Time Quarry

by Clifford D. Simak

In the 80th Century, the status-quo of Earth’s galactic empire must be maintained at any cost, and no human may be killed without a fearful penalty. Yet Christopher Adams, chief of the Dept, of Galactic Investigation, has learned that several men on Aldebaran XII have been killed in an impossible accident, thus breaking both supreme rules. As Adams worries, a stranger appears and states that he is Adams' successor, returned from the future to warn him. Adams knows of only one insignificant experiment in time travel and does not believe him. The stranger says that Asher Sutton, an agent of Adams' is about to return from 61 Cygni after 20 years . . . and must be killed when he lands.

So begins Clifford D. Simak's epic tale of time travel and destiny. This is the original version of the novel Time and Again, serialized in the first three issues of Galaxy Magazine in 1950, and featuring a different ending than the novel version.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 10, 2014

About the author

"He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977." (Wikipedia)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...

Reviews

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part one of Time Quarry is the first story in the Fourth Golden Age of Science Fiction Mega Pack featuring Novels and Stories by Clifford D. Simak purchased January 20, 2025, for $0.99. Read Kindle book using Alexa audio asset.

[Barry Haworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many years ago I used to read a lot of Simak, and I remember borrowing this book from a friend and reading it with great enjoyment. This time around I read it in its serialised form in Galaxy Magazine. This time it really didn't work for me. Whether I can no longer appreciate Simak's style or not, but I found it very hard to maintain interest this time round, and did not finish the story.

[AV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much in the Clifford Simak style. nicely written, creative and interesting book. But long winded.

The discussion of destiny, and manifest destiny, this time in the context of the human race, strikes home with many forms of supremacy, color, race, sex, religion, etc. it has taken over the centuries.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love going back to the si-fi writers of the 50s. Here I am faced with so many current ideas and reflections in futuristic fiction. I love the time travel, artificial intelligence / human debate - just who is sentient and what makes us human....

[Peter J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifford D. Simak - Time Quarry

Simak is a wonderful writer and this time-twister tale is so well done. His scenes of country Americana allows you experience nature and the wildlife as you follow an wild; strange adventure in time and space.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the version of the story that was serialized in Galaxy. Time and Again is the version with the ending Simak preferred.

[Patience Adella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to wait a bit to see how this book settled before writing a review because I wasn't sure what to say about it. So here I am a couple of weeks later, feeling like this is a good story with good ideas. It's thought provoking and interesting, without being overly complicated. There's a lot here to like. It sits very comfortably in my mind, not forgotten but not evoking any strong emotions or longings for more, either.