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Time Patrol #4
The Shield of Time
Manse Everard, an unattached agent of the Time Patrol charged with protecting humanity's transcendent future against those who would alter Time itself, and Wanda Tamberley, a cataloger of natural history, join together to save the stability of history
359 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1990
12 people are currently reading
513 people want to read
About the author
Poul Anderson
1,621 books1,106 followersPseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 31, 2021
I finally decided to just stop reading about a hundred or so pages in. I have never made a habit of reading science fiction. I belonged to the Science Fiction Book Club but I kind of specialized in exploring the catalogues. That’s how I became familiar with the name Poul Anderson, a staple of the genre. But as it turns out, because I found him in a used book sale and figured he was worth trying at least once…No. No he was not.
Shield of Time is history porn, mostly. Alternate history, sort of (that’s a whole woebegone subgenre, too, that I am probably never going to read), because this sci-fi is time travel. Maybe it’s because at this point I have a fairly good idea how time travel would actually work and if a story suggests differently it has to be told well for me to go along with it, but this was just nonsense. I have no doubt it fed on other stories by other writers (and I understand that Anderson himself had already written Time Patrol stories for decades at this point), as it inspired other stories by other writers in turn, but the problem with this is that bad logic just keeps feeding on itself, by writers who often are only reading between themselves. And Anderson seems to have been one of those writers. He also did plenty of historic research, of course.
The resulting writing is a regurgitation of what he learned with barely sketched storytelling around it, characters that are paper thin, and, yeah, a concept of time travel that seems thought out but isn’t. And just plain bad writing. When you’ve read enough and heard enough advice on the craft, you’ll notice that characters probably shouldn’t growl their speech. They should just say it. Anderson writes growling talkers.
It’s too bad, too, because there’s a version of this storytelling where time travel agents are easily used as allegories for the Cold War spies operating at the same time Anderson was writing. But he just wasn’t clever enough, or interested enough in the real world around him. He instead thinks “Exaltationists” is a great name for an enemy faction. It is not. He thinks he can send an experienced character on a wild goose chase and convince both the character and reader that it wasn’t a total waste of time. He cannot.
Some readers on Goodreads report disappointment that Shield is more collection than novel. I didn’t particularly worry about that. It’s not the biggest flaw in the book, or even necessarily a flaw (what interested me, as I looked through it trying to figure out what kind of book it was, was how Anderson jumped around history, which turns out to be a giant wasted opportunity) but rather Anderson’s poor sense of storytelling logic. I can’t imagine, as some of these readers suggest, that any other Anderson sampling would produce wildly better results. Likely these readers just hadn’t realized yet the actual truth of Anderson’s talent level. Which is being a hack. An established hack in a given genre, a familiar name writing to the expected quality.
Raise your standards, people.
Shield of Time is history porn, mostly. Alternate history, sort of (that’s a whole woebegone subgenre, too, that I am probably never going to read), because this sci-fi is time travel. Maybe it’s because at this point I have a fairly good idea how time travel would actually work and if a story suggests differently it has to be told well for me to go along with it, but this was just nonsense. I have no doubt it fed on other stories by other writers (and I understand that Anderson himself had already written Time Patrol stories for decades at this point), as it inspired other stories by other writers in turn, but the problem with this is that bad logic just keeps feeding on itself, by writers who often are only reading between themselves. And Anderson seems to have been one of those writers. He also did plenty of historic research, of course.
The resulting writing is a regurgitation of what he learned with barely sketched storytelling around it, characters that are paper thin, and, yeah, a concept of time travel that seems thought out but isn’t. And just plain bad writing. When you’ve read enough and heard enough advice on the craft, you’ll notice that characters probably shouldn’t growl their speech. They should just say it. Anderson writes growling talkers.
It’s too bad, too, because there’s a version of this storytelling where time travel agents are easily used as allegories for the Cold War spies operating at the same time Anderson was writing. But he just wasn’t clever enough, or interested enough in the real world around him. He instead thinks “Exaltationists” is a great name for an enemy faction. It is not. He thinks he can send an experienced character on a wild goose chase and convince both the character and reader that it wasn’t a total waste of time. He cannot.
Some readers on Goodreads report disappointment that Shield is more collection than novel. I didn’t particularly worry about that. It’s not the biggest flaw in the book, or even necessarily a flaw (what interested me, as I looked through it trying to figure out what kind of book it was, was how Anderson jumped around history, which turns out to be a giant wasted opportunity) but rather Anderson’s poor sense of storytelling logic. I can’t imagine, as some of these readers suggest, that any other Anderson sampling would produce wildly better results. Likely these readers just hadn’t realized yet the actual truth of Anderson’s talent level. Which is being a hack. An established hack in a given genre, a familiar name writing to the expected quality.
Raise your standards, people.
February 3, 2024
Found this on the same shelf as Annals of the Time Patrol and The High Crusade. Who knew I owned all these Poul Anderson books? I dont remember reading this before, but I definitely enjoyed it. I liked it better than Annals of the Time Patrol.
This one is also a collection of stories about Manse Everard, Unattached Agent in the Time Patrol. This one also has some hinky writing for some of the women. (In fairness, the men of the Time Patrol often mention they wish the women of ancient times were more MORE).
This one has two novella length stories of which Berengia is my favorite. Ironically that is the one with a female, Wanda Temberly, as the main character.
I love the way Anderson depicts the historical situations. His knowledge of certain periods is amazingly detailed.
I dont love that he has his characters insert constant asides. Its distracting with all the italics.
Someone somewhere called this history porn because there is so much alternate history. I didnt have a problem with it. I always find What If stories interesting.
This is a good book with lots of rousing, (mostly) manly adventures (but thats who had adventures in ancient societies, no?), time travel, fighting, warmongering, and daring deeds. Three and a half stars.
This one is also a collection of stories about Manse Everard, Unattached Agent in the Time Patrol. This one also has some hinky writing for some of the women. (In fairness, the men of the Time Patrol often mention they wish the women of ancient times were more MORE).
This one has two novella length stories of which Berengia is my favorite. Ironically that is the one with a female, Wanda Temberly, as the main character.
I love the way Anderson depicts the historical situations. His knowledge of certain periods is amazingly detailed.
I dont love that he has his characters insert constant asides. Its distracting with all the italics.
Someone somewhere called this history porn because there is so much alternate history. I didnt have a problem with it. I always find What If stories interesting.
This is a good book with lots of rousing, (mostly) manly adventures (but thats who had adventures in ancient societies, no?), time travel, fighting, warmongering, and daring deeds. Three and a half stars.
January 27, 2016
Poul Anderson is one of my favorite authors; the Time Patrol one of my favorite sagas, ever since I first read a spanish translation of some of the first stories, I was hooked. That aside, I somehow ignored this book (a novel's worth of stories I hadn't read, building on the events and characters of the first compilation) even existed until very recently.
On to the book itself: The stories are pretty fresh, the narrative style is good, although it does go off on expositional tangents ever so often (I don't recall this in the original series; perhaps it's purposeful so not to lose people who might not have read that). Anderson has written some pretty hard-sci-fi books (such as Shield) and others where the science entirely takes a backseat to an amusing narrative (such as The High Crusade); this series is probably a good middle-point. The science is explained very vaguely and in a way such that it's clear it's just a background to the story.
The premise is this: Time travel exists. There's a "patrol" to police the timeline as well as investigate and document it more accurately than historians ever could. The timeline works in such a way that changes are possible, paradoxes also but not in as ridiculous a way as in Back to the Future. If you change something, most likely the changes dilute over time and nothing of consequence really is different, except in certain "nexuses" or points that are really important to history (and often not as obvious as one might think). If you create a change such that you would not exist, you will not blink out of existence, rather, you will continue existing just as before but upon returning to your time you would realize you are an effect without cause. In the same way, if history is altered enough that the Time Patrol will never be founded (several million years "uptime", that is, after our era) then all outposts and agents who happened to be located before the point of divergence will continue to exist but anything after the change disappears, and so on.
As I said, all this takes a backseat to what I think the real purpose of these books is. And, to certain extent, one of the things many reviewers have found off-putting about the book. The level of detail in the historical scenarios, ambiance and descriptions of the different cultures make it pretty evident that this book is really aiming at one thing: Historical porn. Or, perhaps put more aptly, alternate history porn. If you're the kind of person that really enjoys intelligent and well-crafted alternate history, this book is for you!
On to the book itself: The stories are pretty fresh, the narrative style is good, although it does go off on expositional tangents ever so often (I don't recall this in the original series; perhaps it's purposeful so not to lose people who might not have read that). Anderson has written some pretty hard-sci-fi books (such as Shield) and others where the science entirely takes a backseat to an amusing narrative (such as The High Crusade); this series is probably a good middle-point. The science is explained very vaguely and in a way such that it's clear it's just a background to the story.
The premise is this: Time travel exists. There's a "patrol" to police the timeline as well as investigate and document it more accurately than historians ever could. The timeline works in such a way that changes are possible, paradoxes also but not in as ridiculous a way as in Back to the Future. If you change something, most likely the changes dilute over time and nothing of consequence really is different, except in certain "nexuses" or points that are really important to history (and often not as obvious as one might think). If you create a change such that you would not exist, you will not blink out of existence, rather, you will continue existing just as before but upon returning to your time you would realize you are an effect without cause. In the same way, if history is altered enough that the Time Patrol will never be founded (several million years "uptime", that is, after our era) then all outposts and agents who happened to be located before the point of divergence will continue to exist but anything after the change disappears, and so on.
As I said, all this takes a backseat to what I think the real purpose of these books is. And, to certain extent, one of the things many reviewers have found off-putting about the book. The level of detail in the historical scenarios, ambiance and descriptions of the different cultures make it pretty evident that this book is really aiming at one thing: Historical porn. Or, perhaps put more aptly, alternate history porn. If you're the kind of person that really enjoys intelligent and well-crafted alternate history, this book is for you!
February 24, 2019
Six-Word Review: Time travel confusing, story also confusing.
I found myself slogging through this tome. That is not my usual experience of Poul Anderson's work.
In this book, Anderson features two major characters Manse Everard, an unattached agent of the Time Patrol, a rank few make it to and Wanda Tamberly, a time-traveling natural scientist whom he has mentored and also has feelings for. To say there is a plot for the entire book would be an overstatement. I believe each episode, though connected to the others, could almost stand alone as a short story or novella.
Wanda struggles with her responsibility to allow events to happen without her intervention even if it hurts the people she is studying. Everard understands the struggle but also knows that to mess with the past in any way can screw up the future.
The major "story" is one in which the renaissance never happens and the Church, via the Inquisition, has stifled most dissent and scientific development, and the New World has barely been colonized. They determine that the cause is the premature death of a Sicilian Count whose grandson Frederick II is never born and therefore cannot challenge the authority of the Church. How they manage to get earth's history back on track is fascinating and makes the somewhat turgid writing bearable.
I cannot totally recommend this book. Personally, I would have preferred to read the pieces that make it up separately but tracking them down would have been difficult since many of them were in magazines now out of print. Nevertheless, my fascination with the idea of time travel and its many paradoxes makes me happy I've read this book.
I found myself slogging through this tome. That is not my usual experience of Poul Anderson's work.
In this book, Anderson features two major characters Manse Everard, an unattached agent of the Time Patrol, a rank few make it to and Wanda Tamberly, a time-traveling natural scientist whom he has mentored and also has feelings for. To say there is a plot for the entire book would be an overstatement. I believe each episode, though connected to the others, could almost stand alone as a short story or novella.
Wanda struggles with her responsibility to allow events to happen without her intervention even if it hurts the people she is studying. Everard understands the struggle but also knows that to mess with the past in any way can screw up the future.
The major "story" is one in which the renaissance never happens and the Church, via the Inquisition, has stifled most dissent and scientific development, and the New World has barely been colonized. They determine that the cause is the premature death of a Sicilian Count whose grandson Frederick II is never born and therefore cannot challenge the authority of the Church. How they manage to get earth's history back on track is fascinating and makes the somewhat turgid writing bearable.
I cannot totally recommend this book. Personally, I would have preferred to read the pieces that make it up separately but tracking them down would have been difficult since many of them were in magazines now out of print. Nevertheless, my fascination with the idea of time travel and its many paradoxes makes me happy I've read this book.
July 28, 2018
This book was just plain awful. I didn’t mind the in-depth historical details however, I could muster no interest in a character with no redeeming qualities but survivalism. He is quick to let colleagues take the fall (unless he has sexual designs on them). The book was not sexist only because everyone was disposable. Woman, man, boy or horse. The dialogue between he and his love interests was superficial and canned. Ever arid has no interior life other than wanting to copulate and sleep. Even the aliens had more personality than this flatter than flat protagonist. The evil people were also boring. Seems like someone got lost in the research and forgot the narrative.
July 28, 2025
Quite entertaining.
The long drawn out Time Patrol series is really quite a masterpiece. Although slightly dated (at best), it is an awesome foray into time travel, creation of "time stumps" (in the Peripheral TV series terminology), and pulls off a decent rom-com over the course of its 11 story sequence.
I play RPGs and have wanted to do a time travel genre based game. This is exquisite base material for such a campaign.
Well recommended, with diverse vocabulary, rounded characters, well-thought out plots, and just enjoyable reading.
The long drawn out Time Patrol series is really quite a masterpiece. Although slightly dated (at best), it is an awesome foray into time travel, creation of "time stumps" (in the Peripheral TV series terminology), and pulls off a decent rom-com over the course of its 11 story sequence.
I play RPGs and have wanted to do a time travel genre based game. This is exquisite base material for such a campaign.
Well recommended, with diverse vocabulary, rounded characters, well-thought out plots, and just enjoyable reading.
August 21, 2020
Poul Anderson's a great writer and this ages better than most sci-fi that traces back to pulps. It's hard though not to spend nearly every story wondering if the agents cause so much chaos then "why not just eliminate the Time Patrol itself?"
Beringia, the Wanda Tamberly story, is the pick of the bunch.
Beringia, the Wanda Tamberly story, is the pick of the bunch.
October 7, 2021
Trois courts romans plus des interludes. L'un assez plat dans la Bactriane hellénistique, un sur la Béringie, cette terre entre la Sibérie et l'Alaska, émergée jusqu'à la fin du paléolithique, belle histoire de "coup de pouce" (en bonne logique, interdit) à une tribu déshéritée, une troisième, sur une divergence persistante donnant des Paris ou des Londres de cauchemar.
October 19, 2020
I read this book out of order. I enjoyed it but cannot give it a fair review as it is a part of a series. I would guess if I read the series in the correct order this well written book would have been rated higher by me.
June 1, 2017
One of Anderson's better efforts. if you like his time travel series, you'll enjoy this one.
June 20, 2017
Entertaining
November 6, 2017
I was just not interested in the eras that he had his time patrol traveling to.
March 2, 2020
The remaining Time Patrol stories not included in the Baen anthology. A must-read.
July 9, 2017
I found this to be a complex story, and rather dull.
I've like everything else I've read by Poul Anderson, but this was a struggle to get through.
I've like everything else I've read by Poul Anderson, but this was a struggle to get through.
July 11, 2012
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/p...
is three novellas plus connecting materials (http://www.locusmag.com/index/t271.htm) as six strangely titled parts jumping time. Excerpt has dated Sections.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISB...
The Time Patrol travels time to set up outposts for study and protection of history. Strings of dates, times, wars, conquerors. Detail of costume and habits recreate old cultures. Names warp mouths - Chandrakumar, Euthydemus, Antiochus. What if a past event changed enough to alter the present? Based in 1987 New York City, Manse Everard, Unattached Agent with "broad discretion" p5, tracks down errors and restores balance, referencing (elsewhen runaway Spanish Conquistador and Phoenician conspirators p55) showdowns against an Exaltationist guerrilla gang including pheremone-gale courtesan Theosis 209 BC, and twice hiccups involving otherwise brave knight Lorenzo 1146 AD. My hope for their solution was recruitment, not to be, so no spoiler. In Beringia 13,210 BC, his protégée Wanda Tamberly feels sorry for friendly aboriginal Aryuk's tribe We/Us, taxed by invading Red Wolf's AmerIndians.
Section 2 title 'Women and Horses and Power and War' is from Rudyard Kipling, perhaps because the two plot themes are the growing romance between experienced Everard and novice Wanda amid forgotten battles I skim and forget fast. I found the depth of detail discouraging, impeding; others might like the complexity. X-rating for cracked heads, sliced guts, and scooped out eyeballs - undoubtedly true to the times, and the only action in a plodding mish-mash of alternative time-lines. Most surprising contradiction, not found in newer fiction, is the narcotic habit, never in the aspect of a nicotine drug addiction- now chemical patches, gum, spry - always the Patrolman stuffing and sucking his pipe, others imbibing on cigarettes, no fancy cigars, cigarillos, or home-rolled, somehow standard package issue.
"The end product of his labors was the story of it, deep and wide-ranging but never seen except by a handful of interested individuals within the corps or up in the far distant future. When he took furlough in his native country and century, he must lie to family and friends about what he did for a living. Surely no monk had ever accepted an existence harder, lonelier, or more devoted." p44
(How about TV Stargate SG-1, Primeval and Warehouse 13 teams?)
Typo: missing word(s)?
p145 brighten the dark months ahead.[7 spaces] [new line] came when a sorrow and a fear lay over Us.
is three novellas plus connecting materials (http://www.locusmag.com/index/t271.htm) as six strangely titled parts jumping time. Excerpt has dated Sections.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISB...
The Time Patrol travels time to set up outposts for study and protection of history. Strings of dates, times, wars, conquerors. Detail of costume and habits recreate old cultures. Names warp mouths - Chandrakumar, Euthydemus, Antiochus. What if a past event changed enough to alter the present? Based in 1987 New York City, Manse Everard, Unattached Agent with "broad discretion" p5, tracks down errors and restores balance, referencing (elsewhen runaway Spanish Conquistador and Phoenician conspirators p55) showdowns against an Exaltationist guerrilla gang including pheremone-gale courtesan Theosis 209 BC, and twice hiccups involving otherwise brave knight Lorenzo 1146 AD. My hope for their solution was recruitment, not to be, so no spoiler. In Beringia 13,210 BC, his protégée Wanda Tamberly feels sorry for friendly aboriginal Aryuk's tribe We/Us, taxed by invading Red Wolf's AmerIndians.
Section 2 title 'Women and Horses and Power and War' is from Rudyard Kipling, perhaps because the two plot themes are the growing romance between experienced Everard and novice Wanda amid forgotten battles I skim and forget fast. I found the depth of detail discouraging, impeding; others might like the complexity. X-rating for cracked heads, sliced guts, and scooped out eyeballs - undoubtedly true to the times, and the only action in a plodding mish-mash of alternative time-lines. Most surprising contradiction, not found in newer fiction, is the narcotic habit, never in the aspect of a nicotine drug addiction- now chemical patches, gum, spry - always the Patrolman stuffing and sucking his pipe, others imbibing on cigarettes, no fancy cigars, cigarillos, or home-rolled, somehow standard package issue.
"The end product of his labors was the story of it, deep and wide-ranging but never seen except by a handful of interested individuals within the corps or up in the far distant future. When he took furlough in his native country and century, he must lie to family and friends about what he did for a living. Surely no monk had ever accepted an existence harder, lonelier, or more devoted." p44
(How about TV Stargate SG-1, Primeval and Warehouse 13 teams?)
Typo: missing word(s)?
p145 brighten the dark months ahead.[7 spaces] [new line] came when a sorrow and a fear lay over Us.
July 23, 2023
Poul Anderson started publishing Time Patrol stories in 1955, when he was about 28, and he carried on writing them occasionally until 1995. Most of them are collected in Time Patrol, and you should definitely read that first.
This book is not really a novel, but a collection of further Time Patrol stories written in his 60s, when he was past his best. If you liked the original stories and want more, this might suit, although I don’t find this book very satisfying and tend to skip chunks of it when rereading.
There are three main stories here, with some intermissions in between.
“Women and Horses and Power and War” is primarily set in the city of Bactra in 209 BC, and is a readable enough Time Patrol story starring Manse Everard, quite similar to the earlier ones, though not one of the best of them.
“Beringia” is primarily set before 13,000 BC, starring Wanda Tamberly, who has a serious disagreement with her boss. Again, it’s readable enough, but I’m not keen on this one.
“Amazement of the World” is a long, rambling story primarily set in the Middle Ages, in which history is altered as though by the intervention of a time traveller; but in this case it seems that no time traveller is responsible, which makes the problem particularly difficult to fix. I enjoy some parts of this story, but as a whole it’s rather puzzling and unconvincing. Manse and Wanda are both involved.
This book is not really a novel, but a collection of further Time Patrol stories written in his 60s, when he was past his best. If you liked the original stories and want more, this might suit, although I don’t find this book very satisfying and tend to skip chunks of it when rereading.
There are three main stories here, with some intermissions in between.
“Women and Horses and Power and War” is primarily set in the city of Bactra in 209 BC, and is a readable enough Time Patrol story starring Manse Everard, quite similar to the earlier ones, though not one of the best of them.
“Beringia” is primarily set before 13,000 BC, starring Wanda Tamberly, who has a serious disagreement with her boss. Again, it’s readable enough, but I’m not keen on this one.
“Amazement of the World” is a long, rambling story primarily set in the Middle Ages, in which history is altered as though by the intervention of a time traveller; but in this case it seems that no time traveller is responsible, which makes the problem particularly difficult to fix. I enjoy some parts of this story, but as a whole it’s rather puzzling and unconvincing. Manse and Wanda are both involved.
June 20, 2021
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 Short Stories, NOT 1 Novel!
September 7, 2009
Even though the cover of Anderson's "Shield of Time" plainly states "A Novel of the Time Patrol," this is NOT a novel. It's a collection of 3 Time Patrol short stories (possibly novellas) loosely related only by their subject matter, main character(s), and some tacked on, tiny, inter-chapters. They're decently written short stories. But, an awful lot of the material is taken up with just describing the historical settings. I also was not very happy with the holes in the author's theory of time travel. But, overall, assuming you don't mind short stories instead of the advertised novel, I rate this at an OK 3 stars out of 5.
3 Short Stories, NOT 1 Novel!
September 7, 2009
Even though the cover of Anderson's "Shield of Time" plainly states "A Novel of the Time Patrol," this is NOT a novel. It's a collection of 3 Time Patrol short stories (possibly novellas) loosely related only by their subject matter, main character(s), and some tacked on, tiny, inter-chapters. They're decently written short stories. But, an awful lot of the material is taken up with just describing the historical settings. I also was not very happy with the holes in the author's theory of time travel. But, overall, assuming you don't mind short stories instead of the advertised novel, I rate this at an OK 3 stars out of 5.
July 13, 2015
An interesting premise, however I didn't love the author's writing style. The story was a bit slow, with several side tangents that were unrelated. Tons of historical information that often bogged down the narrative. I did like how he handled some of the paradoxes of time travel so that they didn't get in the way of the story though. All in all, not compelling enough that I would seek out other books in the series.
September 14, 2012
Good book...like "The Time Patrol" this was a collection of shorter stories (Novellas perhaps) but they were a fun read. Interesting ideas on paradox explored...I also like how the author gives the actual history of an event, then the "adjusted history"...it helps connect you to the story.
Read
January 21, 2013Lasciato anche prima della metà, a causa della gran confusione che mi ha fatto fare in poche decine di pagine. Il focus nel PoV è fin troppo dettagliato, le allusioni si sprecano e risultano troppo complesse per una lettrice con poca propensione alle trame ritorte come me.
October 1, 2016
Sequel to "Time Patrol", but it seems to be a collection of stories set in the same millieu. Old school stuff. The dialogue is a bit dated and, as always, he can't help interjecting his politics into things.
December 14, 2007
read 04.05.98
April 14, 2008
Science Fiction
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
August 6, 2012
As with every Poul Anderson book I read, this one was simply fascinating....
July 11, 2013
He is one of the few modern Sci-Fi authors I have been able to get into. I need to expand my reading habits. Any good suggestions out there?
April 18, 2014
Good story line but hard to follow. I found it difficult to read whenever Anderson took us into the "Past". Not one of my favorites.
August 26, 2015
Book is divided into separate stories which all weave together nice wholesome story. Time paradoxes and ancient landscapes are only some of the charms this book offers.
March 2, 2023
"The Shield of Time" is classic time travel fiction from a mid century master of the art. This is slightly dated but should still be enjoyable for most fans of the genre.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews