There is a particular kind of sf narrative in which the characters travel through space or time or both. The author is obliged to imagine a succession of places or times for his characters to arrive in. Although he is free to imagine absolutely anything, as soon as a particular scenario has been introduced and described, it ceases to be just "anything" and becomes specific, one possibility as against any of the many possible alternatives. And, if these temporary destinations are future periods, then each must follow from its predecessors with reasonable plausibility. Here, time travel overlaps with future history. Wells' Time Traveller has the advantage of witnessing events flickering past before he makes his first stop in 802,701 AD. Poul Anderson's nearest equivalent to that original Time Traveller is Martin Saunders in "Flight to Forever" who starts his journey in 1973, travels a century futureward and then surveys the whole future history of mankind on Earth and in the Galaxy. Like Manse Everard, Jack Havig and Malcolm Lockridge, Saunders is one of Anderson's time travelling heroes.
(I must get back to that book in defense of life after death and then go out to a meeting. Retirement is a brilliant institution.)
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm seeing exactly that in THE RETURN OF THE SHADOW, where Christopher Tolkien analyzed how his father struggled to write THE LORD OF THE RINGS, trying out multiple plot lines and characters many of whom had different from what we see in the pub. text.
Ad astra! Sean
Writers mostly don't retire. I'll be 72 at the end of the month, and intend to keep writing until I drop dead or start drooling on the keyboard.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! I admire that attitude. Alas, however, some writers seem to lose the ability to write interesting stories in old age. Fortunately that was not the case with Anderson, or now, you.
Ad astra! Sean
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