The Time Traders

Rating:
Summary: Still Strong After All These Years
Review: A reprint of the 1958 edition, this was like finding an old friend. I first read this in 1958 or 1959, when I was about 10 years old. I remembered snippets of it ever since and wondered if I would ever come across it again. The story is just as fresh as it was then. Indeed, I looked for some disclaimer that it had been updated, but found none. Other than the lack of scientific explanation underlying key aspects of the plot, thus dating its style somewhat, this was a remarkably prescient piece. And far from sophomoric in the bad sense, it appeals to the kid still inside me. I enjoyed it as much now as I did when I was 10. It has time travel, Russians, aliens, prehistoric tribes, space ships, personal struggle and triumph...what more can you want in a science fiction yarn? From over 40 years ago, it still rates 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Still Strong After All These Years
Review: A reprint of the 1958 edition, this was like finding an old friend. I first read this in 1958 or 1959, when I was about 10 years old. I remembered snippets of it ever since and wondered if I would ever come across it again. The story is just as fresh as it was then. Indeed, I looked for some disclaimer that it had been updated, but found none. Other than the lack of scientific explanation underlying key aspects of the plot, thus dating its style somewhat, this was a remarkably prescient piece. And far from sophomoric in the bad sense, it appeals to the kid still inside me. I enjoyed it as much now as I did when I was 10. It has time travel, Russians, aliens, prehistoric tribes, space ships, personal struggle and triumph...what more can you want in a science fiction yarn? From over 40 years ago, it still rates 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Unnecessary Revisions Weaken a Classic
Review: If you're like me, you read these novels as a youngster in the late 50's or early 60's, and you were drawn in not just by the no-wasted-motion adventure/scifi style for which Ms. Norton became so well loved, but by the glimpses of a not-too-distant future that was clearly based on a somewhat uncertain present. The style is still there in this new edition, but the future, sadly, is gone. For reasons that elude me, the political/cultural milieu of the original near-future has been updated (the Bad Guys are no longer "Reds," they're from a post-USSR-breakup "resurgent Russia"), and the result is not a good fit. The narrative and characterizations still have that squeaky-clean Fifties feel, so the 90's references feel anachronistic. Part of the pleasure of reading classic sf is to enjoy the retro flavor; this attempt to overlay a contemporary veneer simply rings false. What's worse, the paperback edition, which I purchased, bears no indication anywhere that these revisions exist. I discovered them only as I read along and became increasingly disturbed by things that didn't fit. If you want to read a classic, and especially if you want to relive the experience of reading the classic you remember from your youth, do yourself a favor and track down the original text.

Rating:
Summary: An all time great Sci Fi book.
Review: One of my all-time favorite Andre Norton books. Ross Murdock goes from criminal misfit to hero, and shows the evil aliens what we humans are made of! Great, great fun. Pulls you into the world as only Norton seems to do.

Rating:
Summary: the time traders
Review: one of the first books that I read as a young man which was so well thought out and understandable, when it came to science fiction. the only regret that I have is that she waited so long to contine the serries. Lost in the distant Past, the hero of the novel must use his wits and endure great phyiscal pain to defeat the enemy.

Rating:
Summary: A Man Out of Time
Review: The Time Traders is the first novel in the Time Traders series. In this original version, Ross Murdock is a young man with a bad record. While in detention, he is subjected to a series of psychological tests and, when called back into the courtroom for sentencing, he is offered a chance to volunteer for an unidentified government project as an alternative to Rehabilitation. He chooses to volunteer and is turned over to someone called Major. He plans to run at the first opportunity, but the Major takes him up to the roof of the building where they are picked up by a helicopter. They land on an airfield, change to flying suits, and leave in a sleek flying machine that departs straight up. By the time that they reach their destination, Ross has learned that the Major is named Kelgarries, but has no idea where they are, except that it is thoroughly covered in snow.

Within the base, Ross is subjected to a series of tests, including a full day of physical examination. The rest of the time he spends in a cell-like room by himself on a very comfortable bunk. After the speaker in his room brays an announcement in the Major's voice, Ross is startled to see the opposite wall disappear, revealing an outdoor scene with mountains and fir trees, the scent of pine trees, and the moaning of the wind. He hears a wolf howl, senses gray shadows in the trees, and sees a wolf come toward him, hears it growl and then sees it crouches down to leap. A bow twangs and the animal leaps into the air, then falls and bites at an arrow in its side. By this time, Ross has the blanket wrapped around his arm and is crouched down himself, waiting for the wolf's leap. Puzzled, he carefully walks to where the wall had been and discovered an unseen but solid surface at that location. He assumes that something new in image viewing has been developed and lies down to enjoy the remainder of the show.

Suddenly, all lights go out, leaving him in complete darkness. He feels his way to the door and finds it open. As he explores the corridors, he hears something crawling toward him, with frequent pauses and heavy breathing. Now the lights all come back on, temporarily blinding him, but soon revealing someone wrapped in bandages over his entire body. Before he can move, Major Kelgarries comes running up and kneels besides the figure, calling him "Hardy". The Major reassures Hardy that he is safe and then tells Ross to go to the end room and call a "Dr. Farrell". Hardy is carried away by the doctor and two attendants, with the Major walking alongside holding Hardy's hand. Ross realizes that the project is important and has suspected that it is dangerous; now he is certain of that danger.

As he is contemplating the group around Hardy, his name is called by a dark stranger who identifies himself as Ashe and says that they have been partnered. Ashe states that the project is Operation Retrograde and then takes him to mess call. There Ross discovers ten men, with six being ordinary in appearance; two of the men, however, were clearly Oriental, with long black mustaches and blue tattoo marks on their foreheads and the back of their hands and the other pair are blond giants with long braids in their hair. As they enter, another man, Kurt, calls to Ashe and asks him if he has heard about Hardy, saying that such injuries could occur to anyone. Although he is jeered down by the others, Ross notes that Kurt is a potential ally in escaping the base and agrees to meet him later.

From Kurt, Ross learns that the base has a technology that allows "taping" the characteristic of a person so that they can be traced anywhere. Kurt says he has a way to beat the taping, but needs a partner to escape. Ross is somewhat reluctant, so Kurt tells him that the project is sending teams back in time. When Ross agrees to go with him, they immediately leave the base, wind through the mine fields, and steal a snow cat. When they reach their destination, Ross learns that Kurt is a plant for the Soviets and manages to wrest control from Kurt. Under the circumstances, he has no choice other than returning to the base.

After his return, Ross is cleared to know more about the project. It seems that the Soviets have discovered how to travel to the past and somewhen they have found a few superscience gadgets that have led to amazing strides in certain areas. The US has duplicated the time machine, but still has no idea where the Soviets found the futuristic gadgets, so Operation Retrograde has been formed to search the past for clues. Ross is slated to join one such team traveling to Stone Age Britain.

This series has changed over the years to adapt to the political upheaval in Russia, but the real enemies in this series has always been the Baldies. When faced with a superior technology from a group of hostile aliens, the political differences between humans looks less important. Thus, the cooperation with the Russian time travel project has been almost inevitable by the logic of this series. It is merely convenient that the real world has, for a change, agreed with the Time Traders plot.

This series has always been more complex than it appears on the surface, for lurking in the background is a vision of the probability multiverse such as found in Crossroads in Time. Change the past and forever lose your future. Thus, it raises the issue of how much change is required to spawn a new timeline.

Recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys tales of the past, the present, and the future within a single SF setting.

Rating:
Summary: a book spielberg will love.
Review: there are actually 2 books here : Time Traders from 58
and Galactic Derelict from 59 (sequal). both books are kind of infantile SF books, representing the clasic age of the ganre. it has a very entertaing plot with aleans back to the past, and the back to the feuture plot, and then flying in rockets to sidtant planet, meeting bad russians, and aleans, and monsters. in short a full plot of 5 spielberg movies in one cover -
because the story is so plane, the figures are one dimentional, the americans are always the best and humane, while the russian and the aliens are always bad or stupied. and the writing style is not something to cover on it.

andre norton won the SWFA grand master aword in 83. i think this was to show gratitude for his persistance, but judging from this books, i don't think he truely deserved it.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully fun stuff!
Review: There is nothing quite like the type of space yarn that the great and greatly prolific Andre Norton wrote in the 1950s and 1960s. Well-crafted, colorful, exciting, with a wonderful sense of strangeness and awe to the settings and descriptions, these books never fail to delight, no matter how many times you read them. Even the elements which tend to date these novels add a sort of nostalgic charm that I find irresistable. Baen Books is to be applauded for its plan to re-publish a lot of her out-of-print novels in these omnibus editions. If you have yet to get into Andre Norton, now is a good time. You are bound to have a fun fun time!