- Paperback: 235 pages
- Publisher: Prentice Hall & IBD (4 May 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0020253958
- ISBN-13: 978-0020253952
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,175,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
On the surface this – one of Simak’s better novels – is a complex and intricate tale of time-travel and paradox. Simak is very much a pastoral writer, in that his SF is often set against a backdrop of solid American rural values, and though he never preaches, his writing nevertheless extols the virtues of tolerance and pacifism.
Six thousand years in the future Earth is at the centre of an interstellar Empire, clinging to control of the galaxy with the help of androids who are only differentiated from true humans by their inability to reproduce and the tattoos on their foreheads. Asher Sutton, a reconnaissance agent, has been missing for the last twenty years after being sent to 61 Cygni to assess an alien planet which may or may not pose a threat to the stability of Human Culture.
Sutton’s boss, Adams, receives a visit from a mysterious stranger claiming to be from the future, who predicts Sutton’s imminent return and tells Adams that Sutton must be killed to prevent him from writing a book which will plunge the Human worlds into war.
Sutton’s not-yet-written book is a Bible which explains our relationship with these creatures, a philosophy which could destabilise Human control of the galaxy, since it espouses equality of all life, including androids.
The book itself, copies of which Sutton discovers before he has even begun to write it, is the reason why various factions, including the androids and groups from other periods in time are eager to either kill Sutton or use him and his ‘revised’ book for their own devices.
Like most Simak novels, it’s an affirmation of the basic goodness of human nature and a very ‘cosy’ novel.
Six thousand years in the future Earth is at the centre of an interstellar Empire, clinging to control of the galaxy with the help of androids who are only differentiated from true humans by their inability to reproduce and the tattoos on their foreheads. Asher Sutton, a reconnaissance agent, has been missing for the last twenty years after being sent to 61 Cygni to assess an alien planet which may or may not pose a threat to the stability of Human Culture.
Sutton’s boss, Adams, receives a visit from a mysterious stranger claiming to be from the future, who predicts Sutton’s imminent return and tells Adams that Sutton must be killed to prevent him from writing a book which will plunge the Human worlds into war.
Sutton’s not-yet-written book is a Bible which explains our relationship with these creatures, a philosophy which could destabilise Human control of the galaxy, since it espouses equality of all life, including androids.
The book itself, copies of which Sutton discovers before he has even begun to write it, is the reason why various factions, including the androids and groups from other periods in time are eager to either kill Sutton or use him and his ‘revised’ book for their own devices.
Like most Simak novels, it’s an affirmation of the basic goodness of human nature and a very ‘cosy’ novel.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first read 'Time and Again' over thirty years ago, and this was one of my favourite SF novels. Revisiting it, it is still a great read but now some of the faults, including the use of coincidence in places, seem more obvious and although extremely creatively plotted it does require a good deal of imagination. The plotting is complex with characters travelling through time and quite fast moving, so the reader neeed to pay attention.
One great reason for rating the novel as a classic is the number of themes that has been developed in other later perhaps more celebrated works in the genre, such as 2001 and Blade Runner. In fact it is incredible that this was written over 60 years ago, and has aged very well. When it comes to some of the great ideas and themes in SF, Clifford Simak often got there first.
One great reason for rating the novel as a classic is the number of themes that has been developed in other later perhaps more celebrated works in the genre, such as 2001 and Blade Runner. In fact it is incredible that this was written over 60 years ago, and has aged very well. When it comes to some of the great ideas and themes in SF, Clifford Simak often got there first.
Format:Paperback
This was one of the books that got me into SF back in my teens; I haven't picked it up for years, but can still recall it vividly. Exciting and intriguing, with lots of quasi-mystical philosophising which appealed to me particualrly at the time, and one of those plots with an embattled hero whom everyone seems to have it in for. A classic of the genre in my humble opinion.
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