Thrice Upon a Time

by James P. Hogan

Book Overview

SOS FROM A FUTURE THAT WILL NEVER BE It's amazing enough when Murdoch Ross's brilliant grandfather invents a machine that can send messages to itself in the past or the future. But when signals begin to arrive without being sent, Murdoch realizes that every action he takes changes the future that would have been...and that the world he lives in has already been altered! Then a new message arrives from the future: "The world is doomed!"

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345275187
• ISBN13: 9780345275189
• Release Date: February 1980
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 311 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 17.3" x 9.7" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant novel about changing the past ...,

This excellent 1980 hard science fiction novel is somewhat like a much more positive and upbeat version of "The butterfly effect" except that the characters are trying to quite literally save the world from imminent destruction instead of making alterations in individual lives. Though of course, this novel was written many years before that film so it is Hogan who had the original idea. Of all the dozens of novels I have read which include either time travel or other speculations about the nature of time, "Thrice apon a time" includes far and away the most imaginative and brilliantly explained picture of how a universe in which you actually can change the past might work. Every single other novel I have read or film I have seen in which the possibility of changing the past comes up is a variation of one of the following views 1) you can't do it at all because the past has already happened and may not be altered 2) you absolutely must not attempt to do it because it will destroy your universe or cause a huge catastrophe such as a split in the timestream 3) you should not attempt to do it because there are likely to be unpredictable side effects which may be very harmful. The scientists who are the central characters of "Thrice apon a time" discover an unusual side effect of certain reactions - a small amount of energy is sent backwards in time. They build a machine to measure the effects when that energy arrives in the past - and then find that it can be used like a receiver for messages which can be sent backwards in time. E.g. they can use the effects which their machine measures to send messages back to their earlier selves at any time after the machine was built. Being very aware of the potential threats described in 2) and 3) above, our heroes initially have no intention of using the machine for any significant communication. Until it turns out that a new experimental reactor which was used for the first time a few days after they built the machine has produced catastrophic effects. So catastrophic, in fact, that trying to change the past may be their least bad option, even though it means that their present selves and things which are very valuable to them will be erased ...

Brilliant take on an old concept

The concept of time travel is one of the oldest themes in science fiction. Just when you think its been milked dry, someone like James P. Hogan comes along and breathes new life into an otherwise tired concept. I found "Thrice Upon a Time" to be the most thoughtful, innovative takes on time travel I've seen yet. Almost universally, time travel books or movies deal with a person being transported either back or forward in time. In this case, Hogan deals with information being sent back in time. He theorizes that "in any reaction, a tiny (almost undetectable) amount of energy goes back in time". If properly modulated, that energy can act as a signal to relay information. This technique makes it possible for those in different futures to send messages back to a point in the past. So, someone in the future can tell their former self what to do or avoid. That, in turn, changes the course of events. This becomes a way to avoid dangerous or costly mistakes, since those in the future can reveal how a given course of action turned out. Of course, it also results in the negation of those timelines not taken. This means that one's future self risks elimination when they send any type of message back in time. That's some pretty heavy stuff. Hogan's unique skill as an author is his ability to use his engineering knowledge to make the impossible seem practical. One example is his use of "bootstrapping" (a mainstream computing hack) and reinventing it as a way to send messages back one day at a time (thus bridiging a larger time gap with the past). The idea that from every instant, there are multiple (perhaps infinite) possible timelines is fascinating too. Bottom line: if you care more about ideas than horrible aliens or exploding spaceships, then this is the book for you.

Brilliant take on an old concept

The concept of time travel is one of the oldest themes in science fiction. Just when you think its been milked dry, someone like James P. Hogan comes along and breathes new life into an otherwise tired concept. I found "Thrice Upon a Time" to be the most thoughtful, brilliant takes on time travel I have ever encountered. Almost universally, time travel books or movies deal with a person being transported either back or forward in time. In this case, Hogan deals with information being sent back in time. He theorizes that "in any reaction, a tiny (almost imperceptable) amount of energy goes back in time". If properly modulated, that energy can act as a signal to relay information. This technique makes it possible for those in different futures to send messages back to a point in the past. So, someone in the future can tell their former self what to do or avoid. That, in turn, changes the course of time. It is also a mechanism to avoid dangerous (even wasteful) mistakes, since those in the future can reveal how a given course of action turned out. Hogan's genius as an author is his ability to apply his engineering knowledge to make the impossible seem practical. One example is his use of "bootstrapping" (a mainstream computing hack) and reinventing it as a way to send messages back one day at a time (thus bridiging a larger time gap with the past). The idea that from every instant, there are multiple (perhaps infinite) possible timelines is fascinating too. Bottom line: if you care more about ideas than horrible aliens or exploding spaceships, then this is the book for you.

Hogan at his very best!

James P. Hogan's best works have always been about science and scientists exploring the universe, finding out how it ticks, and being surprised not so much by what they find as by the byproducts of what they find. In this story, a machine which can send signals back in time is invented, and the rest of the story revolves around three key questions: "Exactly how does it work?", "What does it mean about the way the universe works?", and finally, "How do we use it wisely?"Hogan's characters quickly became friends, and I got thoroughly caught up in their quest for answers, some of which, as you would expect, are kept secret until right up to the very end, which includes one of the most gorgeous juxtapositions of "Surprise!" with "Of course!" I've ever read. This one was more than worth the time spent reading it.

Imagination Bender

Thrice Upon a Time is not a book to read if you're not ready to be totally absorbed. The author allows the reader to imagine the consequences of altering the entire universe by changing one small event in the past. The reader will quickly become lost in the story-line as well as the characters. This book is excellent if you're prepared to do some thinking. I highly recommend it.