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When to Now: A Time Travel Anthology
From the first popularization of H.G. Wells' THE TIME MACHINE, time travel has long fascinated readers of science fiction and fantasy. WHEN TO NOW: A TIME TRAVEL ANTHOLOGY carries on this tradition with short stories in a wide array of genres to interest every reader.
"Ruby's Paradox" by Cynthia C. Scott: A young girl's life changes when a stranger appears and offers her knowledge of the future.
"The Service Call" by Edward Ahern: Bryce kills his wife, but he is subscribed to a "Do Over" service that lets him take it back—if only technical support can help him figure out how to make it work!
"Ten Minutes Past Teatime" by Elizabeth Chatsworth: A Victorian spinster-scientist and a Viking shield-maiden find passion and danger in dark-age Ireland.
"Misconception" by Gabi Coatsworth: Marcia wonders about the son she gave up for adoption many years ago . . . until a stranger shows up on her doorstep and causes her to revisit her past choices.
"Dinosaurs and Oats" by B.T. Lowry: Cynthia dreams about the past and doesn't realize that others can, too.
"Disjointed" by Alison McBain: Carson finds a strange machine in a junk shop and soon discovers there might be good reason why time travel is illegal.
"Turns of Fate" by Teresa Richards: Cressida is a teenager down on her luck. But that doesn't mean she wants to break the rules about time traveling. Sometimes, things just happen.
"Miss Princott's Time Travel Agency" by Barbara Russell: Priscilla's time travel business lets scholars study the past, but one client's good intentions might cause a terrible snafu with the timeline.
"The Swing" by Abhishek Sengupta: A poetic and surrealist story where a girl uses death to live.
"Reality Zero" by Nikki Trionfo: Chloe is part of a government organization that protects the timeline from terrorist attack. But what happens if the timeline itself becomes a threat?
And there are many, many more amazing stories! If you enjoy well-written genre fiction ranging from literary to speculative, adventure to horror, then it’s about time for you to pick up a copy of WHEN TO NOW.
"Ruby's Paradox" by Cynthia C. Scott: A young girl's life changes when a stranger appears and offers her knowledge of the future.
"The Service Call" by Edward Ahern: Bryce kills his wife, but he is subscribed to a "Do Over" service that lets him take it back—if only technical support can help him figure out how to make it work!
"Ten Minutes Past Teatime" by Elizabeth Chatsworth: A Victorian spinster-scientist and a Viking shield-maiden find passion and danger in dark-age Ireland.
"Misconception" by Gabi Coatsworth: Marcia wonders about the son she gave up for adoption many years ago . . . until a stranger shows up on her doorstep and causes her to revisit her past choices.
"Dinosaurs and Oats" by B.T. Lowry: Cynthia dreams about the past and doesn't realize that others can, too.
"Disjointed" by Alison McBain: Carson finds a strange machine in a junk shop and soon discovers there might be good reason why time travel is illegal.
"Turns of Fate" by Teresa Richards: Cressida is a teenager down on her luck. But that doesn't mean she wants to break the rules about time traveling. Sometimes, things just happen.
"Miss Princott's Time Travel Agency" by Barbara Russell: Priscilla's time travel business lets scholars study the past, but one client's good intentions might cause a terrible snafu with the timeline.
"The Swing" by Abhishek Sengupta: A poetic and surrealist story where a girl uses death to live.
"Reality Zero" by Nikki Trionfo: Chloe is part of a government organization that protects the timeline from terrorist attack. But what happens if the timeline itself becomes a threat?
And there are many, many more amazing stories! If you enjoy well-written genre fiction ranging from literary to speculative, adventure to horror, then it’s about time for you to pick up a copy of WHEN TO NOW.
- GenresFantasy
398 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2018
15 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Alison McBain
33 books38 followersDiversity is one of Alison McBain's passions. With dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, a Japanese-American mother and a B.A. in African history and classical literature, she has an eclectic background and a wide range of experience. She grew up in California and moved to the East Coast in her mid-twenties. Recently, she moved back to Alberta, where she is raising her three daughters.
She started her writing career at age four with a "self-published" horror story about the monster in the closet. The story was highly lauded by her closest family members. Since then, she's received a number of writing awards and accolades from people not even vaguely related to her, but she still has a soft spot for that first short story.
Her interest in diversity also extends to fiction. With over seventy publications to her name, her stories and poems range in tone from serious to silly. They cover nearly every genre, including literary, romance, horror, science fiction, fantasy, history and adventure.
When not writing fiction, she follows her own personal mantra of, "Do something creative every day." She serves as the Associate Editor for the literary magazine ScribesMICRO. She also blogs about local events, showcases her art and conducts author interviews on her website, http://www.alisonmcbain.com/. When life gets a little too hectic, she does origami meditation or draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids.
She started her writing career at age four with a "self-published" horror story about the monster in the closet. The story was highly lauded by her closest family members. Since then, she's received a number of writing awards and accolades from people not even vaguely related to her, but she still has a soft spot for that first short story.
Her interest in diversity also extends to fiction. With over seventy publications to her name, her stories and poems range in tone from serious to silly. They cover nearly every genre, including literary, romance, horror, science fiction, fantasy, history and adventure.
When not writing fiction, she follows her own personal mantra of, "Do something creative every day." She serves as the Associate Editor for the literary magazine ScribesMICRO. She also blogs about local events, showcases her art and conducts author interviews on her website, http://www.alisonmcbain.com/. When life gets a little too hectic, she does origami meditation or draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 19, 2018
I love short story anthologies around a theme. And time travel is awesome. Some of the authors dug deeper into their stories than other (my preference) but overall, a great read. :)
December 17, 2018
Fun collection, varied in tone. Loved "Ten Minutes Past Teatime" (LGBT steampunk time travel romance), "Ruby's Paradox" (Heartbreaking, topical) and "Service Call"(Old school sci-fi with a twist ending). Pretty much all the stories were solid and well told. Only one didn't capture me.
November 5, 2018
WHEN TO NOW is a terrific collection of time travel tales. With seventeen stories by sixteen authors, you'll surely find this anthology is worth your time!
November 23, 2018
This is a fine collection of stories for those who are fans of time travel and science fiction. By the way, I wrote one of the stories.
October 4, 2018
WHEN TO NOW is a terrific collection of time travel tales. With seventeen stories by sixteen authors, you'll surely find this anthology is worth your time!
October 4, 2018
I’m one of the contributors, so I should give this a 5-star review, right? I haven’t, only because as with all anthologies, not every story will appeal to every reader. There are seventeen of them, of varying lengths, and they’re fascinating in the many different approaches to traveling through time. There are funny ones, historical one, a steampunk one and speculative ones. Something for everyone
December 18, 2018
Nice variety of time travel short stories.
April 16, 2019
I enjoyed this anthology a lot, I must say. There's something for everyone, and from what I understand, lots of these tales have gone on to win various awards.
My favorite two were back to back.
Barbara Russell's "Miss Princott's Time Travel Agency" is a cute romp through time that reminds me of the original Twilight Zone at its cheeriest, sweetest moments. The heroine is funny, the plot's a nice little side-step into alternate history, and the hero, Vance McAvoy, is a darling, if incredibly bumbling academic. Both of them get a little more than they bargain for when they deviate from the strict time-traveling rules set about by the Agency.
Directly after that, we've got an excerpt from M. K. Beutymhill's "A Peculiar Count in Time".
This one is a delight, as well. It's clear that the author knows her history, and applies it well without dragging the reader down. Isabella Cooper is a very headstrong, intelligent, crafty heroine, who is backed at times by her sweet time-traveling inventor/husband/partner, John. The author's writing is elegant, to the point, a little flirtatious, and just really, really fun.
I recommend this anthology to anyone who wants a great set of stories!
My favorite two were back to back.
Barbara Russell's "Miss Princott's Time Travel Agency" is a cute romp through time that reminds me of the original Twilight Zone at its cheeriest, sweetest moments. The heroine is funny, the plot's a nice little side-step into alternate history, and the hero, Vance McAvoy, is a darling, if incredibly bumbling academic. Both of them get a little more than they bargain for when they deviate from the strict time-traveling rules set about by the Agency.
Directly after that, we've got an excerpt from M. K. Beutymhill's "A Peculiar Count in Time".
This one is a delight, as well. It's clear that the author knows her history, and applies it well without dragging the reader down. Isabella Cooper is a very headstrong, intelligent, crafty heroine, who is backed at times by her sweet time-traveling inventor/husband/partner, John. The author's writing is elegant, to the point, a little flirtatious, and just really, really fun.
I recommend this anthology to anyone who wants a great set of stories!
March 8, 2019
Ever since tomorrow, time travel has engaged readers, and multiple stories do so in "When to Now". In fact, a few come across as downright literary (for the genre), yet some can readily be saved for a rainy day.
Abhishek Sengupta writes perhaps the most intriguing and disturbing story of the book in both poetic metaphor and narrative. "The Swing" translates an experience of Alzheimer's disease as a repetitive, yet deteriorating, experience. One starts at one extreme of the travel arc and seeks to cross a threshold on the far side, to something like normality. The story encompasses the experience of the loved one as well. It is too rich and complex to give justice to here. Intellectually, it is a difficult read, but that challenge is a metaphor in and of itself.
P.C. Keeler's "Try Again" seems to portray 'God' as an embodiment of Idealism more than Creator. Idealism is repeatedly drawn (or dragged) through a sequence of generations exposed to extreme Darwinism - the Counter Idealism. Idealism has at its heart naivite rather than omniscience. Keeler's spiritual paradigm is too sophisticated to be compared to the brain dead creation theology which we call scripture today. Like Sengupta, his is a challenging read but not in any negative sense.
Other stories provoke thought for translating older ideas into a post modern setting "A Winters Day" is a futuristic Dorian Grey despairing the selfishness of wanting to live forever. However, it could benefit from some pizazz. It is also not mentally ground breaking, though it is a good study in how to create a vivid context for a story. It would be a useful example in writing technique for a student.
"Turns of Fate" briefly narrates the experiences of an adolescent working in a retro-amusement park. In a highly policed state, the story takes inspiration from "1984". It puts the oddities of time travel into a scene that feels purposefully mundane.
"Neighbor" is a brief morality tale decrying selfishness in time as well as general irritability. It could make do with a bit more verve and could readily appear elsewhere. Alongside of works like those of Sengupta and Keeler, it feels out of place. The same might be said for "Misconception," which concerns adoption. Both works develop an air of predictability.
The above are a small selection of stories. On balance, "When to Now" has some excellent works, and it brings many different perspectives and scenarios. However, writing styles which differ so greatly make it feel schizophrenic. A number of works lack intensity and make the book feel easy to put down.
Abhishek Sengupta writes perhaps the most intriguing and disturbing story of the book in both poetic metaphor and narrative. "The Swing" translates an experience of Alzheimer's disease as a repetitive, yet deteriorating, experience. One starts at one extreme of the travel arc and seeks to cross a threshold on the far side, to something like normality. The story encompasses the experience of the loved one as well. It is too rich and complex to give justice to here. Intellectually, it is a difficult read, but that challenge is a metaphor in and of itself.
P.C. Keeler's "Try Again" seems to portray 'God' as an embodiment of Idealism more than Creator. Idealism is repeatedly drawn (or dragged) through a sequence of generations exposed to extreme Darwinism - the Counter Idealism. Idealism has at its heart naivite rather than omniscience. Keeler's spiritual paradigm is too sophisticated to be compared to the brain dead creation theology which we call scripture today. Like Sengupta, his is a challenging read but not in any negative sense.
Other stories provoke thought for translating older ideas into a post modern setting "A Winters Day" is a futuristic Dorian Grey despairing the selfishness of wanting to live forever. However, it could benefit from some pizazz. It is also not mentally ground breaking, though it is a good study in how to create a vivid context for a story. It would be a useful example in writing technique for a student.
"Turns of Fate" briefly narrates the experiences of an adolescent working in a retro-amusement park. In a highly policed state, the story takes inspiration from "1984". It puts the oddities of time travel into a scene that feels purposefully mundane.
"Neighbor" is a brief morality tale decrying selfishness in time as well as general irritability. It could make do with a bit more verve and could readily appear elsewhere. Alongside of works like those of Sengupta and Keeler, it feels out of place. The same might be said for "Misconception," which concerns adoption. Both works develop an air of predictability.
The above are a small selection of stories. On balance, "When to Now" has some excellent works, and it brings many different perspectives and scenarios. However, writing styles which differ so greatly make it feel schizophrenic. A number of works lack intensity and make the book feel easy to put down.
May 26, 2019
What a great collection of time travel tales. Each author had their own take on the concept of time. “The Man in the White Suit” was very personal and powerful. “Mrs. Princot’s Time Travel Agency” was a twist on Romeo and Juliette. Fun stories! I really hope to hear more from these authors.
Read
October 28, 2020These are novices with novices' imperfections, but some of them are really quite good. And a few aren't really time travel. For some light entertainment, I recommend this book.
Want to read
January 18, 2019Note to self: This anthology was edited by one of my lovely Twitter followers, so I'm definitely going to give it a read!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews