Twelve stories from 2001 relating to time travel. As a sucker for time travel stories I had to pick this one up. I’m glad I did. Favorites:
“Things I Didn’t Know My Father Knew” – Peter Crowther – A mist is taking over the neighborhood. Bennett Differing gets a handbill in his morning paper. It’s addressed just to him and mentions a coming visit.
“Doing Time” – Robin Wayne Bailey – Samuel Enderby. the inventor of time travel ends up ten million years in the future. He’s robbed of the keypad that would allow him to operate the machine. The machine itself is invisible in stasis. He runs across a tribe of prisoners spanning the centuries. Instead of executing prisoners they’re sent into the far future to fend for themselves.
“Palimpsest Day – Gary A.Braunbeck – The co-owner of a used bookstore lives in the house he grew up in. He’s in his forties and also living there is his Down’s Syndrome sister now in her thirties. Some incidents from the past are starting to show themselves. Then his high school crush returns. Is he getting a chance to do things over? Excellent story.
“The Gift Of A Dream” – Dean Wesley Smith – Reads like something Steven Spielberg would have produced earlier in his career. It takes place in a nursing home and involves wheelchair bound Kendra Howard and her ninety-one year old friend Brian Saber. They have a secret fantasy life that takes place in the future.
“Convolutions” – James P.Hogan – Professor Aylmer Arbuthnot is just about to put the finishing touches on his time machine when the design book can’t be found. When he figures out who stole it he has trouble staying out of his own way.
Other authors: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jane Lindskold, Diane Duane, Kathleen Massie-Ferch, Jody Lynn Nye, William H.Keith,Jr. and Nina Kiriki Hoffman
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