Time Was

by Nora Roberts

Release: November 1989
Format: Novel
Genre: Romance
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

Time travel via a spaceship that got too close to an uncharted black hole. Our hero, Caleb Hornblower, survives to have a romance with Liberty Stone, a woman from a couple hundred years before he was born. The romantic element is definitely stronger than the science, but there are some interesting discussions about past versus future technology and different social norms. There’s also a fun ride on an aircycle! And a bit of comedy when Liberty’s parents arrive unexpectedly. But only the one time travel event is documented, so this remains heavier on the Romance than the Time Travel.

The story continues in a 1990 sequel, Times Change.

— Tandy Ringoringo

The cockpit lights went out, leaving only the whirl of kaleidoscopic colors from the instrument panel. His ship went into a spiral, tumbling end over end like a stone fired from a slingshot. Now the light was white, hot and brilliant. Instinctively he threw up an arm to shield his eyes. The sudden crushing pressure on his chest left him helpless to do more than gasp for breath.

DEBUT

Time Was (Silhouette, November 1989).

VARIANTS

1 English variant

TRANSLATIONS

Bulgarian translation:
[ex=bare]Сега и във времето | Now and in time[/ex] (Коломбина Прес, 2004).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts as by Нора Робертс
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Dutch translation:
[ex=bare]Tijdloze hartstocht | Timeless passion[/ex] (Harlequin Holland, 2003).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Ineke van Bronswijk
Estonian translation:
[ex=bare]Läbi aja | Through time[/ex] (ERSEN, 2010).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Finnish translation:
[ex=bare]Aikojen yli | Over time[/ex] (Harlequin, 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Tanja Hallenberg
French translation:
[ex=bare]La passagère du temps | The passenger of time[/ex] (Harlequin, November 2015).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
German translation:
[ex=bare]Diesseits der Liebe | This side of love[/ex] (Weltbild, 2006).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Rita Langner
Hungarian translation:
[ex=bare]Egyszer volt . . . | Once upon a time there was . . .[/ex] (Harlequin Magyarország, 2009).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Anna Gulácsy
Italian translation:
[ex=bare]C’era una volta . . . il futuro | Once upon a time . . . the future[/ex] (Harlequin Mondadori, 1991).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Polish translation:
[ex=bare]Zagubiony w czasie | Lost in time[/ex] (Arlekin Wydawn, Harlequin, 2011).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Michał Jankowski
Portuguese translation:
[ex=bare]Tempos Esquecidos | Forgotten times[/ex] (Harlequin, June 2012).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Russian translation:
[ex=bare]Обманутое время | He cheated time[/ex] (Центрполиграф, 2010).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts as by Нора Робертс
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Spanish translation:
[ex=bare]Tiempo atrás | Time past[/ex] (Harlequin, 2002).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]
Swedish translation:
[ex=bare]Fångad i tiden | Caught in time[/ex] (Förlaget Harlequin AB , 2007).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Nora Roberts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons [possibly using an alias]

13 translations

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1970 to 1999: About 1989.
Circa AD 2200 to 2299: 2255.

Time Travel Methods

High Speed, Angular Momentum, Gravity, Cosmic Strings, etc. Cause Time Warp: Too close to a black hole.

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From near a black hole, 2255 ⋙ to circa 1989. Note: Caleb in his ship.
From circa 1989 ⋙ to 2255. Note: just Caleb’s ship.

INDEXER NOTES (SPOILERS!)

Release—The <a href='http%3A%2F%2Fwww.isfdb.org%2Fcgi-bin%2Fpl.cgi%3F417436'>ITTDb</a> lists a November 1989 release date, but <a href='https%3A%2F%2Fsecureservercdn.net%2F50.62.89.79%2Fqvx.ee0.myftpupload.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F01%2FNRW-complete-original-print-through-2020.pdf'>Roberts’s own site</a> and <a href='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fwork%2Feditions%2F1398331-time-was'>Goodreads</a> both list December.
Hungarian title—Egyszer volt<samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp> is the first half of the phrase Egyszer volt, hol nem volt<samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp>, which is literally something like “There once was, there once wasn’t<samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp>” (used idiomatically like “Once upon a time<samp><samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp></samp> ”). Or if you prefer, there is the <a href='https%3A%2F%2Flinguaphiles.livejournal.com%2F1927927.html'>commonly used longer version</a>: Egyszer volt, hol nem volt, az üveghegyen is túl, ahol a kurtafarkú malac túr, volt egyszer egy<samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp> (“Once upon a time, beyond the glass mountain, where the short-tailed pig digs [for food], there was a<samp> <samp>. . .</samp></samp>”). See also the Hungarian Part 2 of Roberts’ duology, <a href='2118'><samp><samp>. . .</samp></samp> Hol nem volt</a>.