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Mists of Dawn
A 17-year-old makes an unplanned trip through space and time to Europe 50,000 years ago where Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man engage in conflict for survival.
208 pages, hardback
First published January 1, 1952
8 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Chad Oliver
167 books19 followersSymmes Chadwick Oliver (30 March 1928–9 August 1993) was an award winning science fiction and Western writer and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. He was also one of the founders of the Turkey City Writer's Workshop.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 30, 2021
Though it was written seventy years ago, I'm sure this is still one of the best YA time travel tales ever. It's the story of the son of the inventor who goes back to a time when Neanderthals and more modern humanity were diverging and in conflict. It serves as a fine introduction to the concepts of anthropology and the procedures of archaeology, as well as being an entertaining and engaging novel of true science fiction.
March 8, 2021
Отказвам се след първата третина. Не подозирах, че Чад Оливър може да пише толкова скучно. Но все пак да не забравяме, че това му е първият роман.
В случая фантастиката изглежда е само оправдание, за да прати човек (17-годишно момче) на 50 000 години в миналото и да се отдаде на любимата си антропология, описвайки своите представи за живота на неандерталците и кроманьонците. За съжаление дори тези описания са твърде безинтересни и банални, да не говорим за съмнителната им правдивост. Съветът ми е: пропуснете тази книга!
В случая фантастиката изглежда е само оправдание, за да прати човек (17-годишно момче) на 50 000 години в миналото и да се отдаде на любимата си антропология, описвайки своите представи за живота на неандерталците и кроманьонците. За съжаление дори тези описания са твърде безинтересни и банални, да не говорим за съмнителната им правдивост. Съветът ми е: пропуснете тази книга!
January 29, 2023
If I see a science fiction book from the 50s with a cool cover (not the one pictured on goodreads), I have to buy it. I love reading books written about time travel by people writing before anyone went to the moon.
This one was mercifully short, as it did not offer anything extraordinary.
I think where the author went 'wrong' is in caring too much about the anthropology of the subject. It read more like something written first as a textbook that was trying to add in a storyline as opposed to a work of fiction meant for escapism.
This one was mercifully short, as it did not offer anything extraordinary.
I think where the author went 'wrong' is in caring too much about the anthropology of the subject. It read more like something written first as a textbook that was trying to add in a storyline as opposed to a work of fiction meant for escapism.
January 10, 2019
I stuck with this book for as long as I did (56%) for one reason: It was published in 1952 and oddly hardly dated at all. How cool is that? The biggest issues were around smoking -- a man invents a time machine, the only one ever made, and as he's showing it off he was smoking a pipe and blowing smoke rings at the control panel. I was just sitting here thinking "DON'T DO THAT!".
The story was not about the man who invented the time machine, but his adopted son. In the story, by accident the young man goes way far back in time (50,000 BC), where he meets the humans of that time. Unfortunately the modern man ("modern", from 1950s...) was way too perfect and good at living in that time, so I lost interest in the story.
Isn't it odd that books aren't written about time machines anymore? Nowadays, when people go back in time, it's a rift in dimensions or something...
The story was not about the man who invented the time machine, but his adopted son. In the story, by accident the young man goes way far back in time (50,000 BC), where he meets the humans of that time. Unfortunately the modern man ("modern", from 1950s...) was way too perfect and good at living in that time, so I lost interest in the story.
Isn't it odd that books aren't written about time machines anymore? Nowadays, when people go back in time, it's a rift in dimensions or something...
February 23, 2021
A spectacular work, marred by the prejudices of its time
WINSTON SCIENCE FICTION #6: “The Mists of Dawn”, by Chad Oliver
I really wanted to give this book five stars—which is a surprise, because time travel stories typically don’t interest me very much. Oliver, however, is a good writer—a master of pacing who pulled me along through this story of 17-year-old Mark Nye on his adventure into the Ice Age.
Regrettably, I can’t give “The Mists of Dawn” the five stars I’d like, because of its awkward examples of the xenophobia that pervaded the 1950’s and that still haunts us today.
This is particularly disappointing because the rest of the book is so good. It is the best-written of the Winston series so far.
My experience upon reading the story was also s surprise. In the introduction, Oliver says “... I hope that there are a few lessons to be learned from this story, lessons in tolerance and understanding and common humanity.”
It turns out he only means “tolerance and understanding and common-humanity” with ONE of the two tribes Nye encounters in the Ice Age. Apparently wanting to create a good villain for his story, Oliver goes on to describe the OTHER tribe in terms commonly used during the 1950’s to depict very real, non-white Americans as less-than-human.
Perhaps it’s unfair to judge Oliver at the time he wrote “The Mists of Dawn” by our standards today—but even 70 years ago there were plenty of people who understood that referring to others as “half-men” didn’t promote tolerance and understanding. The fact that we now know the cousin-species to which Oliver refers actually had larger brains than modern humans makes his bestial description of them that much harder to accept.
The rest of the book, however, easily earns the four stars I am giving it. Overlooking its xenophobic Achilles heel, “The Mists of Dawn” is a nearly perfect young adult novel, with a relatable protagonist, real character development, and exciting action. I just wish Oliver would have had the imagination to see BOTH his competing tribes as equally human.
Recommended for fans of time-travel stories, anthropology, and good writing who are willing to overlook stereotyping typical of the era in which the book was written.
WINSTON SCIENCE FICTION #6: “The Mists of Dawn”, by Chad Oliver
I really wanted to give this book five stars—which is a surprise, because time travel stories typically don’t interest me very much. Oliver, however, is a good writer—a master of pacing who pulled me along through this story of 17-year-old Mark Nye on his adventure into the Ice Age.
Regrettably, I can’t give “The Mists of Dawn” the five stars I’d like, because of its awkward examples of the xenophobia that pervaded the 1950’s and that still haunts us today.
This is particularly disappointing because the rest of the book is so good. It is the best-written of the Winston series so far.
My experience upon reading the story was also s surprise. In the introduction, Oliver says “... I hope that there are a few lessons to be learned from this story, lessons in tolerance and understanding and common humanity.”
It turns out he only means “tolerance and understanding and common-humanity” with ONE of the two tribes Nye encounters in the Ice Age. Apparently wanting to create a good villain for his story, Oliver goes on to describe the OTHER tribe in terms commonly used during the 1950’s to depict very real, non-white Americans as less-than-human.
Perhaps it’s unfair to judge Oliver at the time he wrote “The Mists of Dawn” by our standards today—but even 70 years ago there were plenty of people who understood that referring to others as “half-men” didn’t promote tolerance and understanding. The fact that we now know the cousin-species to which Oliver refers actually had larger brains than modern humans makes his bestial description of them that much harder to accept.
The rest of the book, however, easily earns the four stars I am giving it. Overlooking its xenophobic Achilles heel, “The Mists of Dawn” is a nearly perfect young adult novel, with a relatable protagonist, real character development, and exciting action. I just wish Oliver would have had the imagination to see BOTH his competing tribes as equally human.
Recommended for fans of time-travel stories, anthropology, and good writing who are willing to overlook stereotyping typical of the era in which the book was written.
November 29, 2020
One of the very first time travel books I ever read as a child, and somehow it stayed with me through all these years. Yes, his take on Neanderthals is more than a little outdated, and as a archeology buff myself, noticed a few discrepancies but hey, that was probably the cutting edge science when this book was written. Overall an enjoyable romp through prehistory, combining my fascination for time travel and archeology. Obviously for young adults but still a fun read. I could not remember either the authors name or the title of the book (it literally was one of the first real books I ever read, around age 8 or 9, I believe), but did a google search for time travel books from the 50s, and there it was! Thank you goodreads for pulling all this together.
June 22, 2017
2.5 stars. A science fiction novel aimed at juvenile readers of the 1950s in which a teenage boy travels via time machine 50000 years in the past and has adventures with Neanderthals and Cromagnons. Strangely, the author describes Neanderthals with uniformly negative terminology ("half men", "ugly", "bestial", "dirty", "monsters") and describes Cromagnons with uniformly positive terminology. I found this somewhat grating. There are present day science fiction novels, which I like better, that project a more positive view of Neanderthals, such as Hominids by Robert J Sawyer.
April 22, 2020
Cool adventure time travel story, the cigarettes make parts of it seem outdated. The confidence and optimism seems very much of the time (which says negative things about our own time). A fun adventure, lots of anthropology stuff about neanderthals etc.
May 9, 2023
Read again after 50+ years. This book has a special place in my heart. Probably did more to get me into reading and start my enthusiasm for sci-fi than any other book.
October 20, 2014
The original hardback edition was published in 1952 as part of the Winston Science Fiction series. Trying to find a copy today is difficult and expensive - the entire series is still in high demand.
So it was with great delight I saw it was being reissued, albeit as an ebook. I read this when I was in grade school and loved it (along with another Winston books, Star Conquerors by Ben Bova and Island in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke). Rereading it today, I can see why I liked it so much. The story of a boy who is catapulted back through time 50,000 years to the time of the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons affected me enough to keep a life long interest in anthropology. The writing is dated now, and as an adult it doesn't excite me as much, but I think it still makes a terrific juvenile sf book.
So it was with great delight I saw it was being reissued, albeit as an ebook. I read this when I was in grade school and loved it (along with another Winston books, Star Conquerors by Ben Bova and Island in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke). Rereading it today, I can see why I liked it so much. The story of a boy who is catapulted back through time 50,000 years to the time of the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons affected me enough to keep a life long interest in anthropology. The writing is dated now, and as an adult it doesn't excite me as much, but I think it still makes a terrific juvenile sf book.
November 20, 2012
Don't believe the "original publish date", I read this out of the Jr. high school library in 1961. Same book! Though it masquerades as Science Fiction, it's really an exploration into anthropology.
A young man, working in his nuclear physicist father's experimental time machine, accidentally gets sent back in time 10,000 years, to ? France?
The atomic batteries will need two weeks to recharge for the return trip. He was not prepared for this! Most of the book deals with him trying to survive among Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Unfortunately, his time machine is waiting in what is now "enemy territory".
A young man, working in his nuclear physicist father's experimental time machine, accidentally gets sent back in time 10,000 years, to ? France?
The atomic batteries will need two weeks to recharge for the return trip. He was not prepared for this! Most of the book deals with him trying to survive among Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Unfortunately, his time machine is waiting in what is now "enemy territory".
May 8, 2015
This a really great young adult science fiction novel. I liked it as a teen and I liked it this tie reading. It was originally published in 1952 as part of the Winston science fiction series. As a teen I read many of the series from the library. Over the years I have managed to collect the entire series for my own library. Great collection.
Read
July 23, 2014I remember reading this when I was a teen. Made a huge impression on my mind then.
January 30, 2019
This book for me is a blast from the past (what most other reviewers are saying). Came out in 1953. Over the intervening years, several memorable phrases from the text have stayed with me. Overall, Mists of Dawn is the single most influential book in making me want to write my own science fiction.
sony-or-android
December 18, 2018Not Found
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews