The Time Travel MEGAPACK ®: 26 Modern and Classic Science Fiction Stories

by Edward M. Lerner, Richard A. Lupoff, Damien Broderick

Time travel is one of the staples of science fiction, right up there with aliens, space opera, and robots. Most science fiction authors have written at least one time travel story. This collection samples some of the best.

10 • Time Out • (2013) • novella by Edward M. Lerner
69 • These Stones Will Remember • (1981) • novelette by Reginald Bretnor
99 • Project Mastodon • (1955) • novelette by Clifford D. Simak
133 • 12:01 P.M. • (1973) • short story by Richard A. Lupoff
150 • Time Considered as a Series of Thermite Burns in No Particular Order • (2011) • short story by Damien Broderick
160 • Time and Time Again • (1947) • short story by H. Beam Piper
179 • Try, Try Again • (2013) • short fiction by John Gregory Betancourt
184 • The Eternal Wall • (1942) • short story by Raymond Z. Gallun
196 • The Man from Time • (1954) • short story by Frank Belknap Long
211 • Of Time and Texas • (1956) • short story by William F. Nolan
215 • The Edge of the Knife • [Federation] • (1957) • novella by H. Beam Piper
260 • Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (10) • [Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot • 10] • (1982) • short fiction by Reginald Bretnor (variant of Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: X 1959) [as by Grendel Briarton]
261 • Time Bum • (1953) • short story by C. M. Kornbluth
270 • Nebogipfel at the End of Time • [H. G. Wells' Time Machine Universe] • (1978) • short story by Richard A. Lupoff
278 • Unborn Tomorrow • (1959) • short story by Mack Reynolds
291 • Lost in the Future • (1954) • short story by John Victor Peterson
294 • The Winds of Time • [The Hub] • (1962) • novelette by James H. Schmitz
328 • Armageddon—2419 A. D. • [Buck Rogers • 1] • (1928) • novella by Philip Francis Nowlan
402 • The Man Who Saw the Future • (1930) • short story by Edmond Hamilton
417 • A Traveler in Time • [Tex Harrigan] • (1953) • short story by August Derleth
431 • Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (71) • [Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot • 71] • (1982) • short fiction by Reginald Bretnor (variant of Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: LXXI 1969) [as by Grendel Briarton]
432 • Flight from Tomorrow • (1950) • novelette by H. Beam Piper
454 • In the Cracks of Time • (2009) • short story by David M. Alexander [as by David Grace]
468 • Sweep Me to My Revenge! • (2007) • short story by Darrell Schweitzer
479 • The Solid Men • (2009) • short story by C. J. Henderson
498 • Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (Epsilon) • [Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (3) • 5] • (1985) • short fiction by Reginald Bretnor (variant of Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: epsilon) [as by Grendel Briarton]
499 • About the Authors (The Time Travel Megapack) • (2013) • essay by John Gregory Betancourt

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Ebooks, Speculative Fiction

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I'm a physicist and computer scientist (among other things). After thirty years in industry, working at every level from individual technical contributor to senior vice president, I now write full-time. Mostly I write science fiction and techno-thrillers, now and again throwing in a straight science or technology article.

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

26 short stories about time travel. I generally love time travel stories, but apart from a couple of little gems here and there the rest were really just hard work getting through. Some were just plain silly. Luckily they were all pretty short so whatever annoyance I felt, it was at least short lived. A few of the stories may well have gotten 3 or 4 stars on their own but mixed up with the rest, this book evens out at a 2 or 2.5 I guess. If you really like time travel stories and don't mind reading a few odd ones in between the real deal, I guess the good stories almost makes it worth it. Almost.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting compilation short stories on time travel. I will admit some stories were far better than others. Some were extremely dull. There were a few that I will not mention, that I did bail on because I lost interest. A few of the authors seem to be typing words rather than writing a story.

Overall it was entertaining and fun to read.

[Bob Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a sci-fi time travel fan, this book has 26 stories, some old, some new. For 99 cents, it will provide hours of entertainment. Some of the stories are entertaining and pretty good, but some I didn't like at all. The advantage of reading short stories is that you can put those behind you and move on to others.

I can't go through all 26 stories, but here are the first 4 to give you an idea:

1) TIME OUT, by Edward M. Lerner - you are an assistant to a mad scientist creating a time machine, and he starts out making small ones the size of a microwave at first. What do you do when a note appears from the future that says, "Don't do it!" Very entertaining.

2) THESE STONES WILL REMEMBER, by Reginald Bretnor - an interesting ghost story-like approach. Once more you are an assistant, using a time viewer like device to spy 400 years in the past to discover where the Russian Baron hid his treasure trove so that it can be rediscovered by the current owner of the castle - mildly entertaining.

3) PROJECT MASTODON, by John Gregory Betancourt -an 'embassador' from a non-existent country called Mastodonia appears and wants to establish relations in exchange for providing sanctuary for your people in his country - eh, it was OK. It was pretty obvious after a few paragraphs.

4) 12:01 P.M., by Richard A. Lupoff - Bill Murray in "Ground Hog Day" did it much much better. Enough said.

[Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a few gems in here, both classics and newer stories. "These Stones Will Remember" has a haunting poignancy. "12:01 P.M" and "Time and Time Again" are both firsts in what are now very common time travel scenarios (The 'Groundhog Day' and the 'Peggy Sue'). "The Eternal Wall" is an odd one, but I like the dark ending. "Sweep Me to My Revenge!" is an amusing story involving Shakespeare and Marlowe.

The rest are mostly either forgettable or actively bad. "Armageddon -- 2419 A.D" was impressive in that the author took a fun plot and sapped all its life through his dull, detached writing. "In the Cracks of Time" is an interesting premise, but is missing a story (it feels like an intro). "The Solid Men" is borderline incoherent. "Nebogiphfel at the End of Time" IS incoherent.

For $0.99, you get your money's worth, but this could easily have been a four or five star collection if the publishers had been a little more discriminating in their public domain stories.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of time travel stories spanning various time periods. Apart from three very short stories by Grendel Briarton (Reginald Bretnor) that are mainly excuses for executing bad puns, I found something interesting in all of the stories. Most fascinating of all was the myriad of unusual ways that authors approached the way time travel worked. Several presented arguments on the unchanging nature of time and the inability of people to move in time yet managed to execute means by which time moved around people. One described the movement of his time machine as the equivalent of skipping across waves of time like stones skipped across a lake. A couple of stories dealt more with surviving back in time than the mechanics of getting back in time, while one gave us the fascinating premise of time travelers trying to declare the distant past as their own nation-state. Well-known authors represented here include Clifford D. Simak, Frank Belknap Long, C. M. Kornbluth, and August Derleth. I may not have recognized the names of all of the other authors, but they each have solid pedigrees ranging from the pulp fiction magazines of yesteryear to numerous science fiction short stories and novels published throughout the twentieth century (with a 21st century entry or two thrown in for good measure). I found all of them worthy of my attention.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/5 Time Out:
This is a thriller that is at first refreshing, suspenseful, and even relevant to current affairs, but near the ending, the plot loses its intrigue and becomes purely action-driven, with time travel theories being muddled up by the layman narrator, who can barely keep his train of thought straight. The story ends up never answering the questions it poses, especially which time travel theory is the right one in its universe, instead resorting to "everything was a disaster and it all went up in flames".

2/5 These Stones Will Remember: This is really more of "a story which happens to have time travel" than "an actual time travel story". Meh.

3/5 Project Mastodon: This... is a time travel story alright. It starts out like a brilliant Lafferty, but then takes itself too seriously, and ends tamely and disappointingly. (So maybe still like a Lafferty?)

At this point, I checked the reviews and realised that this anthology isn't worth my time.

[Jewell Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of sci-fi stories related to time travel. Notably Project Mastodon by Clifford Simak, men travel back in time to the past, and try to claim the past as their own country, for political purpose, only to have the time maching break down.... Time and TIme Again, by H. Beam Piper...(if you could change your future would you kind of story), The Edge of the Knife, by H. Beam Piper,,(a man sees glimpses of the future) , he is labled crazy by his boss, until his visions start to come true... and Armegeddon 2419 by Philip Francis Nowlan...a man is placed in suspended animation from gases in a cave and wakes 500 years later to North America fighting a new war...probably where the idea for jet packs came from...If you like classic sci - fi, this is a good collection.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first megapack collection that I've read (as far as I can remember anyway), and I found the collection to be an interesting mix. I liked the stories for the most part (really, only one I really didn't care for), so I think I'll probably checkout other packs, to see what they offer as well.

[Mike Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of decent stories, but a fair deal of dross, long-winded tales and two or three that don’t even involve time travel. Plus, the cover on GoodReads says 25 stories, whereas there are 26, as per the cover on Amazon. Odd…

[Jirnsum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good and some that didn't age too well

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent collection. Only a couple duds (pretty good as far as these collections go)!

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some I'd already read, but worth re-reading. Some I hadn't, and I enjoyed all but a couple of those. A nice selection of the genre.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few gems, but mostly meh. Nothing downright bad, unless it was a one-page bad pun story

[Earl Truss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally a "megapack" with almost all interesting stories. Some typical time travel stories and some with surprise endings.

[Tanner Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring AF!!!!!

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some older sci-fi stories are classics and should be read, but these were awful dated and boring.

[Al Menaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a couple of stories weren't excellent. Consistently interesting and engaging.

[France-Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to judge because the stories are not the same calibre, I don't think there's any one star and there's maybe one or two 5 stars. The majority of stories were interesting some where more "sciency" than others, others were pure time travelling without explanation for how the travelling happens. I think all and all an interesting read for when a short is called for; I didn't read it all in one go, but sometimes with an anthology it is the best thing to do so not to confuse the different authors and their works.

When possible I have given an individual rating for the different stories (not sure I wrote a lot of reviews along the way).

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories all based around Time Travel. Some are truly excellent and thought-provoking. Some of them consider the possible effects of time travel in ways I'd never even considered before. The only let-down is the inclusion of a few "Feghoots" which pad out the book- a classic form, they're short shaggy dog stories that exist only to set up a terrible pun, and not truly Time Travel stories.

[Jim Kratzok · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume held an interesting selection of stories, a number of which were from the "Golden Age" of science fiction in the mid part of the 20th century. Some of these stories were rather dated but still readable. A few, I struggled with. Considering that I've been reading this stuff for almost 50 years there were remarkably few stories I've read before. All in all, the book was worth reading.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

For $0.99, it's a bargain. However, there are probably 4-5 great stories in here, 15 or so that are poor, rambling, or mediocre at best, and probably 5 that are very short setups for puns. The first pun story made me laugh, but it got old really quick.

Still, for the price, it's really worth a read, and most of the good ones are near the start.

[William Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suffered a bit from typos due to a lack of editing. Most of the stories were good, with the exception of one that sprinkled in science concepts that were unexplained and mostly nonsense. Being an Asimov and Heinlein fan, I'm spoiled by well-researched science in my scifi books.

Worth the price but only because it was cheap.

[John Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a strange one this. Like most anthologies it is a mix of good and not-so-good. The difference here is that it includes classic (ie old) stories as well. Some of these seem so old that the science is virtually Victorian and poorly described. Having enjoyed the vast changes in SF over the last 50 years, it was not very pleasureable to read these poor offerings.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic SF for cheap on kindle! These stories feel a bit dated, but most of them are quality. Skip "Armageddon--2419 A.D." (because it's boring, not because it's set in the future, as their Second Time Travel Megapack seems to suggest was the thrust of the critical feedback) and the rest of the collection is pretty much gold (well, except for the occasional awful pun).

[Suzan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this. Many of the older stories frankly put me to sleep. There is one long novella from 1928 that must be of interest only to historians of the genre. But towards the end there were some interesting ideas. I just decided, since I'm on a time travel book, to get this onto my READ list.

[Robin Houghton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something for everyone in this wide assortment, a few I didn't enjoy, but the good ones more than make up for it, and for 39 pence, you can't complain. Some interesting concepts all different to each other. Though all old stories I expected to have read some of them previously but had not.

[Tony Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good and fiendishly clever Time Travel short stories. A couple of duds, but it's only 34p on Kindle, so if you have just a passing interest in the genre, I recommend it highly.

[Martin Skate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic. Some of the stories were amazing. Loved it, just loved it. More please!

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant collection of stories about this paradoxical state of being...

[thefreeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bunch of stories for a good price, some good, others ok but 2-3 amazing. worth a look to any sci fi fans