John Kessel

writer
Novelette

The Pure Product

A cynical sociopath from the future goes on a crime spree (sometimes with random blood, sometimes with trite tripping on his future drugs) across 20th-century North America. —Michael Main
“I said, have you got something going,” she repeated, still with the accent—the accent of my own time.
Black-and-white illustration or photograph of a screaming bald man behind a steering wheel.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Novelette

Invaders

The story tells us of two sets of invaders—the 16th-century Spaniard Pizarro, who violently invaded the Incan Empire, and the Krel, who economically and culturally invaded 21st-century Earth—and we briefly hear of one man’s use of Krel tech to travel from the 21st century to the 16th. —Michael Main
Sf is full of this sort of thing, from the power fantasy of the alienated child to the alternate history where Hitler is strangled in his cradle and the Library of Alexandria is saved from the torch.
A long USA spaceship, named the SS Orion and resembling a large sea cruiseship, approaches a green and brown planet.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Short Story

The Moment Universe Stories 1

Some Like It Cold

Sure, others have pulled that 20th century actress forward to make modern films with spectacular failure, each attempt spawning a branch universe unconnected to the 21st century of time traveler Det Gruber, but none of the others took into account the psychological factors in the way that Det’s employers have done. —Michael Main
She may be a wreck, but she wants to be here. Not like Paramount’s version.
A naked child sits beside a robot dog with the moon in the background.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Novelette

The Moment Universe Stories 2

The Miracle of Ivar Avenue

  • by John Kessel
  • in Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Antholgy , edited by John Kessel et al., January 1996
In 1949 Los Angeles, Detective Lee Kinlaw has writer/director Preston Sturges down in the morgue. The only problem is that Sturges is still alive and well in Hollywood. —Michael Main
It’s a transmogrifier. A device that can change anyone into anyone else. I can change General MacArthur into President Truman, Shirley Temple into Marilyn Monroe.
Three patterned rectangles sit below the title of the Intersections anthology.
  • Eloi Honorable Mention
  • Science Fiction
  • Mystery and Crime
  • Definite Time Travel
Novel

The Moment Universe Stories 3

Corrupting Dr. Nice

Take a pair of time-hopping con artists looking for their next mark. Add a naïve and incredibly rich young scientist waiting to be fleeced. Stir together in the volatile political atmosphere of Roman-occupied Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion. The result: a wickedly entertaining blend of screwball comedy and biting social satire from one of science fiction’s most honored authors. —based on publicity material
The audacity of his snatching the first dinosaur out of the Cretaceous will draw the ire of every protect-the-past radical in the Northern Hemisphere.
A greenish-grey T. Rex gaps out of lush greenery.
  • Science Fiction
  • Comedy
  • Definite Time Travel
Novelette

Moment Universe Stories 4

It’s All True

About five years after the first two Moment Universe stories, time traveling talent scount Det Gruber heads to 1942 in hopes of recruiting young, bitter Orson Welles to accompany him back to the future. —Michael Main
Welles clenched his fists. When he spoke it was in a lower tone. “Life is dark.”
An abstract design in red, orange, and yellow, perhaps suggesting paper rolling through a press.
  • Eloi Bronze Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel