Time Travel discussion

Hi. This group seems kind of dead. Let me start a new topic. Have you read any time travel books lately?

I just finished A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson. This was different from any time travel book I have ever read. I liked it right up to the end, but the ending wasn't logical to what had been laid out in the story. I wish the members in the group would read this book and let me know what they think.

Also, share other time travel books that you have read and enjoyed (or not as the case may be). The book doesn't have to be "your favorite".

I think this group have all time travelled off to somewhere else!

I've recently read 3 "dual time" romantic books all of which I enjoyed - Mariana by Susanna Kearsley, Crossed Bones by Jane Johnson and The lost book of Salem by Catherine Howe. Although not strictly time travel they were all very enjoyable and I've done a review of each if you'd like to read them.

You are right. I joined recently, thinking that this would be a very lively group, and have been disappointed so far. I'll have a look at your three recent reviews.

And I'll also make the effort to add my answers to the question in the thread that I raised: When and where?

I read A Shortcut in Time a few years ago, and although my memory is a bit hazy, I distinctly remember the ending being very disappointing. It's definitely an interesting story though.

Time and Again by Jack Finney
I've read it several times and will read it again. Though not without flaws, the book is quite wonderful, especially to an imaginative historian like myself. The book, and its author, had some interesting and, so far as I know, unexplained connections with a terrific movie, Somewhere in Time, and the book on which that movie was supposedly based.

Anybody read Connie Willis' Doomsday Book? I stumbled across a reference to it in Barron's Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction Fourth Edition, where it is described as "one of the best time travel stories ever written".

Thought I'd try to pick up a nice first edition hardback... until I saw how much they were going for! Guess I'll have to hunt it up in my local library, or buy it in paperback.

I'm glad you mentioned her! Has anyone else read her stuff? I want to read her new one called "BLACKOUT," I like the idea of time traveling historians, this one is set in WWII.

The concepts are vaguely similar (although not really, might just be a shameless plug) to my favorite time travel b-movie, "Grand Tour: Disaster in Time" starring Jeff Daniels, which is full of time travel goodness.

The premise of "Doomsday Book" also reminds me of the movie "Timeline", which I believe is a film adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel of the same name (which I haven't read).

"Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis is fabulous. A very interesting concept dealing with time travel and the Plague. I highly recommend it. I have not started "Blackout" yet, but am very anxious. I really like all of her books.
And yes, Justin....."Timeline" is Michael Crichton's book that adapted to film. The book is very good.

The House on the Strand by Daphne duMaurier
The protagonist several times travels back to the 14th century, experiencing the life and loves that happened in and around the property he has rented in England, with rather disastrous consequences for his 20th century life. I enjoyed this years ago (it was puublished in the late 1960s) and pleasantly revisited it in the recent past.

Just finished 'The Man who folded himself', David Gerrold, after reading so many recommendations. Nice idea but I think it gets bogged down trying to explain all the paradoxes that could arise. Personally, I found it jarred the flow a little too much.

I quite enjoyed "The Man who Folded Himself", but my favorite time travel story of all time is still "By His Bootstraps" by Robert Heinlein. The whole text is available online at http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/scifi/byhis...

Denise wrote: "Hi. This group seems kind of dead. Let me start a new topic. Have you read any time travel books lately?

I just finished A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson. This was different..."

I am always looking for a good tim travel novel, and I will put this on my list for after the holidays! I read one called The Miror by pM. Miller and it was good. I am getting ready to read the two latest Connie Willis books dung the holidays.

Jan wrote: "I quite enjoyed "The Man who Folded Himself", but my favorite time travel story of all time is still "By His Bootstraps" by Robert Heinlein. The whole text is available online at http://www.xs4all..."

Thanks for the link!!!!!! I will read it as soon as I have time!

Return of the Black Douglas by Elaine Coffman. Though this book isn't on the scale of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon; I did enjoy the book and would recommend it.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is still my all-time favorite. Her writing brings the story to life so well that I feel as though I've watched a movie instead of just reading books.

A good dual-time romance book is The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley.
I see someone also mentioned another book by this author, "Mariana". I also have that one on my to-read list.

I just finished reading 'How to live safely in a science fictional universe' by Charles Yu.

I had no idea what to expect form this book, I just decided I wanted to read it by one line printed on the back, 'I'm a time machine repair man'. How awesome would that job be?

I enjoyed the book, it was quite funny, sad and touching at times. Some of the humour reminded me of 'The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy' such as the time machines on board computer, and the start of the chapter has snippets of information like the 'guide' itself.

Worth a read.

(This is my first post on this site), Thanks

Graeme - well done for making your first post on this site. May you make many more!

That's a great line. It would have caught my attention too. I'll be looking in the jobs columns to see if I can find some similar work for myself.

It is not more to interdimensional travel than time travel, but I am fairly sure that you would enjoy May Contain Traces of Magic

Recently read (listened to) Robert A. Heinlein's "Time for the Stars". It had a whole lot of that Heinlein bittersweet sadness all through it--the "all-done-in-vain-but-I'm-okay-with-it" vibe.

I'm not that hot on ambitionless main characters generally, but the so-be-it humor was funny, the characters were strong, and there was a good bit of science while you actually do get to see some aliens.

Hi, I've written a fantastic new series about time travel. A different kind, not like the common fiction found today. It's a revolutionary type of time travel, one socially orientated around family and nature. Please find Versistasis, book 1 in the series now available! ISBN: 9781616672744

Jason, why not promote your book in our Time Travel Books by Members section instead? http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Not a book - but still one of my favorite time "travel" (okay, viewing) stories is Asimov's "The Dead Past." More "realistic" than many such stories and delightfully melancholy. I'm sure it can probably be found in a "Best of" out there.

This may be sort of obvious or cliche but has anyone mentioned The Time Travelor's Wife? It was this book that got me into time travel novels. LOVED IT!

I also love the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. EXCELLENT!! I just sorta wish there was more frequent time traveling.

I agree - a wonderful book - compassionate AND suspenseful. Seemed to hold true to its premise and consequences very well.

Debbie wrote: "This may be sort of obvious or cliche but has anyone mentioned The Time Travelor's Wife? It was this book that got me into time travel novels. LOVED IT!"
The Time Traveler's wife is one of my all time favorite books. I've read it a couple of times. Beautiful story! The movie is good, but the book is so,so much better! Did anyone read the author's second book? Not a time travel - I was disappointed in that one.

This genre is one that I have always loved. I love the "Outlander" series and "The Mirror" by Marlys Milhauser, "Knight in shining armor" by Jude Devereaux. I am reading a new author right now Susan Squires "Twist in time".

Audra wrote: "This genre is one that I have always loved. I love the "Outlander" series and "The Mirror" by Marlys Milhauser..."

"The Mirror" is one of my favorite time travel books of all time. I discovered it after meeting the author at the eyecare business I worked for in Boulder back in the early 90s. She even signed it for me. Very cool.

I've read Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier twice in one sitting. A must read for time travel enthusiasts.

Justin wrote: "Anybody read Connie Willis' Doomsday Book? I stumbled across a reference to it in Barron's Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction Fourth Edition, where ..."

Yes, I have read almost all of Connie Willis' books.. I enjoyed them. It reminded me in a vague way of Timeline by Creighton... historians going back in time. No intentions to change timelines, just record history. The back drops are all WWII.

Ok .. this is my first time posting and needed to do and edit... they are not ALL WWII. The last two I read were in that era. I'll get the hang of this...

I discovered [The Mirror] after meeting the author at the eyecare business I worked for in Boulder back in the early 90s.

How cool. How did that even come up in conversation? You say: "I like eyes and time travel books." She says: "What a coincidence. I have eyes and wrote a time travel book."?

That is an interesting and very good book ... except the grandfatherly creepy factor you try to ignore...

Actually, Marlys was a patient. Our eye doctor told me she was an author and suggested I check out her books. During one of her visits to our office I asked her which book she thought I should read first, and she recommended "The Mirror." I found a used copy at a local bookstore and finished it in a few days. On her next visit, she signed it for me. Years later, I took a job as a reporter with a newspaper in Nebraska and discovered that one of my fellow reporters is a cousin to Marlys. How wierd is that?

I have read tons of time travel books......
the Outlander series is awesome, waiting for the next one!
Constance O'Day Flannery wrote some good ones but I don't know if they are still in print.
A Knight in Shining Armour is wonderful......
I have found a few good suggestions here.
Also Barbara Erskines, Our Lady of Hay was great, a good thick book.....and also Kingdome of Shadows.

John wrote: "Actually, Marlys was a patient."
That is neat. I had The Mirror on my wish list for years and finally ordered it a while back (certainly not available in bookstores here). I even had one of my students read the book a couple of years ago. He loved it.

By the way, how in the world do you say Marlys? Mare-uls? Mar-lis?

The phonetic spelling is "Mahr-liss."

One book which I haven't seen on here, which is odd because I really enjoyed it (years and years ago) is Millenium by John Varley.

Larry Maddock wrote four books about an Agent who time travels. They are better than their presentation suggests - yes somewhat pulpy, but they were both fun and thoughtful.

Robert Lynn Asprin wrote a newer take on a similar concept, and these might be easier to find. Time Scout is the first.

Justin wrote: "Anybody read Connie Willis' Doomsday Book? I stumbled across a reference to it in Barron's Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction Fourth Edition, where ..."

I read Doomsday Book ages ago and recently reread it on my Kindle. Highly recommend all her time travel books. This is on of my faves but recommend starting with To Say Nothing of the Dog. I believe it is the first.

Adam wrote: "I'm glad you mentioned her! Has anyone else read her stuff? I want to read her new one called "BLACKOUT," I like the idea of time traveling historians, this one is set in WWII.

The concepts are v..."
She has several time travel books. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Fire Watch, Doomsday Book, Black Out and All Clear have recurring characters.

Linda wrote: "I have read tons of time travel books......
the Outlander series is awesome, waiting for the next one!
Constance O'Day Flannery wrote some good ones but I don't know if they are still in print.
..."
Lady of Hay by Erskine was a great book. Very intense.

I really enjoyed the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde. They have a certain rhythm but I soon fell into and couldn't put them down and waited anxiously for the next. It is not time travel in the strictest sense but ... well ... have a read for yourself.

Thursday Next

The Eyre Affair (2001)
Lost in a Good Book (2002)
The Well of Lost Plots (2003)
Something Rotten (2004)
First Among Sequels (2007)
One of our Thursdays is Missing (2011)

"Slaughterhouse-Five." What a fabulous book, it's been years, might be time for me to re-read.

I just read an article about a high school in Missouri banning "Slaughterhouse," ..... really, in this day and age ?

Oh yes really.

Time and Again by Jack Finney, one of my all time favorites. Also, Replay by Ken Grimwood, not strictly a time travel novel, but rather about a person who gets to replay his life over and over.

Just finished reading A Map of Time by Felix Palma, which features H.G.Wells. Still not sure how I feel about it. The middle of the book is somewhat slow and I almost thought about not finishing it, but in the end I'm glad I stuck with it. The twist is in the last third of the book.

I'm currently reading The Axis of Time Trilogy by John Birmingham. Their brilliant! It's about a fleet of modern day warships with multinational crews, that end up by accident travelling back to 1942. It's all about the effect it has on all the nations during World War 2, what with the knowledge of its outcome and the fate of all the countries involved. Imagine it, Hitler now knows of all the people who will try to assassinate him, Japan knows how it will lose the war, all this modern technology just appearing to be abused, the race of nuclear weapons! I can't recommend it enough!

John wrote: "Audra wrote: "This genre is one that I have always loved. I love the "Outlander" series and "The Mirror" by Marlys Milhauser..."

"The Mirror" is one of my favorite time travel books of all time. ..."

My grandmother gave me "The Mirror" years ago and I have read it more than once and still enjoy it. I love Connie Willis, especially "The Doomsday Book", and "Replay". I am just about finished with the past month's read; I did not have much time this last month and I could not get into the story when I picked up the book. I hope I like next month's choice better...I am looking forward to it.

Vicki: The Mirror, The Doomsday Book, and Replay are definitely among my favorites. If you haven't bought Up The Line yet, don't. Read the discussion thread on the book to find out why. We're enacting stricter nomination requirements next month so that we don't end up with a dud again. I think people are nominating books they want to read rather than ones they've already read and found to be good. Books from this forum thread would be much better candidates to read.

Amy,
Thank you so much for the "heads up"!!!!! I could not find "Up The Line" in print without paying far too much, so I decided to wait until I saw some comments.....thank you. I will read the discussion here, but think I will sit this one out.
I LOVE the new nomination requirement ideas that you posted. It is just not fair to have many out of print books that many of us cannot find or cost an arm and a leg. I don't mind missing some months, and still love reading the thread, but think it should be a little easier for people to participate. I find in this thread that many people recommend books, I look them up, have never read them and I really like them. We have a diverse group of readers and can cater to everyone, just maybe not everyone, every month.
Can't wait to see the nominations for next month.
By the way, to all those who helped get this Time Travel group really going.....THANK YOU!!!!!! you all rock!