 with BAs in music and English.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
December 4, 2013
It's always dangerous to revisit a book that you loved when you were a kid. Everyone knows that. Some books are really just geared towards a certain age, a certain time in your life where that book can step in and say, "Here - someone knows what you're thinking about." And those books are amazing. You read them and your life changes. Maybe only in small ways, maybe in ways you don't even realize until later, but it does.
Then you come back to it ten or twenty years later and think, "I remember this book. I loved this book. I think I'll read it again." So you do, and it's a disappointment. Not because the book isn't as good as you thought it was but rather because you aren't the person you were when you first read it. There's nothing wrong with that - it's just life.
When I ordered this off Amazon, I did so with a certain amount of trepidation. This book occupies a very special place in my heart. I read it over and over again when I was a kid. It instilled a love of time travel that I keep to this day. I even adopted the name Tycho as a pseudonym for various parts of my own mind all the way through high school and beyond. I knew that re-reading it would put that entire past at risk of becoming foolish or stupid or childish, and I wasn't sure my ever-vulnerable pride wanted to take that.
Fortunately, I discovered that the book was as good as I recalled it being. Shorter than I remember, of course, but still quite good.
The story is deceptively simple - Tycho Tithonus, the youngest of four siblings - the other three being very talented and thoroughly unpleasant - finds a small, silver, egg-like object while digging up a new vegetable garden. As innocuous as is seems, that object is about to change everything. It is, in fact, a time machine.
It's not very difficult - it has a series of dials on one end, which you turn to set the time you want to go to. Press the other end and it's done. And Tycho does what anyone would do when presented with such an amazing device: go back and re-work an unpleasant event in his past. And if by doing so he could maybe teach his nasty siblings to appreciate him more, well, so be it. Of course, the ramifications of this act don't become clear until it's much too late.
But the past doesn't really hold that much allure for young Tycho. It's over and done with, and was never very pleasant to begin with. So he decides to go to the future, to see what has become of himself and his family. A quick twenty-year jump to April 23,2001 shows him what's in store for himself. A desperate, unhappy, bitter man, fronting for a lunar entertainment industry and reduced to begging sponsors for money.
Disappointed and upset, Tycho comes back. Later, he visits the future again - same day - only to find it has changed completely. He's no longer a sad, shapeless man but a tough, ruthless one, a man who uses his ability to travel through time to make money and ruin his family. Terrified, Tycho returns to his own time. But his curiosity can't be stopped. He needs to see a future where everything works out right. Unfortunately, every time he goes there it's worse and worse. His future self becomes a monster and a murderer, a willing agent to bring beings of higher power onto this planet.
This is one of the things I've always liked about Sleator - his mind turns around corners. Everyone and his uncle can write about a time traveler going to the past and changing the present, but who writes about someone changing the future by messing about in the present? Not many, I'll tell you that. Each time Tycho comes back from the future, the knowledge he has gained causes him to say something or do something that alters the course of his future in a new and terrible way. And seeing how much worse it gets just forces him to make even more terrible decisions, until you have the final, terrible paradox of an old Tycho trying to chase down and kill his younger self over the course of millennia.
Which does bring up the problem of paradox, unavoidable in any time travel book, known in fiction as "massive, gaping plot holes."
For example - if Tycho time-travels twenty years into the future to see his older self, there shouldn't be any older self there for him to meet. It's impossible - as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Tycho vanished on April 23, 1981 and re-appeared twenty years later. Everyone else lived through that time, but he simply side-stepped it. Instead of finding a letter from his older self to his mother in their future house, he should have found perhaps a black-framed picture of 11 year-old Tycho with a note to the effect that they should have loved him more. The only way I can think of to resolve this problem is to assume that Tycho was absolutely and incontrovertibly determined to return to his own time after each future visit, thus ensuring that he would eventually live out those twenty years.
Fortunately, Sleator handles these paradoxes in a very simple and straightforward manner. During one of Tycho's experimental first trips into the future, he meets his teenage self, who shows him how the dials work on the egg:
He handles the alterations resulting from time travel very neatly as well. Rather than beat us over the head with "Things have CHANGED!" he just inserts a simple descriptive line in there. If you're reading carefully, you'll notice that Ludwig's hair has gone from proto-emo long to a nice crew cut. Even Tycho doesn't notice, which is interesting. When presented with the results of a change in time, he has a moment of jamais vu - the feeling of something familiar as totally new - and then the story moves on. The effects multiply and resonate, and even Tycho isn't aware of how much he's changed.
Going back to the plot hole problem for a moment, there is the small issue of the egg's origin and purpose. We know it was planted on Earth by aliens, something like 150 million years ago. It seems they did so with the intention that it one day be found and used in order to prepare the way for their arrival and dominance of Earth - this is what can be gleaned by the ravings of older Tycho. But why would an alien race which has time travel sorted out need such a roundabout way of conquering the world? Why drop it into some Jurassic mud and leave it at the whims of plate tectonics? Why not just show up at Tycho's house one day and drop it on his bedside table? This is never adequately explained in the book, probably because it's not what the book's about. But it nagged me when I was a kid, and it still does now.
All plot holes and paradoxes aside, it's a really good book, and if you have a kid, I recommend it. It's the kind of story that you really can pick apart and look from many angles. In one sense, it's a story about destiny. Tycho and his siblings are all named after extraordinary famous people - Ludwig Beethoven,Tamara Karsavina, Leonardo DaVinci, and Tycho Brahe - in the hopes that they would grow up to emulate them. Tycho's siblings fall into line very easily, adopting the roles that they'd been given from birth. Tycho doesn't - he's interested in a little bit of everything, and isn't entire sure what he wants to do with his life. I knew that feeling when I was eleven years old. Hell, I know that feeling now.
And of course it's about the futility of letting your future control your life. The future isn't fixed. It's an organic, growing thing that you can't begin to control, and the tiniest change in the present could become a radical change in the future. Sure, it's good to have goals and plans, but to try and wield unbending control over who you're going to be is foolish at best.
And that brings me to the nagging question that occurred to me right around chapter 9, the first time Tycho sees his adult self and is terribly disappointed in him. Reading this again as an adult, I found myself wondering that if eleven year-old me suddenly appeared, what would he think? Would he be impressed at the path my life had taken? Would he be disappointed by my physical appearance? Would he be surprised at the relationship I have with my siblings? Would be be shocked that I have a boyfriend? What would his judgment be on his future?
Following right on the heels of that, of course, was the more important question of, "Who cares what eleven year-old me thinks of my life?" Not to disparage the eleven year-olds out there, but you don't know nearly as much as you think you do, and becoming a teenager isn't going to confer any more wisdom. Tycho doesn't know the twenty years of history and context that led to him becoming a miserable bastard. Perhaps if he had learned a little, he might have made better decisions when he returned to his own time. And if eleven year-old me gave me any lip about what I'd become, I'd send him back to his own time with a whole host of new neuroses to deal with.
Anyway, my point is this: The Green Futures of Tycho is a damn fine book. It's a good time travel adventure, and it's a good allegory for the existential angst we all go through when we consider the future. While such feelings might be new and raw to a child of Tycho's age, and old and familiar to us adults, it's still something that we need to deal with. And perhaps that best way to do it is to simply appreciate what we have now.
Then you come back to it ten or twenty years later and think, "I remember this book. I loved this book. I think I'll read it again." So you do, and it's a disappointment. Not because the book isn't as good as you thought it was but rather because you aren't the person you were when you first read it. There's nothing wrong with that - it's just life.
When I ordered this off Amazon, I did so with a certain amount of trepidation. This book occupies a very special place in my heart. I read it over and over again when I was a kid. It instilled a love of time travel that I keep to this day. I even adopted the name Tycho as a pseudonym for various parts of my own mind all the way through high school and beyond. I knew that re-reading it would put that entire past at risk of becoming foolish or stupid or childish, and I wasn't sure my ever-vulnerable pride wanted to take that.
Fortunately, I discovered that the book was as good as I recalled it being. Shorter than I remember, of course, but still quite good.
The story is deceptively simple - Tycho Tithonus, the youngest of four siblings - the other three being very talented and thoroughly unpleasant - finds a small, silver, egg-like object while digging up a new vegetable garden. As innocuous as is seems, that object is about to change everything. It is, in fact, a time machine.
It's not very difficult - it has a series of dials on one end, which you turn to set the time you want to go to. Press the other end and it's done. And Tycho does what anyone would do when presented with such an amazing device: go back and re-work an unpleasant event in his past. And if by doing so he could maybe teach his nasty siblings to appreciate him more, well, so be it. Of course, the ramifications of this act don't become clear until it's much too late.
But the past doesn't really hold that much allure for young Tycho. It's over and done with, and was never very pleasant to begin with. So he decides to go to the future, to see what has become of himself and his family. A quick twenty-year jump to April 23,2001 shows him what's in store for himself. A desperate, unhappy, bitter man, fronting for a lunar entertainment industry and reduced to begging sponsors for money.
Disappointed and upset, Tycho comes back. Later, he visits the future again - same day - only to find it has changed completely. He's no longer a sad, shapeless man but a tough, ruthless one, a man who uses his ability to travel through time to make money and ruin his family. Terrified, Tycho returns to his own time. But his curiosity can't be stopped. He needs to see a future where everything works out right. Unfortunately, every time he goes there it's worse and worse. His future self becomes a monster and a murderer, a willing agent to bring beings of higher power onto this planet.
This is one of the things I've always liked about Sleator - his mind turns around corners. Everyone and his uncle can write about a time traveler going to the past and changing the present, but who writes about someone changing the future by messing about in the present? Not many, I'll tell you that. Each time Tycho comes back from the future, the knowledge he has gained causes him to say something or do something that alters the course of his future in a new and terrible way. And seeing how much worse it gets just forces him to make even more terrible decisions, until you have the final, terrible paradox of an old Tycho trying to chase down and kill his younger self over the course of millennia.
Which does bring up the problem of paradox, unavoidable in any time travel book, known in fiction as "massive, gaping plot holes."
For example - if Tycho time-travels twenty years into the future to see his older self, there shouldn't be any older self there for him to meet. It's impossible - as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Tycho vanished on April 23, 1981 and re-appeared twenty years later. Everyone else lived through that time, but he simply side-stepped it. Instead of finding a letter from his older self to his mother in their future house, he should have found perhaps a black-framed picture of 11 year-old Tycho with a note to the effect that they should have loved him more. The only way I can think of to resolve this problem is to assume that Tycho was absolutely and incontrovertibly determined to return to his own time after each future visit, thus ensuring that he would eventually live out those twenty years.
Fortunately, Sleator handles these paradoxes in a very simple and straightforward manner. During one of Tycho's experimental first trips into the future, he meets his teenage self, who shows him how the dials work on the egg:
"But," Tycho said. "But if you're me... I mean, if we're the same person, how can we both be here at the same time?"There you go. That bit there is the author saying, "Yes, I know there are paradoxes involved, but that's not the point of the book." That pretty much sweeps aside all those little picky details, like older Tycho trying to kill his younger self, or the fact that, by the end of the book, the entire story didn't, technically, happen. "Shut up and concentrate."
"No time to explain now," said the other Tycho, bending over him. "I've got to show you how to work this thing, fast, so you can get back to your own time."
"But that doesn't make sense," Tycho said, more confused than ever. "If you have to show me how it works, then who showed you how to -"
"Shut up and concentrate."
He handles the alterations resulting from time travel very neatly as well. Rather than beat us over the head with "Things have CHANGED!" he just inserts a simple descriptive line in there. If you're reading carefully, you'll notice that Ludwig's hair has gone from proto-emo long to a nice crew cut. Even Tycho doesn't notice, which is interesting. When presented with the results of a change in time, he has a moment of jamais vu - the feeling of something familiar as totally new - and then the story moves on. The effects multiply and resonate, and even Tycho isn't aware of how much he's changed.
Going back to the plot hole problem for a moment, there is the small issue of the egg's origin and purpose. We know it was planted on Earth by aliens, something like 150 million years ago. It seems they did so with the intention that it one day be found and used in order to prepare the way for their arrival and dominance of Earth - this is what can be gleaned by the ravings of older Tycho. But why would an alien race which has time travel sorted out need such a roundabout way of conquering the world? Why drop it into some Jurassic mud and leave it at the whims of plate tectonics? Why not just show up at Tycho's house one day and drop it on his bedside table? This is never adequately explained in the book, probably because it's not what the book's about. But it nagged me when I was a kid, and it still does now.
All plot holes and paradoxes aside, it's a really good book, and if you have a kid, I recommend it. It's the kind of story that you really can pick apart and look from many angles. In one sense, it's a story about destiny. Tycho and his siblings are all named after extraordinary famous people - Ludwig Beethoven,Tamara Karsavina, Leonardo DaVinci, and Tycho Brahe - in the hopes that they would grow up to emulate them. Tycho's siblings fall into line very easily, adopting the roles that they'd been given from birth. Tycho doesn't - he's interested in a little bit of everything, and isn't entire sure what he wants to do with his life. I knew that feeling when I was eleven years old. Hell, I know that feeling now.
And of course it's about the futility of letting your future control your life. The future isn't fixed. It's an organic, growing thing that you can't begin to control, and the tiniest change in the present could become a radical change in the future. Sure, it's good to have goals and plans, but to try and wield unbending control over who you're going to be is foolish at best.
And that brings me to the nagging question that occurred to me right around chapter 9, the first time Tycho sees his adult self and is terribly disappointed in him. Reading this again as an adult, I found myself wondering that if eleven year-old me suddenly appeared, what would he think? Would he be impressed at the path my life had taken? Would he be disappointed by my physical appearance? Would he be surprised at the relationship I have with my siblings? Would be be shocked that I have a boyfriend? What would his judgment be on his future?
Following right on the heels of that, of course, was the more important question of, "Who cares what eleven year-old me thinks of my life?" Not to disparage the eleven year-olds out there, but you don't know nearly as much as you think you do, and becoming a teenager isn't going to confer any more wisdom. Tycho doesn't know the twenty years of history and context that led to him becoming a miserable bastard. Perhaps if he had learned a little, he might have made better decisions when he returned to his own time. And if eleven year-old me gave me any lip about what I'd become, I'd send him back to his own time with a whole host of new neuroses to deal with.
Anyway, my point is this: The Green Futures of Tycho is a damn fine book. It's a good time travel adventure, and it's a good allegory for the existential angst we all go through when we consider the future. While such feelings might be new and raw to a child of Tycho's age, and old and familiar to us adults, it's still something that we need to deal with. And perhaps that best way to do it is to simply appreciate what we have now.
March 7, 2018
William Sleator has a way of making his books stick with you well after you've completed them. I've found myself thinking about The Green Futures of Tycho multiple times since I finished reading it yesterday.
I stumbled across this book and decided to pick it up merely because I vaguely recalled liking a book I'd read by Sleator years ago. It took me at least three years before I decided to actually read this book, but I'm guilty of buying books to read and then choosing to read books I've checked out from the library instead of those I already own.
My goal for this year is every time I read a book from the library I must read one of my own books. The purpose is to minimize extraneous books I've been meaning to read, but never get around to reading.
I think the cover and title of this book is a little odd, which is probably why it took me so long to read it. I didn't know what to expect, so it was just easier to set aside until another time. Once I started reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down. There were times it was a little grim, but merely to drive home the ramifications of time travel and meddling in the future.
"Your life might be made up of little unimportant events, fluttering by like pollen in the wind that could just as easily land in one place as in another. Or it might be a series of paths that branched off at frequent intervals, like the limbs of a tree. At each fork you might happen to go one way or the other. A very small decision at the beginning could lead you to a very different place at the end."
If you enjoy science fiction tales about time travel, then you should definitely find yourself a copy of this book :).
I stumbled across this book and decided to pick it up merely because I vaguely recalled liking a book I'd read by Sleator years ago. It took me at least three years before I decided to actually read this book, but I'm guilty of buying books to read and then choosing to read books I've checked out from the library instead of those I already own.
My goal for this year is every time I read a book from the library I must read one of my own books. The purpose is to minimize extraneous books I've been meaning to read, but never get around to reading.
I think the cover and title of this book is a little odd, which is probably why it took me so long to read it. I didn't know what to expect, so it was just easier to set aside until another time. Once I started reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down. There were times it was a little grim, but merely to drive home the ramifications of time travel and meddling in the future.
"Your life might be made up of little unimportant events, fluttering by like pollen in the wind that could just as easily land in one place as in another. Or it might be a series of paths that branched off at frequent intervals, like the limbs of a tree. At each fork you might happen to go one way or the other. A very small decision at the beginning could lead you to a very different place at the end."
If you enjoy science fiction tales about time travel, then you should definitely find yourself a copy of this book :).
March 2, 2018
A very nice piece of time travel, involving a strange device, a family and various futures.
Time travel and its consequences aren't easy to picture for beginners, and I think it's especially the case for kids, so I was curious to try the book. It did well on both sides, with a simple but efficient way to travel in the past and the futures, and plenty of time to think about how a little event could change the future but also the people. Tycho had interactions with the various members of his family, but also with himself, which was nice and helped to understand what the problems were. Facing his futures wasn't easy and he had to deal with both the threats in the present, his fears, his siblings and his future selves. Because of all of this and never knowing how the things would unfold, the read was compelling. It was also short and fast paced, making it entertaining. Overall, a good piece of scifi, with low tech, a focus on the human side, and the narrow point of view of a kid.
Time travel and its consequences aren't easy to picture for beginners, and I think it's especially the case for kids, so I was curious to try the book. It did well on both sides, with a simple but efficient way to travel in the past and the futures, and plenty of time to think about how a little event could change the future but also the people. Tycho had interactions with the various members of his family, but also with himself, which was nice and helped to understand what the problems were. Facing his futures wasn't easy and he had to deal with both the threats in the present, his fears, his siblings and his future selves. Because of all of this and never knowing how the things would unfold, the read was compelling. It was also short and fast paced, making it entertaining. Overall, a good piece of scifi, with low tech, a focus on the human side, and the narrow point of view of a kid.
August 27, 2008
I met William Sleator when I was in 5th grade and he came to my elementary school to speak to us. I picked this book randomly and had it autographed and it soon became my all-time favorite book. For a while there I was reading it at least once a year. It's been a while now, my friend...I guess I should pick you up again!
Years later I had the opportunity to introduce William Sleator to a group of elementary school children when we brought him in to speak at Truman State University during National Reading Week activities. What an honor...although it was odd to realize the man who was larger than life in my memories was quite a bit shorter than me now. I did get to hear the story about the ballerina losing her contact lens and another dancer scooping it up and putting it in his mouth until the end of the scene again, though...which made it all okay!
I highly recommend all of Sleator's stories...especially for the sci-fi lovers!
Years later I had the opportunity to introduce William Sleator to a group of elementary school children when we brought him in to speak at Truman State University during National Reading Week activities. What an honor...although it was odd to realize the man who was larger than life in my memories was quite a bit shorter than me now. I did get to hear the story about the ballerina losing her contact lens and another dancer scooping it up and putting it in his mouth until the end of the scene again, though...which made it all okay!
I highly recommend all of Sleator's stories...especially for the sci-fi lovers!
November 29, 2020
I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it. The story was structured really well and it was interesting to read. The way the siblings interacted with each other was very relatable and sometimes funny, and the way Tycho could travel into the future, and seeing what life was like, was very interesting. The way the author wrote these characters, it is very interesting to see how he thinks they'd be in the future, and what our world would be like in the future.
September 25, 2014
That was a trip. Six star sci-fi. I couldn't stop. Page turner as hell. And daaaamn it got dark. It was reasonably dark, and then it got freaking insane asylum crazy grim and chilling. Chilltastic. That bent my mind a little. It's good clean horrifying time travel as a means to vastly different futures mostly. When aliens start getting involved I really start worrying there's not going to be a happy ending. The story gracefully sidesteps the alien thing though, and it doesn't come up til almost the last chapter, so don't worry. That was all over the place bonkers nuts. Sleator's got the goods. I've quoted it enough places already, no need for that here. I'm glad I read that. And in a day-ish. Making good bookwormy choices.
January 6, 2017
I really liked Green Futures of Tycho. It is about a kid who is the black sheep of his family and has the opportunity to change things after finding a mysterious object while playing outside.
GFoT handles time travel in a really cool way, and Tycho's thoughts as he works through the situations he finds himself in are believable and interesting. The introduction of alternate versions of Tycho is really cool, and something most time travel fiction doesn't do. This leads to a climax/conclusion that is novel and interesting but doesn't get as out of control on the confusion spectrum as something like Primer.
Definitely recommended if you like YA or time travel!
GFoT handles time travel in a really cool way, and Tycho's thoughts as he works through the situations he finds himself in are believable and interesting. The introduction of alternate versions of Tycho is really cool, and something most time travel fiction doesn't do. This leads to a climax/conclusion that is novel and interesting but doesn't get as out of control on the confusion spectrum as something like Primer.
Definitely recommended if you like YA or time travel!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2018
This was a childhood favorite that definitely held up to my memory. I particularly liked the late 70s ultra-liberal parenting: Tycho must call his parents Brian and Judy, who named their children after those with famous accomplishments and then expected their children to excel in that area.
Beyond that, this is a fun quick action treatise on the dangers of messing around with time travel, all in a concise 133 pages.
Beyond that, this is a fun quick action treatise on the dangers of messing around with time travel, all in a concise 133 pages.
July 8, 2017
This book was very exciting for me because i always had a interest in the future. i have always wonder about the future and past and how if we had changed 1 thing what would happen instead. It has always made me wonder about the paradoxes involved and how you would escape them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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February 16, 2008Fan site for TGFoT (run by a good friend of mine): http://www.tycho.org/
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September 16, 2022For some reason, I was always afraid to read this as a kid, even after reading other Sleator books such as INTERSTELLAR PIG and THE BOY WHO REVERSED HIMSELF. Finally read it as an adult…and I can see what I was afraid of! It’s a terrific book, but would have caused lasting trauma had I read it in grade school, or possibly middle school.
A writer I once spoke with talked about the power of the sublime — what’s going on outside the edges of what we perceive, particularly in a work of creativity. Sleator tells a powerful story about family and fate that achieves much of its power through what we DON’T see, or DON’T learn.
Tycho is a slightly ADHD misfit in an artistic, achievement-based family, who discovers something unique and special in the form of an egg-shaped time-travel device. What’s clever here is that Sleator limits the range of the time travel to the family’s house in different time periods. The narrow focus allows not only the uncanny effects of each future to sink in, but also heightens the reader’s awareness of just what has transpired in the “gaps” between each trip through time.
Along with Tycho, we’re forced to try and figure out not only the details that have led to the changes in the characters in the future, but how even his short trips into the recent past have wrought changes in personality, appearance, and more in his family — changes that ripple down throughout the years. And we’re similarly given a greater understanding of the egg, its makers, and the corrupting influence of its long-term use.
The climax is nightmarish, with Tycho facing an antagonist who’s unsettling both as a character and as the ultimate reflection of someone poisoned by resentment and ambition. Luckily, a little more time travel leads to an abrupt happy ending and a sense that life is better than it was before…or is it really as simple as that?
The overarching story is an enormous tale spanning millennia, with elements ranging from the apocalyptic to something almost akin to Lovecraftian cosmic horror. And yet, Sleator neatly confines it all to about 100 pages of a simple story about a boy learning sympathy towards his annoying siblings.
It’s not perfect — as other reviewers have noted, there are some gaps in logic, and a running plot about the weight of Tycho’s brother veers heavily into body shaming — but it’s a surprisingly powerful, imaginative story that leaves the reader with much to contemplate. Still, glad I didn’t read it as a kid!
A writer I once spoke with talked about the power of the sublime — what’s going on outside the edges of what we perceive, particularly in a work of creativity. Sleator tells a powerful story about family and fate that achieves much of its power through what we DON’T see, or DON’T learn.
Tycho is a slightly ADHD misfit in an artistic, achievement-based family, who discovers something unique and special in the form of an egg-shaped time-travel device. What’s clever here is that Sleator limits the range of the time travel to the family’s house in different time periods. The narrow focus allows not only the uncanny effects of each future to sink in, but also heightens the reader’s awareness of just what has transpired in the “gaps” between each trip through time.
Along with Tycho, we’re forced to try and figure out not only the details that have led to the changes in the characters in the future, but how even his short trips into the recent past have wrought changes in personality, appearance, and more in his family — changes that ripple down throughout the years. And we’re similarly given a greater understanding of the egg, its makers, and the corrupting influence of its long-term use.
The climax is nightmarish, with Tycho facing an antagonist who’s unsettling both as a character and as the ultimate reflection of someone poisoned by resentment and ambition. Luckily, a little more time travel leads to an abrupt happy ending and a sense that life is better than it was before…or is it really as simple as that?
The overarching story is an enormous tale spanning millennia, with elements ranging from the apocalyptic to something almost akin to Lovecraftian cosmic horror. And yet, Sleator neatly confines it all to about 100 pages of a simple story about a boy learning sympathy towards his annoying siblings.
It’s not perfect — as other reviewers have noted, there are some gaps in logic, and a running plot about the weight of Tycho’s brother veers heavily into body shaming — but it’s a surprisingly powerful, imaginative story that leaves the reader with much to contemplate. Still, glad I didn’t read it as a kid!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2026
lately- along with new media, i have been revisiting books and authors that had strong influence on my personality as i was growing up. William Sleator was a massive shaping factor for me, with several of his books indelibly ingrained in my brain (House of Stairs, Interstellar Piggy)
of the Sleator books, my memory was pretty vague for The Green Futures of Tycho. i had the core concept in my brain, but details were sparse which is why i chose it. Tycho is a teen who is bullied by his siblings, all of whom are being raised to be articulate and artisitic by what appear to be educated modern parents. one day, as he is digging a garden, a metallic egg shaped device surfaces in the dirt. the device is quickly revealed as a time travel device, and Tycho is left to his own means to figure out the inescapable trap of paradox.
clocking in at 130 pages and a junior reading level, it was a quick read. fun plot. i can see why i would have been interested, but also why it was only fringe memory- Sleator kinda fast tracks past key time travel trope- when Tycho hits a complex topic, he rolls past it because thinking too long gives him a 'strange fuzzy headache'. unlike 'Singularity' where Sleator thoroughly embraces time dialation theory and black holes in a kids book.
of the Sleator books, my memory was pretty vague for The Green Futures of Tycho. i had the core concept in my brain, but details were sparse which is why i chose it. Tycho is a teen who is bullied by his siblings, all of whom are being raised to be articulate and artisitic by what appear to be educated modern parents. one day, as he is digging a garden, a metallic egg shaped device surfaces in the dirt. the device is quickly revealed as a time travel device, and Tycho is left to his own means to figure out the inescapable trap of paradox.
clocking in at 130 pages and a junior reading level, it was a quick read. fun plot. i can see why i would have been interested, but also why it was only fringe memory- Sleator kinda fast tracks past key time travel trope- when Tycho hits a complex topic, he rolls past it because thinking too long gives him a 'strange fuzzy headache'. unlike 'Singularity' where Sleator thoroughly embraces time dialation theory and black holes in a kids book.
December 9, 2018
Hvis man er opvokset i firserne/starthalvfemserne og læste i de fantastiske genrer, er man bekendt med William Sleator. Han er en fantastisk forfatter, der gennem sine bøger forsøgte at formidle svære koncepter som bl.a. tidsrejser, flere dimensioner og tidsacceleration. Jeg genlæst Det mystiske sølvæg på en eftermiddag, og selv med nostalgiens røde briller hægtet af næsen, slog den mig som et stærkt og helstøbt værk, der balancerer et sted mellem science fiction og horror. I DMS følger man Tycho, der ad omveje får fingrene i et sølvæg, der kan rejse i tiden. Og det gør han. Snart går det op for ham, at hvis man forandrer noget i fortiden, ændrer det også nutiden, og det er både fascinerende og skræmmende. Det er fristende at gøre tingene så godt for en selv som muligt, men konsekvenserne er både sære og frygtelige. Fortællingen vender og drejer sig, og er helt sikkert en eftermiddag eller en oplæsning værd.
December 14, 2019
A delightful revisit of a great read from childhood. As an adult it's easy to judge Sleator's work in a harsher way, so in one sense I'm judging this from an adult perspective as well as my inner child's. As an adult there are holes in the work, and the ending feels rushed but those holes go out the window when I consider how imaginative the work really is. Time travel, paradoxes, and the vague possibility of remembering multiple universes are at the heart of this book. In a very real way Sleator is unapologetically ambiguous, having Tycho question what is happening along the way- the same way that the reader is too. Doing that makes the young adult reader a real part of the journey.
Major themes prevalent within that speak to young adults are parental expectations, sibling rivalry and teasing. It seems a brilliant stroke on Sleator's part to have Tycho escape from himself. As the youngest I may have felt that within myself growing up too.
Major themes prevalent within that speak to young adults are parental expectations, sibling rivalry and teasing. It seems a brilliant stroke on Sleator's part to have Tycho escape from himself. As the youngest I may have felt that within myself growing up too.
October 31, 2025
MANY years ago, my 3rd grade teacher read this book to our class. I LOVED it. I often thought about the storyline and eventually re-read it on my own a couple of years later.
The story has really stuck with me ever since then, and a couple of years ago I decided to hunt down a copy. (That was not an easy task… than goodness for ThriftBooks!)
I just tonight finished reading this to my own kids who are about the same age I was when I first heard it. They loved it, too!
The story has held up pretty well over the past 40 years. It’s definitely a different experience reading this as an adult, but it is still a powerful story to ponder.
I was pleased to learn there is actually still a fan website dedicated solely to this book! (tycho.org)
The story has really stuck with me ever since then, and a couple of years ago I decided to hunt down a copy. (That was not an easy task… than goodness for ThriftBooks!)
I just tonight finished reading this to my own kids who are about the same age I was when I first heard it. They loved it, too!
The story has held up pretty well over the past 40 years. It’s definitely a different experience reading this as an adult, but it is still a powerful story to ponder.
I was pleased to learn there is actually still a fan website dedicated solely to this book! (tycho.org)
April 9, 2018
The green futures of Tycho is about a young boy that happens to stumble upon an oddly shaped egg, that he soon finds out, can allow him to travel through time. While this book was somewhat odd in its writing style it was definitely a book that kept me intrigued at every twist and turn. Its concept of time travel is an idea not many people write about but just makes it all the more while. I would recommend this book to anyone who might be looking for an oddity of a book but also an interesting read at the same time due to the captivating conception of time travel.
October 20, 2023
For a long time, I had only a vague memory of this book--remembering a specific image and cover but with no idea of the title or author. A few years ago, some expert Googling gave me both, and though it's out of print, I bought a secondhand copy. (Not the cover I wanted--but those go at a price much higher than I was willing to pay.) Rereading this book after decades was fun, with the dread and terror I remember, though the specific image I've always held onto was nowhere to be found, nothing more than a conflation of several moments.
March 30, 2020
I really connected with this book as a kid, so much so that many years later, I had to find it again. It took some sleuthing in the early days of the internet but eventually, I found one, I think through ABEbooks. This book is about time travel, and a kid who has a crappy present day existence. He goes both forward and backward within his lifespan and sees the consequences of his actions. I don't want to spoil anything about the book. It's a super-quick hypnotic read.
December 23, 2017
Reread after 30 odd years and still an interesting story
I remember reading this book in elementary school. Something has always stuck with me, so I decided to see what I thought as an adult. Still a fun read and an interesting device to get people to think about how their choices can have long term impacts. Def recommend.
I remember reading this book in elementary school. Something has always stuck with me, so I decided to see what I thought as an adult. Still a fun read and an interesting device to get people to think about how their choices can have long term impacts. Def recommend.
April 9, 2021
I read this book several times throughout my teens - I would still consider it my favourite book to this day, in fact. It instilled within me a love of time travel and general science fiction which I have not been able to shake since. Truly an amazing YA novel, easy to read and suitable for adults as well as teens.
January 8, 2022
I first read this when I was 9 or 10 and re-reading it now, it’s clear why I liked it so much as a kid. There’s the easy to relate to put upon protagonist, the cool time travel gimmick, and ultimately hints at the horror genre that I’d become obsessed with just a couple years later.
The four stars here are an average of my 3 star take now and the 5 star take I had 35 years ago.
The four stars here are an average of my 3 star take now and the 5 star take I had 35 years ago.
September 23, 2025
Kirjan kirjoitustyyli (tai suomen käännös) on omaan makuun todella yksinkertaista lukea. Tuntuu siltä, että lukisin kirjaa minkä kirjailijalla ei ole juuri kokemusta kaunokirjallisuudesta. Siitä huolimatta oli kiinnostava kokemus, kirja oli täynnä kiinnostavia ideoita. Joka luvussa sai jotain täysin uutta, enkä osannut lainkaan ennakoida mitä pääsankarille kävisi seuraavaksi.
August 22, 2020
A fun and bizarre little story that really looks at the consequences of time travel when an 11 year old boy gets a hold of a mysterious device that enables him to change the past and travel to the future.
March 5, 2025
Read for Popsugar: A book about time travel
Imagine discovering a time travel device, excitedly jumping forward to see your future life, and it turns out future you is a terrble person. That's this book.
Imagine discovering a time travel device, excitedly jumping forward to see your future life, and it turns out future you is a terrble person. That's this book.
September 19, 2017
Revisiting this childhood favorite. Still cool!
April 9, 2018
An exceptional venture into the realm of odd future travels and sibling conflicts.
April 29, 2019
Jon suggested this as he read it in middle school. The "future" of 2001 was interesting! He got the television right.
February 13, 2020
Fun to revisit this after almost 40 years. I actually enjoyed Sleator’s vision of 2001 as much as the story itself.
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December 14, 2020Read in my 7th grade science class and it blew my mind. One of the few books I vividly remember reading in middle school and truly loving.
December 22, 2020
I actually give this book 4.5 stars.
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