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First Flight
The past is another country, in Mary Robinette Kowal's Tor.com tale of time travel and aviation history. "First Flight" is a finalist for the 2010 Locus Award.
The winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of short fiction published in Strange Horizons, Cosmos, and Asimov's. Her first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, will be published by Tor in 2010.
The winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of short fiction published in Strange Horizons, Cosmos, and Asimov's. Her first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, will be published by Tor in 2010.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2009
27 people are currently reading
670 people want to read
About the author
Mary Robinette Kowal
252 books5,413 followersMary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award winning alternate history novel The Calculating Stars, the first book in the Lady Astronaut series which continues in 2025 with The Martian Contingency. She is also the author of The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, The Spare Man and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo awards, the Nebula and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Uncanny, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary Robinette has also worked as a professional puppeteer, is a member of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses, and performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and Neal Stephenson. She lives in Denver with her husband Robert, their dog Guppy, and their “talking” cat Elsie.
Her novel Calculating Stars is one of only eighteen novels to win the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards in a single year.
Her novel Calculating Stars is one of only eighteen novels to win the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards in a single year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
March 24, 2024
The Past.
This book is about time traveling. Something that normally bores me, but in this story it is amazing.
Old Miss Jackson is over one hundred years old when she is selected to go to the past.
She can go no further than the year she is born, so she visits the year the Wright Brothers first successful flight is flown.
The book takes over from here.
A very good book with an interesting story. This short story is highly recommended.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
This book is about time traveling. Something that normally bores me, but in this story it is amazing.
Old Miss Jackson is over one hundred years old when she is selected to go to the past.
She can go no further than the year she is born, so she visits the year the Wright Brothers first successful flight is flown.
The book takes over from here.
A very good book with an interesting story. This short story is highly recommended.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
October 31, 2014
Sentimental, but effective. An elderly woman travels back in time to document the first flight of the Wright Brothers. (The premise here is that one can't actually travel further back than the time of your birth; so a centenarian is much in demand...) This particular old lady isn't quite who these researchers might have picked, had they had their druthers. She's got a mind of her own, and her own way of doing things. Will her honesty really be the best policy?
A sweet tale, not without humor - and I have to admit I teared up a little bit at the end.
A sweet tale, not without humor - and I have to admit I teared up a little bit at the end.
January 8, 2019
An elderly woman, born in 1905, travels back in time to that exact year so she can record the very first flight of the Wright Brothers. Now, you say, Orville and Wilbur made history in 1903, not 1905. Yes, I say, I know that. But 1905 was when they flew their first fixed-wing aeroplane, which was so mind-blowing at that time that somewhere in our future a little old lady will be time-traveled back to be a witness.
Apparently, little old women of the future are far sturdier than nowadays. Not sure if they're also botoxed out, but they can definitely move around a time machine. If I can reach an age well over a hundred and still be able to travel backwards in time without a caregiver by my side...I want that future. What makes this Tor short kinda cool is the fact that not just anyone can be transported back. You can't go back in time before you were born, therefore these time-travelers are mostly elderly personnel. I like that. Different.
The other part of the story I liked is that author Mary Robinette Kowal remembers that mankind has changed the environment. Thus a field in the time of the Wright Brothers would now be something else altogether, so the smells would also be different.
The air tasted sweet and so pure that she could make out individual fragrances: the hard edge of oak mixed with the raw green of fresh mowed grass.
I wouldn't have thought of that, so it's a nice touch. There is some exposition dialogue to explain what's happening, which I'm never crazy about and the boy reading Homer...didn't quite buy that one but it doesn't affect the overall tone. This short tale is kinda like one of those little Bit-O-Honey bites.
Book Season = Summer (age of innocence)
Apparently, little old women of the future are far sturdier than nowadays. Not sure if they're also botoxed out, but they can definitely move around a time machine. If I can reach an age well over a hundred and still be able to travel backwards in time without a caregiver by my side...I want that future. What makes this Tor short kinda cool is the fact that not just anyone can be transported back. You can't go back in time before you were born, therefore these time-travelers are mostly elderly personnel. I like that. Different.
The other part of the story I liked is that author Mary Robinette Kowal remembers that mankind has changed the environment. Thus a field in the time of the Wright Brothers would now be something else altogether, so the smells would also be different.
The air tasted sweet and so pure that she could make out individual fragrances: the hard edge of oak mixed with the raw green of fresh mowed grass.
I wouldn't have thought of that, so it's a nice touch. There is some exposition dialogue to explain what's happening, which I'm never crazy about and the boy reading Homer...didn't quite buy that one but it doesn't affect the overall tone. This short tale is kinda like one of those little Bit-O-Honey bites.
Book Season = Summer (age of innocence)
December 29, 2016
#29 short story read in personal challenge (almost done!!)
Lovely little story. I love the main character, Louise. She is an old woman who is sent back in time to capture information about the Wright brothers' first flight and the plane they used. There are issues and Louise has to fight to do things her way. I loved Robinette Kowal's dialogue:
Did I mention how much I loved that the protagonist is an old woman?
Lovely little story. I love the main character, Louise. She is an old woman who is sent back in time to capture information about the Wright brothers' first flight and the plane they used. There are issues and Louise has to fight to do things her way. I loved Robinette Kowal's dialogue:
"Dr. Connelly swiveled her chair to face Louise. “I appreciate your concern for the boy, but I don’t think you have an understanding of the historical context of the issue.”
Her disdain lay barely under the surface of civility. Louise had seen this sort of new money back when she’d been working in the department store, and she always had been required to smile at them. No need now.
“Young lady,” Louise snapped at Dr. Connelly like one of her own children, “I’ve lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Collapse. I lived through race riots, saw us put men on the moon, the Spanish Flu, AIDS, the Titanic, Suffrage and the Internet. I’ve raised five children and buried two, got twenty-three grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren with more on the way. And you have the nerve to say I don’t understand history?”
Did I mention how much I loved that the protagonist is an old woman?
April 7, 2017
I love the idea of hiring the elderly to time travel. This was a great story and when I finished reading it I just felt good. Making this I guess a "feel good" story.
First Flight is the second short story I have read by Ms. Kowal. The first one was The Lady Astronaut Of Mars. She has a amazing ability to write in an older woman's voice. There is something to be said about a main character who is my age (Or even older.)
First Flight is the second short story I have read by Ms. Kowal. The first one was The Lady Astronaut Of Mars. She has a amazing ability to write in an older woman's voice. There is something to be said about a main character who is my age (Or even older.)
January 23, 2020
Time travel short story with a 100+ year old woman.
Read for free:
https://www.tor.com/2009/08/25/first-...
Read for free:
https://www.tor.com/2009/08/25/first-...
January 25, 2011
I don't usually like time travel novels because I keep asking questions that make my mind hurt, but I liked this one. I liked the fact that it was an old woman who wasn't sweet.
November 4, 2014
An enjoyable time travel short story.
August 3, 2021
Louise is a bit more than a century old, and still fit, healthy, and up for a potential adventure. This makes her golden to the new time travel industry; they can't send you back in time before you were born.
Unfortunately, she's more independent-minded than they'd altogether like.
They send her back in time to observe the very first flight of the Wright brothers, and on her walk from her arrival spot to the flight location, she meets a twelve-year-old boy with a very lively mind. Their conversation is interrupted by a technical failure of the time travel device, and this creates complications. The scientists and executives running the project are not in favor of Louise's proposed policy of honesty. At the same time, they can't pursue their preferred policy of replacing her with someone else, because centenarians are not thick on the ground. She's what they've got to work with, and they can't afford lose out on what they're being paid for the footage of that flight.
And I can't say any more, because anything interesting would be a spoiler. It's a sweet story, with some gentle humor.
Recommended. I bought this book.
Unfortunately, she's more independent-minded than they'd altogether like.
They send her back in time to observe the very first flight of the Wright brothers, and on her walk from her arrival spot to the flight location, she meets a twelve-year-old boy with a very lively mind. Their conversation is interrupted by a technical failure of the time travel device, and this creates complications. The scientists and executives running the project are not in favor of Louise's proposed policy of honesty. At the same time, they can't pursue their preferred policy of replacing her with someone else, because centenarians are not thick on the ground. She's what they've got to work with, and they can't afford lose out on what they're being paid for the footage of that flight.
And I can't say any more, because anything interesting would be a spoiler. It's a sweet story, with some gentle humor.
Recommended. I bought this book.
August 13, 2010
(Said with the movie intro voice)
“In a world where people time travel, there is a woman.”
(Sounds of gunfire going off in the background, propellors starting up)
“One-hundred years in the making.”
(People screaming, slo-mo camera action of a guy in early 1900’s knickers running toward the camera).
“There is only one way to get it.”
(Orchestral tense music)
“There is only one way to get her there.”
(Building Up music)
“There is only one way she can survive.”
(Orchestral music reaches a crescendo and violins play faster while shots of various action scenes change every .3 seconds on the screen)
“There is only one….First Flight”
(Fade out while someone is lying on the ground, breathing their last breath. Applause, applause. Lights up)
And it’s free on Kindle! Get it!
September 19, 2010
I've always loved well-crafted, consistent time travel stories when the author successfully establishes a clear vision of how time travel works in their story and then tells a compelling tale which doesn't betray it. First Flight is an enjoyable read both because it's well-written, and because it quite pleasantly sidesteps the stereotypical “little old lady” archetype by featuring a strong and capable elderly woman as its main character – a depiction we would all be enriched by seeing more of from other writers.
August 20, 2020
My first impression of the story was that it was too much "talking heads", loads of conversation among what I refer to as down home folks that didn't seem to go anywhere. Eventually an older lady is sent back to try to get photos of a historic 18 minute flight by one of the Wright brothers. At that point a couple of rules had been established for time travel which I think is an important aspect of any time travel story. However, there was almost no technology explained. There is a time machine and a reference to H.G. Wells, but no extrapolation on the technicalities beyond that.
The story began to pick up interest in the second half as we get to know the old lady. She's a tough old bird with a lot of personality and life experience behind her. The interactions in the last third of the story are amusing and there is a great twist at the end that makes reading the story all worthwhile.
For time travel enthusiasts, there is minimal attraction. Just as a story, it's very worth the 5 minutes it will take to read it and you might even find yourself remembering it long after.
The story began to pick up interest in the second half as we get to know the old lady. She's a tough old bird with a lot of personality and life experience behind her. The interactions in the last third of the story are amusing and there is a great twist at the end that makes reading the story all worthwhile.
For time travel enthusiasts, there is minimal attraction. Just as a story, it's very worth the 5 minutes it will take to read it and you might even find yourself remembering it long after.
February 4, 2018
yes, an old woman as the central character is just perfect... takes all the stereotypes surrounding her, but also lets her be who she is (something women and girls today are still so often unable to do, sadly) and how wondrously awesome are the results... alternate history works famously in short stories, as it allows a searing focus on just a few things/people/ideas without needing to concern itself with 'the rest of time'... this story made me smile and made me think about what we see and what we miss when we look at the world...
September 8, 2010
First Flight is an interesting short story about a Centenarian woman who goes back in time to watch the initial 18 minute flight by the Wright Brothers. The dialog feels genuine and helps give the characters another dimension. The ending is somewhat abrupt and somewhat confusing though.
I did have issues accepting the author's premise for time travel though. It is generally accepted that, theoretically, you can go as far forward or backwards as you'd like, where the only real hurdle being the amount of stress it may place on the travelers body. In this story, it is stated that you can only travel back as fr as to the year of your birth. Given how that goes against everything I've read in Sci-Fi and Physics, it is a little hard to grasp, but I accepted it for the story. It is a clever device in the end, however, and that makes the story work.
My only legitimate gripe is the lack of detail. I know its a short story, but none of the settings really visualized for me. Tiny details hear and there, like a certain bird in a certain tree, gnats swarming on the side of the road, something to personalize the setting would have taken it to a whole new level for the reader. There is a great bit of dialog, but many of the bigger pieces off no respite; no shifting of feet, no sipping of water halfway through, no stepping back and getting a greater image of the goings on. Reading through the story, you get a great feel for the main character and an interesting twist and quasi-paradox at the end, but the rest of the story is too ethereal. It's like sitting in a fog that is just heavy enough to let you see the obvious (a barn, a wagon, blue eyes) while blurring everything else. A bit more clarity and this would have been a great read instead of just a good one.
I did have issues accepting the author's premise for time travel though. It is generally accepted that, theoretically, you can go as far forward or backwards as you'd like, where the only real hurdle being the amount of stress it may place on the travelers body. In this story, it is stated that you can only travel back as fr as to the year of your birth. Given how that goes against everything I've read in Sci-Fi and Physics, it is a little hard to grasp, but I accepted it for the story. It is a clever device in the end, however, and that makes the story work.
My only legitimate gripe is the lack of detail. I know its a short story, but none of the settings really visualized for me. Tiny details hear and there, like a certain bird in a certain tree, gnats swarming on the side of the road, something to personalize the setting would have taken it to a whole new level for the reader. There is a great bit of dialog, but many of the bigger pieces off no respite; no shifting of feet, no sipping of water halfway through, no stepping back and getting a greater image of the goings on. Reading through the story, you get a great feel for the main character and an interesting twist and quasi-paradox at the end, but the rest of the story is too ethereal. It's like sitting in a fog that is just heavy enough to let you see the obvious (a barn, a wagon, blue eyes) while blurring everything else. A bit more clarity and this would have been a great read instead of just a good one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2021
A different time-travel story
from most of those I’ve read, which are based on what has seemed to me wisdom (the butterfly principle) taken to paranoiac and indeed also condescending levels- not here. Fresh air, that.
from most of those I’ve read, which are based on what has seemed to me wisdom (the butterfly principle) taken to paranoiac and indeed also condescending levels- not here. Fresh air, that.
Read
August 29, 20184.5 x ⭐️
June 17, 2022
A small sweet story about a very old lady participating in a time travel experiment, but also a tribute to the pioneers of flying and the spirit of man.
August 25, 2021
4.5*
Really liked the main character and narrative voice.
Makes me excited to read Kowal's other books.
Really liked the main character and narrative voice.
Makes me excited to read Kowal's other books.
May 28, 2011
Mary Robinette Kowal's short story "First Flight" is a story about an elderly woman who time travels to witness the Wright Brothers' first flight. What made this short story stand out to me was not only the particular voice that Louise Jackson has with the characters around her, but also the keen observations she has regarding the future and her role within it. Louise isn't your typical little sweet old lady, but rather savvy and apt to say what's on her mind (and she does quite often in the course of the story, many parts which made me laugh aloud). The expansion on how time travel is achieved, within its respective limitations to when the individual is born, is believable and well-written in the context of the story, even if it's something I haven't seen in other time-travel stories to date.
I think the only thing that keeps me from rating this at five stars is that the setting could've used slightly more expansion and integration within the story. You do get spot details of the setting (most of which are well-drawn), but it doesn't quite have the immersible quality that I've read even in other short stories. Still, this was a quick read that I loved on many levels and would highly recommend to others for a light-hearted, sweet piece of time-travel and historical tones.
Overall score: 4/5
I think the only thing that keeps me from rating this at five stars is that the setting could've used slightly more expansion and integration within the story. You do get spot details of the setting (most of which are well-drawn), but it doesn't quite have the immersible quality that I've read even in other short stories. Still, this was a quick read that I loved on many levels and would highly recommend to others for a light-hearted, sweet piece of time-travel and historical tones.
Overall score: 4/5
December 30, 2016
First Flight is the story of the troubled time travel trip of an old lady going back to see the first flight by the Orville siblings. Turns out people can only travel through time in which they have been alive, so our older protagonist is selected as she was born in the year that humanity created airplanes that work. She's dropped into the past, meets a young lad who is taking her to the launch area, but a glitch pulls her back to the present. She is sent back, but that error means that people find out who she is, and she must make a decision about how to broach the whole "I'm not from this time" bit. It's a sweet, sentimental, and simple story. Worth a read, but not too heavy.
January 5, 2011
This was a fantastic short fiction piece that handled time travel with a deft touch. When the limits of time travel include someone's lifetime as the far reaches, this means to visit 1905, and record the first flight of the Wright Brothers, falls to Mrs. Jackson, a woman past one hundred years of age. Her character is beautifully written, and the fallout of things not going as planned is a wonderful tale to read. Grab this. Completely worth it.
January 9, 2016
A lovely little story involving a well drawn old woman of a 100 who travels back in time to witness the Wright Brothers flying. I randomly stumbled across this one. Just having Fir.. in the title got me to glance at it (because of a challenge), and I got pulled in immediately.
Love to read more about this character, and the world created herewithin, but this would appear to be the only one with this specific character. If I'm looking correctly. And this specific story line.
Love to read more about this character, and the world created herewithin, but this would appear to be the only one with this specific character. If I'm looking correctly. And this specific story line.
September 16, 2017
I thought this was a nice short story - characters we could relate to and an entertaining story line. With the ending left the way it was - I'm not going to mention it here as I absolutely hate reviews that are story spoilers - I would really hope the author will consider expanding it to future short stories or a full novel. I would buy it!
July 9, 2010
Although I see this as a short story I thouroughly enjoyed it. I liked the story line and found it well written.
August 8, 2010
Kind of fun - very short (20 pages). A short story really not a novel.
April 18, 2011
I'd really like to give it four and a half stars. Excellent storytelling and an interesting twist on the Time travel trope.
January 16, 2012
Gave up on this one.
December 15, 2011
Nice little time-travel short story with a plucky main character. I'm a sucker for anything involving the Wright Brothers.
April 12, 2013
Everything you ever wanted to know or discuss or doubt about time travelling in a short story that makes you ponder the subject at length.
September 8, 2017
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff.
10 points to Gryffindor if you get the reference. ;)
10 points to Gryffindor if you get the reference. ;)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews