This is one of a number of anthologies in the Science Fiction Classics series
published by the British Library, this one (as you may have guessed) dealing
with time travel. As usual in this series, there is a long introduction by the
editor, supplemented by biographical notes on the authors at the start of each
story.
The 24 page introduction covers the history of time travel
in fiction. It explores the classic paradox in many time travel stories – the
question of what happens if you go back in time and kill your grandfather
before your parents are born – and the alternative approach of constantly
branching time lines as different decisions are taken, which ties in neatly
with the scientific multiple universe hypothesis. The single universe approach,
in which there is only one history which is vulnerable to change by time
travellers, leads to many stories focusing on battles between those who would
like to change history and those whose interest is in preventing this – a "time
police". There is also the notion that even the smallest change in
pre-history might have unforeseen consequences
millennia afterwards. This brings in the concept of the Jonbar hinge – a
crucial moment in history in which the future can be drastically altered by one
minor change.
The earliest ideas of the nature of time can be found in
some ancient religions which include a belief that time in heaven passes at a
different rate than time on Earth. This idea survives in folk tales of visits
to fairyland in which the visitors, on returning to our world, discover that
time has sped by and everyone they knew is much older. Also ancient is the
notion that some people (usually national heroes) do not die but are merely
sleeping somewhere until their country needs them; conversely, some legends
(e.g. the Flying Dutchman) concern
people who are cursed to live and travel forever.
A further and very popular category involves a
"timeslip" in which people – accidentally or deliberately – step
through some kind of portal or fracture in time and find themselves in a
different period – usually in the past. Ashley points out the advantages of
this approach to authors, as scientific explanations are not needed. One rather
surprising example is given – Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which includes visions of the past and future,
plus the notion that people can alter their futures by changing their
behaviour.
Various devices can be involved, often clocks or watches
with the power to alter time, backwards or forwards. This leads on to the
concept of a time machine, most famously in the classic novel of that name by
H. G. Wells which introduced the concepts of time as the fourth dimension and
the continuing evolution of humanity.
Obviously, this review can only provide a brief summary of
Ashley's introduction which explores many more approaches to time travel, plus
mention of a large number of stories to illustrate the points being made, and
is by itself worth the price of the book.
The short stories included in the anthology are as follows:
The Clock That Went
Backward, by Edward Page Mitchell (1881). The title indicates the nature of
the plot, with an old timepiece involved in the sending back in time of the protagonists
to the Siege of Leyden (Leiden) in 1574 when the Dutch city was attacked by the
Spaniards. A thoughtful and well-written story.
The Queer Story of
Brownlow's Newspaper, by H. G. Wells (1932). A newspaper is delivered as
usual, but it turns out to be an edition from 1971 – decades too soon. Wells
spins an entertaining tale around this anomaly in time.
Omega, by Amelia
Reynolds Long (1932). This includes a theory of "mental time": a
method of hypnotising subjects and sending their minds through time to
experience other lives. At first, this is limited to events in the past, but
the professor who has developed the technique is now trying to extend this to
the future in order to discover the fate of the Earth. He succeeds – at a
price.
The Book of Worlds,
by Miles J. Breuer (1929). A professor involved in researching the fourth
dimension has gone insane, and the narrator (his assistant) tries to explain
why. The professor has invented a device which enables him to see scenes from
the past – but it is the views of the future which cause him to lose his
sanity.
The Branches of Time,
by David R. Daniels (1935). The narrator bumps into an old friend who tells him
that he has been working on an atomic-powered time machine and has used this to
visit the remote past and the far future. He tells of a 21st century
world war of unimaginable destructiveness, leading to the extinction of
mankind. This had caused him to intervene to prevent the worst effects,
eventually resulting in an advanced civilisation. He learns that any change to
historical events would result in a different "world-line" which
would exist in parallel with the original: basically, the multiverse idea. An
intriguing tale with some advanced concepts.
The Reign of the
Reptiles, by Alan Connell (1935). A story about evolution; a man is
hijacked by experimental scientists who have developed a time machine, and is
sent millions of years into the past in order to observe the age of reptiles.
He discovers that intelligent, telepathic reptiles have built a civilisation
and are experimenting with the controlled evolution of early humans.
Friday the Nineteenth,
by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding (1950). A tale of a failing marriage, in which the
husband is drawn to the wife of his friend, but some mysterious force keeps
interfering in their attempts to get together.
Effectively, Friday the Nineteenth is Groundhog Day…
Look after the Strange
Girl, by J. B. Priestley (1953). As you would expect from this author, this
is a literary tale, teasing the reader with a mystery which is only gradually
revealed. A man from the 1950s finds himself at a social event taking place in
the early years of the century. In observing their careless gaity, he is
acutely aware of the shadow of the Great War that would dramatically affect the
lives of the people.
Manna, by Peter
Phillips (1949). Synthetic food is developed – Miracle Meal – so delicious that
no-one wants to eat anything else. A UK factory is established in an old
priory, to the concern of a pair of ghosts who haunt it. Then the factory's
output starts vanishing overnight, so a psychic investigator is called in. An
unusual and amusing story (there's not much humour in most of these tales).
Tenth Time Around,
by J. T. McIntosh (1959). Second Chance is an organisation which offers people
a second chance at their lives; their consciousness is sent back in time to
occupy their younger bodies, complete with their memories so they can change their
actions to suit themselves. Gene Player had only one aim – to persuade the
woman he loves to choose him instead of his best friend.
The Shadow People,
by Arthur Sellings (1958). An odd couple take lodgings in the house of a young
man and his wife. There is something very strange about the lodgers, and the
young man becomes increasingly curious about their background – but comes to
regret his inquisitiveness.
Thirty-Seven Times,
by E. C. Tubb (1957). A famous professor dies in a laboratory accident – or
does he? His successor struggles to identify the nature of his secret research
and his apparent reappearances. Time travel seems to be involved – but what
about the paradoxes?
Dial "O" for
Operator, by Robert Presslie (1958). A telephone box is the central feature
of this story, together with the night-time staff responsible for maintaining it
and a young woman trapped inside. She calls for help after taking refuge inside
the box from a terrifying monster, but when the staff arrive, there is no-one
inside – despite the fact that she is still on the line.
An interesting and varied collection, none of which I had
read before. Manna and Look After the Strange Girl appealed to
me the most, with The Clock That Went
Backward also intriguing me enough for a second read.