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Crosstime/Blake Walker #1
Las encrucijadas del tiempo
En 'Las encrucijadas del tiempo' la fascinante idea de los universos paralelos se desarrolla hasta sus últimas consecuencias y da lugar a las exóticas aventuras de Blake Walker, un joven estudiante de arte que involuntariamente, se ve atrapado en una pelea entre viajeros en el tiempo que lo conduce a incontables mundos paralelos al nuestro. En cada uno la historia ha tomado un camino diferente, pero ahora todos están amenazados por la destrucción. Sólo un hombre con misteriosos poderes y el joven Walker tienen la posibilidad de advertir y evitar el desastre que se avecina.
Andre Norton es el seudónimo de Alice Mary Norton, ilustre autora de interesantes novelas de fantasía científica, cuya producción es bastante copiosa. Además de este género literario, cultiva también el de las novelas de aventuras en general, y su característica, aparte de la riqueza de imaginación y la pulcritud de su estilo, es la preocupación por temas que ocupen un puesto intermedio entre la fantasía más exasperada y la naturalidad más prosaica.
Andre Norton es el seudónimo de Alice Mary Norton, ilustre autora de interesantes novelas de fantasía científica, cuya producción es bastante copiosa. Además de este género literario, cultiva también el de las novelas de aventuras en general, y su característica, aparte de la riqueza de imaginación y la pulcritud de su estilo, es la preocupación por temas que ocupen un puesto intermedio entre la fantasía más exasperada y la naturalidad más prosaica.
236 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
7 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
About the author
Andre Norton
704 books1,390 followersAndre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 28, 2026
A standard Andre Norton... I would've loved it as a kid sitting on my front porch in the summer, while reading comics and Tom Swift books...In this one, Blake Walker is drafted, you might say, to help capture a criminal genius. It's a chase that takes him through levels of alternate realities.
Interestingly, this is the first book featuring Blake. A long time ago, I read the second in the series, "Quest Crosstime." Unfortunately, that was it, the end of the series. No more Blake... but he must be around somewhere, in an alternate reality!
Interestingly, this is the first book featuring Blake. A long time ago, I read the second in the series, "Quest Crosstime." Unfortunately, that was it, the end of the series. No more Blake... but he must be around somewhere, in an alternate reality!
May 22, 2021
Will review at Fantasy Literature.
April 4, 2015
It turns out this book was published in 1956 when I was a 1-year-old, but I don't think I have read it before. However, most likely I did read its one sequel when I was a teenager.
The cover blurbs led me to expect parallel world concepts, and the setting is indeed in a universe with parallel worlds. But with the exception of one post-atomic war America, there is very little exploration of alternate history. The parallel Earths are vastly different and essentially just Andre-Norton-style alien planets.
Blake Walker is the main character, and he haplessly stumbles upon a group of mysterious agents who operate throughout the multiverse, recruited for their psi powers, and resisting bad guys to the extent their non-interference doctrine allows. Of course, Blake himself has some latent psi powers, and he needs them to survive during his escape across a several worlds. To be honest, I'm not sure I really understood the moral distinction between the good guys and the bad guys here, except that the ones Blake happens upon are the good ones.
The ending is clearly a set-up for a series to come, perhaps akin to Andre Norton's Time Traders, but there is only the one sequel - Quest Crosstime (1965).
The cover blurbs led me to expect parallel world concepts, and the setting is indeed in a universe with parallel worlds. But with the exception of one post-atomic war America, there is very little exploration of alternate history. The parallel Earths are vastly different and essentially just Andre-Norton-style alien planets.
Blake Walker is the main character, and he haplessly stumbles upon a group of mysterious agents who operate throughout the multiverse, recruited for their psi powers, and resisting bad guys to the extent their non-interference doctrine allows. Of course, Blake himself has some latent psi powers, and he needs them to survive during his escape across a several worlds. To be honest, I'm not sure I really understood the moral distinction between the good guys and the bad guys here, except that the ones Blake happens upon are the good ones.
The ending is clearly a set-up for a series to come, perhaps akin to Andre Norton's Time Traders, but there is only the one sequel - Quest Crosstime (1965).
July 12, 2023
It was time for another random science fiction novel from 50+ years ago. This one surprised me, and I actually enjoyed it. I thought the concept itself was fun and exciting and the author did a good job of taking the reader through the different “levels.” I do wish there had been some more creative aspects of some of the worlds, and I thought all of the characters other than Walker were very bland. However, I was still finding myself wanting to continue reading the next chapter all the way until the end. My best way to describe it is Dr. Who meets Star Trek meets Multiverse….so yeah.
June 16, 2017
This is a quick-moving, typical 1950's Norton sci-fi novel. It features an interesting view on time travel, and some strong adventure scenes. As usual, the protagonist is capable and quick-witted, and the narrative moves along at a lightning pace. Interestingly, Norton shows how progressive she was by having several members of the cast be non-caucasian, putting her miles ahead of many of her contemporaries in terms of having a diverse cast, although there aren't many women characters.
Good escapist fun.
Good escapist fun.
February 7, 2019
150917: continuing my reading of woman-authored pulp/golden age sff: this is another weird book. at first it seems kind of a 'secret temporal agents' hardboiled adventure rather too easily slipped into, then introduction of 'many-worlds' as real, then chasing temporal criminal... but for most of the middle we are given exactly those other worlds, particularly where hitler won the battle of britain and all hell broke loose... then the time cops show up again... short book, easy read, fast, goofy fun...
March 28, 2014
Four stars because this book basically invented the concept alternate realities. Unfortunately, it reads as very straight-forward young adult science fiction now.
June 2, 2025
Blake Walker is a foundling. Somehow, he had arrived in a dark alley at approximately age two, not even knowing his own name, and with no records of his previous existence. He’s probably of mixed race, with vaguely Asiatic features but dark red hair that looks black in low light. After all available search methods had been unable to find his parents or other clues, Blake was adopted by the police officer who’d found him. Just as he was reaching the estate of a man, his adoptive parents died, leaving him without immediate ties, so he’s come to an Eastern city to study art.
There’s one more odd thing about Blake. He sometimes gets hunches, warnings about danger to come and what he should do in response. He’s had one of those hunches, and is lurking behind his hotel room door, waiting for the perfect moment. At last the moment arrives, and he opens the door just in time to save a man who was being threatened by a gunman.
The man, Agent Kittson, is grateful, but puzzled. He eventually decides that he needs to take Blake to meet his fellow agents as it’s clear that their quarry will become interested in the enigmatic young man himself. It’s quickly revealed that the agents aren’t from the American government, but another Earth. It turns out that it’s possible to travel from one alternate Earth (called “levels”) to another. On their Earth, technology advanced far faster, but they were almost wiped out in a global war, and only after that did they discover the ability to shift worlds.
However, once the secret was discovered, criminals from their Earth started using the technology to seek out troubled Earths ripe for the conquest. One such criminal, Pranj, has built up a network of henchmen across several worlds, and the Wardsmen are trying to discover what his plan is so they can stop him. Oh, and both Pranj and the Wardsmen have psychic abilities, and they are pretty sure Blake does too, though precisely how this is possible is a mystery.
Having nothing better to do, and having a strong sympathy for law enforcement, Blake agrees to stay with the agents while they investigate, especially once he experiences Pranj’s painful mind probe power for himself. However, Blake is soon separated from the agents and captured by the local gangsters who work for Pranj.
In an attempt to escape, Blake and a fellow prisoner activate a crosstime device, and Blake begins a desperate flight across different levels to first evade and then strike back against Pranj.
This 1956 novel was followed by a 1965 sequel, Quest Crosstime, making it one of Andre Norton’s shorter series.
Good: There’s some cool ideas and alternate Earths looked at during the course of the story, though Blake really only catches glimpses of them. It’s nice that Blake is not a “standard white dude” though he’s close enough to pass most of the time. Later on, while it’s never directly stated, it’s made abundantly clear by clues that a heroic leader character is a Black man. (This is somewhat mitigated by use of old-fashioned ethnic terms.)
Most of the back half of the novel takes place in a world where the United States lost World War Two. It doesn’t, however, just have the Nazis win. Rather, a combination of blitzes and germ warfare devastated America, and a final mission was launched to wipe out the Nazi leadership when it gathered in London for a celebration. As far as anyone knows, that mission succeeded, as there’s been radio silence ever since.
As long as he’s stuck there, Blake decides to aid his “fellow Americans” in their struggle to rebuild after the collapse of civilization. But other than stopping Pranj (as this world is the focus of his plans), the Wardsmen must prevent Blake from interfering in local developments. “History must develop without crutches.”
Less good: Blake Walker is a rather wooden character. He has the skills and character traits needed to carry the plot forward, and that’s about it. He’s notably detached from the society he grew up in, and doesn’t have any particularly strong feelings about his life being thrown awry by the events of the story. It’s kind of a foregone conclusion that he’ll be joining the Wardsmen at the end.
Interesting: The Wardsmen and Pranj have disguise technology of some sort. One of the agents disguises himself as a woman at one point, though Blake can still tell it’s him, and with conservative 1950s fashion, it’s not clear how deep the disguise goes. It’s basically a throwaway, and we don’t see the agent having to interact with anyone as Blake is captured almost immediately thereafter.
This novel skimps on actual female characters; there are a couple of female “monsters” on one of the visited worlds, but that’s about it.
A character is called a “gunsel” by fellow criminals, probably for the same reason Dashiell Hammet put it in The Maltese Falcon.
The city most of the action takes place in is pointedly never named, though it’s on the East Coast, and has a subway.
This is lesser Andre Norton, but still interesting.
There’s one more odd thing about Blake. He sometimes gets hunches, warnings about danger to come and what he should do in response. He’s had one of those hunches, and is lurking behind his hotel room door, waiting for the perfect moment. At last the moment arrives, and he opens the door just in time to save a man who was being threatened by a gunman.
The man, Agent Kittson, is grateful, but puzzled. He eventually decides that he needs to take Blake to meet his fellow agents as it’s clear that their quarry will become interested in the enigmatic young man himself. It’s quickly revealed that the agents aren’t from the American government, but another Earth. It turns out that it’s possible to travel from one alternate Earth (called “levels”) to another. On their Earth, technology advanced far faster, but they were almost wiped out in a global war, and only after that did they discover the ability to shift worlds.
However, once the secret was discovered, criminals from their Earth started using the technology to seek out troubled Earths ripe for the conquest. One such criminal, Pranj, has built up a network of henchmen across several worlds, and the Wardsmen are trying to discover what his plan is so they can stop him. Oh, and both Pranj and the Wardsmen have psychic abilities, and they are pretty sure Blake does too, though precisely how this is possible is a mystery.
Having nothing better to do, and having a strong sympathy for law enforcement, Blake agrees to stay with the agents while they investigate, especially once he experiences Pranj’s painful mind probe power for himself. However, Blake is soon separated from the agents and captured by the local gangsters who work for Pranj.
In an attempt to escape, Blake and a fellow prisoner activate a crosstime device, and Blake begins a desperate flight across different levels to first evade and then strike back against Pranj.
This 1956 novel was followed by a 1965 sequel, Quest Crosstime, making it one of Andre Norton’s shorter series.
Good: There’s some cool ideas and alternate Earths looked at during the course of the story, though Blake really only catches glimpses of them. It’s nice that Blake is not a “standard white dude” though he’s close enough to pass most of the time. Later on, while it’s never directly stated, it’s made abundantly clear by clues that a heroic leader character is a Black man. (This is somewhat mitigated by use of old-fashioned ethnic terms.)
Most of the back half of the novel takes place in a world where the United States lost World War Two. It doesn’t, however, just have the Nazis win. Rather, a combination of blitzes and germ warfare devastated America, and a final mission was launched to wipe out the Nazi leadership when it gathered in London for a celebration. As far as anyone knows, that mission succeeded, as there’s been radio silence ever since.
As long as he’s stuck there, Blake decides to aid his “fellow Americans” in their struggle to rebuild after the collapse of civilization. But other than stopping Pranj (as this world is the focus of his plans), the Wardsmen must prevent Blake from interfering in local developments. “History must develop without crutches.”
Less good: Blake Walker is a rather wooden character. He has the skills and character traits needed to carry the plot forward, and that’s about it. He’s notably detached from the society he grew up in, and doesn’t have any particularly strong feelings about his life being thrown awry by the events of the story. It’s kind of a foregone conclusion that he’ll be joining the Wardsmen at the end.
Interesting: The Wardsmen and Pranj have disguise technology of some sort. One of the agents disguises himself as a woman at one point, though Blake can still tell it’s him, and with conservative 1950s fashion, it’s not clear how deep the disguise goes. It’s basically a throwaway, and we don’t see the agent having to interact with anyone as Blake is captured almost immediately thereafter.
This novel skimps on actual female characters; there are a couple of female “monsters” on one of the visited worlds, but that’s about it.
A character is called a “gunsel” by fellow criminals, probably for the same reason Dashiell Hammet put it in The Maltese Falcon.
The city most of the action takes place in is pointedly never named, though it’s on the East Coast, and has a subway.
This is lesser Andre Norton, but still interesting.
August 3, 2024
This is the first book that I'm reading of Andre Norton's. I came across her books on Audible and decided to listen to this one because the blurb made it sound quite interesting. Also, multiverses are popular now with Marvel and DC making movies on them.
I liked how the book started with the main character being thrust into this world that he wasn't aware of. I expected the world building to expand further but didn't really happen. The action is confined to 3 universes apart from the main universe and the possiblities of different universes stemming from different choices is brought up but not really explored in much detail.
The ending hinted at a further mystery regarding the main character's origins but from the blurb, I didn't get the sense that it would focus on him.
I think this book didn't have a single female character with dialogue. I don't really have an issue with it. Just found it interesting.
Overall, I liked this book but not enough to give it four stars.
I liked how the book started with the main character being thrust into this world that he wasn't aware of. I expected the world building to expand further but didn't really happen. The action is confined to 3 universes apart from the main universe and the possiblities of different universes stemming from different choices is brought up but not really explored in much detail.
The ending hinted at a further mystery regarding the main character's origins but from the blurb, I didn't get the sense that it would focus on him.
I think this book didn't have a single female character with dialogue. I don't really have an issue with it. Just found it interesting.
Overall, I liked this book but not enough to give it four stars.
February 20, 2024
Quick read, somewhat dry, and definitely not about time travel, but I suppose the notion of a "multiverse" hadn't yet been floated in 1956. Always a joy to revisit the "masters," if only to find out how well they hold up. Crossroads of Time is a fine adventure, but the characters are ciphers throughout, with nothing to really distinguish them beyond their allegiance to duty and survival skills. Would I recommend it? Sure. It'll pass the time and make those cold afternoons seem far away, if only for a while.
August 5, 2017
La verad no era lo que esperaba.
La idea era buena, el concepto e viajar entre dimensiones es genial, nos brinda posibilidades ilimitadas pero siento que el autor no aprovecho eso y nos presenta una historia muy limitada, al menos a mi parecer.
Otra cosa que no me gusto fue la narrativa, era a momentos aburrida y se tornaba muy pesado continuar leyendo, aunque no se si de eso tendrá la culpa el autor o el traductor.
La idea era buena, el concepto e viajar entre dimensiones es genial, nos brinda posibilidades ilimitadas pero siento que el autor no aprovecho eso y nos presenta una historia muy limitada, al menos a mi parecer.
Otra cosa que no me gusto fue la narrativa, era a momentos aburrida y se tornaba muy pesado continuar leyendo, aunque no se si de eso tendrá la culpa el autor o el traductor.
February 16, 2020
Next on my Norton reread are the two Blake Walker time travel novels. In this the first, Walker gets involved by accident with a team of agents from a parallel world tracing a renegade who plans to use advanced weapons from their world to establish an empire on a less developed one. Great adventure story.
July 25, 2020
My first book by Norton. Not a big fan of the way he phrases things. I was very confused in the beginning of the story. He seemed to leave a lot for the reader to figure out. But the book did get better towards the middle and end. The story was an interesting take on parallel realities though. I will read some more of Norton and see if I can get used to his style.
March 2, 2017
This is an early time traveler book. Because he can tell when there are troubles coming, he saves the life of a time agent and gets brought into his world. He participates in helping bring the rogue traveler to justice and sees several levels of time. Nice adventure story
September 11, 2017
Norton once again explores the parallel universe concept. This one involves bad guys who go from one universe to another and act as criminals. It is a young adult adventure story and her excellent imagination is on full display. Highly recommended to fans of 50's sci-fi.
June 6, 2024
Good premise, if you like time travel or alternate worlds, but the writing style felt very dated to me. Like it was steeped in the time that gave us the original Star Trek series. Both serious and formal while a bit campy.
I’m glad I read it, but would never read it again.
I’m glad I read it, but would never read it again.
June 12, 2025
Fun sci-fi, alt-Earth hopping shenanigans. Characters weren't very complex or interesting. But the story was fun enough.
October 14, 2025
Pretty basic older sci-fi but very enjoyable. Good characters and an interesting multi-universe concept. Overall nothing amazing but this was a fun easy read. I would recommend.
September 2, 2024
Andre Norton's 1956 The Crossroads of Time is a decent, though swift and not unduly thoughtful, mid-1950s science fiction read of the 3-star variety. If we latch onto the word "time" and then poke around some of its SF contemporaries, we will find it noticeably inferior to, say, Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stories collected in the 1981 The Guardians of Time, the first of whose five stories was published in 1955, a year earlier than Norton.
Of course...well, the comparison is just a hair non-parallel, because while Anderson works with time travel, Norton does not. Norton's novel hinges on travel to different "bands, levels, whatever you wish to call them, of worlds" (page 30)--alternate worlds, that is, without any time travel per se. You know the schtick: "the 'possible worlds' theory" in which "[t]here would be myriad worlds, all influenced by various decisions. Not only by the obvious ones of battles and political changes, but even by the appearance and use of certain inventions" (page 19). There are worlds where "Hitler won the Battle of Britain and overran England in 1941" (page 19), for example, worlds springing from a "Mongol conquest of all Europe occurring in the thirteenth century" (page 36), "dead, radio-active worlds, worlds foul with man-made plagues, worlds held in subjection under governments so vicious that their inhabitants are no longer strictly human" (page 31)...and of course the world of the "Wardsmen," whose people, aside from developing psionic powers, also "by some chance developed an extremely mechanized civilization several thousand years ago" (page 30).
Because Earth's timetrack has been split, "reproduced innumerable times by historical events" (page 30), the reader thus has no need of time travel per se. Rather than have to go to the future to visit some whiz-bang techno-utopia, ironclad dystopia, or crazy atomic-power-plus-swords scene, all we have to do is slide to a different 1956 where anything goes. A Hitlerian world that split off only 15 years earlier will look very similar to Blake Walker, the protagonist of our own 1956 track--same New York City, bombed though it is, same streets, etc., etc.--whereas a world with an Industrial Revolution a millennium or two earlier than ours will have a very different 1956. It's a great premise, a neat twist against the more familiar notion of time travel.
Norton's handling is decent, but somehow it just isn't great. Blake Walker, the former "alley baby" with no past, whose combination of "permanent sun tan" skin tone with reddish hair (page 7) hints at a mixture of races unusual in his own 1956, who gets these infallible little mental alerts when danger threatens (page 8), and whom even the Wardsmen find so peculiar-- See where this is going? Yes, of course, but Norton won't reveal it yet in this book!
Well, anyway, Walker's psi talent leads him to jump out into his hotel hallway and help what seems to be an FBI man in trouble from an armed criminal. Another baddie then comes with the "house detective" trick (page 11), but Walker won't buy it and refuses to open the door, so he flees with what soon he will discover is one of the Wardsmen charged with "keep[ing] a check on irresponsible travelers, prevent[ing] criminals from looting on other timelines where their powers g[i]ve them vast advantage" (pages 30-31), and stopping megalomaniacs from setting themselves up as super-dictators on "level[s] where civilization is ready to allow [them] scope" (page 32).
Walker helps the trans-world agents in their mission. They are ahead of us in technology and psionics, but they are not infallible. Walker gets captured, and then he escapes. He ends up flipping from one alternate world to another on a vehicle controlled not with dials or buttons but with a big clunky lever like a railroad switch--a tad stagy, but Wells's time machine used a lever, so...well, okay--and stomping around getting into danger, and straying from the machine to explore as if he's never heard of Morlocks and even though we're screaming at him never to leave his only way out. There are plenty of weird but never completely inscrutable surroundings, and creeping around, and growing so exhausted that Walker sleeps at plot-convenient times, and at one point he learns way more in a day than someone not speaking the language ever could (page 84-85), and there's a kitten, too...
The Crossroads of Time is worth the read for those interested in '50s SF. There are no huge ideas that surprise us, there is nothing that makes us question any aspect of the status quo, and the writing sometimes feels very fast and action-oriented. It may not be great, but it at least could be decent as a change of pace.
Of course...well, the comparison is just a hair non-parallel, because while Anderson works with time travel, Norton does not. Norton's novel hinges on travel to different "bands, levels, whatever you wish to call them, of worlds" (page 30)--alternate worlds, that is, without any time travel per se. You know the schtick: "the 'possible worlds' theory" in which "[t]here would be myriad worlds, all influenced by various decisions. Not only by the obvious ones of battles and political changes, but even by the appearance and use of certain inventions" (page 19). There are worlds where "Hitler won the Battle of Britain and overran England in 1941" (page 19), for example, worlds springing from a "Mongol conquest of all Europe occurring in the thirteenth century" (page 36), "dead, radio-active worlds, worlds foul with man-made plagues, worlds held in subjection under governments so vicious that their inhabitants are no longer strictly human" (page 31)...and of course the world of the "Wardsmen," whose people, aside from developing psionic powers, also "by some chance developed an extremely mechanized civilization several thousand years ago" (page 30).
Because Earth's timetrack has been split, "reproduced innumerable times by historical events" (page 30), the reader thus has no need of time travel per se. Rather than have to go to the future to visit some whiz-bang techno-utopia, ironclad dystopia, or crazy atomic-power-plus-swords scene, all we have to do is slide to a different 1956 where anything goes. A Hitlerian world that split off only 15 years earlier will look very similar to Blake Walker, the protagonist of our own 1956 track--same New York City, bombed though it is, same streets, etc., etc.--whereas a world with an Industrial Revolution a millennium or two earlier than ours will have a very different 1956. It's a great premise, a neat twist against the more familiar notion of time travel.
Norton's handling is decent, but somehow it just isn't great. Blake Walker, the former "alley baby" with no past, whose combination of "permanent sun tan" skin tone with reddish hair (page 7) hints at a mixture of races unusual in his own 1956, who gets these infallible little mental alerts when danger threatens (page 8), and whom even the Wardsmen find so peculiar-- See where this is going? Yes, of course, but Norton won't reveal it yet in this book!
Well, anyway, Walker's psi talent leads him to jump out into his hotel hallway and help what seems to be an FBI man in trouble from an armed criminal. Another baddie then comes with the "house detective" trick (page 11), but Walker won't buy it and refuses to open the door, so he flees with what soon he will discover is one of the Wardsmen charged with "keep[ing] a check on irresponsible travelers, prevent[ing] criminals from looting on other timelines where their powers g[i]ve them vast advantage" (pages 30-31), and stopping megalomaniacs from setting themselves up as super-dictators on "level[s] where civilization is ready to allow [them] scope" (page 32).
Walker helps the trans-world agents in their mission. They are ahead of us in technology and psionics, but they are not infallible. Walker gets captured, and then he escapes. He ends up flipping from one alternate world to another on a vehicle controlled not with dials or buttons but with a big clunky lever like a railroad switch--a tad stagy, but Wells's time machine used a lever, so...well, okay--and stomping around getting into danger, and straying from the machine to explore as if he's never heard of Morlocks and even though we're screaming at him never to leave his only way out. There are plenty of weird but never completely inscrutable surroundings, and creeping around, and growing so exhausted that Walker sleeps at plot-convenient times, and at one point he learns way more in a day than someone not speaking the language ever could (page 84-85), and there's a kitten, too...
The Crossroads of Time is worth the read for those interested in '50s SF. There are no huge ideas that surprise us, there is nothing that makes us question any aspect of the status quo, and the writing sometimes feels very fast and action-oriented. It may not be great, but it at least could be decent as a change of pace.
April 4, 2022
Reasonably written smooth story about traveling between parallel worlds.
February 9, 2013
My first ever Andre Norton -- I know, I know, but it won't be my last -- is an interesting time/dimensional travel romp with some psychic power tropes thrown in. And a bit of a manhunt storyline.
Blake Walker, student, has always known he was a little bit different from other people, in that his little premonitions of danger are always correct. What he doesn't know is that he's a latent psychic, and that in the universe next door his ability would make him as common as he is unusual here. Hell, he doesn't know there are universe's next door, until his unique ability lands him in a heap of trouble with some agents from that universe, who tell him not only that time travel is possible, but that it is also possible, within a time or "level", to visit all the alternate versions of that time. One where, say, Napoleon won at Waterloo, or one where the petroleum economy got started a few hundred years earlier, or where Abed was the one who had to go downstairs to pay the pizza man -- basically, the many worlds theory with which any science fiction or comic book reader is pretty familiar.
The agents, several men about Blake's own age, are in pursuit of the worst kind of time traveler, one whose psychic abilities are developed to the highest possible degree, but who seems to be a stone cold psychotic megalomaniac, who is shopping for just the right world in which he can exploit his powers, knowledge and lack of scruples to become World Dictator. Hey! This could explain how Arslan got to be Arslan, am I right?
So this is all very well and good but since it's played straight (i.e. no Epicene/Mary Margaret Wildeblood types here) it would all be a bit ho-hum for the modern reader, except for two things: the chase and escape plot, and the protagonist. O, Blake, you orphan with latent powers, you should be dull as ditchwater, but you're just the right combination of intrepid and resourceful without being a complete over-the-top can-do Boy Scout, and I've grown fond of you in that kid brother kind of way.
The chase/escape plot is nicely taut while still giving us a chance to explore some of the radically different worlds (two words: robot dragons) in just enough detail. Norton really let herself go nuts there, with enjoyable results.
Ultimately, though, there isn't quite enough book here. The novel dates from a period when a lot of science fiction/fantasy authors, Norton included, were churning out stories at a fantastic rate. The deadline pressure and the need to keep it short and sweet are both palpable throughout this quick little read. With the luxury of conducting my reading life decades later than this period, I can't help but wonder what might have been if this had been the universe in which Norton got to take her time and spin this out into the epic it clearly wanted to be. And I wonder if that universe might not also have been the one in which Jorge Luis Borges spun out whole novels instead of just his weird little gemlike short stories. But I'll never know, at least until someone invents or discovers the Carrier and lets me visit and see for myself, right?
Until then, I must content myself with its sole sequel, Quest Crosstime, soon. Fortunately, this was an omnibus edition of the pair of them. Thank you, Baen Books!
Blake Walker, student, has always known he was a little bit different from other people, in that his little premonitions of danger are always correct. What he doesn't know is that he's a latent psychic, and that in the universe next door his ability would make him as common as he is unusual here. Hell, he doesn't know there are universe's next door, until his unique ability lands him in a heap of trouble with some agents from that universe, who tell him not only that time travel is possible, but that it is also possible, within a time or "level", to visit all the alternate versions of that time. One where, say, Napoleon won at Waterloo, or one where the petroleum economy got started a few hundred years earlier, or where Abed was the one who had to go downstairs to pay the pizza man -- basically, the many worlds theory with which any science fiction or comic book reader is pretty familiar.
The agents, several men about Blake's own age, are in pursuit of the worst kind of time traveler, one whose psychic abilities are developed to the highest possible degree, but who seems to be a stone cold psychotic megalomaniac, who is shopping for just the right world in which he can exploit his powers, knowledge and lack of scruples to become World Dictator. Hey! This could explain how Arslan got to be Arslan, am I right?
So this is all very well and good but since it's played straight (i.e. no Epicene/Mary Margaret Wildeblood types here) it would all be a bit ho-hum for the modern reader, except for two things: the chase and escape plot, and the protagonist. O, Blake, you orphan with latent powers, you should be dull as ditchwater, but you're just the right combination of intrepid and resourceful without being a complete over-the-top can-do Boy Scout, and I've grown fond of you in that kid brother kind of way.
The chase/escape plot is nicely taut while still giving us a chance to explore some of the radically different worlds (two words: robot dragons) in just enough detail. Norton really let herself go nuts there, with enjoyable results.
Ultimately, though, there isn't quite enough book here. The novel dates from a period when a lot of science fiction/fantasy authors, Norton included, were churning out stories at a fantastic rate. The deadline pressure and the need to keep it short and sweet are both palpable throughout this quick little read. With the luxury of conducting my reading life decades later than this period, I can't help but wonder what might have been if this had been the universe in which Norton got to take her time and spin this out into the epic it clearly wanted to be. And I wonder if that universe might not also have been the one in which Jorge Luis Borges spun out whole novels instead of just his weird little gemlike short stories. But I'll never know, at least until someone invents or discovers the Carrier and lets me visit and see for myself, right?
Until then, I must content myself with its sole sequel, Quest Crosstime, soon. Fortunately, this was an omnibus edition of the pair of them. Thank you, Baen Books!
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April 19, 2016Okay; I've found a copy. Now I only have to find the middle (?) book in this trilogy (?).
The discontinuities in this series are a little easier to comprehend if it's recognized that this edition is the eighth printing (1985) of the Ace edition (1974) of a book first published in 1956.
Again; the motivations of the villain are incomprehensible. He has a perfectly adequate life on Vroom (yes; this really IS the name of the dimension which has developed dimension travel). What does he hope to gain by seizing power elsewhere? I'm reminded of the motivation statement by the villain in _The Great Muppet Caper_ "Why am I doing this? Because I'm a villain. That's plain and simple." But even he is not as implacable as the villain in this book.
The world in which most of the action in this book takes place is a world in which the Nazis won the Battle of Britain. This was (barely) possible--but the sequelae are significantly less likely.
Blake Walker's history (including how he developed his powerful mind block) is left quite nebulous in this volume. I have the impression that it's at least partially resolved in later volumes. The kidnapped prince (hero; god...) raised by foster-parents is a common theme in romantic fiction (which this is). I'll have to try to get hold of Crosstime Agent to find out; I suppose.
The discontinuities in this series are a little easier to comprehend if it's recognized that this edition is the eighth printing (1985) of the Ace edition (1974) of a book first published in 1956.
Again; the motivations of the villain are incomprehensible. He has a perfectly adequate life on Vroom (yes; this really IS the name of the dimension which has developed dimension travel). What does he hope to gain by seizing power elsewhere? I'm reminded of the motivation statement by the villain in _The Great Muppet Caper_ "Why am I doing this? Because I'm a villain. That's plain and simple." But even he is not as implacable as the villain in this book.
The world in which most of the action in this book takes place is a world in which the Nazis won the Battle of Britain. This was (barely) possible--but the sequelae are significantly less likely.
Blake Walker's history (including how he developed his powerful mind block) is left quite nebulous in this volume. I have the impression that it's at least partially resolved in later volumes. The kidnapped prince (hero; god...) raised by foster-parents is a common theme in romantic fiction (which this is). I'll have to try to get hold of Crosstime Agent to find out; I suppose.
December 2, 2011
I reread this for a lark, a half-remembered favorite from my "golden age." Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone and not revisit fond memories. The story was fine, but I am no longer capable of overlooking clumsy writing and simplistic plotting. It jarred. I realize that when this was first published, many genre authors were churning out books by the month and there was virtually no editorial input. Who was going to copy-edit a 40,000 word science fiction novel that was one of a dozen coming out that week?
Still, Andre Norton did some impressive work back in the day, and for her concepts and execution of idea she doesn't get her due. She was better than most and in her later career, when her output decreased and she had decent editing, she wrote very well, but in these earlier examples you can see the hurry.
Still, Andre Norton did some impressive work back in the day, and for her concepts and execution of idea she doesn't get her due. She was better than most and in her later career, when her output decreased and she had decent editing, she wrote very well, but in these earlier examples you can see the hurry.
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March 16, 2010I know I once had a copy of this book, because I used a page of it to trace etymology using the OED, but it was evidently lost somewehere on my journeys.
I don't remember much about this series, except that I felt too much attention was given to the protagonists, and too little to the fascinating concepts of alternate universes. Certain characters were developed, but the decision points and their consequences were little examined, except to provide a setting for action. Norton did this sort of thing better in other series.
I don't remember much about this series, except that I felt too much attention was given to the protagonists, and too little to the fascinating concepts of alternate universes. Certain characters were developed, but the decision points and their consequences were little examined, except to provide a setting for action. Norton did this sort of thing better in other series.
August 28, 2013
Imagine if one could travel to alternate/parallel worlds. Now imagine if criminal masterminds could do this, too. And then imagine if an agency was created to prevent and/or track down said criminals from traveling to parallel worlds. The overarching principle is one of non-interference with the native worlds, so these agents must remove the threat of criminals while remaining indistinct in each world. Not a bad concept, but this particular novel does not live up to expectations. It is not wretched, but I think it does seem hasty and hurried.
June 29, 2025
Blake Walker has a esper power called pre-cog which acts like a danger sensor. He was an abandoned baby with dark read hair and medium brown skin, who was fostered by the policeman who had found him. One day he interferes with a criminal gang, which starts chase across multiple parallel dimensions. Walker is not very exciting as a character and the settings feel generic.
It was OK, but read her other, more popular books first.
It was OK, but read her other, more popular books first.
October 3, 2016
Cuando iba por el 70% he dejado de leer normal y he ido pasando páginas. Algún párrafo suelto me ha parecido interesante, pero el resto ha sido una tortura. Lento, lentísimo, con buenas ideas (sobre todo teniendo en cuenta la época en la que está escrito) pero narradas con una parsimonia que ha podido conmigo. Hasta siempre, señora Norton.
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April 13, 2024This was not the book for me but I have found out some information about Andre Norton and now it is my goal to read more of her stuff. She has some other titles that sound like they would appeal to me and I'm going to make it a goal to get to them because she is a fascinating person and I want to love her books.
September 27, 2010
First read years ago... a fair story, but not one of Norton's best. A book of alternate universes where a different event (like Hitler winning WWII) splits off a new alternate world... like cards staked in a deck... all are earth, but all the earths are different... some are VERY different.
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January 13, 2016Sadly I gave up on this part way through. I'm a big Norton fan, but this is a very old paperback and the print is tiny, so my eyesight conspired against me. It was fine as far as it went, but very much showing its age.
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