The Second Time Travel Megapack: 23 Modern and Classic Stories

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

"The Second Time Travel Megapack" collects 23 more tales of travel through time, by great modern and classic authors. Included are: SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES, by Robert J. Sawyer
THE BUSINESS, AS USUAL, by Mack Reynolds
THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 18, by Grendel Briarton
TIME WELL SPENT, by George Zebrowski
THE DAY TIME STOPPED MOVING, by Bradner Buckner
SAVING JANE AUSTEN, by Robert Reginald
IN THE CARDS, by Alan Cogan
A WITCH IN TIME, by Janet Fox
YESTERDAY'S PAPER, by Boyd Ellanby
A MATTER OF TIME, by Robert Reginald
THE MAN WHO SAW THROUGH TIME, by Leonard Raphael
CAVERNS OF TIME, by Carlos McCune
THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 110, by Grendel Briarton
LOST IN TIME, by Arthur Leo Zagat
THE LAND WHERE TIME STOOD STILL, by Arthur Leo Zagat
OUTSIDE OF TIME, by Carroll John Daly
BULL MOOSE OF BABYLON, by Don Wilcox
COMPOUNDED INTEREST, by Mack Reynolds
THE MAN WHO CHANGED HISTORY, by John York Cabot
TIME ON YOUR HANDS, by John York Cabot
INSIDE TIME, by Tim Sullivan
THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 116, by Grendel Briarton
THE GALLERY OF HIS DREAMS, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fantasy, Pulp, Fiction, Ebooks, Speculative Fiction

545 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.

Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.

In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".

She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances

Reviews

[Scott Nieradka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sigh, for the title "Lord of Blood" this book is surprisingly bloodless, armies surrender all over the place without a fight, our hero spends the last part of the book mucking around with a phaser set on stun that practically fell out of the sky; there is like two fight scenes in the whole book. And its a barbarian novel. Called Lord of Blood, the blazing sequel to Star Barbarian! Blazing my ass.

And its yet another conan rip off where the barbarian becomes a slave for a while. Yawn. This time our hero takes it with confusing amounts of docility, like ho-hum, now im a slave oh well, better work hard and move up the ranks. Which he does by cruising through the plot points with little resistance or believability.

And most annoyingly, he keeps jabbering constantly, and i mean constantly, about how he cant attain 'hunter's mind' - apparently a zen-like barbarian state. Yep you can expect "thrilling" meditation scenes and grueling periods of barbarian self doubt.

Theres subplots and characters brought up and then evaporate without a trace, plot points keep being brought up from the previous book, and then are quickly forgotten, hell even the love intrest gets forgotten with no explaination. Not to mention his boy 'shaggychest' sidekick which does nothing in the entire book, i dont think he even speak, and is silently written out of the last 60 pages.

All in all, an unbelievable sloppy morass of barbarian fantasy, with a sprinkle of pop zen, and a phaser that fell from the sky. Bleck.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Largely, this is a book of wasted potential. Something of a Conan pastiche, it attempts to differentiate itself with background material of the last technological war, and with an interesting difference in the protagonist: he comes from a different culture and is occasionally mystified by the strangeness of these Flanage people.

Unfortunately, none of it really comes together. The setting is never detailed to the point of being real (despite my best hopes: this is why I plugged away at it). The plot never goes above and beyond, as one might hope for a cover featuring a man in loincloth and hand axe fighting an enormous lion. Interesting characters are dumped without provocation as the plot goes roaring past. Elements that could have been a worthwhile subplot or complication for the hero instead burn out anticlimactically. The author systematically spoils or disregards anything that might have lifted it out of mediocrity.

It has the air of being a middle book of a trilogy (the first was Star Barbarian, but it looks like it was never finished. Perhaps the first one treats the setting and subject with more oomph.

(Edit after reading Star Barbarian): Well, that was a waste. Don't look to Star Barbarian to find a satisfactory beginning to this book. Don't look to this book for a satifactory ending to Star Barbarian. If you are bothered by an incomplete trilogy, don't bother with either book.)

[Mick Bordet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first Time Travel Megapack contained a couple of outstanding highlights. This second volume contains three real outstanding stinkers. It takes a lot for me not to finish reading a book. When short stories are concerned I tend to press through to the end, but the Three Musketeers fanfic was over-the-top even by normal pulp standards, whilst another two read like badly translated law texts, cramming in a dictionary's worth of vocabulary, but lacking any flow.

It's not all bad; for me there were a couple of good stories and the rest were filler, but the reading experience does not fill me with enthusiasm for the third volume.

[William L. Anfin, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Megapacks especially when they are topic specific like time travel. This is another great collection of time travel tales that will make you think. Got a typo or two in there but that does not take away from a great collection. Just started the Third Time Travel Megapack last night - first story is already great and at $0.99 per Megapack, the price is a pittance.

[George East · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking.

Nobody can understand time, yet. From ridiculous to sublime, these stories invite us to think about the mystery of time. That makes the book a very worthwhile project.

[William S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worthless

Some stories seemed incomplete or hurriedly brought go a conclusion. Others dragged into a non-conclusion. The ones with puns were atrocious. It was a true drag to get through this book.

[Earl Truss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were good but most were dated and not really interesting.

[Chaz Wyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good some not so good some dredful

For the price you can't go wrong. But if you think you might not like one, move on, you are probably right. Hated the fianl one.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Second Time Travel Megapack collection of time travel stories definitely falls a bit short of the quality of the original – no big name authors, no really memorable stories. While most of the stories are forgettable, there are a few interesting ideas scattered across the collection – such as the idea of euthanasia by time transference or genealogy research using the most direct of sources. The authors take the reader across quite an array of historical locations and events – from Babylon to the Revolutionary War – and allow him to bump shoulders with numerous historical (and literary) personages – e.g., Napoleon, Antony and Cleopatra, Matthew Brady, and even the Three (or Four) Musketeers. The reader spends a lot of time with those Musketeers, in what amounts to a pretty wild and lengthy fantasy story that may prove to be a bit over the top for some readers. Another lengthy story – predicated on a butler having a time traveling watch for no good reason – also seems to outlive its potential by the end. There are indeed some duds in this collection, but it is certainly an enjoyable enough overall read for the minimal price. An average or pretty good time travel story is still well worth a read, in my opinion. A good number of these stories come from classic authors of the 1940s and 1950s, and I always find time travel stories of that era to be much more imaginative than the work of more modern authors.

[Roger Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part this reads like a fantasy. That is, like most fantasies, it takes place in a world and society that functions with a technology of some point in our preindustrial past. I would estimate this one at approximately bronze age. There is no magic though. That might almost make it read like an historical novel except that there is no historical period in the history of the Earth that one could place it in. Instead, it is science fiction. The low technological state is attributed to the loss of civilization by a colony on another planet about three thousand years before. There are barbarians and slavers. There are warring kingdoms and adventure. There are exotic backgrounds and dashing heros. Even though it is technically science fiction that is not made much of a deal for most of the story. Finally, though, the protagonist lays hands on some of the weapons of the lost starfaring civilization and we are reminded of how much of a science fiction tale this actually is. I liked it. Give it a try. You might like it too.

[Coralee Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wildside Press is a different animal in the publishing world. The independent company focuses on publishing reprint on demand for titles that are previously published, either novels or short stories.
They own the literary estates of many genre authors, and publishing rights for others. To date, the press has published over 10,000 titles.

This megapack of Time Travel stories, was first issued in 2014. Twenty three short stories ranging from the golden age of pulp science fiction to contemporary authors all thematically linked to time travel. A reader is able to contrast and appreciate the growth and stylistic changes in this genre
by reading this pleasant thought provoking smorgasbord.

Recommended

[Chris Fryar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag

I enjoyed reading these stories - it is a "mixed bag" ; sometimes very thought provoking, but sometimes difficult to get into. Most of the stories are definitely entertaining, well worth the reading.

[Sarma Tangirala · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite was possibly The Business, As Usual, it was short and really funny. The worst was probably The Day Time Stopped Moving, really horrid plot with gaping holes including stitching together a circuit with office supply.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag

This collection includes some stunning time travel stories, but also some real duds. If I see another strapping American boy suavely intervene with a damsel in distress from the past and/or future, I might be sick. But the gems are worth wading through the duds.

[Jerrold Wharton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book but I like most scifi

I will be getting the next megapack . These books are a great value. A bunch of reading for a few cents each!!

[Lew Bryson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven

Some very good stories, and a few truly awful ones. Still, for the price, hard to say don't get it.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first Time Travel Megapack, but still a lot of fun. Definitely worth the price.