There Will Be Time

by Poul Anderson

Book Overview

HARDCOVER, Science fiction This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B00231ME7G
• Release Date: January 1972
• Publisher: Nelson Doubleday Inc
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

How To Turn Time Travel Into a Business Venture

Here's an inevitable but different take on the time travel story. It answers the question of where you would find other time travelers and what you would do when you found them. The place to find time travelers is apparently at Jesus' crucifixion. And what you do when you find them is to form a league of time travelers who can hopefully make the future a better place. Never have I seen any other time travel author touch on these ideas, but they do seem like obvious ideas. This story was quite enjoyable and only took a couple of sittings to finish. The time travelers in this story have a genetic predisposition to time travel with their physical body instead of by using a time machine. Their period of time travel covers quite a large period of time from the crucifixion to ancient Rome to pre-Colombian America to 1970s America to the day of judgment and beyond. It covers themes of love and deception and also tries to answer the question of what the ultimate possibility could be for a time traveler. I definitely think this time travel novel is a sadly overlooked one that should have become more famous than it did. Poul Anderson wrote several other novels with time travel themes that I'd like to delve into soon

One of the best time travel books extant

This is one of my favorite books. It's one of the few I can reread about every year, and enjoy as much as when I first read it. Poul Anderson was one of the science fiction genre's brightest stars, able to write sword and sorcery fantasy and hard science fiction with equal facility. This story is one of his best. Those familiar with Anderson's work will recognize that this book ties in (however peripherally) with some of his other stories, about a post apocalyptic future where a New Zealand/Micronesian amalgam culture known as the Maurai come to dominate the world after a nuclear holocaust, and having been less hard hit by the catastrophe, are left strong enough to impose their vision of a less industrialized, more ecologically balanced ideal on the rest of the world. This story concerns a group of time travellers (whose ability is inate, and due to a genetic mutation, rather than any external time machine), led by a charismatic, but bigoted and ruthless 19th century American, whose aim is to break the Maurai domination, and re-establish industrial civilization. The book tells the story of a bright, thoughtful, 20th century American who at first joins this group, then rebels against the ruthlessness countenanced by the group's leader. (But despite this, the book is clearly not some politically correct paean to eco-nazism, and the Maurai philosophy is represented thoughtfully as a way which does embody some genuine good, but which also became rigid, dogmatic, and even repressive -- in fact this is one of the best aspects of the story: neither side is wholly right or wholly wrong, but are each representative of good ideas and bad mingled together. This is highly realistic, as two sides in any conflict almost always have their valid points as well as their indefensible wrongs.) In addition to the adventure of the main character's war against his erstwhile comrades, there is a twofold romance story (understated, but well written), an engaging account of the protagonist's activities in the late 12th/early 13th century Byzantine Empire, and an interesting philosophical speculation about the nature of time tavel and fixed destiny versus free will. This book is now out of print, but pick up a used copy if you can. As I said, Anderson was one of the giants of the science fiction genre. There is no author writing today who is his equal. This is a great little story by a master of the field, and is simply entertaining in its own right as well, and well worth the read.

The best book of the genre

Time travel is one of my favorite sci-fi themes, and I've read dozens of books on the topic. Most sci-fi books are like James P. Hogan's hard sci-fi books, full of technology and long discussions between physicists. While There Will Be Time has some tech and some science dialogue, it's really a story about some very human themes like good vs evil, finding your purpose in life, and what obligations the strong have to care for the weak.I read this first as a teenager, and thought about it for years. I found a used copy in my thirties that I've re-read several times, and I'm starting to wear that one out. This is one of those rare books that I know I'll read over and over until my eyes give out.

One of the best time travel stories.

In the genre of time travel stories, travel by will alone is fairly rare. This book posits that some very few people have an innate ability to move through time, as though walking.The main character has to deal with this reality from birth, and he does so believably. This ability is more a curse than a blessing, and his struggle to find meaning in his bizarre life, isolated from the rest of the human race is poignant and palpable.This is a love story, and a good one. Though I haven't seen my copy in years, I think about it often. If you can find this book, get it, and read it. You won't regret it.Update 2.5 years later: I found a signed first edition copy of this book. I am never parting with it.

A mutant who can travel through time at will.

One of the cleverest of time travel novels, in this one a child is born with the mutant power to range through time. Otherwise normal, that power gets him into trouble, especially as he struggles to figure out what to do with it, and how to contact others of his own kind. A mutant who isn't a superman, a time travel story that has many suprising twists in a genre that often seems worn out, this work is HIGHLY recommended