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May Be Some Time
Titus Oates, a member of Robert Falcon Scott's doomed South Polar expedition, wandered out into the snow, knowing that he was near death and had become a drag on the other members of the expedition, saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time" ... his body was never recovered. In this continuation of the fate of Titus Oates, he does not come to rest beneath the snows of the Antarctic, but is rescued by time travelers from the mid-21st Century. He is revived and cured, and introduced slowly to the confusing features of this time, and eventually to the real purpose of his rescue, and the real goals of the institute that rescued him. AnLab Award Nominee, Locus Poll Award Nominee, Nebula Award Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee
53 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 15, 2018
Captain Titus Oates, a member of Robert Scott's 1912 British Antarctic expedition, is best known for his last words: "I am just going outside and may be some time." Thus qualifying himself to star in Clough's wonderful time-rescue novella.
Capt. Oates awakes in 2045 to the attentions of two ministering angels. One, Dr. Shulamith 'Shell' Gedeon, takes him for a walk in the park. Titus is taken aback at 21st-century female attire: "Even the street beggars in Calcutta didn't go about bare to above the knees... If they allowed women to become doctors, surely it was not a very much further descent to let in whores?" Titus asks Shell, "How did you ever become a doctor? A nigger, a Jew and a woman!" Whack! Yes, he's off to a fine start in 21st century couth and romance....
Seldom have I read such a convincing and consistent evocation of a man out of time. The backstory's fun too -- Oates was rescued as a proof-of-concept from a successful SETI decryption of plans from the alien 'Forties', who may have given humans an FTL star drive -- which of course can also be used as a time-machine.
This is an exceptionally successful story on all levels. And funny too. Don't miss it. Bravo!
"May Be Some Time" is the opening of Clough's 2009 novel "Revise the World", but is fully self- contained. MBST was reprinted in the the Fifth Science Fiction Megapack ebook ($1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... , and the Dozois Year's Best #19 anthology (2002).
Capt. Oates awakes in 2045 to the attentions of two ministering angels. One, Dr. Shulamith 'Shell' Gedeon, takes him for a walk in the park. Titus is taken aback at 21st-century female attire: "Even the street beggars in Calcutta didn't go about bare to above the knees... If they allowed women to become doctors, surely it was not a very much further descent to let in whores?" Titus asks Shell, "How did you ever become a doctor? A nigger, a Jew and a woman!" Whack! Yes, he's off to a fine start in 21st century couth and romance....
Seldom have I read such a convincing and consistent evocation of a man out of time. The backstory's fun too -- Oates was rescued as a proof-of-concept from a successful SETI decryption of plans from the alien 'Forties', who may have given humans an FTL star drive -- which of course can also be used as a time-machine.
This is an exceptionally successful story on all levels. And funny too. Don't miss it. Bravo!
"May Be Some Time" is the opening of Clough's 2009 novel "Revise the World", but is fully self- contained. MBST was reprinted in the the Fifth Science Fiction Megapack ebook ($1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... , and the Dozois Year's Best #19 anthology (2002).
July 11, 2012
A fun read! A dying Antarctic explorer is plucked from 1912 into the future; fixed up and revived, he now has to make sense of his new world. What I particularly like is that his personality and intellect is exactly that you would expect of someone who would go on an Antarctic expedition. He wastes very little time being confused, and instead attacks his exploration of the future the same way he did Antarctica. It ends a little oddly and abruptly, so I was unsurprised to learn that this novella has been expanded into an entire book, Revise the World, which I plan on reading soon.
It reminds me a bit of a book I thought was called Millenium, in which a future civilization plucks people from accidents (in which their bodies were never found) to repopulate their devastated world, but I can't seem to find it under that title.
It reminds me a bit of a book I thought was called Millenium, in which a future civilization plucks people from accidents (in which their bodies were never found) to repopulate their devastated world, but I can't seem to find it under that title.
April 21, 2017
My favorite historical fiction novella
December 29, 2024
A most excellent story.
October 7, 2014
Perhaps the most famous member of the Scott expedition after Scott, "Titus" Oates famously left the expedition so as not to slow it down, and his body was never discovered. As is only traditional in the time travel genre with famous historical figures whose bodies were never discovered, this story supposes he might have been recovered by time travellers testing their invention.
Some parts of it struck me as perhaps optimistic -- how quickly the 1912-era soldier would adjust to the different social clime of the age he's brought into, but at least this was explored! This novella needed to sketch out a scenario in short time and it was a good read, leaving off somewhat abruptly: what would a turn-of-the-century soldier and explorer do in the modern age?
Some parts of it struck me as perhaps optimistic -- how quickly the 1912-era soldier would adjust to the different social clime of the age he's brought into, but at least this was explored! This novella needed to sketch out a scenario in short time and it was a good read, leaving off somewhat abruptly: what would a turn-of-the-century soldier and explorer do in the modern age?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews