Time travel stories have almost run their course: whether you’re reading The Time Traveler’s Wife or a classic by Jules Verne, it seems that man’s obsession with time travel has gotten tiring, if not overused. However, once in a while, there comes a story that makes you actually think: what if time travel was truly possible? What would happen? Where would you go?

In Tim Maly’s short Time, Again, we find ourselves looking at the world through the eyes of a man desperately in love, but confused in a world increasingly plagued by war. He is nameless, perhaps adding more to his believability. He loves a woman who travels through time, who loves the technology and is well versed in it.

Like The Time Traveler’s Wife, his likewise nameless wife comes back several times, and at different ages. She is young, full of life and brilliance; she is almost a child, but with wisdom beyond her years; she is his age, and his ardent lover. They make love, they kiss, they speak to each other as equals, she comforts him as she leaves.

However, unlike The Time Traveler’s Wife, Tim Maly’s story is short, succinct, and packed with emotion without going overboard. The story is not so much about the technology of time travel itself, but its impact. It is here where Maly works his magic with his prose: as the husband grieves and nurses his fears about the war, he struggles to remember the many times his wife returned, in different ways.

The past, present, and future tense all merge and interact, like a swarm of bees that is as incongruous from the outside looking in – but that forms a pattern that the reader/observer can easily follow. Maly’s prose is easy, and his imagery is vivid. He shows more, tells less, from the broken egg on the floor that rebuilds itself – a testament to a broken time machine and changed patterns of time – to his lead character’s eyes lingering over his woman’s body, even as she tries to preoccupy him with her knowledge of time travel.

The lead character is developed strongly, with an even pace. He comes off as a typical macho man who wants to control and understand everything, and yet who hides his broken heart. And yes, she does break his heart, in this story without end that travels eternally through time.

Maly’s story is surprisingly easy to follow, even with its jumps through tenses. His prose is his strongest point, as he shows how a brief tear in time changes lives completely.

You can read the whole story here http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TimeAgai.shtml

Inez Ponce de Leon has a background in molecular biology and science communication. She loves to write on a wide variety of topics, even Procera AVH.

Time Travel. What a compelling, uniquely seductive science fiction theme! The chance to correct a wrong, witness an historical event first hand, or simply escape to a better time when the world made sense; you know – the “good old days”.

Often described as the “sequel” to H.G. Wells’ “The Time Traveler”, this 1976 short story by Richard Cowper breathes new life into the classic tale and extends the adventure.

Told in a rich, antiquated British literary style, Cowper adds an authentic feel to this masterful tale as he transports us back to 17th Century England.

The Story In A Nutshell:

Upon the death of his Great Aunt Victoria (a dealer in old books and antiquities), Francis Decressie is left the Hertford Manuscript – a volume written and produced in the late 17th century.

Serving mainly as an historical register, this boring volume would remain undisturbed, collecting dust if not for the inexplicable fact that, bound up with the original contents, Francis discovers several sheets of different paper, written in a different hand, outlining a journal of someone from the early 20th century!

The journal unfolds thus;

The journal goes on to detail his desperate attempt to effect repairs and return to his own time.

The Good:

• Very well researched and written.
• A vivid portrayal of the period is presented and our vicarious journey is enhanced greatly in 2 ways:
  1. The diary/journal format creates the belief that this is indeed a factual account.
  2. The overall style with which the story is told lends a degree of credibility for the period in which it takes place.

The Bad:

• Those who want great “Science” in their S.F. won’t find it here. Personally the Science factor is a non issue unless it is key to the story and THEN it better be at least good. A great plot, human drama, wonderful characters are all more desirable to me than the mechanics of how light speed or anti-gravity is achieved.
• For those who are NOT Dicken’s fans, the old British style used here may be a turn off.
• My absolute favorite Science Fiction theme is Time Travel so I am heavily biased in my love of this story!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word Count 13,493
• Page Count 18
• Appeared in Fantasy and Science Fiction October 1976
• Included in Donald A. Wollheim Presents The 1977 Annual World’s Best SF

Non-Spoiler Summary

Bobby and his wife have gone back in time for a special mission. This isn’t their first time traveling trip either, oh no – they are veterans of crossing timelines. With his neutral garb and a backpack full of “required items” Bobby finds himself in a fashion conscience Melbourne in the year 2073. Unfortunately he sticks out like a sore thumb, but after some minor harassment he makes his way to the library to look for a special collection that needs to be “taken care of” before it becomes too dangerous!

Some Juicy Tidbits About This Story

• Word count: 3,769 (6 pages)
• Did you know that Damien Broderick is an Australian science fiction writer who holds a Ph.D. in Literary Studies and has won several Ditmar Awards? Yep. You can learn more about this talented author at Wikipedia.

Where To Find Time Considered as a Series of Thermite Burns in No Particular Order

• This short story first appeared in May 2011 on the web site Tor.com – where you can still read it online for free!

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Time Considered as a Series of Thermite Burns in No Particular Order" then be sure to take a look at the other time travel stories I have reviewed – there have been some cool ones!

Ghost Ship

Do you know the legend of The Flying Dutchman? Here is a bit of a modern SciFi take on the story – with some really cool results!

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Vittoria Pellini is a rich Italian woman who travels all over the world with her husband. They are getting tired of traveling though, and have decided to purchase an apartment on a gigantic luxury liner that will roam around the globe catering to its super rich occupants. Sounds nice doesn’t it? Except soon after leaving the port in Singapore they start to experience some strange storms – and the places they visit afterwards get curiouser and curiouser… and a little bit scarier too!

My Two Cents…

• This story was a fascinating read! I loved the built up suspense as the passengers tried to figure out what was happening to them.
• Telling the story from Vittoria’s point of view was quite clever. A pampered, rich woman (who isn’t too bright either) made for a great narrator of this strange story.
• I wish the story would have gone on longer – there were so many cool avenues to pursue! But, alas, it didn’t. At least we were given glimpses of strange people and places, and the boat was pretty nifty too.

Interesting Tidbits:

• Page Count: 11
• Word Count: 4,658
• Did you know that Liz Williams is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist? Yep. You can learn more about this fascinating author at Wikipedia.
• Special thanks to Free SF Reader for suggesting this story.

Where You Can Find Century to Starboard:

• This short story first appeared on the web site Strange Horizons – where you can still read it for free.
• You can read more of Liz Williams other short stories in her collection The Banquet of the Lords of Night and Other Stories – available at Amazon.com or eBay.

Craving More Science Fiction Short Stories?

If you liked "Century to Starboard" then you might also enjoy “Under the Honey,” another story by Liz Williams – about a person who can come back to life after being killed, and her time in a traveling circus.

Legend has it that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned. But is that really what happened? One way to know for sure would be to actually go there and see.

Read Fiddle online for free at the Daily Science Fiction web site.

Have a great weekend!

A man with a new type of infection learns that the meteor show he watched one night brought with it a beautiful and efficient killer.

Read Fingers, Itchy and Green online for free.

A woman who set up temporal sending and receiving stations really messed up the time line… or did she?

Read Time Stations online for free.

Have a great weekend!

When one professor creates a tiny time machine he discovers that even small devices must obey the laws of the universe.

Read Experiment online for free.

A soldier 50,0000 light years from home discovers just how bad war can be – especially when fighting ghastly aliens!

Read Sentry online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate

What is it about dinosaurs and science fiction? The two seem made for each other. And the match spans the entire spectrum of SciFi too – from stories to novels to comics to movies and TV shows. I have read several of these type of stories, and here is yet another one – this time with its own similarities to (and differences from) all the rest. If you read it let me know how you think it compares to the others.

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Rivers and Aiyar are specialized hunting guides – they take wealthy clients into Earth’s far past to hunt the really big and dangerous game… like dinosaurs! However, clients still need to meet minimum size and weight qualifications. Why? Because, as Rivers tells us, he once took two unprepared men into the Late Mesozoic era and the results were both disastrous and vengeful.

My Two Cents…

• I enjoyed all the detailed descriptions of both the plant and animal life of the Mesozoic era.
• The characters were fun to read about with all their pulp SciFi stereotypical attitudes!
• Yes, there were some far-fetched and hard-to-swallow parts to this story, but isn’t that what pulp SciFi is all about? And overall it was still a fun read.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 17
• Word Count: 10,627
• Did you know that L. Sprague de Camp wrote several biographies of fantasy authors, including Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft? Yep. You can learn more about this prolific writer at Wikipedia.

Where You Can Find A Gun for Dinosaur:

• This story was originally published in the March 1956 edition of Galaxy Science Fiction.
• You can read a nice online version of “A Gun for Dinosaur” at the Baen CD web site – where it is part of their awesome free book The World Turned Upside Down.

Craving More Stories?

If you liked “A Gun for Dinosaur” then you’ll probably also enjoy A Sound of Thunder – another cool story about hunting dinosaurs, by Ray Bradbury.

Would you buy a huge, rusty, old, non-working robot? You might if you knew something special about it!

Read Garbage Scow online for free.

A woman awakes to find her husband (who doesn’t believe in history) building a time machine. She takes the news like an apathetic princess, only to discover several international visitors in her house.

Read Married Life is Strange online for free.

Have a great weekend!

A man is called in to hunt Time Killers – beasts that can see each direction in time and gorge themselves by eating chunks of it. But even the hunter has problems when a huge chronovore appears and gobbles up months of people’s memories!

Read Chronovore online for free.

One student is chosen to tell the University’s self-directed artificial intelligence that they are giving up on it… but discovers that it has been preparing itself for this day!

Read You’re In Good Hands online for free.

Have a great weekend!