I can haz time travel!

Posted by: Redhead on: July 11, 2011

• In: Jack McDevitt | science fiction | Time Travel
• 12 Comments

Time Travelers Never Die, by Jack McDevitt

published in 2009

where I got it: purchased new

why I read it:  this was the July book for my local SF book club

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Shortly after physicist Michael Shelborne disappears, his son, Adrian Shelborne (he goes by Shel) discovers that his father created a time machine. Bringing his best friend Dave in on the secret, they experiment with the hand held machines and through trial and error, learn how they work. Hoping to find Shel’s father and bring him home, the two friends travel to times and places they think Michael would have been most interested in.

What I found most funny is that Shel and Dave act like completely normal people. They have no interest in changing history, or being superheroes. For much of the middle of the book, they are chrononaut sightseers, visiting times, meeting people, occasionally  snapping some photos, and generally just having a good time. Sure, they are ultimately looking for Shel’s father, but when you’ve got a time machine, you’ve got all the time in the world, right?

Beyond time travel shenanigans and sightseeing, Shel and Dave have more pressing matters, as in they are both in love with the same woman, Helen.  There’s this constant undercurrent of who is going to end up with her, and can they let her in on their time travel secrets? I would have liked for that plot line to have been developed further.

Shel and Dave both promise each other that they won’t travel alone, that they won’t ever try to change the past (the infamous don’t kill your grandfather paradox), and that they won’t visit themselves in the future. The plot takes a turn for the dark and dangerous when promises are broken and Shel’s house burns the ground while he’s asleep upstairs.

Lately I’ve become a sucker for time travel stories, it’s a subgenre that seems more concerned with fun and action and avoiding yourself in another time than with hard SF and the math and physics behind how everything works. I don’t worry about the physics and the engineering while I’m on a rollercoaster at the amusement park, it’s just a fun and satisfying way to spend the afternoon, you know?  Time Travelers Never Die is like a summer blockbuster movie or a fun amusement park ride – the less you think about it, the more you’re going to enjoy yourself.

I’m of a mixed mind about this book. On the one hand, it was killer fun to read, it kept my attention, and I was so curious to find out what happened at the end that I missed my bed time by an hour and a half. On the other hand, the characters aren’t all that developed, the pace is so fast that we’re never anywhere long enough to appreciate it, much of the time travel interactions are on the hokey side, and McDevitt plays so fast and loose with time lines that  he  book could have easily been titled “Time Paradoxes R Us” (paradoxes? paradoxii? paradoxae?).  More than one I was reminded of that silly jailbreak scene at the end of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

The book certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was a great summer read and fun enough that I’d happily read another McDevitt.  Another plus is that it’s a stand alone!

Tags: future, history, science fiction, time travel