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Journeys Through Time & Space: 5 Classic Novels of Science Fiction and Fantasy
A Nebula Award winner presents tales that shaped modern science fiction and fantasy—five complete novels by Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, and more.
In this handpicked collection, New York Times–bestselling author Greg Bear travels back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when novelists let their imaginations soar beyond conventional boundaries of time and space and contributed to the emergence of imaginative new literary genres.
In 1889, Mark Twain introduced Americans to time travel in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, in which a hard-headed New Englander is sent back through history to the age of chivalry. Six years later, H. G. Wells propelled an intrepid inventor into the far future via The Time Machine; there, our fearless hero discovers a nightmarish evolutionary scenario in which technologically advanced but mutated Morlocks dwell underground, preying on the innocent aboveground Eloi.
In 1912, long before Ray Bradbury or Star Wars, Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined the first wildly popular alternative fantasy/alien culture with A Princess of Mars, transporting readers from Arizona to the red planet, where Confederate soldier John Carter is swept up in another kind of civil war and seduced by a gorgeous red-hued princess.
In 1920, Scottish novelist David Lindsay presented A Voyage to Arcturus, an interstellar quest for truth as well as an inquiry into the nature of good and evil that inspired generations of fantasy writers to come. And in 1922, E. R. Eddison turned the planet Mercury into a fantasy version of Earth where demons and witches wage war on a Homeric scale in The Worm Ouroboros.
With an insightful introduction, Bear celebrates the writers who first swept readers away to other times and worlds—and blew their minds in ways that altered our literary landscape and collective imagination forever.
In this handpicked collection, New York Times–bestselling author Greg Bear travels back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when novelists let their imaginations soar beyond conventional boundaries of time and space and contributed to the emergence of imaginative new literary genres.
In 1889, Mark Twain introduced Americans to time travel in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, in which a hard-headed New Englander is sent back through history to the age of chivalry. Six years later, H. G. Wells propelled an intrepid inventor into the far future via The Time Machine; there, our fearless hero discovers a nightmarish evolutionary scenario in which technologically advanced but mutated Morlocks dwell underground, preying on the innocent aboveground Eloi.
In 1912, long before Ray Bradbury or Star Wars, Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined the first wildly popular alternative fantasy/alien culture with A Princess of Mars, transporting readers from Arizona to the red planet, where Confederate soldier John Carter is swept up in another kind of civil war and seduced by a gorgeous red-hued princess.
In 1920, Scottish novelist David Lindsay presented A Voyage to Arcturus, an interstellar quest for truth as well as an inquiry into the nature of good and evil that inspired generations of fantasy writers to come. And in 1922, E. R. Eddison turned the planet Mercury into a fantasy version of Earth where demons and witches wage war on a Homeric scale in The Worm Ouroboros.
With an insightful introduction, Bear celebrates the writers who first swept readers away to other times and worlds—and blew their minds in ways that altered our literary landscape and collective imagination forever.
- GenresScience Fiction
1700 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 11, 2017
90 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Greg Bear
231 books2,119 followersGreg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 28, 2022
My joy of Reading Books by Greg Bear led me to this bundle. I must say that the Twain book is one I have always wanted to read, so helped me in choosing this. That being said, it was the most difficult of the bundle with the prose and level of attention I had to pay along the way, but it paid off as it is really a timeless story, much like the rest of the books in the collection. I have seen plenty of HG wells adaptations of the time machine, but it is great to read the original and again, way ahead of its time! I remember John Carter coming out in the early 2010's and was intrigued since it was such a flop of a movie, but the book is a great story written so long ago. I did go immediately to watch the movie after and see why it was such a box office flop, so bad.... Lindsey's voyage was also difficult to read, but the concepts were also pretty timeless and philosophical, so glad I spent the time reading. I am on the final book now, but need a break before completing. I am sure I will be glad I read it all when finished as it is good to see the roots of the genre in these early authors.
January 8, 2022
Classic novels
5 classic novels from the famous author, though the novels not that famous. I give the stars not for the each content rating, but more on the wise choice to make this 5 novels into one book.
5 classic novels from the famous author, though the novels not that famous. I give the stars not for the each content rating, but more on the wise choice to make this 5 novels into one book.
Read
January 17, 2022I have read all the books in this collection previously. I think they are fabulous choices. However it makes me sad that he did not include a single woman author.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews