Time Travel (sans dinosaurs)

[carriedaway]

I've got a thing for time travel, alt universes and one liners, does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in the midst of tax season so my brain is completely consumed with the arcane and senseless acts of both my clients and the tax authorities, screwing with physics and reality sounds like a fabulous diversion.

[Josh]

I don't know if you've read it yet, but How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for.

[Flannery, html whiz]

I can't see what books you've read because your profile is private, but have you read Replay? It's certainly mindless enough that you won't have to think too much about it...

I also liked The Walls of the Universe--there is much more science in that one.

Maybe mention a few time travel books you liked?

[Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse)]

For time travel with a historical fiction context, I like Connie Willis - The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing Of The Dog. By one-liners, do you mean funny?

[carriedaway]

I think I love this! Great suggestions, I've actually read and loved the Connie Willis books and Jack Finney's Time & Again.

In fact, probably too spot on. I've already had two books transferred to my local branch at the library and really, I should be working my behind off right now. It's how I fund future books (and yarn). And, y'know, food.

Hopefully I've set my books to public - but they're haphazardly updated at work. Thanks, everyone!

[Mariel]

Be With You
Charlotte Sometimes

These are two unique time travel stories I have read.

[Bill]

have you read the more recent connie willis books Blackout and All Clear, they are both about time travellers from the future going back to the london blitz in world war 2. i just read them and they are excellent. they are really one long book divided into two, so you need to read them in order and pretty well one after the other.

[carriedaway]

@Mariel - I read Charlotte Sometimes years ago as a kid - I'd completely forgotten about it, thank you for the memories!

@Bill - I picked up All Clear from the library when it first came out and then realized I should read Blackout first, so I'm winding my way through the hold list. Connie Willis is a favorite of mine, only Passage drove me crazy.

@Brian - well....if there's only one dinosaur, I suppose that would be okay...... ;) A long short story is all I have time for right now anyway... I love alt universes - Pohl's book picks up the nature vs nurture debate too.

So far, all the suggestions have either been books I've already read or books that I can't wait to read and my request was not even that detailed. This is awesome.

[karen, future RA queen]

that's a win for readers' advisory.

may i use that as a quote in the paper, carriedaway??

[carriedaway]

karen wrote: "that's a win for readers' advisory.

may i use that as a quote in the paper, carriedaway??"

Absolutely! I'd be honored.

[Janene]

For Time Travel, (without knowing exactly what you like) I'd consider The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon . I read the first in the series, Outlander, roughly 15 years ago and can still remember most of the characters names. :)

Outlander
Dragonfly in Amber
Voyager
Drums of Autumn
The Fiery Cross
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
An Echo in the Bone

[karen, future RA queen]

i know a lot of people who love these books. they are like literary scottish romances, right?? or am i way off base??

[carriedaway]

@Janene, The Outlander series was a good suggestion, I've read the first four.

@Karen, yes, more or less. Circa 1945 nurse time travels back to 16th century Scotland and falls in love. I'd describe it more but I was surprised she was circa 1945 - time for a reread.

Another friend gave me The Winter Sea to read (for anyone else reading this thread for suggestions). It's set during a Scottish/Franco alliance to put James...III back on the throne in 1708 and the present day, the conceit is that writer, Carrie, has a "genetic" memory of her 1708 relation, Sophia. Don't ask. At least it's better than Daphne du Maurier's potion in ) Three Famous Du Maurier Novels: The King's General / The Flight of the Falcon / The House on the Strand(The House on the Strand). POV alternates between the two girls and their respective romances - I'm halfway through but the romance is a light touch and the historical background seems to be well researched.

[Janene]

I read (gobbled!) the first 4. I've been half way through Fiery Cross since it was published. I need to start over & try again.

[Janene]

Karen...they are more than romance. (I abhor romance novels) From the author's site:

history, warfare, medicine, sex, violence, spirituality, honor, betrayal, vengeance, hope and despair, relationships,
the building and destruction of families and societies, time travel, moral ambiguity, swords, herbs, horses,
gambling (with cards, dice, and lives), voyages of daring, journeys of both body and soul…

you know, the usual stuff of literature.

And Jamie Frasier is reallly, rreally hot. =)

[Janene]

Have you read Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan?? I liked it more than the average reader I guess..

[Joel]

you might try Time on My Hands, which is woefully under-read if you ask me. it is about a man who goes back in time to the 1920s to try to alter the course of ronald reagan's film career so he becomes super famous and thus never enters politics or becomes president (it was written in the '80s, obviously). it is packed full of fun details about the golden age of hollywood that i loved (for example, in order to break into the biz, the time traveler rewrites the "classics" as much as he can remembering them, resulting in alterna-versions of casablanca and others).

[smetchie]

And Jamie Frasier is reallly, rreally hot. =)

really.

[karen, future RA queen]

did any of these book suggestions work out for you?

[carriedaway]

karen wrote: "did any of these book suggestions work out for you?"


They did! I've read the following suggested books on this thread:

Time on My Hands
Now & Then
Charlotte Sometimes
Replay
Master Of Space And Time
A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories

and I've bought but haven't read yet: (because I keep reading the library books first and oddly enough, there are always library books to read)

The Coming of the Quantum Cats
Behold the Man

But I'm reminded that How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is in my library system and so is The Walls of the Universe and .... now are on hold for me.

The Connie Willis, Jack Finney and Diana Gabaldon books I've already read, so were obviously great suggestions.

[karen, future RA queen]

WOW - THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

sorry for shouting.

[Stefanie]

If you still feel like reading about time travel, you could try Ruby Red ;-). It's YA, though.

[Regina]

Another very good one is Kindred

[Darcy]

There's also Michael Chriton's Timeline which is devoid of Dinosaurs, has some romance and physics.

[Angelique]

I had to go check my bookshelf, as I could not remember the exact names. But, as a teen, I loved the Time Rope series. I have 4 books, but maybe more were released (note to self, browse author for other books). Written by Robert Leeson. 3 teens, from different eras, swing forward in time, to overcome a future war. Very different.
The other time travel book that leapt to mind, is by Harry Harrison. Technicolour Time Machine. I might have others, but these are the ones I remembered straight away.

[Dar B]

Janene wrote: "Karen...they are more than romance. (I abhor romance novels) From the author's site:

history, warfare, medicine, sex, violence, spirituality, honor, betrayal, vengeance, hope and despair, relatio..."

They really ARE not romance novels to me, either. I really do not like "romance books". I tend to describe them as mostly historical fiction with a lot of adventure and a bit of time travel. I always say that, yes, there is some romantic element but it is much deeper, more like the development of a long and mature relationship, where passion remains instead of dying out. I love historical fiction, escpecially with a lot of action, so that is the appeal for me. Although, I love her ideas on time travel, too.

I have read each of these over again, every single time a new one came out. Her next novel Written in My Own Heart's Blood is due out early next year, hopefully. I LOVE Diana and her writing style!

[Grey]

Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman
Napoleon Disentimed by Hayford Pierce
Making History by Stephen Fry