The Time Traveler's Almanac: A Time Travel Anthology

IMHO, of course. I bought this hoping to be wowed but I was most definitely underwhelmed. It was just (just) barely worth the $2.99 I paid for it - presently the kindle version is selling for $14.99 which wouldn't make it at all worth the money.My lifelong fave genre of SciFI is Time Travel (TT) so this looked interesting. There appeared to be a lot of material in the book which was more fantasy writing mixed with much I would term 'Literary' SciFi… you know, where there's a lot being said in convoluted and flowery prose but the actual content is rather timid. Their publishing dates often place these perfectly in tune with that period in which the fiction establishment needed the self justification of superficially High Art before committing and admitting that SciFi was actually pretty cool. If you're old enough you may remember that. I confess I had to grit my teeth and force myself to finish the book. There are two or three absolute classics as I rate them included but that means, if you're a fan of TT, odds are good you likely have already read them long ago. To be fair, what I think is self-indulgent nonsense and meandering waffle, you may find pure genius. You'll certainly have the chance to put your critical faculties to the test if you buy this. I gave it three stars solely due to the inclusion of Ray Bradbury's brilliant 'A Sound Of Thunder.' Greatness... surrounded by a huge number of WTFs?

One of my favorite books from the past few years was The Weird. Originally, I was kind of hesitant to get this as I'm not a huge fan of scifi but the variety in this anthology convinced me to get it. I'm glad I did. I think it has something that'll appeal to pretty much everyone. Also, I really enjoyed the non-fiction pieces too including the intro by Rian Johnson.There are too many gems in this collection to name them all here. One of my absolute favorite was "Traveler's Rest" about a soldier who fights a war in a place where time passes more slowly then when he travels back home. The story is a very interesting idea and the ending was fantastic.Another one of my favorites though was a contemporary piece called "Hwang's Billion Brilliant Daughters" and it's about a man who is propelled into the future every time he sleeps where he meets his descendants. I also really enjoyed "Fire Watch", the story of a history student who is sent back to London during World War II where he serves on the fire watch for St Paul's Cathedral."Enoch Soames" was a dark yet humorous tale about a writer who makes a deal with the devil to go into the future to witness his notoriety. "Life Trap" was a short but dark tale about an occult that finds out what happens after death. Lastly, "The Threads of Time" was an interesting story about an agent for the qhal who are allowed to travel into the past to mend time.I got both a hardcover copy and the kindle ebook. The dust jacket and artwork look great for the physical book. Also, the kindle version is well formatted. Sometimes anthologies on Amazon have formatting problems and problems in the ToC. This did not.One downside is that the physical book is really big. It's a little too big to hold with one hand so that's why I got the kindle version too. I still go back and reread pieces from The Weird every now and then and I think I'll do the same with TTA.

Some stories are good and others not so much. A stricter selection choice would have worked better for me. But certainly worth the price of admission.

Any lover of time travel sci-fi stories will be in heaven with this volume of 72 tales. My favorite was Gene Wolfe's stunning "The Lost Pilgrim," in which a time traveler ends us nowhere near his destination. Also great is Ursula LeGuin's "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea," perhaps one of her very best; "Gulf of the Years," a story by Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud, which deals with how far one man will go to reunite with those he loves; "Augusta Prima," by Karin Tidbeck shows us a place where time stands still and people play sadistic games with one another; "Message in a Bottle" by Nalo Hopkinson is a downright scary tale about a genius child and her origins; Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Red Letter Day" shows us what it would be like to receive a communicaiton from our future selves. Sure, there are some duds here, but overall a very fine collection with many great surprises.

How does one appraise an anthology that is so awesome it defies praise? This is the best anthology of time travel stories, ranging from hardcore to the uber-fantastic, which I have ever come across. It blows the others right out of the water (and there are others). 72 electrifying stories to keep you reading for weeks and weeks as you take in one story at a time and put it back so as not to read it too quickly, thus savoring it. These stories make the imagination soar and will inspire budding writers and artists. Get it first at your library. After reading perhaps five stories you will be purchasing the book on Amazon.com to keep it for yourself. There's little more to be said; the anthology speaks for itself.

I am truly grateful for this anthology. As a reader who just can't get enough time travel stories, this almanac is going to come the closest to doing just that! I can see how some reviewers have quibbled that not every story in here is strictly time travel, but that hasn't bothered me at all. They're all playing with time in some way, and all of them have been interesting and enjoyable, with some I truly loved. The sheer variety here is a big strengths, and the organization of the book into different sections works well for me. I am reading it all in order, but it would be easy and probably just as rewarding to jump around. I'm reading it on my Kindle, which is a good, smooth experience.

The best and biggest compilation of time travel fiction you will find anywhere, at a very good price. The only downside is that some of the works I found them pretty dull and lacking of interest, but that is only a personal opinion; all in all, the really good ones compensate for the less inspired ones and stand out as some of the best the genre has offered. A must have for any fan of convolute tales about time loops and paradoxes.

There are a lot of big name sci-fi authors in here, and that's what sucked me into buying this book. Unfortunately, too many of the stories are of the artsy-fartsy, psychedelic type that may win awards, but don't win my admiration. The editor tries to pass off stories from other times, alternate timelines, and a variety of other sci-fi subgenres as time travel stories. Between the fact that too many of these stories aren't actually about time travel, and the bizarre nature of the stories themselves, this book is NOT something you probably want to waste your money on. If you want some good time travel stories, try the Time Travel megapacks from Wildstorm. The stories are better, and they're only about $1 apiece.

There are a few real gems in this book of short stories, and a few that I just didn't care for. I've learned about a number of authors that I'd never read, and I will go search out their other work. If you like time travel and paradox, there are some really neat twists on the classic questions, and this one is well worth a read. My rating in this case reflects my personal like/dislike as opposed to an objective "is this a good book?", so your mileage may vary.

Among these stories there are a few good ones but many are boring.

948 pages of SF , fair price, great value !