The author acknowledges in his AFTERWORD that this novel is part of a "...grand old tradition...," (p. 443) in sf not just of time travel but of a particular kind of time travel story. The tradition includes Poul Anderson.
The front cover blurb proclaims that this is "A New Time Travel Novel..." and the cover illustration also implies that. However, an sf fan reading the opening pages alone would probably pick up what is going on. In 2032, a former US Army captain with a PhD in Ancient History and four graduate students visit an Institute of Science and Technology where they are hurried into a lab of strange equipment with a stack of boxes and recognizable Roman military equipment occupying a cleared space in the centre of the room. Outside, World War III is just starting...
Their host uses the phrase, "'...temporal displacement.'" (p. 6)
The PhD thinks, "Time travel?" (ibid.)
"Temporal displacement" reads like a term that would be used and almost makes it sound possible.
From CHAPTER TWO, the five Americans are in the year CMXVIII Ab Urbe Condita (165 AD).
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
It still feels too recent for me to reread T0 TURN THE TIDE, but I have reread certain chapters, such as XV.
Ad astra! Sean
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