The Time Impostor
- by Nat Schachner
- Short Story
- Science Fiction
- Adults
- Definite Time Travel
- English
- “The Time Impostor” by Nat Schachner, Astounding Stories, March 1934.
Newspaper reporter Derek Williams leaps into a time machine that’s come from the 9th millennium to rescue the condemned murderer Mike Spinnot because he’s worshiped as a hero in that future time.
—Michael Main
You know as well as I that in 1932 the Earth was groaning under a tyranny more brutal, morehorrible, thanany in all recorded history.
Tags
(10)
- Time Periods
- Circa AD 1930 to 1939: home time of the story: 1932 or 1933
- Near Future, AD 2300 and Beyond: “We come from a time that isw over six thousand years in the future from what you consider to be your present.”
- Timeline Models
- Time Travel Methods
- High Speed, Angular Momentum, Gravity, Cosmic Strings, etc. Cause Time Warp: “The principle is surprisingly simple; it depends upon bringing the vibration of the molecules in cage and occupants to a speed approaching that of light.”
- Time Spheres, Eggs, et al.: “An egg-shaped cage sprang into view, a barred cage through which could be seen banks of curious dials and green-glowing instruments.”
- Themes
- Save Your Ancestor!: The time travelers think that Spinnot is their ancestor.
- Real-World Tags
- Herbert Hoover: mentioned as “Herbert Horver” in a “history” of the 1930s
- Fictional Tags
- Post-Apocalyptic and Post-Holocaust Worlds: “The few survivors reverted to primitive conditions; it was hundreds of years before civilization reasserted itself.”
- Groupings
Variants
(1)
- “The Time Impostor” by Nat Schachner, Astounding Stories, March 1934.
Indexer Notes
(1)
- Tags—In the story’s final line, Derek wonders whether Spinnot’s death will cause Merle to never be born, but it is an offhand thought, not developed, and not a grandfather paradox that I can see. Had Merle and her father succeeded in rescuing Spinnot so that he could later father their line, then it would have been a nice grandchild paradox, but that didn’t happen either.