Time Travel discussion

Nominations are open now for the first round of voting for what we will read from August 15th-September 15th.

Nominations are open through Wednesday, August 3rd.

A run-off poll will follow for the top contenders.

Please limit yourself to 3 nominations.

Once again, I'm nominating The Time Ships, the sequel to The Time Machine.

P.S. To add the book cover and link, use the "add book/author" link immediately above the comment box.

The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore.

This is a young adult novel that I really liked because it offers an alternate view of the legend of Jason and the Argonauts. I could probably get the author to join our discussion or do an interview with us.

As an alternate, I would like to nominate The Time Machine Did It

___ ___ ___ ____

I'd like to nominate


Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak

I've never read it and recently picked up a used copy.


Up The Line by Robert Silverberg (again never read it but would love to)

Or a favourite of mine


The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson

I love Simak and have The Chronoliths on my wishlist after newly discovering Wilson. Now I'm going to have difficulty voting for just one!

I'd be okay with something by Simak since I don't think I've ever read anything by him.

After reading all of the synopsis of the books in the poll, I nominate The Time Machine Did It. I would have nominated Time Hunters but I already read it (and is highly enjoyable). However, I now notice The Time Machine Did It is $14-$15 in America compared to the $1-$2 cost for the rest of the books! Over here in UK its also quite high £7.15 on Kindle but I am prepared to purchase it.

If cost is an issue for everyone then I will be happy to change my vote to something else :)

I already ended up changing my book choice once because there are so many of these I would like to eventually read. I finally ended up choosing one I thought would create lots of conversation (The End of Eternity by Asimov) versus one I would read whether we chose it or not (The Chronoliths by Wilson).

I also had a tough time deciding, so I simply voted based on which one had the coolest book cover. I will wait to see which books make it to the second poll and then do a little more research on each one at that point.

John wrote: "I also had a tough time deciding, so I simply voted based on which one had the coolest book cover..."

Ha. Do you also vote for minor political candidates you don't know based on the absurdity of their names? We had a Batman running for some random position in the city recently. I never checked to see if he won or not. Probably.

No, I vote for political candidates based on who has the best hair.

Today's the last day to vote or change your vote. As of now, the run-off vote would be between The Door Into Summer and The Time Machine Did It. If you're leaning more toward another book, now is the time to push it into the run-off with another vote.

I thought about shanging my vote, since it was so random, but it says the poll has already closed. Shall we extend it?

John wrote: "I thought about shanging my vote, since it was so random, but it says the poll has already closed. Shall we extend it?"

Really? Yes. Let's. I assumed that people could continue to vote until today. Extended through Saturday I suppose!

With my ever-growing stack of books to read, I'm not sure if I can participate this month. I definitely recommend The Time Machine Did It though. It's short, absurd, and totally hilarious (especially if you're a fan of The Simpsons, John Swartzwelder was a prolific writer on the show).

I'm in the middle of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel. I'm halfway in but I would already recommend it.

Someone lent me The Anubis Gates . Has anyone read it? Is it worth reading?

The Chronoliths looks really good too, I added it to my stack!

You're liking How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe? Several people have really liked it, but I found it more theory than adventure and didn't really care for it at all. I think that's one of the things I disliked about our last group read; only a couple of things actually happened in the story and most was just theoretical musings. Had I read either book more than 10 years ago, I might have had a different reaction to them though ... back when my brain was craving theory more than it is these days.

We may want to re-think the books we're considering for our group read. None of the books appear to be in paper print anymore. Up the Line is out of print and only has 5 copies available online that I can find for under $21. Other copies are selling for as much as $251.04. The Time Machine Did it only has 11 copies available online that I can find for under $30. The other copies go for as much as $297.63. However, there are unlimited Kindle copies available for $9.99 (which is how I was planning to read it). So if we only have a few people reading and most of us have Kindles or Kindle phone apps, this one could still be a go. Of course, there are plenty of The Door Into Summer available in various bindings on various websites, and the Kindle edition is $6.39.

I would suggest that we nix Up the Line altogether. Thoughts?

Up The Line: Only 5 available under $21
Amazon.com = 10 available from $31.94 - $142.20
Half.com = 12 available from $31.94 - $251.04
AbeBooks.com = 6 available from $12.00 - $92.00 (only 1 for $31)
Albris.com = 4 available from $31.94 - $223.12
Barnes & Noble.com = 5 available from $1.99 - $21.61 (only 4 under $21)

The Time Machine Did It: Only 11 real book available under $30, unlimited kindle books
Amazon.com 6 available from $15.94 - $297.63 (only 8 under $30)
Kindle: unlimited available at $9.99
Barnes & Noble: 8 available from $14.24 - $177.12 (only 2 under $49)
Albris.com: 7 available from $15.93 - $177.12 (only 1 under $40)

The Door Into Summer: Plenty available boy real book and eBook

We could also borrow from our local or linked libraries...

Good idea. Sadly, my library doesn't have either of those books. They do have several Robert Silverberg titles, but not that one.

It would be nice if we knew exactly how many people were going to read and if they already have access to the book through their own library or their local library. Or, in the case of The Time Machine Did It, if they have access to Kindle or a Kindle app on their smart phone.

How complicated. Maybe next time, the requirement for nominating a book should be to first make sure a sufficient number of copies are available if the book is out of print. I should have thought of it before now. Live and learn.

I live in UK and The Time Machine Did is £7.15 on Kindle and £17 lowest price for paperback. Up the Line is £4.45 paperback only, no kindle. Door into summer is going for at least £1.50, not available on Kindle.

As I have kindle app on my phone, I am able to obtain any of the 3 books without spending more than £7.15. But if others cant, I'm fine to go along with a new set of nominations.

If you look at the other editions of "Up the Line" at Amazon, there are used copies of the "mass market paperback" available starting at $2.87. Other editions are available used for $1.49.

Thanks, John.

Instructional: In amazon.com, click the "+" beside "mass market paperback" and then click on any of the mass market versions available to find prices better than $200.

I can borrow The Time Machine Did It from a library linked to our local one.

I do agree with Amy that we should limit future nominations to books that are still in print. It will just make it easier for all those who want to participate. Personally I usually check to see if a book is available for kindle and try to vote only for those books.

Amy wrote: "You're liking How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe? Several people have really liked it, but I found it more theory than adventure and didn't really care for it at all. I think that's..."

I finished the book this weekend. Although the plot was minimal, the author's narrative style was fun and refreshing, in the most postmodernistic (not a real word) way. I thought it had a strong emotional core, and the theoretical/philosophical musings on time, memory, and those all-important life choices resonated with me.

What worked best (and I think we see this in other time travel stories), were his musings on the importance of living in the present moment, one second at a time. Until they invent time travel (hopefully sometime next year, go scientists!), that's all we have. All his characters were absorbed some way or another in the past, or a time-loop, or a fictional present, or non-present, er, whatever, and rarely dealt with the here and now. It might be a metaphor that beats you over the head, but it worked for me. I recommend it!

I guess this might be a separate topic of conversation, but what's so fun about time travel stories in general is how "time travel" as a narrative device is actually used, and the myriad of ways/styles writers have managed to use it over the years.

I guess this might be a separate topic of conversation, but what's so fun about time travel stories in general is how "time travel" as a narrative device is actually used, and the myriad of ways/styles writers have managed to use it over the years.

Yes, you're right. That book was definitely an interesting twist on the time travel genre. It was a unique way of writing about time travel. I'd give it 5 stars for theory and creativity even if my enjoyment of the novel was only somewhere closer to 2 stars.

Since time travel is still only theoretical, authors really have lots of leeway with how their characters travel (by machine or in body only) and what rules they have to follow (ability to change history, personal paradoxes, etc.). So that definitely keeps the genre interesting.

A close vote, but it appears the winner is:

"Up the Line" by Robert Silverberg.

I got my copy ordered this morning. I was able to get a used copy in paperback through Amazon for about $7.50 with shipping.

So is it official? Are we reading Up the Line?

I just got back from vacation and am trying to figure out what happened while I was away.

I too have my copy :) I shall start reading it today ;) That's if it is offically the book of the month?

Yes, yes. It's officially the book we're reading!

For some reason, GoodReads didn't automatically move the upcoming book into the currently reading book position when the date to begin reading rolled around.

You guys who have to book already feel free to open up discussions at any time.