"'Time travel isn't even a theoretical possibility.'" (p. 29)
Not even theoretically possible? But different kinds of time travel occur in several other parts of the Anderson multiverse. The laws of physics differ between universes. Some laws of physics do not allow faster than light travel. In some universes, gods exist and magic works. In one universe, everything written in the works of William Shakespeare is literally true and some individuals speak in blank verse or conclude a dialogue with a rhyming couplet. As readers, we just have to accept the stated premises of any given narrative, e.g.:
only slower than light travel is possible;
faster than light travel is possible but by different means;
time travel is possible but by diverse means;
the past is mutable or it is not;
etc.
Anderson takes every premise, then does different things with them.
2 comments:
he's great at teasing out the consequences of an assumption -- including the human consequences.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, and he often gives us unexpected twists and endings to his stories. Examples I've thought of being "Welcome," "Pact," "The Martyr," WORLD WITHOUT STARS, etc.
Ad astra! Sean
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