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n8duke's review against another edition
4.0
Some good ones, some less than good ones....as is an anthology.
jersy's review
3.0
For me, rating a short story collection also means finding a compromise between rating individual stories and rating this as a collection.
For this collection, I can say that the preludes to every story were great, they presented the authors works and recurring themes and only vaguely described the story one is about to read. The stories were vastly different from each other, which is always a plus for me, however in this case it also meant that there were some clear misses and some stories only barely qualified as time travel tales. There were some that really gave me what I expected from this collection but the aim didn't seem to be to collect the most iconic, groundbreaking or influential stories in this field, but good and varried works of science fiction in general.
While it contains highlights I'll probably reread at some point, this isn't the treasure trove for time travel enthusiasts I imagined it to be.
For this collection, I can say that the preludes to every story were great, they presented the authors works and recurring themes and only vaguely described the story one is about to read. The stories were vastly different from each other, which is always a plus for me, however in this case it also meant that there were some clear misses and some stories only barely qualified as time travel tales. There were some that really gave me what I expected from this collection but the aim didn't seem to be to collect the most iconic, groundbreaking or influential stories in this field, but good and varried works of science fiction in general.
While it contains highlights I'll probably reread at some point, this isn't the treasure trove for time travel enthusiasts I imagined it to be.
gunner's review
3.0
A decent collection of stories, but the first half is much better than the second.
markk's review
4.0
For over a century time travel has remained one of the most enduring categories of science fiction. Authors such as Mark Twain and H. G. Wells established many of the ideas that were subsequently encapsulated in numerous stories that have entertained millions of readers. This anthology bring together eighteen stories from many of the giants of the field. Some, such as Theodore Sturgeon’s “Yesterday was Monday” and Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” are true classics, while others like Connie Wills’s “Fire Watch” are destined to join them as among the greatest stories of the genre.
With a collection like this, it is easy to criticize some of the selections. Many longtime readers will complain about the exclusion of a favorite tale or the inclusion of one that they do not like (my personal complaint is with the inclusion of Robert Silverberg’s “Sailing to Byzantium”, which while an all-time favorite of mine and one of the best novellas ever written technically isn't really a time travel story). Yet it is hard to complain about the collection as a whole, which has a good balance of stories from different premises, authors, and stories. Fans of the genre will find much to enjoy in this book, while anyone seeking to learn what the field has to offer will be impressed with the imagination and the writing contained within these pages.
With a collection like this, it is easy to criticize some of the selections. Many longtime readers will complain about the exclusion of a favorite tale or the inclusion of one that they do not like (my personal complaint is with the inclusion of Robert Silverberg’s “Sailing to Byzantium”, which while an all-time favorite of mine and one of the best novellas ever written technically isn't really a time travel story). Yet it is hard to complain about the collection as a whole, which has a good balance of stories from different premises, authors, and stories. Fans of the genre will find much to enjoy in this book, while anyone seeking to learn what the field has to offer will be impressed with the imagination and the writing contained within these pages.
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