From archive (archive)
Subject: THE COMPLETE TIME TRAVELER by Howard J. Blumenthal et al
From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: 5 Jun 89 16:36:55 GMT



[My reason for including rec.travel in the original distribution will become
evident, but all follow-ups are directed to rec.arts.sf-lovers.  Note that this
book bears on a topic just brought up there.  -Evelyn]

			  THE COMPLETE TIME TRAVELER
	by Howard J. Blumenthal, Dorothy F. Curley, and Brad Williams
	      Ten Speed Press, 1988, ISBN 0-89815-284-4, $13.95.
		      A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper

     Micro-review: You absolutely must go out and read this book!

     Have you finished it?  Good, now I'll continue.

     It was for books such as this, I believe, that the "Other Forms" Hugo
category was invented.  Of course, the category is gone, so now THE COMPLETE
TIME TRAVELER sits on the shelf, fitting nowhere.  Which is a pity, as this
is certainly as deserving of a Hugo as many of the nominees who have the
benefit of actually fitting into a category.  It's not non-fiction (yet),
though it's certainly presented as non-fiction.  It's not a novel (though I
suppose one could strech and call it a novel written in the second person).
So what is it?

     This book is subtitled "A Tourist's Guide to the Fourth Dimension" and
reads very much like the books on videocassette players that came out in
great abundance in the early 1980s.  It starts with a description of time
and time travel, then goes on to describe the various devices (TTV devices,
Chronovision, etc.), complete with brand-names and consumer evaluations.  It
covers the various governmental rules regarding time travel, time travel
basics ("Don't flick your Bic in medieval Europe."), and destinations.  And
it does all this from the perspective of 2038.  Yes, everything about this
book--even the copyright page and dust jacket--is done as if the book had
been (will be?) produced in 2038.  You want to know where to get
appropriate clothing for 1902 New York?  This book tells you.  What happens
if you try to wear a brassiere to Crete?  This book tells you that also.
(Time Customs and Immigration has a storeroom full of confiscated
brassieres.)

     I could go on and on, but that would spoil your enjoyment in reading
this book yourself.

     Of course, given my nit-picking temperament, it would be difficult for
me to read a book such as this without wanting to pick nits.  And though
Blumenthal et al do an excellent job of avoiding 95% of the time travel
paradoxes, they do make a couple of slips.  They claim, for example, that
36% of all travelers have taken the "Cradle of Liberty" tour (or similar)
which visits the major events of the American Revolution.  Assuming a couple
of million time travelers (a low estimate), that would be 720,000 people
watching the Battles of Lexington and Concord.  You'd think someone in 1775
would have noticed.

     But nits aside, this is an absolutely wonderful book, with its charm
not only in its content, but in every aspect of its production.  For science
fiction fans, a must, of course, but also a must for those who love to read
travel books.  If your local bookstore is sold out of this volume, you
should hop back a few months and pick it up then.

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   +1 201-957-2070   |   att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com
					Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper

From archive (archive)
From: klaes@mtwain.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Subject: The Complete Time Traveler Guide.
Date: 8 Dec 88 02:36:00 GMT




         Speaking of time travel in a strictly science fiction sense, 
    there is a new book out on the subject entitled THE COMPLETE TIME 
    TRAVELER: A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO THE FOURTH DIMENSION, by Howard 
    Blumenthal, Dorothy F. Curley, and Brad Williams.

         It is a clever book designed as a tongue-in-cheek guide for
    tourists who are as interested in visiting *when* as they are
    *where*.  For example, the copyright date says both 1988 and 2038, 
    and the authors have books credited to them which won't be written 
    for another forty years or so.  The Foreword is by H. G. Wells.

         TCTT tells you what are the best modes for time travel (time 
    belts, time cars, etc.), what are the best places to visit, what 
    diseases to be inoculated against (Black Plagues and all that, you 
    know), what to wear, what rules must be obeyed, and even how to bring 
    children along.

         The authors obviously had a lot of fun writing this book, and
    they know their SF:  A bibliography on books, films, and television
    series dealing with time travel (some which have yet to exist in our
    time period) is located in the back.  In fact I cannot go into
    enough detail to tell you how well this book was written and made.

         TCTT is produced by Ten Speed Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, 
    California 94707, USA, ISBN 0-89815-284-4 (Hardcover).  I highly 
    recommend it, in fact it may become useful soon, what with these
    scientists supporting wormhole time travel and all. :^)

         Larry Klaes