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Crosstime Traffic
Contents:
Paranoid Fantasy #1 (1975)
Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers (1987)
A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates (1991)
An Infinity of Karen (1988)
The Drifter (1991)
Storm Trooper (1992)
Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1992)
Real Time (1989)
New Worlds (1991)
One Night at a Local Bar (1980)
Science Fiction (1991)
Watching New York Melt (1991) with Julie Evans
Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command! (1992)
Windwagon Smith and the Martians (1989)
The Rune and the Dragon (1984)
The Palace of al-Tir al-Abtan (1989)
The Final Folly of Captain Dancy (1992)
After the Dragon Is Dead (1990)
Paranoid Fantasy #1 (1975)
Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers (1987)
A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates (1991)
An Infinity of Karen (1988)
The Drifter (1991)
Storm Trooper (1992)
Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1992)
Real Time (1989)
New Worlds (1991)
One Night at a Local Bar (1980)
Science Fiction (1991)
Watching New York Melt (1991) with Julie Evans
Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command! (1992)
Windwagon Smith and the Martians (1989)
The Rune and the Dragon (1984)
The Palace of al-Tir al-Abtan (1989)
The Final Folly of Captain Dancy (1992)
After the Dragon Is Dead (1990)
248 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 23, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 20, 2025
Crosstime Traffic is a very good collection of short fiction, both science fiction and fantasy, originally published in genre magazines and anthologies 1984- '92. (With one very short exception from a 1975 issue of American Atheist, the lead-off Paranoid Fantasy #1.) Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers, which won the Hugo award in 1988 for the best story of the year, is a particular favorite of mine. Other memorable good ones included are Truth, Justice, and the American Way, and Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command!, as well as the cool caper novella The Final Folly of Captain Dancy. Good reads indeed!
September 30, 2017
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/review/R29N2C5...
Lawrence Watt-Evans must be a nice man. His stories always seem to have an element of decency and niceness about them. They are invariably entertaining in a nice way. I found the stories in this collection to be uniformly entertaining.
Most of the stories are about Watt-Evans' perspective on parallel realities. In Watt-Evans' imagination, there are an infinity of possible worlds where things went in different directions in significant and not so significant ways. In an infinity of possibilities, the secret of travel between these realities is bound to be discovered over and over again, but the problem is that no one ever discovers a way of navigating realities. When a traveler leaves his reality, he is gone from that reality forever. It would take someone nice to see the drawback in this scenario. Sure the traveler gets adventure and things unimagined in his reality, but he gives up his home.
Many of the stories are a variation on this theme. "Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers" considers this scenario and asks "is it worth it?" "Storm Troopers" raises the question of how certain the characters are that they are in their own reality? "The Drifter" plays with the idea of what might happen with just a little "sideways" push. "An Infinity of Karens" is a story of a hunt for a perfect love across infinite realities. "One Shot" plays with an alternate reality that is so close to our own, but so different. "New Worlds" is about the perfect business partnership that never happened.
Watt-Evans fills out the collection with some minor work, which remains entertaining. "Watching New York Melt" is more of a sketch than a story, but a nice demonstration of what a gifted short story writer can do with an idea. "Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientists Command" is very entertaining comedy about genetic engineering. There are also several stories about dragons because Watt-Evans really likes dragons.
In my opinion, the best story in the collection was the very surprising "The Final Folly of Captain Dancy," which shows how much entertainment can come from a twist on a caper story done extremely well.
This collection was an entertaining diversion. Nothing particularly memorable, but very fun.
Lawrence Watt-Evans must be a nice man. His stories always seem to have an element of decency and niceness about them. They are invariably entertaining in a nice way. I found the stories in this collection to be uniformly entertaining.
Most of the stories are about Watt-Evans' perspective on parallel realities. In Watt-Evans' imagination, there are an infinity of possible worlds where things went in different directions in significant and not so significant ways. In an infinity of possibilities, the secret of travel between these realities is bound to be discovered over and over again, but the problem is that no one ever discovers a way of navigating realities. When a traveler leaves his reality, he is gone from that reality forever. It would take someone nice to see the drawback in this scenario. Sure the traveler gets adventure and things unimagined in his reality, but he gives up his home.
Many of the stories are a variation on this theme. "Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers" considers this scenario and asks "is it worth it?" "Storm Troopers" raises the question of how certain the characters are that they are in their own reality? "The Drifter" plays with the idea of what might happen with just a little "sideways" push. "An Infinity of Karens" is a story of a hunt for a perfect love across infinite realities. "One Shot" plays with an alternate reality that is so close to our own, but so different. "New Worlds" is about the perfect business partnership that never happened.
Watt-Evans fills out the collection with some minor work, which remains entertaining. "Watching New York Melt" is more of a sketch than a story, but a nice demonstration of what a gifted short story writer can do with an idea. "Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientists Command" is very entertaining comedy about genetic engineering. There are also several stories about dragons because Watt-Evans really likes dragons.
In my opinion, the best story in the collection was the very surprising "The Final Folly of Captain Dancy," which shows how much entertainment can come from a twist on a caper story done extremely well.
This collection was an entertaining diversion. Nothing particularly memorable, but very fun.
April 28, 2024
A solid collection of sci-fi and fantasy stories. Seven stories are theme-and-variation on parallel worlds that make one think. My favorites were “The Drifter,” “Real Time,” “Storm Trooper,” and the delightful caper “The Final Folly of Captain Dancy.”
September 14, 2020
A fun collection of short stories!
May 9, 2023
Many of the stories seemed to have the or similar plot. There were more fantasy stories than I like. Other stories did not seem to fit the theme of alternate realities
September 29, 2024
3.5 stars
I really liked the story Why I left Harry's All Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evens, so when I needed to find a short story for an upcoming book club I decided to try his other stories. I have to say that initially I was a little disappointed. None of them were as good as the Harry's Hamburgers one, not even the sequel story that he wrote for it, A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates, though it was amusing. However, after I've thought about these for a while and even reread a few of them, I do think some of them are quite good. I think, for me at least, to enjoy short stories I have to be in the right frame of mind, and they can't be read with the same mindset or expectations that a full length book or even a novella is read with. They're little snippets of stories that, if done well make you think, or leave you wondering. I'm putting my ratings and comments for each of them down below.
-Paranoid Fantasy #1 (1975) 3 stars
An amusing story about a man who is very paranoid and takes all sorts of precautions to be safe from everything.
-Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers (1987) 4 stars
About a diner that's a stopping point for unusual travelers from alternate realities of earth. A grass isn't always greener on the other side kind of story.
-A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates (1991) 3 stars
A cute follow up to Harry's all night Hamburgers where a flying saucer gets stuck at the diner.
-An Infinity of Karen (1988) 3.5 stars
About a man looking for his true love across different realities.
-The Drifter (1991) 3 stars
A man volunteers in an experiment involving parallel worlds.
-Storm Trooper (1992) 3.5 stars
About characters from different realities becoming stuck in the wrong one.
-One Shot (1991) 3 stars
Someones goes back in time to prevent JFK from being assassinated in an alternate reality.
-Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1992) 3 stars
Imagines a world where Herbert Hoover was elected for a second term.
-Real Time (1989) 3.5 stars
A time traveler goes to murderous lengths to change the past, but did he really change the past or is he just crazy?
-New Worlds (1991) 3 stars
A story where crosstime travel and interstellar travel meet.
-One Night at a Local Bar (1980) 3.5 stars
About an alien from another planet who stops into a bar and gets discriminated against because he's different, by a bunch of people who are misfits themselves. The author says that most people miss the point of this story. It seemed rather obvious to me, so I'm wondering if I missed something, but I don't think so.
-Science Fiction (1991) 3.5 stars
The whole time I was reading this I was thinking it was like if Phineas and Ferb lived on a space station but weren't quite as smart. I mean no one notices that these kids build a space ship in their backyard.
-Watching New York Melt (1991 with Julie Evans) 3 stars
Flying saucers are zapping things in New York City and melting them, like the World Trade Center. Knowing what happened later to the World Trade Center made reading this sentence weird. "I didn't mind when they got the World Trade Center, but I'm going to miss the Empire State." This one didn't age well at all.
-Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command! (1992) 2 stars
A very pulpy story (that was the point) about a bug-eyed monster that tries to carry a girl off because of a misunderstanding. The story I liked the least in the whole collection.
-Windwagon Smith and the Martians (1989) 3.5 stars
About a man who gets kidnapped by Martians in order to participate in a race with the windwagon he's invented.
-The Rune and the Dragon (1984) 3 stars
The story of a mysterious rune that a dragon wants very badly for some mysterious reason.
-The Palace of al-Tir al-Abtan (1989) 3 stars
About a man trying to break into a wizard's palace.
-The Final Folly of Captain Dancy (1992) 3 stars
Amusing at times but too long in my opinion. In the beginning, it reminded me of Weekend at Bernie's. It's about what happens if the hero of the story gets killed before he can implement his plan. A plan he hasn't told anyone else about yet, and his crew have to try to figure it out without letting anyone know he's dead.
-The Man Who Loved Dragons (2000) 3.5 stars
About a man with a dragon obsession. He collects dragon statues, pillows, coffee mugs, etc. and his niece is worried he's mentally ill because of it.
-After the Dragon Is Dead (1990) 2.5 stars
What comes next after a fantasy hero defeats a tyrant and his dragon, from the point of view of his sidekick.
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I really liked the story Why I left Harry's All Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evens, so when I needed to find a short story for an upcoming book club I decided to try his other stories. I have to say that initially I was a little disappointed. None of them were as good as the Harry's Hamburgers one, not even the sequel story that he wrote for it, A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates, though it was amusing. However, after I've thought about these for a while and even reread a few of them, I do think some of them are quite good. I think, for me at least, to enjoy short stories I have to be in the right frame of mind, and they can't be read with the same mindset or expectations that a full length book or even a novella is read with. They're little snippets of stories that, if done well make you think, or leave you wondering. I'm putting my ratings and comments for each of them down below.
-Paranoid Fantasy #1 (1975) 3 stars
An amusing story about a man who is very paranoid and takes all sorts of precautions to be safe from everything.
-Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers (1987) 4 stars
About a diner that's a stopping point for unusual travelers from alternate realities of earth. A grass isn't always greener on the other side kind of story.
-A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates (1991) 3 stars
A cute follow up to Harry's all night Hamburgers where a flying saucer gets stuck at the diner.
-An Infinity of Karen (1988) 3.5 stars
About a man looking for his true love across different realities.
-The Drifter (1991) 3 stars
A man volunteers in an experiment involving parallel worlds.
-Storm Trooper (1992) 3.5 stars
About characters from different realities becoming stuck in the wrong one.
-One Shot (1991) 3 stars
Someones goes back in time to prevent JFK from being assassinated in an alternate reality.
-Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1992) 3 stars
Imagines a world where Herbert Hoover was elected for a second term.
-Real Time (1989) 3.5 stars
A time traveler goes to murderous lengths to change the past, but did he really change the past or is he just crazy?
-New Worlds (1991) 3 stars
A story where crosstime travel and interstellar travel meet.
-One Night at a Local Bar (1980) 3.5 stars
About an alien from another planet who stops into a bar and gets discriminated against because he's different, by a bunch of people who are misfits themselves. The author says that most people miss the point of this story. It seemed rather obvious to me, so I'm wondering if I missed something, but I don't think so.
-Science Fiction (1991) 3.5 stars
The whole time I was reading this I was thinking it was like if Phineas and Ferb lived on a space station but weren't quite as smart. I mean no one notices that these kids build a space ship in their backyard.
-Watching New York Melt (1991 with Julie Evans) 3 stars
Flying saucers are zapping things in New York City and melting them, like the World Trade Center. Knowing what happened later to the World Trade Center made reading this sentence weird. "I didn't mind when they got the World Trade Center, but I'm going to miss the Empire State." This one didn't age well at all.
-Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command! (1992) 2 stars
A very pulpy story (that was the point) about a bug-eyed monster that tries to carry a girl off because of a misunderstanding. The story I liked the least in the whole collection.
-Windwagon Smith and the Martians (1989) 3.5 stars
About a man who gets kidnapped by Martians in order to participate in a race with the windwagon he's invented.
-The Rune and the Dragon (1984) 3 stars
The story of a mysterious rune that a dragon wants very badly for some mysterious reason.
-The Palace of al-Tir al-Abtan (1989) 3 stars
About a man trying to break into a wizard's palace.
-The Final Folly of Captain Dancy (1992) 3 stars
Amusing at times but too long in my opinion. In the beginning, it reminded me of Weekend at Bernie's. It's about what happens if the hero of the story gets killed before he can implement his plan. A plan he hasn't told anyone else about yet, and his crew have to try to figure it out without letting anyone know he's dead.
-The Man Who Loved Dragons (2000) 3.5 stars
About a man with a dragon obsession. He collects dragon statues, pillows, coffee mugs, etc. and his niece is worried he's mentally ill because of it.
-After the Dragon Is Dead (1990) 2.5 stars
What comes next after a fantasy hero defeats a tyrant and his dragon, from the point of view of his sidekick.
Follow me at:
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October 10, 2015
Lawrence Watt-Evans makes reading his short stories a pleasure. This compalation is focused on stories about alternate and parallel worlds, and travelling between them. The last few are fantasy, but with an interesting twist. There's some true gems in here, including a few real quick stories only a page or two long, but that still pack a fun gotcha moment. Some of the longer stories focus on how life would change if travelling to parallel worlds actually could happen, and others are twists on classic tropes but with a wonderful spin on them tied to alternate worlds. My favorites were "An Infinity of Karens", "Storm Trooper", and "One-Shot", but every one is like opening a surprise to see what Lawrence has cooked up. While I love his novels, after reading this collection of his early short stories, I hope he manages another collection of more recent stories as well.
The hidden treasure of the collection is the introduction, where Lawrence provides sixteen pages of background on how he got started writing, the struggles of his early career, and a paragraph or two on the history and origin of writing each of these stories.
The hidden treasure of the collection is the introduction, where Lawrence provides sixteen pages of background on how he got started writing, the struggles of his early career, and a paragraph or two on the history and origin of writing each of these stories.
October 31, 2013
A sometimes amusing, sometime thought provoking mix of stories by Watt-Evans. I have to say, my favourite of all the stories was the 2 interlocking stories--Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner and A Flying Saucer With Minnesota Plates. There are other stories that I enjoyed, but these 2 were, hands down, in my opinion, the best.
The one that was the most thought provoking was Truth, Justice and the American Way.
The one that was the most thought provoking was Truth, Justice and the American Way.
July 13, 2008
Fun!!
October 30, 2015
A nice collection of shorts, mostly SF but some fantasy.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews