The Best Time Travel
Stories of the 20th Century
Edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg
Time travel is a tricky and multifaceted concept, and the idea
of an anthology consisting solely of stories that consider the concept and (crucially)
its potential ramifications was immediately alluring to me. I'm not qualified
to determine whether these stories represent the best of the subgenre's many
offerings, but I've encountered enough fiction to know that this collection
represents a fine and varied representation of time travel stories. While there
are the usual expected duds, as with any short story collection (Robert
Silverberg's "Sailing to Byzantium "
was absolutely inscrutable to me, despite the promise of a great premise
lurking somewhere within), the proportion of mind-blowing greatness to said
less spectacular fare was pleasantly high. Almost every story represented a fresh
take on the core concept, and the book has a good balance of stories that
alternately provide humor, emotional insight, fear, and/or sheer wonder. The
best of the bunch, for me, was Connie Willis's "Fire Watch." Though it
represents a fairly straightforward narrative, something about the story
grabbed me immediately and still hasn't let go; it is a sterling example of the
ways in which science fiction can, because of (not despite) its clever conceits,
explore the depths of human emotion and the fundamental nature of humanity. Bradbury's
classic "The Sound of Thunder" is present, but the omission of
"All You Zombies" is a mystery to me. Regardless, The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th
Century is a riveting collection of top-notch fiction that transcends genre
while representing it admirably.
Grade: A
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