Anno 7603

Literal: The year 7603

by Johan Herman Wessel

After lovers Julie and Leander wonder how the world would be if each other had the better qualities of the opposite gender, the fairy Feen takes them forward in time to see the effects that raising children in just that way has had.

Although the play is universally reviled for a lack of literary aspirations, it has developed a bit of a cult following as perhaps the earliest example of social science fiction (don’t pay attention to the fairy behind the curtain) and human time travel!

— Michael Main

Now my children! You wish to remake each other? Julie, you want your lover transformed into a more tender companion? And you Leander, you would rather that your Julie had a more aggressive bearing?

[ex=bare]Anno 7603 | The year 7603[/ex] by Johan Herman Wessel (Unpreformed play, 1781).

Rip Van Winkle

by Washington Irving

Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it's twenty years since he went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard of since,—

“Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., No. 1 (C. S. Van Winkle, June 1819).

An Anachronism, or Missing One’s Coach

[writer unknown]

A man, waiting for a coach in Newcastle, finds himself taken through time and face to face with Saint Bede, whereupon a philosophical conversation about time and the future ensues.

— Michael Main

It must suffice then to say that, at the point where I come again into perfect possession of my consciousness, the venerable monk and I were conferring, in an easy manner, upon various points connected with his age, or with mine, and both of us having a clear understanding, and perfect recollection of the fact, that, at this same moment, he was actually living in the eighth century, and I as truly in the nineteenth; nor did this trifing difference of a thousand years or more—this break, as geologists would call it—this fault in the strata of time—perplex either of us a whit; any more than two friends are molested by the circumstance of their happening to encounter each other just as they arrive from opposite hemispheres.

“An Anachronism; or, Missing One’s Coach” [writer unknown], in The Dublin University Magazine, June 1838.

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

According to my Grandpa Main’s notes (which formed the basis of the first version of the ITTDB), he struggled with what he called the Carol Question as long ago as 1916. Is there actual travel through time in “A Christmas Carol” or not? It’s easy to see why the Carol Question is central to the ITTDB. On the one hand, Scrooge does take a clear trip to the past:

They walked along the road, Scrooge recognising every gate, and post, and tree; until a little market-town appeared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their backs, who called to other boys in country gigs and carts, driven by farmers. All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it!

Now if that’s not time travel, what is? Ah . . . “Not so fast!” says Ghost!

“These are but shadows of the things that have been,” said the Ghost. “They have no consciousness of us.”

Even Ghost Himself admits there’s no interaction with the past. Observation is permitted, but not interaction. They might as well be watching a movie! In general, if you can’t interact with the past and the past can’t see you, then there’s no actual time travel!

Fair enough, but what about Future Ghost? Isn’t He bringing information from the future to Scrooge? Transfer of information from the future to the past may be boring compared to people-jumping, but it is time travel, so the Carol must be granted membership in the list after all, don’t you think? Ah, not so fast again! At one point, Scrooge asks a pertinent question:

“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”

The answer is critical to whether time travel occurs. The difference between things that May Be and things that Will Be is like the difference between Damon Knight and Doris Day: Both are quite creative, but (as far as I know) there’s only one you go to for a rousing time travel yarn. Future Ghost never clear answers the question, and moreover, Scrooge appears intent on not having the future he sees come true. So, I want to say that Scrooge saw only a prediction or a prophecy or a vision of a possible future—which is, at best, debatable time travel.

Thus speaketh the ITTDB.

— Michael Main

If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.

A Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens (Chapman and Hall, December 1843).

A Tale of the Ragged Mountains

by Edgar Allan Poe

A sick man tells of a walk he took in November of 1845 only to find himself in a pitched battle in 1780 Calcutta, but Dr. Templeton, who listens to the story, already knows how it turns out.

— Michael Main

Busied in this, I walked on for several hours, during which the mist deepened around me to so great an extent that at length I was reduced to an absolute groping of the way. And now an indescribable uneasiness possessed me—

“A Tale of the Ragged Mountains” by Edgar Allan Poe, in Godey’s Lady’s Book, April 1844.

An Uncommon Sort of Spectre

by Edward Page Mitchell

On the 1352 evening of the birth of quadruplets sons to the baroness of a Rhine castle, the baron himself entertains a traveler with memories of the coming 80 years.

— Michael Main

For you allow that, while ghosts out of the future are unheard of, ghosts from the past are not infrequently encountered.

“An Uncommon Sort of Spectre” by Edward Page Mitchell, New York Sun, 30 March 1879.

An Inhabitant of Carcosa

by Ambrose Bierce

The ghost of a man from the ancient, fictional city of Carcosa seems destined to wander the city’s ruins, meeting wildlife and perhaps one even older ghost. Although we detected no definitive time phenomena, the time frame of the story is nebulous and intriguing, and the city’s mythos provided a fertile ground for 20th-century writers including Robert W. Chambers, H. P. Lovecraft, and George R. R. Martin.

— Michael Main

In one kind of death the spirit also dieth, and this it hath been known to do while yet the body was in vigour for many years. Sometimes, as is veritably attested, it dieth with the body, but after a season is raised up again in that place where the body did decay.

“An Inhabitant of Carcosa” by Ambrose Bierce, in the San Francisco Newsletter and California Advertiser, 25 December 1886.

Le Horla

English release: The Horla Literal: The What’s-Out-There

by Guy de Maupassant

A supernatural being—or possibly an alien, although probably not a time traveler—haunts the narrator’s house, driving him to possessed and murderous state.

— Michael Main

On dirait que l’air invisible est plein d’inconnaissables Puissances dont nous subissons le voisinage mystérieux.

One might almost say that the air, the invisible air, is full of unknowable Forces, whose mysterious presence we have to endure.

English

[ex=bare]“Le Horla” | The What’s-Out-There[/ex] by Guy de Maupassant, in Le Horla (G. Chamerot pour Paul Ollendorff, May 1887).

Sylvie and Bruno

by Lewis Carroll

Alice told us, “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” But Lewis Carroll’s lesser known characters have no such injunction against time traveling. Near the end of the first volume of Sylvie and Bruno, the Professor—who is a sometimes tutor for the royal children Sylvie and Bruno—produces his Outlandish watch that controls time and permits backward time travel up to a full month.

Alas, the Outlandish watch doesn’t play much of a role in the story. Lewis Carroll tries to use it to avert a bicycle accident, and indeed the accident is annihilated, but only temporarily until the time when the watch was first set backward reoccurs. At that point, all is once again as it was with the bicyclist in a lump on the ground.

— Michael Main

“It goes, of course, at the usual rate. Only the time has to go with it. Hence, if I move the hands, I change the time. To move them forwards, in advance of the true time, is impossible: but I can move them as much as a month backwards—that is the limit. And then you have the events all over again—with any alterations experience may suggest.”

“What a blessing such a watch would be,” I thought, “in real life! To be able to unsay some heedless word—to undo some reckless deed! Might I see the thing done?”

“With pleasure!” said the good natured Professor. “When I move this hand back to here,” pointing out the place, “History goes back fifteen minutes!”

Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll (Macmillan, December 1889).

Christmas Every Day

by W. D. Howells

A papa tells his little girl about another little girl who asks the Christmas Fairy to make it Christmas every day. She gets her wish, but is it time travel? Probably not in this case since they all continue to live through the year with December 26 being Christmas and Dec 27 being Christmas and December 28 being Christmas. . . And yet, we include it in the ITTDB simple because Howells’ story was the departure point for endless repeating-holiday stories in future years.

— Michael Main

After a while turkeys got to be awfully scarce, selling for about a thousand dollars apiece. They got to passing off almost anything for turkeys—even half-grown hummingbirds. And cranberries—well they asked a diamond apiece for cranberries. All the woods and orchards were cut down for Christmas trees. After a while they had to make Christmas trees out of rags. But there were plenty of rags, because people got so poor, buying presents for one another, that they couldn't get any new clothes, and they just wore their old ones to tatters. They got so poor that everybody had to go to the poorhouse, except the confectioners, and the storekeepers, and the book-sellers, and they all got so rich and proud that they would hardly wait upon a person when he came to buy. It was perfectly shameful!

“Christmas Every Day” by W. D. Howells, in Christmas Every Day and Other Stories Told for Children (Harper Brothers, 1892).

The Green Door

by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Young Letitia Hopkins, orphaned and ungratefully living with her great-great-aunt, is told to never even think about going through the little green door at the back of the house—a door that doesn’t seem to lead anywhere because there no egress on the outside where the door should come out. So, of course (this being a proper morality tale), Letitia goes through the door first chance she gets, and finds herself among Injuns and her own ancestors.

I’ve seen many references to the 1910 release of The Green Door in a slim volume (Illus. in color. Moffat Yard. 75 cents net.), but a 1911 review in the New York Times indicates that the story was first published “in a periodical some eighteen years ago.” I haven’t tracked down what that periodical was, so for now I’ll just list the story as being from 1893. I see that the story also appeared a few years later in the Times itself (13 Apr 1896). The wilkinsfreeman.org site lists the 1896 publication as the first, but that contradicts the later Times review.

— Michael Main

It seemed awful, and impossible, but the little green door led into the past, and Letitia Hopkins was visiting her great-great-great-grandfather and grandmother, great-great-grandmother, and her great-great-aunts.

“The Green Door” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (unknown release details, circa 1893).

The Demoiselle D’Ys

by Robert W. Chambers

Philip, an American who becomes lost hiking in Brittany, finds himself in the company of the winsome young Jeanne who hunts on the moors and speaks the old French language of falconry that nowadays is found only in yellowed manuscripts.

— Michael Main

Suddenly a splendid hound dashed out of the mist in front, followed by another and another until half-a-dozen or more were bounding and leaping around the girl beside me. She caressed and quieted them with her gloved hand, speaking to them in quaint terms which I remembered to have seen in old French manuscripts.

“The Demoiselle D’Ys” by Robert W. Chambers, in The King in Yellow (F. Tennyson Neely, 1895).

The Oldest Worship in the World: A Restoration

by Cutcliffe Hyne

A man on Minorea takes an unknown powder in his drink and finds himself traveling back through various wars, sieges and pirate attacks, eventually landing in a time of a prehistoric clan whose king sacrifices men to his heavenly beings.

Windsor was a far-reaching British magazine with short fiction and serials from all genres, interviews, science and other articles (such as Walter George Bell’s article about asteroids in the Nov 1897 issue), wonderful illustrations, and even photographs.

A thought seized me that by virtue of the powder I had grown backward through all the lifetimes of men, and was alone on the island with nothing but the brutes and the birds.

“The Oldest Worship in the World: A Restoration” by Cutcliffe Hyne, in The Windsor Magazine, November 1897.

A Relic of the Pliocene

by Jack London

Neither our narrator Thomas Stevens nor the mighty hunter Nimrod realized that the modern-day mammoth of this story arrived in the frozen north via time travel, but why else would F&SF have reprinted the story some 42 years after London’s passing?

— Michael Main

I pardon your ignorance concerning many matters of this Northland, for you are a young man and have travelled little; but, at the same time, I am inclined to agree with you on one thing. The mammoth no longer exists. How do I know? I killed the last one with my own right arm.

“A Relic of the Pliocene” by Jack London, in Collier’s, 12 January 1901.

Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost

by J.C. Buckstone, directed by Walter R. Booth

The surviving footage of this first silent film of A Christmas Carol—nearly three and a half minutes at the British Film Institute—has no dialogue cards, but does include intertitles at the start of each scene, including one that makes it clear that Scrooge sees only visions of the past with no interactions (and thus, no actual time travel. The few seconds of the Christmas “that might be” is not enough to tell whether it’s also a mere vision. I enjoyed the special effects, possibly made with double exposures (note the convenient black curtain).

— Michael Main

Scene II
Marley’s Ghost
shows Scrooge Visions of himself in
christmasses past

Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost by J.C. Buckstone, directed by Walter R. Booth (unknown release details, November 1901).

The Amulet

by E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit’s Five Children and It about five English children and their wish-granting Psammead never engaged me as a child, nor did her sequels: The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), and finally The Amulet, which was the only one with time travel. In that third story, the eponymous magic amulet takes them to times that span from ancient Egypt to the future. It was only the amulet that had the power of time travel, and even if I never bonded much with Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and the baby, I do admire Nesbit for bringing time travel to children’s stories.

The story was initially serialized as The Amulet in twelve monthly issues of The Strand before the book was published in 1906 as The Story of the Amulet. Decades later, the children show up in a cameo in the fourth book of Edward Eager’s Tales of Magic series.

— Michael Main

Don’t you understand? The thing existed in the Past. If you were in the Past, too, you could find it. It’s very difficult to make you understand things. Time and space are only forms of thought.

The Amulet by E. Nesbit, serialized in Strand Magazine, April 1905 to March 1906.

Marooned in 1492, or Under Fortune’s Flag

by W. W. Cook

Two adventurers, Trenwyck and Blinkers, answer a strange ad and eventually find themselves stranded in 1492 without enough of the time-travel corn for the entire party to return, so they send Columbus into the future to procure more of the precious kernels.

Fantasy or science fiction? Nothing particularly scientific about the time travel method, but the presentation of the want ad for a party of courageous men convinced us to tag Cook’s yarn as both sf and fantasy.

— Michael Main

Wanted—A party of courageous men, experts in the various trades, to accompany a philanthropic gentleman on a mission of enlightenment to the Middle Ages. Single men only. References exchanged. An opportunity offers to construct anew the history of several benighted nations. If interested, call or write. Percival Tapscott, No. 198 Forty-Third Street.

Marooned in 1492, or Under Fortune’s Flag by W. W. Cook, serialized in Argosy, August to December 1905.

Puck of Pook’s Hill

by Rudyard Kipling

Puck is an elf who magicks people from the past to tell their stories to two children in England.

These first ten Puck stories were published in British version of The Strand Magazine from January through October of this year. In the states, the first four stories appeared simultaneously in The Ladies’ Home Journal. All ten stories along with sixteen poems were published together in the 1906 collection, Puck of Pook’s Hill.

“Weland’s Sword” The Strand, Jan 1906
“Young Men at the Manor” The Strand, Feb 1906
“The Knights of the Joyous Venture” The Strand, Mar 1906
“Old Men at Pevensey” The Strand, Apr 1906
“A Centurion of the Thirtieth” The Strand, May 1906
“On the Great Wall” The Strand, Jun 1906
“The Winged Hats” The Strand, Jul 1906
“Hal o’ the Draft” The Strand, Aug 1906
“Dimchurch Flit” The Strand, Sep 1906
“The Treasure and the Law” The Strand, Oct 1906

Some of these stories were told by Puck himself rather than by historical figures. Puck told me that the first time-traveling storyteller was Sir Richard Dalyngridge in the second Puck story in the February Strand.

— Michael Main

‘But you said that all the fair—People of the Hills had left England.’

‘So they have; but I told you that you should come and go and look and know, didn’t I? The knight isn’t a fairy. He’s Sir Richard Dalyngridge, a very old friend of mine. He came over with William the Conqueror, and he wants to see you particularly.’

“Puck of Pook’s Hill” by Rudyard Kipling, in The Strand Magazine, February 1906 to October 1906.

The Road to Yesterday

by Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland

To me, the play had the feel of madcap antics in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest—but with time travel! In the play, a midsummer’s wish takes two travelers, Elspeth and Jack, from 1903 to their earlier incarnations of themselves in 1603. Happily, they return rather friendlier than they left.

— Michael Main

Oh, dear Aunt Harriet! It isn’t sudden—really not! We’ve been engaged three hundred years!

The Road to Yesterday by Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland, at Herald Square Theatre (New York City, 31 December 1906).

Harding’s Luck

by E. Nesbit

Lame and orphaned Dickie Harding has just fallen in with thieves when he’s first taken in by a kind woman (with a pony) and then wakes up in the time of James the First, where he does have some minor encounters with Edred and his sister from The House of Arden. But those encounters aren’t the real story. The real story is that in the past he’s definitely livin’ the life as some sort of royalty, not even lame! How’s he to decide which era to live in?

— Michael Main

He was very happy. There seemed somehow to be more room in this new life than in the old one, and more time. No one was in a hurry, and there was not another house within a quarter of a mile. All green fields. Also he was a person of consequence. The servants called him “Master Richard,” and he felt, as he heard them, that being called Master Richard meant not only that the servants respected him as their master’s son, but that he was somebody from whom great things were expected. That he had duties of kindness and protection to the servants; that he was expected to grow up brave and noble and generous and unselfish, to care for those who called him master. He felt now very fully, what he had felt vaguely and dimly at Talbot Court, that he was not the sort of person who ought to do anything mean and dishonorable, such as being a burglar, and climbing in at pantry windows; that when he grew up he would be expected to look after his servants and laborers, and all the men and women whom he would have under him—that their happiness and well-being would be his charge. And the thought swelled his heart, and it seemed that he was born to a great destiny. He—little lame Dickie Harding of Deptford—he would hold these people’s lives in his hand. Well, he knew what poor people wanted; he had been poor—or he had dreamed that he was poor—it was all the same. Dreams and real life were so very much alike.

Harding’s Luck by E. Nesbit, serialized in The Strand Magazine, January to November 1909.

The House of Arden

by E. Nesbit

Janet brought a copy of The House of Arden up to the ITTDB Citadel at Christmas in 2014, and we all sat around reading it to each other. In the story, Edred Arden, a nine-year-old poor orphan, unexpectedly discovers that he’s actually the next Lord Arden, but still penniless unless he and his sister can use a trunk of magic clothes to have adventures in past times and discover where the family treasure lies hidden—much like the time-traveling mechanism in Nesbit’s earlier The Story of Amulet. Also like Amulet, this story was initially serialized in The Strand before the book publication. A companion book, Harding’s Luck, appeared the following year.

In the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Clute connects the two books to the Fabian Society (named after the British socialists Fabian Society, which also included H.G. Wells) because “Nesbit’s consistent Fabian socialism is central to the version of British history’ presented in the books.

— Michael Main

Hear, Oh badge of Arden’s house,
The spell my little age allows;
Arden speaks it without fear,
Badge of Arden’s house, draw near,
Make me brave and kind and wise,
And show me where the treasure lies.

The House of Arden by E. Nesbit, serialized in The Strand Magazine, January to November 1908.

A Christmas Carol

[writer and director unknown]

Naturally, we have no interest in the fact that this is the first American film adaptation of the Dickens’ classic. None at all. We just want to know one thing: Does Scrooge actually travel through time in this one? According to a contemporaneous review in Moving Picture World:
[list]
[*] Looking into a fire, Scrooge sees a vision of his boyhood and his lost sweetheart, but does not (from the description) interact with them.[/*]
[*] Scrooge then follows the spirit to the homes of Cratchett and his nephew, but these sound to be in the present. He does, however, interact with each, showering them with money and promising to devote himself to the happiness of others.[/*]
[/list]
Based on this, the conclusion up in the ITTDB Citadel is that the 1908 version has no more than illusory time travel.

— Michael Main

A Christmas Carol [writer and director unknown] (at movie theaters, USA, 9 December 1908).

Rewards and Fairies

by Rudyard Kipling

Rewards and Fairies is the second Kipling collection of stories about the elf Puck and the people he magicked from the past to tell tales of history to the young twins, Dan and Una. The book appeared in 1910, but the stories themselves began in the September 1909 issue of The Delineator and the time travelin’ commenced with the arrival of the 17th-century astrologer/herbalist/plague-curer Nicholas Culpeper. The online scans of The Delineator are almost as much fun to read for the Ivory Soap ads as they are for Kipling.

“Cold Iron,” The Delineator, Sep 1909
“Gloriana,” The Delineator, Dec 1909
“The Wrong Thing,” The Delineator, Nov 1909
“Marklake Witches,” Rewards and Fairies, Oct 1910
“The Knife and the Naked Chalk,” Harper’s, Dec 1909
“Brother Square-Toes,” The Delineator, Jul 1910
“‘A Priest in Spite of Himself’,” The Delineator, Aug 1910
“The Conversation of St. Wilfrid,” The Delineator, Jan 1910
“A Doctor of Medicine,” The Delineator, Oct 1909
“Simple Simon,” The Delineator, Jun 1910
“The Tree of Justice,” The Delineator, Feb 1910

— Michael Main

‘Ah—well! There have been worse men than Nick Culpeper to take lessons from. Now, where can we sit that’s not indoors?’

‘In the hay-mow, next to old Middenboro,’ Dan suggested. ‘He doesn’t mind.’

“Rewards and Fairies” by Rudyard Kipling, in The Delineator, October 1906 to February 1910.

The Steps to Nowhere

by Grace Duffie Boylan

The Steps to Nowhere by Grace Duffie Boylan (Baker and Taylor, 1910).

The Steps to Nowhere

by Grace Duffie Boylan

Patty and Traddy Lee, the children of a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers who is suddenly sent to work on the Panama Canal, are unintentionally left on their own for a few weeks during which they run into a clock that runs backward and takes them to 17th century New York, Captain Kidd, parts unknown in Central America, and a kind of Neverland called the Land of the Vanished People,

— Michael Main

“Where you doin?” he asked, quite as though he had been accustomed to meeting old clocks on the stairs.

“I’m bound for yes-ter-day,” the clock replied. “Want to go to yes-ter-day?”

The Steps to Nowhere by Grace Duffie Boylan (Baker and Taylor, 1910).

Phantas

by Oliver Onions

Abel Keeling and Bligh are the only two mates remaining on board the sailing ship Mary of the Tower as she slips beneath the waves and possibly slips forward to the time of steam-powered ships.

— Michael Main

Listen. We’re His Majesty’s destroyer Seapink, out of Devonport last October, and nothing particular the matter with us. Now who are you?

“Phantas” by Oliver Onions, in Nash’s Magazine, February 1910.

The Cigarette Case

by Oliver Onions

Initially, I thought this story of the narrator and his pal Carroll in Provence was just a ghost story. After all, they wander off and meet a young woman and her aunt, whom the travelers later find out have been dead for years. Ghosts, right? After all, Oliver Onions is known for his ghost stories. Unless the travelers were actually in the ladies’ house of long ago, and proof of their visits surfaces.

— Michael Main

He paused, looking at my cigarette case, which he had taken into his hand again. He smiled at some recollection or other, and it was a minute or so before he continued.

“The Cigarette Case” by Oliver Onions, in Widdershins (Martin Secker, 1911).

Barsoom 1

A Princess of Mars

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

When I joined the Science Fiction Book Club in 1970, the Barsoom books were the first series I bought. I’d already read them at an earlier age, but how could I pass up the Frazetta covers? Now I admit there’s not much time travelin’ on Barsoom, so I won’t list all the books separately, but it seems to me that Captain John Carter traveled to a different Mars, either by traveling through time or traveling to a parallel universe.

— Michael Main

Yes, Dejah Thoris, I too am a prisoner; my name is John Carter, and I claim Virginia, one of the United States of America, Earth, as my home; but why I am permitted to wear arms I do not know, nor was I aware that my regalia was that of a chieftain.

Barsoom by Edgar Rice Burroughs, serialized in All-Story, February to July 1912.

Accessory Before the Fact

by Algernon Blackwood

An English man on a walking holiday experiences a short time in another man’s future and struggles with the ethics of whether and how to deliver a warning to that other man.

Although the method of time travel is fantasy, the man’s struggles with the ethics of time travel put the story soundly in the realm of foundational science fiction.

— Michael Main

He had been an eavesdropper, and had come upon private information of a secret kind that he had no right to make use of, even that good might come—even to save life.

“Accessory Before the Fact” by Algernon Blackwood, in The Westminster Gazette, 23 February 1914.

Out of the Miocene

by John Charles Beecham

When Bruce Dayton wanders off the trails in the high plains of the American Southwest, he stumbles upon an old-timer who sends Bruce’s mind back to Miocene times and into the body of an apeman who had an earlier usage of the same soul as Bruce.

— Michael Main

We are atoms in two oceans, time and space. Walk from here to the forest yonder, and your corporal self passes through a portion of space. Each moment you live you pass through a portion of the ocean of time. But the progression is only one way—for the corporal body. With the spirit it is different. Time has no boundaries for it. Out of the infinite, into the infinite, it comes and it goes. It is one with the Eternal. Therein Moses was right.

Out of the Miocene by John Charles Beecham, serialized in the Popular Magazine, 23 August and 1 October 1914.

Enoch Soames: A Memory of the Eighteen-Nineties

by Max Beerbohm

Beerbohm (then an undergraduate at Oxford) feels something near to reverence toward the Catholic diabolist Enoch Soames, seeing as how the man from Preston has published one book of stories and has another book of poems forthcoming, but over time, Enoch himself becomes more and more morose and unsatisfied that he shall never see his own work appreciated in future years.

— Michael Main

A hundred years hence! Think of it! If I could come back to life THEN—just for a few hours—and go to the reading-room and READ! Or, better still, if I could be projected now, at this moment, into that future, into that reading-room, just for this one afternoon! I'd sell myself body and soul to the Devil for that!

“Enoch Soames: A Memory of the Eighteen-Nineties” by Max Beerbohm, in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, May 1916.

The Sense of the Past

by Henry James

When the last of the English Pendrels dies and leaves a London estate house to American Ralph Pendrel, the young Pendrel travels to England and finds himself inhabiting the body of an even earlier Pendrel. Unfortunately, when Henry James himself died, that’s as far as he’d gotten in writing the book, although the posthumous publication included James’s notes on the conclusion—plenty enough to inspire a litany of followers from countless versions of Berkeley Square to H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Out of Time.”

— Michael Main

He clung to his gravity, which somehow steadied him—so odd it was that the sense of her understanding wouldn’t be abated, which even a particular lapse, he could see. . .

The Sense of the Past by Henry James (W. Collins Sons, 1917).

Draft of Eternity

by Victor Rousseau

After taking cannabis, Dr. Clifford Pal awakens thousands of years in the future when America has been conquered by the Yuki, whereupon he falls in love with a princess, starts a revolution, and drinks more cannabis to return to the twentieth century.

— Michael Main

Draft of Eternity by Victor Rousseau, serialized in All-Story Weekly, 1 June to 22 June 1918.

The Time Professor

by Ray Cummings

Professor Waning Glory takes his new friend Tubby on a trip in a boat that stays always at 9 p.m. in a lofty time-river of some sort, starting at Coney Island, then Chicago, then Denver, and farther west. The professor is able to briefly stop the boat above Chicago, where time for those below stays frozen at 9 p.m., and when their boat crosses the 180° meridian, they travel back a day. Eventually, they arrive back at their starting point on Coney Island, where it is still 9 p.m.

— Michael Main

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

“The Time Professor” by Ray Cummings, in Argosy, 1 January 1921.

If

by Lord Dunsany

John Beal, a London businessman, is given a magic crystal that allows him to go back in time and change one act; he is happy with his current life, so he decides to merely go back to catch a train that he was annoyed about missing ten years ago—but the resulting changes are more than he ever expected.

This is the earliest story that I’ve seen where the hero goes back into his earlier body and relives something differently. Some of the later stories of this kind have no actual time travel, but merely give knowledge of an alternate timeline (e.g., Asimov’s “What If?”); others live out the two timelines in parallel (e.g., the 1998 movie Sliding Doors, also set in motion by a missed/caught train); and some, like If, are couched in terms of time travel (e.g., the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married).

— Michael Main

He that taketh this crystal, so, in his hand, at night, and wishes, saying ‘At a certain hour let it be’; the hour comes and he will go back eight, ten, even twelve years if he will, into the past, and do a thing again, or act otherwise than he did. The day passes; the ten years are accomplished once again; he is here once more; but he is what he might have become had he done that one thing otherwise.

If by Lord Dunsany, at the Ambassadors’ Theatre (London, 30 May 1921).

The Worm Ouroboros

by E. R. Eddison

For the most part, the story is a high fantasy in which three chiefs of Demonland—Lord Juss, Spitfire, and Brandoch Daha—embark on a heroic quest to rescue the fourth lord from his imprisonment in the mountains of Impland. However, at the end, Queen Sophonisba undertakes a resolution to the final problem that could well involve time travel.

— Michael Main

Lord, it is an Ambassador from Witchland and his train. He craveth present audience."

The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison (Jonathan Cape, 1922).

Felix the Cat Trifles with Time

[writer unknown], directed by Otto Messmer

Perhaps the first time travel in a theatrically released cartoon is Felix in “Trifles with Time,” where the silent, surreal cat negotiates with Father Time for a trip to a better age. After appropriate payment, Father Time obliges and Felix goes back to a stone age with dinosaurs.

— Michael Main

A cat can’t live nowadays—turn me back to a better age, just for a day.

Felix the Cat Trifles with Time [writer unknown], directed by Otto Messmer (at movie theaters, USA, 23 August 1925).

The Road to Yesterday

by Jeanie MacPherson, Beulah Marie Dix, and Howard Hawks, directed by Cecille B. DeMille

Bickering newlyweds Kenneth and Malena Paulton are thrown back to previous lives in Elizabethan England where they are a knight and a gypsy. The film is loosely based on the earlier play of the same name by Dix and Sutherland.

Safety note: Do not attempt this movie’s method of creating a timeslip—via a fiery train crash—at home.

— Michael Main

I know I love you, Ken! But today—during the marriage service—something seemed to reach out of the Past that made me—afraid!

The Road to Yesterday by Jeanie MacPherson, Beulah Marie Dix, and Howard Hawks, directed by Cecille B. DeMille (at movie theaters, USA, 15 November 1925).

The Jest of Hahalaba

by Lord Dunsany

Against the advice of his alchemist, Sir Arthur calls up the Spirit of Laughter on New Year’s Eve and asks to see the coming year’s issues of the Times.

— Michael Main

Sir Arthur Strangways: Only a trifle. I wish to see a file of the Times.
Hahalaba:For what year?

The Jest of Hahalaba by Lord Dunsany, unknown first performance, circa 1926.

Berkeley Square

by John L. Balderston and Jack C. Squire

Based on Henry James’s The Sense of the Past, Balderston’s play follows modern-day American Peter Standish who exchanges place with his American Revolution ancestor. Leslie Howard starred in the 1929 Broadway run. Some sources list Jack C. Squire as a coauthor.

[The same room, at the same time, on the same day, in 1928. Most of the furniture remains, but the tone of time has settled upon it, and there are some changes.]

Berkeley Square by John L. Balderston and Jack C. Squire, at St. Martin’s Theatre (London, 6 October 1926).

The Assault on Milagro Castle

by J. M. Hiatt

The narrator, visiting Count Ramon Nuñez in Spain hears a story of a group of attacking Moors who simply disappeared 700 years ago, a story he doesn't believe until the same group reappears and continues the attack.

“The Assault on Milagro Castle” by J. M. Hiatt, in Weird Tales, November 1926.

The Burning Ring

by Katharine Burdekin

In the decade before Tolkien, Derbyshire author Katharine Burdekin wrote of young Robert Carling who had a magic ring of his own, a ring that took him to ancient Rome, the age of Charles II, and the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The Burning Ring by Katharine Burdekin (Thornton Butterworth, 1927).

The Strange Inventor: A Curious Adventure Story

by Mark Powell Hyde

Young Johnny Devlin falls in with Mr. Merlin who first sends him on adventures with various inventions, then sends him to Arthurian England (where Mr. Merlin is Merlin), and finally sends him to the future (where Mr. Merlin rules the world).

The Strange Inventor: A Curious Adventure Story by Mark Powell Hyde (Doubleday, Page, 1927).

The Dancing Cavalier

by Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, and Kathy Selden, directed by Roscoe Dexter

Of course, this early talkie shouldn't be in our list because the writer himself—as Cosmo Brown—says it’s all just a dream, but when one of our correspondents pointed out that none other than Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont starred in The Dancing Cavalier (née The Dueling Cavalier), we couldn’t resist. Note: Lina Lamont’s voice was dubbed over by writer Kathy Selden, but due to Lamont’s underhanded ploys, Selden went uncredited in the original release.

— Dora Bailey

How’s this? We throw a modern section into the picture. The hero’s a young hoofer in a Broadway show, right? Now he sings and he dances, right? But one night backstage, he’s reading A Tale of Two Cities, in between numbers, see? And a sandbag falls and hits him on the head, and he dreams he’s back during the French Revolution, right? Well, this way we get in the modern dancing numbers—♫Charleston, Charleston♫—but in the dream part, we can still use the costume stuff!

The Dancing Cavalier by Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, and Kathy Selden, directed by Roscoe Dexter (premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California early May 1928).

The Rebel Passion

by Katharine Burdekin

Twelfth-century monk Giraldus of Glastonbury, a man with the soul of a woman, is taken by a Child of God to see the epochs of time starting with the emergence of man from primeval slime and continuing through 21st-century Britain where women have equal rights, unfit people are sterilized, and dark-skinned people have been relocated out of Europe. By the fourth millennium, this muddled book shows an all-Christian Europe of happy people.

The Rebel Passion by Katharine Burdekin (Thornton Butterworth, 1929).

Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle

The Silver Key

by H. P. Lovecraft

“The Silver Key” by H. P. Lovecraft, Weird Tales, January 1929.

The Heat Wave

by Marion Ryan and Robert Ord

Two stories, millennia apart, connected by office worker Paul Feron in a 20th-century New York heatwave and Roman gladiator Ferronius in a heatwave of his own. Time travel? Or a dream?

— Michael Main

A dazzling streak of lightning, a mighty clap of thunder, and Paul Feron, suddenly awakened, sprang to his feet with white face and staring eyes. What had happened? God, what had happened?

“The Heat Wave” by Marion Ryan and Robert Ord, in Munsey’s Magazine, April 1929.

The Royal Four-Flusher

by Arthur Hurley, directed by Murray Roth

Sadly, I haven’t found a copy of this short talkie from Columbia. It may have time travel, but I think it’s unlikely because the hero is transported to a land of kings and queens and fair maidens, which from its description, seems like a fantasyland more than a point in our timeline.

— Michael Main

♫ I hate to think what might have been if we had never met. . . ♫ —lyric from “Here We Are” written by Gus Kahn [lyrics] and Harry Warren [music]

The Royal Four-Flusher by Arthur Hurley, directed by Murray Roth (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 7 May 1930).

The Uncharted Isle

by Clark Ashton Smith

A man, adrift in the Pacific, washes up on an island where none of the men (or the giant ape) see or interact with him, which leads him to conclude that part of him is in the bygone past.

Is there a part of the Pacific that extends beyond time and space—an oceanic limbo into which, by some unknowable cataclysm, that island passed in a bygone period, even as Lemuria sank beneath the wave? And if so, by what abrogation of dimensional laws was I enabled to reach the island and depart from it?

“The Uncharted Isle” by Clark Ashton Smith, in Weird Tales, November 1930.

Many Dimensions

by Charles Williams

Many Dimensions by Charles Williams (Gollancz, 1931).

Cthulhu Mythos

The Dreams in the Witch-House

by H. P. Lovecraft

“The Dreams in the Witch-House” by H. P. Lovecraft, Weird Tales, July 1933.

Turn Back the Clock

by Edgar Selwyn and Ben Jecht, directed by Edgar Selwyn

Turn Back the Clock by Edgar Selwyn and Ben Jecht, directed by Edgar Selwyn (at movie theaters, USA, 25 August 1933).

Berkeley Square

by Sonya Levien and John L. Balderston, directed by Frank Lloyd

Leslie Howard reprises his dual role of two Peter Standishes from the 1929 Broadway stage performance of Balderston’s Berkeley Square, which in turn was loosely based on Henry James’s unfinished novel The Sense of the Past. The timeslips result in 18th-century Peter exchanging places with his 20th-century version, and they occur via thunderstorms and an overpowering belief by present-day Peter that the house and a diary he found there are somehow calling him to the past.

— Michael Main

I believe that when I go back to my house at Berkeley Square at half past five tonight, I shall walk straight into the 18th century and meet the people living there.

Berkeley Square by Sonya Levien and John L. Balderston, directed by Frank Lloyd (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 13 September 1933).

Wind from the North

by Joseph O’Neill

Wind from the North by Joseph O’Neill (Jonathan Cape, 1934).

Lux Radio Theater [s:1e9]

Berkeley Square

|pending byline|

The long-running Lux Radio Theater (later renamed Hollywood Radio Theater to avoid commercial ties when it moved to the Armed Forces Radio Network) did productions of both Berkeley Square (with Leslie Howard reprising his movie role) and I’ll Never Forget You” (with Tyrone Power reprising his role). They also adapted other movies of interest such as the iconic The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Lux Radio Theater (s01e09), “Berkeley Square” |pending byline| (NBC Blue Network, USA, 9 December 1934).

Pre-Superman Comic Books

|pending byline|

Comic books didn’t really take off until the introduction of the Man of Steel in Action Comics 1 (Jun 1938). Before that, many comics were compilations of strips similar to the Sunday funnies, and some of these had time travel. The earliest series that I found was the story of Bobby and Binks, two kids who at first time traveled through a Magic Crystal of History and later just viewed past adventures through the crystal. They first appeared in DC’s first comic book publication, New Fun Comics #1, February 1935, by Adolphe Barreaux. As I find other such series, I’ll add them to my time-travel comic book page. So far, the pre-1939 titles I've found are:

Binks: Why—why—I can understand what they’re saying!

Bobby: So can I! It’s that magic crystal that did it!

“Pre-Superman Comic Books” |pending byline|, in New Fun Comics 1, February 1935.

Valley of the Rukh

by Harl Vincent

Pilot Stanley Kent and his client, spoiled authoress Ruth Owens, find themselves in a piece of Venus that’s been transported from the past, whereupon they have exciting adventures.

“Valley of the Rukh” by Harl Vincent, in Amazing, February 1935.

Time Found Again

by Mildred Cram

Bart Henderson hates his life in 1935, longing for a daughter without painted fingernails and curled coxcombs, a son without bloodshot eyes at the breakfast table, a wife less jaded. Then his army buddy visits and suggests that nothing is ever lost in time, and it might be possible for the human mind to tear off the veils and return to a time such as the 18th century that Bart longs for.

It was fun to see both the advertisements and the innovation of Cosmopolitan to publish a time-travel story by the prolific Mildred Cram in 1935. The style reminds me of later Jack Finney stories of the 50s.

He ran a few steps forward in the dark, stumbling. The syncopated, thudding hoofbeats broke rhythm, paused. . . And Bart Henderson found himself, in broad daylight, standing beside a fine carriage driven by a coachman in livery, drawn by two black horses with silver-trimmed harness.

“Time Found Again” by Mildred Cram, in Cosmopolitan, December 1935.

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

by Lajos Biró, directed by Lotar Medes and Alexander Kroda

The Man Who Could Work Miracles by Lajos Biró, directed by Lotar Medes and Alexander Kroda (at limited movie theaters, London, 23 July 1936).

The Once and Future King

by T. H. White

Merlyn, who experiences time backward, is the traveler in this series, which was introduced to me by Denbigh Starkey, my undergraduate advisor at WSU and later a member of my Ph.D. committee.

The first four short books in the series were collected (with a substantial cut and revision to #2) into a single volume, The Once and Future King, in 1958. A final part, The Book of Merlyn written in 1941, was published posthumously in 1971.

The Sword in the Stone, 1938 —Arthur is crowned
The Witch in the Wood, 1939, aka The Queen of Air and Darkness (cut and revised), 1958 —young King Arthur
The Ill-Made Knight (1940)—Sir Lancelot
The Candle in the Wind (1958)—the end of Camelot
The Book of Merlyn (1977)—the final battle with Mordred

EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY.

The Once and Future King by T. H. White (1938).

Fiction House Comics

by Thurman T. Scott

Fiction House was a major publisher of pulp magazines and comics through the 1950s. Their comics came out of a pulp tradition with stories of jungle heroes (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle), air aces (Wings Comics), westerns (Cowgirl Romances), science fiction (Planet Comics), and, of course, Jumbo Comics (Action! Adventure! Mystery!).

The first time travel that I tracked down here was an adventurer named Stuart Taylor who teamed with Dr. Hayward and his beautiful daughter Lora (later Laura) in many issues of Jumbo Comics. For me, it was exciting for two reasons: (1) It’s some of the earliest time travel in a comic book that I know of; (2) At least the first few stories were drawn by Jack King Kirby (as by Curt Davis). Time travel probably occurred in 1-4 (“The Experiment of Kromo”), as well as in 5-14, 17-78, 84-139, plus a reprint in 140. (Numbers 15-16 had no time travel; I think 79-83 are shorter, with no Stuart Taylor, and Stu disappeared after 140.)

Note: I should get The Complete Jack Kirby, Volume 1, which has the first three Kromo reprinted in black and white, to verify that they have time travel.>

Their science fiction comic, Planet Comics, had at least one bout of time travel when a chronoscope brought dinosaurs and such to The Lost World of heroes Hunt and Lyssa (Planet Comics 41, March 1946); it also short, 2-page stories, at least one of which was time travel (“Lost World of Time” in Planet Comics 7, July 1940).

My name is Stuart Taylor. Do you mind if I ask what seems a silly question! What year is this?

“Fiction House Comics” by Thurman T. Scott, in Jumbo Comics 1, September 1938.

The Ship That Flew

by Hilda Lewis

Four children and a ship—a time traveling ship, that is, which takes Peter Grace and his three siblings back to the time of ancient Egypt, Robin Hood, Norse gods, and more.

It was lovely in the magic ship, lovelier than any one could possibly have imagined. The wind sent their hair streaming backwards. Birds flew past with movements scarcely less graceful that those of the ship. The children sang for joy in the keen, fresh air. The song that they sang had no words, it just came out in trills and rhythms because they were so happy.

The Ship That Flew by Hilda Lewis (Oxford University Press, 1939).

Master Gerald of Cambray

by Nat Schachner

Unassuming Gerald Cambray, a professor of Latin at Harvard in 1939, has a dizzy spell and wakes in Paris of AD 1263 where his accent in speaking Latin is considered odd and his makeshift plan to earn a living by teaching astronomy brings dangers that even his brazen, swashbuckling young student, Guy of Salisbury, might be unable to forestall.

— Michael Main

“My subject,” he began, “is the science of astronomy. I am going to be frank. In my land and time . . . uh. . . that is—” Guy frowned. He had warned him against any mention of that insane delusion of his about having been catapulted back from a future age. But Cambray recovered himself. “What I meant is that there are far greater masters of this science where I come from. I am familiar only with the skirts of this knowledge. Yet what I have to say will be novel to you, and will doubtless upset many of your present concepts.”

“Master Gerald of Cambray” by Nat Schachner, in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, June 1939.

Arch Oboler’s Plays

by Arch Oboler

Arch Oboler was a prolific radio playwright from the mid-1930s, starting with NBC’s Lights Out radio show. One of the stories in the 1939 Arch Oboler’s Plays series was “And Adam Begot,” which told the story of two men and a woman thrown back into prehistoric times. The story appear in print in a 1944 anthology, was reprised for the 1951 Lights Out TV show, and formed the basis for a 1953 Steve Ditko story in the Black Magic comic book.

The young dramalist expects to face his biggest casting problem in filling the roles of the two Neanderthal men which he has written into “And Adam Begot.” He wants a voice, he explains, which will instantly suggest a cave-man to the radio listener. With that in mind, he conducted a survey of what people expect in a Neanderthal voice. “A cross-section of the answers,” Oboler says, “suggests a bass voiced prizefighter, talking double talk with his mouth full of hot potatoes.”

Arch Oboler’s Plays by Arch Oboler (9 September 1939).

A Traveller in Time

by Alison Uttley

While staying with her aunt in Derbyshire, sickly young Penelope Taberner Cameron is swept back to the sixteenth century where she is caught up in the Babington plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.

— Michael Main

I flung open the door, and I fell headlong down a flight of stairs. I had dropped into the corridor where I had seen the servants pass with their jugs and tankards. For some time I lay half-stunned with surprise, but unhurt, for I had fallen silently like a feather floating to the floor. I looked round at the door, but it had disappeared; I stared at the low whitewashed ceiling and the carved doorways, and I listened to the beating of my heart which was the only sound. Then life seemed to come to the world, distant shouts of men, the jingle of harness, and the lowing of cattle. A cock crew as if to wake the dead, and I sat up trying to remember. . . remember . . .

A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley (Faber and Faber, November 1939).

Portrait of Jennie

by Robert Nathan

In 1938, painter Eben Adams struggles to find his muse and put food on the table until a young girl named Jennie appears to him from some two decades earlier, beseeching him to wait for her. Over the next few months of visitations in Eben’s time, Jennie grows into her twenties, and Eben falls in love with his muse.

— Michael Main

Never before had it occurred to me to ask myself why the sun should rise each morning on a new day instead of upon the old day over again; or to wonder how much of what I did was really my own to do. It may be that here on this earth we are not grateful enough for our ignorance, and our innocence. We think that there is only one road, one direction—forward; and we accept it, and press on. We think of God, we think of the mystery of the universe, but we do not think about it very much, and we do not really believe that it is a mystery, or that we could not understand it if it were explained to us.

Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan (Alfred A. Knopf, 1940).

The Day Time Stopped

by Bradner Buckner

After pulling the trigger to commit suicide, Dave Miller finds that time has stopped for nearly the whole world. Only Dave, a dog, and Dr. Erickson remain animate—which would be a time stoppage story instead of time travel story except for that possible small jump at the end when the trio figure out how to break the spell.

The only way for us to try to get the machine working and topple ourselves one way or the other. If we fall back, we will all live. If we fall into the present—we may die.

“The Day Time Stopped” by Bradner Buckner, in Amazing, October 1940.

Johnny Cartwright’s Camera

by Nelson S. Bond

“Johnny Cartwright’s Camera” by Nelson S. Bond, Unknown Fantasy Fiction, November 1940.

The Crossroads

by L. Ron Hubbard

When the guvvermunt wants to pay depression-era farmer Eben Smith to plow his crops under, he has a different idea: take his goods to the city where he can barter them for wealth. But on the way, Eben and his trusty horse Lucy encounter an odd intersection of four roads, each with a people from a different disturbing future.

Then an oddity struck Eben. For the past few minutes that he had been on this intersection the sun had been at high noon! He put his tumb in his eye and peered at it accusingly and then because it was quite definitely the sun and obviously there, he shook his head and muttered:

“Never can tell what the goldurned guvvermunt is going to do next!”

“The Crossroads” by L. Ron Hubbard, in Unknown, February 1941.

Don’t Be a Goose

by Robert Arthur, Jr.

In the third of Murchison Morks’ tall tales at the gentlemen’s club, he tells of mathematics professor Alexander Peabody who discovers an equation that, if concentrated upon firmly, projects him back into the body of a goose at the time of a Celtic attack on Rome.

He was sure it would work. But when he confided his dreams to his sister Martha, she, woman-like, merely sniffed. She called him a goose.

“Don’t Be a Goose” by Robert Arthur, Jr., in Argosy, 3 May 1941.

Snulbug

by Anthony Boucher

In need of $10,000 to open a medical clinic, Bill Hitchens calls forth Snulbug, a one-inch high demon who likes the warmth in Bill’s pipe, and orders the demon to retrieve tomorrow’s newspaper and bring it back to today.

Then as soon as I release you from that pentacle, you’re to bring me tomorrow’s newspaper.

“Snulbug” by Anthony Boucher, in Unknown Worlds, December 1941.

Time Pussy

by Isaac Asimov

Mr. Mac tells of the troubles of trying to preserve the body of a four-dimensional cat.

‘Four-dimensional, Mr. Mac? But the fourth dimension is time.’ I had learned that the year before, in the third grade.

“Time Pussy” by Isaac Asimov, Astounding, April 1942 (as by George E. Dale).

The Ghost of Me

by Anthony Boucher

After Dr. John Adams is murdered, his ghost accidentally begins haunting some time before the murder occurred.

I’ve simply come back into time at the wrong point.

“The Ghost of Me” by Anthony Boucher, in Unknown, June 1942.

The Angelic Angleworm

by Fredric Brown

If Charlie Wills and you have patience, then Charlie will figure out what’s causing those strange occurrences (such as an angleworm turning into an angel) and you will figure out that angels can time travel.

We can drop you anywhere in the continuum.

“The Angelic Angleworm” by Fredric Brown, in Unknown, February 1943.

It Happened Tomorrow

by Dudley Nichols and René Clair, directed by René Clair

One day at the end of the 19th century, newspaperman Larry Stevens is given the gift of tomorrow’s newspaper by the ghost of the archive man, Pops Benson. That leads him to improve his position at the newspaper by scooping a story, but it also leads to trouble, more of tomorrow’s papers, and a romance with the alluring clairvoyant Sylvia.

So why do I count this as time travel when, for example, The Gap in the Curtain is not? The future newspapers in Gap never actually appeared, and it felt as if they were mere visions of a possible future, whereas we had no doubt that Larry holds an actual copy of tomorrow’s paper in his hands. And besides, It Happened Tomorrow had a great take on how events may be fated and yet, when accompanied by charming misunderstandings, lead to the unexpected.

Early Edition, one of my favorite TV shows, uses the same idea of tomorrow’s paper, but its creators said that the show was not based on this movie.

— Michael Main

But I’m afraid I’m going to end up at the St. George Hotel at 6:25 no matter where I go.

It Happened Tomorrow by Dudley Nichols and René Clair, directed by René Clair (premiered for the Allied Forces, Bougainville Island, New Guinea, 27 March 1944).

And Adam Begot

by Arch Oboler

I haven’t yet read this story, which came from Oboler’s 1939 radio play of the same name. It was later turned into a TV episode of Lights Out and was the basis of a Steve Ditko story in the Black Magic comic book (1953).

“And Adam Begot” by Arch Oboler, in Out of This World, edited by Julius Fast, Penguin Books (US, May 1944).

Mr. Lupescu

by Anthony Boucher

Time travel makes a cameo appearance in this story in which young Bobby tells his Uncle Alan about his godfather, Mr. Lupescu, who has a great big red nose, red gloves, red eyes, and little red wings that twitch.

But one of Mr. Lupescu’s friends, now, was captain of a ship, only it went in time, and Mr. Lupescu took trips with him and came back and told you all about what was happening this very minute five hundred years ago.

“Mr. Lupescu” by Anthony Boucher, in Weird Tales, September 1945.

The Silver Highway

by Harold Lawlor

Most likely, Lucy from 1905 is an ordinary ghost rather than a time traveling ghost, but she is confused by the forty years since her death in a brand new Pope-Hartford runabout, so who really knows? So, we’re calling it Debatable Time Travel™.

— Michael Main

She was dressed in a long linen duster and a linen hat, bound round with an emerald veil tied in a bow under her chin. Modish clothing for motoring—in 1905.

“The Silver Highway” by Harold Lawlor, Weird Tales, May 1946.

It’s a Wonderful Life

by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra, directed by Frank Capra

If it’s any time in December (and possibly November), just turn on the TV and this Christmas classic will show you an alternative past without George Bailey, but there’s no time travel to that past or any other—just viewing.

— Michael Main

Don’t you understand, George? It’s because you were never born.

It’s a Wonderful Life by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra, directed by Frank Capra (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 20 December 1946).

The Man Who Never Grew Young

by Fritz Leiber

Without knowing why, our narrator describes his life as a man who stays the same for millennia, even as others, one-by-one, are disinterred, slowly grow younger and younger.

The story is soft-spoken but moving, and for me, it was a good complement to T.H. White’s backward-time-traveler, Merlyn.

It is the same in all we do. Our houses grow new and we dismantle them and stow the materials inconspicuously away, in mine and quarry, forest and field. Our clothes grow new and we put them off. And we grow new and forget and blindly seek a mother.

“The Man Who Never Grew Young” by Fritz Leiber, in Night’s Black Agents as by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Arkham House, 1947).

Repeat Performance

by Walter Bullock, directed by Alfred L. Werker

After Sheila Page kills her husband in a fit of passion on New Year’s Eve, she wishes nothing other than to have the entire year back—if destiny will only let her.

— Michael Main

How many times have you said, “I wish I could live this year over again?” This is the story of a woman who did relive one year of her life.

Repeat Performance by Walter Bullock, directed by Alfred L. Werker (at movie theaters, USA, 22 May 1947).

The Timeless Tomorrow

by Manly Wade Wellman

Demoisell Anne Poins Genelle visits Nostradamus and witnesses one of his visions—children climbing into a series of long, wheeled structures with glass windows—and she promptly steps into the vision.

I enjoyed how he wrote out his visions in quatrains.

Within the Isles the children are transported,
The most of them despairing and forlorn,
Upon the soil their lives will be supported
While hope shall flee.. . .

“The Timeless Tomorrow” by Manly Wade Wellman, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1947.

The Monster

by Gerald Kersh

In April of 1947, a man makes a connection between a tattooed Japanese man and a monster that washed up in Brighton two centuries earlier.

I should never have taken the trouble to pocket his Account of a Strange Monster Captured Near Brighthelmstone in the County of Sussex on August 6th in the Year of Our Lord 1745.

“The Monster” by Gerald Kersh, in The Saturday Evening Post, 21 February 1948.

Portrait of Jennie

by Paul Osborn et al. , directed by William Dieterle

Unlike the original novella, only Eben can see Jennie, bringing up the possibility that she is but a ghost. The ghost theory is supported by her mild premonitions of their evenutal fate (which also differs in some ways from the novella), but we nevertheless hold out some hope that director (and the revolving cadre of five writers) intended the film to portray Jennie’s time travel.

— Michael Main

There’s something different about that child. I wondered if my pencil could catch it.

Portrait of Jennie by Paul Osborn et al. , directed by William Dieterle (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 25 December 1948).

La otra muerte

English release: The Other Death Literal: The other death

by Jorge Luís Borges

I’ve read many translated stories of Jorge Luis Borges, and many of those have surreal time elements, but this is the only one that I’ll deem to have time travel with a sophisticated branching universe, no less!

In the story, Borges himself tells of a man, Dom Pedro Damián, who first has a history as a soldier who lost his nerve at the 1904 Battle of Masoller and then lived out a long, quiet life. But after Damián dies some decades later, a second history appears in which the soldier was actually a dead hero at that very same battle, and no one remembers anything of the earlier life.

Motivated by the final part of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Borges argues that the only complete explanation involves God granting a death-bed wish to the 1946 Damián, allowing him to return to the 1904 battle, causing time to branch into two universal histories, the first of which is largely—but not wholly—suppressed.

In the fifth chapter of that treatise, Pier Damiani asserts—against Aristotle and against Fredegarius de Tours—that it is within God’s power to make what once was into something that has never been. Reading those old theological discussions, I began to understand Pedro Damiá’s tragic story.

[ex=bare]“La otra muerte” | The other death[/ex] by Jorge Luís Borges, in El Aleph (Editorial Losada, 1949).

Hallmark Playhouse

by James Hilton

Before TV’s Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS aired the half-hour Hallmark Playhouse on its radio networks. I spotted only one time-travel episode, the well-worn Berkeley Square, which aired on 3 Mar 1949.

An ancestor of mine built this house in 1730. See that picture there, above the fireplace? His father. Look at it.

Hallmark Playhouse by James Hilton.

Studio One

created by Fletcher Markle

Almost every week for a period of nearly eleven years (7 Nov 1948 to 29 Sep 1958), Studio One presented a black-and-white drama to CBS’s television audience. We can claim some of the TV plays as our own in the sf genre, and at least two included time travel (a “Berkeley Square” remake on 20 March 1949, and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” on 19 May 1952). One other sf connection comes from Studio One clips of William Shatner (in “The Defender,” 1957) which were used to portray a young Denny Crane in an episode of Boston Legal (“Son of the Defender,” 2007).

You’ve heard of the transmigration of soul; have you ever heard of the transposition of a man’s body in time and place?

Studio One created by Fletcher Markle.

The Man Who Could Turn Back the Clock

by Ralph Milne Farley

After a night in an isolated barn with a seductive woman, a man tries to explain his absence to his wife. It could be that Farley invented the choose-your-own-ending-story with this short parable.

Then the man saw that he had made a tactical mistake; so he turned back the clock a few minutes and tried the conversation over again.

“The Man Who Could Turn Back the Clock” by Ralph Milne Farley, in The Omnibus of Time (Fantasy Publishing, 1950).

The Man Who Lived Backward

by Malcolm Ross

Mark Selby, born in June of 1940, achieves a unique perspective on life and war and death due to the fact that he lives each day from morning to night, aging in the usual way, but the next morning he wakes up on the previous day until he eventually dies just after (or is it before?) Lincoln’s assassination.

Tomorrow, my tomorrow, is the day of the President’s death.

The Man Who Lived Backward by Malcolm Ross (Farrar Straus, 1950).

Friday, the Nineteenth

by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

Tired of his marriage, Donald Boyce begins exchanging the odd kiss and soft touch on the hand with his best friend’s wife Molly, all quite innocent until Friday, the nineteenth, when Molly proposes that they have a clandestine rendezvous on Saturday, the twentieth, throwing both of them into a continuous repeat of the nineteenth.

A well-written, early time-loop story, and also one of the first two time travel stories (along with “An Ounce of Prevention”) to appear in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

“I don’t want to go either. It’s been so wonderful,” she said, “this little time alone together. I love this funny little bar; I’ve loved every moment here. I wish today would never end.”

“Friday, the Nineteenth” by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Summer 1950.

The Third Level

by Jack Finney

A New York man stumbles upon a third underground level at Grand Central Station which is a portal to the past.

This is the first of Finney’s many fine time-travel stories.

I turned toward the ticket windows knowing that here—on the third level at Grand Central—I could buy tickets that would take Louisa and me anywhere in the United States we wanted to go. In the year 1894.

“The Third Level” by Jack Finney, in Collier’s, 7 October 1950.

The Gauntlet

by Ronald Welch

When young Peter Staunton stumbles upon an old iron gauntlet and tries it on, he finds himself back in 1326 Wales among knights, ladies, and jousts.

Peter gazed at it in silence. His head was feeling oddly numb, and the mist seemed to swirl around him with redoubled speed and thickness. Hardly realizing what he was doing, he slipped his right hand inside the heavy gauntlet, and this fingers groped inside the wide spaces, for it was far too large for his small hand.

From behind there came the thud of hooves, a shout, shrill and defiant, the clang of metal on metal, and then a confused roar of sounds, shouts, more hoof-beats, clang after clang, dying away into the distance as suddenly as they had come. The gauntlet slipped from Peter’s hand, and he shook himself as if he had just awakened.

The Gauntlet by Ronald Welch (Oxford University Press, 1951).

Narnia 2

Prince Caspian

by C. S. Lewis

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (Geoffrey Bles, 1951).

Lights Out

by Fred Coe

I wonder whether Lights Out was the earliest sf anthology TV show. The first four episodes were live broadcasts on New York’s WNBT-TV (NBC) starting on 3 Jun 1946. It was renewed by NBC for three seasons of national broadcast starting 26 Jul 1949, and I spotted at least two time-travel episodes. Some episodes have found their way to Youtube, although I watched “And Adam Beget” on Disk 5 of the Netflix offering. I haven’t yet listened to any of the earlier radio broadcasts.

The episode “And Adam Beget” came from a 1939 radio episode of Arch Oboler’s Plays, and it formed the basis for a 1953 Steve Ditko story, “A Hole in His Head,” in the Black Magic comic book.

You don’t understand. Look at the short, hairy, twisted body—the neck bent, the head thrust forward, those enormous brows, the short flat nose. . .

Lights Out by Fred Coe.

Quit Zoomin’ Those Hands Through the Air

by Jack Finney

Grandpa is over 100 now, so surely his promise to General Grant no longer binds him to keep quiet about a time-travel expedition and a biplane.

Air power in the Civil War? Well, it’s been a pretty well-kept secret all these years, but we had it. The Major and me invented it ourselves.

“Quit Zoomin’ Those Hands Through the Air” by Jack Finney, in Collier’s, 4 August 1951.

The House in the Square

by Ranald MacDougall and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, directed by Roy Ward Baker

John Balderston’s play Berkeley Square is updated to the 1950s where Peter Standish, now an atomic scientist, is once again transported back to the 18th century (unfortunately, not via a nuclear accident) to woo beautiful Kate Petigrew.

— Michael Main

Roger, I believe the 18th century still exists. It’s all around us, if only we could find it. Put it this way: Polaris, the North Star, is very bright, yet its light takes nearly fifty years to reach us. For all we know, Polaris may have ceased to exist somewhere around 1900. Yet we still see it, its past is our present. As far as Polaris is concerned, Teddy Roosevelt is just going down San Juan hill.

The House in the Square by Ranald MacDougall and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, directed by Roy Ward Baker (at movie theaters, UK, October 1951).

Mr. Wicker’s Shop 1

Mr. Wicker’s Window

by Carley Dawson

Mr. Wicker’s Window by Carley Dawson (Houghton Mifflin, 1952).

Ominous Folly

by Denis Hughes

Ominous Folly by Denis Hughes (Curtis Warren, February 1952).

There Is a Tide

by Jack Finney

A sleepless man, struggling with a business decision, sees an earlier occupant of his apartment who is struggling with a decision of his own.

— Michael Main

I saw the ghost in my own living room, alone, between three and four in the morning, and I was there, wide awake, for a perfectly sound reason: I was worrying.

“There Is a Tide” by Jack Finney, in Collier’s, 2 August 1952.

Lux Radio Theater [s1:9e1]

I’ll Never Forget You

by S. H. Barnett, [director unknown]

In this radio play, Tyrone Powell reprises his role of Peter Standish from the 1951 film version, which was originally titled The House in the Square. As in the film (but not the 1926 play Berkeley Square or the 1917 Henry James’ novel The Sense of the Past), Standish is an atomic scientist before being thrown back into an ancestor’s body.

Greetings from Hollywood. Ladies and gentlemen: I think you’ll be as intrigued with our play tonight as I was when I discovered it was a most unusual love story, the story of a modern scientist in love with a girl whom he meets in another century.

Lux Radio Theater (s19e24), “I’ll Never Forget You” by S. H. Barnett, [director unknown] (CBS Radio, USA, 22 September 1952).

A Scent of Sarsaparilla

by Ray Bradbury

Mr. William Finch is certain that the nostalgic feeling of cleaning out an attic is more than mere nostalgic, but his wife Cora is more down-to-Earth.

Consider an attic. Its very atmosphere is Time. It deals in other years, the cocoons and chrysalises of another age. All the bureau drawers are little coffins where a thousand yesterdays lie in state. Oh, the attic’s a dark, friendly place, full of Time, and if you stand in the very center of it, straight and tall, squinting your eyes, and thinking and thinking, and smelling the Past, and putting out your hands to feel of Long ago, why, it. . .

“A Scent of Sarsaparilla” by Ray Bradbury, in Star Science Fiction Stories, February 1953.

Astonishing #23

Doom of Ages

by an unknown writer

Three arctic explorers are thankful for the life-saving meat they’ve stumbled across in a frozen mammoth, until they start to wonder what killed the proboscidea.

— Michael Main

“I wonder what killed it?” Hafton wondered curiously, cutting swiftly through the thick masses of mastodon meat.

“Doom of Ages” by an unknown writer , in Astonishing #23 (Atlas Comics, March 1953).

The King’s Wishes

by Robert Sheckley

“The King’s Wishes” by Robert Sheckley, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953.

The King’s Wishes

by Robert Sheckley

Bob and Janice, co-owners of the Country Department Store, are determined to catch the thief who’s sneaking in to steal appliances every night. Yes, they do capture him. Y he’s from the past, in fact he’s a ferra (cousins of the jinni). No, I’m not going to tell you why he’s after all those generators, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

By the way, I’d love to know more about the story behind the two different versions of the Emsh cover. One has the old F&SF logo, last used on the Sep 1952 issue; the other has the new logo from Oct 1952 forward. Does anyone know the story behind this?

The ferra of the cup has to be skilled in all branches of demonology. I had just graduated from college—with only passing grades. But of course, I thought I could handle anything.

“The King’s Wishes” by Robert Sheckley, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953.

a Gavagan’s Bar story

The Untimely Toper: A Gavagan’s Bar Story

by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

A man kills a bat in Gavagan's Bar and a wizard curses him, unmooring his feet in time.

— Dave Hook

“The Untimely Toper: A Gavagan’s Bar Story” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953.

Wicker 2

The Sign of the Seven Seas

by Carley Dawson

The Sign of the Seven Seas by Carley Dawson (Houghton Mifflin, 1954).

Half Magic

by Edward Eager

In the first of the seven books, siblings Jane, Katharine, Mark and Martha find a magic wishing coin in the 1920s. But as wishes wont to be in stories, the wishes don’t work out as planned. This particular magic coin is only half-magic, granting only half of every wish (including time travel wishes), and leaving the children with the amusing challenge of finishing up the other half of the wish on their own. Sometimes it works out when they wish for twice what they want. Other times, not so much.

Don’t you see? She wished she were home and ended up halfway home! I wished there’d be a fire and got a little fire! A child’s-size fire! Martha wished Carrie could talk and she can half talk!

Half Magic by Edward Eager (Harcourt, Brace, June 1954).

I’m Scared

by Jack Finney

In the 1950s, a retired man in New York City speculates on a variety of cases of odd temporal occurrences such as the woman who realized that the old dog who persistently followed her in 1947 was actually the puppy she adopted several years later. And then there was the now famous case of Rudolph Fentz who seemingly popped into Times Square on an evening in the 1950s, apparently straight from 1876.

— Michael Main

Got himself killed is right. Eleven-fifteen at night in Times Square—the theaters letting out, busiest time and place in the world—and this guy shows up in the middle of the street, gawking and looking around at the cars and up at the signs like he'd never seen them before.

“I’m Scared” by Jack Finney, in Collier’s, 15 September 1951, pp. 24ff..

Unusual Tales #1

La Caverna del Pasado

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

Hoping to sell a big story to his editor, reporter Jim Foster fakes photographs of prehistoric animals in a legendary Latin American cave, but when he takes Professor charles Beaduy to the cave, they find more than what was promised.

The cave does bring together animals and people from different times, but whether any actual time travel occurs is debatable. And before you ask, I don’t know what a mastondia is either.

— Michael Main

Time must have stood still in this region of Earth. Take a picture of this mastondia before it goes for us.

“La Caverna del Pasado” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #1 (Charlton Comics, November 1955).

Narnia 7

The Last Battle

by C. S. Lewis

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (Bodley Head, 1956).

Unusual Tales #2

Madam Futura

by Joe Gill [?] and Mark Swayze [?]

Madam Futura has an infallible knack for seeing the future—a knack that businessman Ben Gainer plans to exploit, even though he figures her for a fake.

— Michael Main

That Madam Futura knows everything! She can see the past, the present, and the future!

“Madam Futura” by Joe Gill [?] and Mark Swayze [?], Unusual Tales #2 (Charlton Comics, January 1956).

Unusual Tales #2

Ramakos II Doubled

by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas [?]

After actor John Montaro immerses himself in the role of Ramakos II, he receives a visit from the original Ramakos II, who takes Montaro back to ancient Egypt.

— Michael Main

Won’t things become rather confused if people see and hear there are two of us?

“Ramakos II Doubled” by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas [?], Unusual Tales #2 (Charlton Comics, January 1956).

Journey into Mystery #31

Dark Room!

by unknown writers and Ed Winiarski

In a Chinese tea shop, thirty-something Andrew Wilson wishes he could do everything all over again so that he wasn’t such a financial failure and Jo Clark would marry him.

— Michael Main

If I could just go back to my youth, start over! I wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made then!

“Dark Room!” by unknown writers and Ed Winiarski, in Journey into Mystery #31 (Atlas Comics, February 1956).

The Futile Flight of John Arthur Benn

by Richard Wilson

A man with a death wish wishes himself back in time.

Now, he thought, what? This was scarcely dinosaur country.

“The Futile Flight of John Arthur Benn” by Richard Wilson, in Infinity Science Fiction, February 1956.

Knight’s Castle

by Edward Eager

The children of the first book are now grown up, but Martha and her husband have children of their own, Roger and Ann, who spend a summer with their cousins Jane and Mark (sprung from Katharine). It was that summer that the oldest of Roger’s toy soldiers came to life and took them all to the age of Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, chivalry, and knights.

It happened just the other day, to a boy named Roger.

Most of it happened to his sister Ann, too, but she was a girl and didn’t count, or at least that’s what Roger thought, or at least he thought that in the beginning.

Part of it happened to his cousins Jack and Eliza, too, but they didn’t come into it till later.

Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager (Harcourt, Brace, February 1956).

The Message

by Isaac Asimov

Time traveler and historian George tries to travel back to World War II without making any changes to the world.

George was deliriously happy. Two years of red tape and now he was finally back in the past. Now he could complete his paper on the social life of the foot soldier of World War II with some authentic details.

“The Message” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1956.

Unusual Tales #3

Don Alvarado’s Treasure

[writer unknown]

Young Frank Winston has everything a man could ever want, but for the past three months, he's been unable to move on in his ideal life because he’s haunted by dreams of a band of 18th-century Spanish soldiers who buried a treasure chest in the desert north of Mexico.

— Michael Main

"Oh, Professor," half chided Helen Crane, "You don’t mean to say that you believe in these dreams. That the past can actually come back into the present."

“Don Alvarado’s Treasure” [writer unknown], Unusual Tales #3 (Charlton Comics, April 1956).

Unusual Tales #3

Why?

by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas

The Bailys are the perfect family with the perfect baby, until one day young Billy wails all night long.

— Michael Main

He cried all night—he didn’t stop till just now! He can’t be just teething! I’m taking the day off . . . We’re going to the doctor to find out why!

“Why?” by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas, Unusual Tales #3 (Charlton Comics, April 1956).

Journey into Mystery #35

Turn Back the Clock!

by unknown writers and Jay Scott Pike

After turning back the hands on the campus clock tower, star athelete Ambrose McCallister finds himself at a stadium in ancient Greece with no memory of who he is.

— Michael Main

I saw this move somewhere . . . If I could just remember!

“Turn Back the Clock!” by unknown writers and Jay Scott Pike, in Journey into Mystery #35 (Atlas Comics, June 1956).

Journey into Mystery #36

I, the Pharaoh

by Carl Wessler and Joe Sinnott

This story could be a fantasy about Egyptologist Ted Craven, who studies Pharaoh Ras Hati-Ka so deeply that he eventually becomes the ancient Egyptian; but there are clues that the whole story is only a delusion in Craven’s overworked mind. Or perhaps it’s all a dream of the pharaoh himself.

— Michael Main

No . . . it’s all an illusion! I’ve been working too hard!

“I, the Pharaoh” by Carl Wessler and Joe Sinnott, in Journey into Mystery #36 (Atlas Comics, July 1956).

Journey into Mystery #39

I Lived Four Times!

by Carl Wessler, Bob Forgione, and Jack Abel

Stefan Orjanski, a Hungarian soldier, is taken by his love to a sorcerer who can help him desert the army, but the help requires first living through part of the lives of four others.

— Michael Main

I felt so strange . . . as if I were not alone! As if I were not myself!

“I Lived Four Times!” by Carl Wessler, Bob Forgione, and Jack Abel, in Journey into Mystery #39 (Atlas Comics, October 1956).

Gimmicks Three

by Isaac Asimov

Isidore Wellby makes a timely pact with the devil’s demon.

Ten years of anything you want, within reason, and then you’re a demon. You’re one of us, with a new name of demonic potency, and many privileges beside. You’ll hardly know you’re damned.

“Gimmicks Three” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1956.

Journey into Mystery #40

The Swirling Mist!

by Carl Wessler and Joe Sinnott

Reporter Jeff Coates is working on a series of articles about the old Mississippi river mansions when he spots a riverboat near the old, dilapidated Waverly plantation.

— Michael Main

Peculiar things go on ’round that old mansion!

“The Swirling Mist!” by Carl Wessler and Joe Sinnott, in Journey into Mystery #40 (Atlas Comics, November 1956).

Journey into Mystery #42

He Saw the Future

by unknown writers

A bump on the head from a falling (small) bag of concrete gives Harry the ability to see the future in exactly the way he needs.

— Michael Main

So it wasn’t too surprising that Harry just happened to be passing by the new building going up when a small bag of cement fell from the second story scaffolding.

“He Saw the Future” by unknown writers, in Journey into Mystery #42 (Atlas Comics, January 1957).

Unusual Tales #6

Caveman

by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas

Herman Pringle despairs of ever having the respect of his wife Clara, so much so that he daydreams of living the life of of a caveman where every man’s wife was his servant.

— Michael Main

But she’d never push me around if we lived back in the time of the cavemen! No, siree! I’d be boss.

“Caveman” by Joe Gill [?] and Charles Nicholas, Unusual Tales #6 (Charlton Comics, February 1957).

Magic by the Lake

by Edward Eager

The children of the first book are now grown up, but Martha and her husband have children of their own, Roger and Ann, who spend a summer with their cousins Jane and Mark (sprung from Katharine). It was that summer that the oldest of Roger’s toy soldiers came to life and took them all to the age of Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, chivalry, and knights.

It happened just the other day, to a boy named Roger.

Most of it happened to his sister Ann, too, but she was a girl and didn’t count, or at least that’s what Roger thought, or at least he thought that in the beginning.

Part of it happened to his cousins Jack and Eliza, too, but they didn’t come into it till later.

Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager (Harcourt, Brace, April 1957).

Unusual Tales #7

The Man Who Could See Tomorrow

by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko

A plain Joe just wants to get rid of the scarey power he has to see tomorrow’s events today.

— Michael Main

I heard that story you just told . . . and I believe you!

“The Man Who Could See Tomorrow” by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko, Unusual Tales #7 (Charlton Comics, May 1957).

CBS Radio Workshop

by William N. Robson and William Froug

Perhaps it was Finney’s success in the 50s that encouraged the experimental CBS Radio Workshop to air their only time-travel fantasy in their penultimate episode, “Time Found Again” from a 1935 Mildred Cram story. Earlier in the series, they did other science fiction including a musical version of Heinlein’s “The Green Hills of Earth,” Pohl and Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants, Huxley’s Brave New World, two Bradbury character sketches, and more.

Bart: Do you think it’s possible for a person to go back in time?

George: Well, you know there is a theory that nothing is lost, nothing is destroyed.

Bart: Then you do believe it’s possible?

George: Anything is possible, Bart, to a degree. Science has proved that. It’s conceivable, with concentration and imagination, that a person might, for a moment, escape from the present into the past.

CBS Radio Workshop by William N. Robson and William Froug (15 September 1957).

Unusual Tales #9

The Day I Lived Over Again

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

While on the lam, hardened criminal Blackie Nelson gets a chance to live the day over—and this time he plans to evade the police and win the girl!

— Michael Main

The day’s starting over again! This doll’s going to fall for me. . . Only this time I’m going to work things different!

“The Day I Lived Over Again” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #9 (Charlton Comics, November 1957).

Tom’s Midnight Garden

by Philippa Pearce

When young Tom is sent to live in a flat with his aunt and uncle, all he longs for is a garden to play in; when he finds it during midnight wanderings, it takes him a few nights to realize that the garden and his playmate Hattie are from the previous century.

Town gardens are small, as a rule, and the Longs’ garden was no exception to the rule; there was a vegetable plot and a grass plot and one flower-bed and a rough patch by the back fence.

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (Oxford University Press, 1958).

Unusual Tales #11

Dream On . . . !

by Joe Gill [?] and Maxwell Elkan

Fred Cotton refuses to sleep because each of his nightmares later comes true!

— Michael Main

He fought sleep like a man fighting demons! But no man can stay awake forever! His eyelids began to close, heavy with fatigue, his head began to nod. . .

“Dream On . . . !” by Joe Gill [?] and Maxwell Elkan, Unusual Tales #11 (Charlton Comics, March 1958).

Unusual Tales #11

Noise in the Cellar

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

Once again, a plumber receives an emergency call from 12 Hedge Row.

— Michael Main

Will you come right over? My water heater looks dangerous!

“Noise in the Cellar” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #11 (Charlton Comics, March 1958).

Unusual Tales #11

Second Chance

by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko

After Dr. Paul Faine accomplishes his life’s work, he begins to reflect on the past and whether the world is ready for limitless power.

— Michael Main

Now we will see into the coree of the atom . . . the core which is the basis of all things! We will be able to produce life in the test tube, blow up the world with the touch of a finger!

“Second Chance” by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko, Unusual Tales #11 (Charlton Comics, March 1958).

The Time Garden

by Edward Eager

Janet found this one for me, and it was the first of the series that I read. The story returns to Roger, Ann, Jane, and Mark from the second book. This time, a grumpy garden toad tells them of the magical powers of thyme. The magic takes the quartet back to the American Revolution, the time of American slavery, and an encounter with their own mothers and uncles (which we’ve already seen from the older generation’s point of view in the third book). There’s also a cameo by the children from E. Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet.

Because what if it did happen like that, and the young Jane and Mark and Katharine and Martha came back with them to modern times? He could think of two ways it might work out. They might take the place of their grown-up selves, and there wouldn’t be any grown-up Jane and Mark and Katharine and Martha any more, and that would be awful. Because nice as the small Martha was, as a parent she just wouldn’t do.

Or else there Jane and Mark and Katharine and Martha would be, and there their grown-up selves would be, too, and they might bump right into each other. And that would be like those horror stories where people go walking down long hallways and meet themselves coming in the other direction. And everybody goes mad in the end, and no wonder!

The Time Garden by Edward Eager (Harcourt,Brace, April 1958).

Unusual Tales #12

Time of the Dragon

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

RAF pilot Clive St. George is a snooty chap because of his fine ancestry until one day he has motor trouble while flying through a storm.

— Michael Main

Motor trouble! Must go down! According to my reckoning I must be close to my ancestral home in West Croyden . . .

“Time of the Dragon” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #12 (Charlton Comics, July 1958).

Unusual Tales #13

After Tomorrow!

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

While preparing for war against Bulavia, King Gustave of Translovia sees two visions of the future by way of a magnificent timepiece.

— Michael Main

I have had a vision of my victory tomorrow!

“After Tomorrow!” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #13 (Charlton Comics, September 1958).

Magical Shoes

|pending byline|

Of course, Montgomery Ward wants every kid to want their shoes, so what better way than to have a giveaway comic book advertisement in which young Billy and Milly realize that their Montgomery Ward shoes were special indeed!

Milly: They’re like seven-league boots!

Billy: Even better! We’re covering a hundred miles at a step and we’re going back through history, too! These Ward shoes must have magical powers!

Magical Shoes |pending byline| (circa 1958).

Millennium

by Ruth Jackson

While on a walk a few days before Christmas, Bill Ebberly has a dizzy spell and momentarily finds himself millennia in the future where he learns that the world has outgrown the need for hospitals and police.

Parts of this story had the tenor of a Jack Finney story, but the characters and plot did not generate the interest that Finney’s can.

You know, you have touched upon a train of thought that has always interested me—our sense of time. Time, as we know it, is only an objective concept, like a sense of color. We here upon this earth are moving upon a plane and recognize as really existing only the small circle lighted by our consciousness, one meridian. That which is behind has disappeared and that which is ahead has not yet appeared, so we say that they do not exist.

“Millennium” by Ruth Jackson, in Anthology of Best Short Short Stories, vol. 7, edited by Robert Oberfirst (Frederick Fell, Inc., 1959).

Unusual Tales #15

The Mystery Ship

by John Severin

In a violent storm, the Golden Lion follows another ship, the Mary Ann, to a safe port.

— Michael Main

Look! Another ship in front of us.

“The Mystery Ship” by John Severin, Unusual Tales #15 (Charlton Comics, February 1959).

The Willow Tree

by Jane Rice

By my count, this is the fifth time travel story in the February 1959 issue of F&SF, which is a record. Maybe they were anticipating the release of The Time Machine in the subsequent year.

In this story, four orphans are sent to live in the past with the rather odd Aunt Martha and the slightly less odd Aunt Harriet, who together give the children only one commandment: Never play under the willow tree!

When the four O :: children, Lucy, Robert, Charles, and May, were orphaned by a freak of circumstances, they were sent to live in the Past with two spinster relatives, ostensibly because of crowded conditions elsewhere.

“The Willow Tree” by Jane Rice, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1959.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

|pending byline|

Over the years, I’ve seen dozens of the Hallmark Hall of Fame specials. More recently, I went through the list of episodes back to 1951 when they started as a weekly anthology show on NBC. I spotted only one episode with time travel, the venerable Berkeley Square, broadcast in color on a special day in 1959, but I haven't yet tracked down a copy to watch.

Hallmark Hall of Fame |pending byline| (5 February 1959).

Of Time and Cats

by Howard Fast

In a panic, Professor Bob Bottman calls his wife from the Waldorf where he’s hiding out from dozens of other Bob Bottmans (and possibly just as many of Professor Dunbar’s cats).

They want to live as much as I do. I am the first me, and therefore the real me; but they are also me—different moments of consciousness in me—but they are me.

“Of Time and Cats” by Howard Fast, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1959.

Unto the Fourth Generation

by Isaac Asimov

During an ordinary day of business, Sam Marten is obsessively drawn to different men named Levkowich, each with a different spelling.

When I began putting together this Big List in 2005, I started with all the Asimov time travel stories that I could remember. Somehow I forgot about this story which I first read in 1973 in Nightfall and Other Stories. But then, while scouring the 1950s back issues of F&SF for more obscure stories, there it was: Sam Marten’s great, great grandfather brought from his deathbed to meet Sam, and there, also, was a moment of time travel for Sam himself.

Two new sentences were added at the end of the original story for the reprinting in Asimov’s collection, so I thought it would be appropriate to quote those new sentences here:

Yet somehow he knew that all would be well with him. Somehow, as never before, he knew.

“Unto the Fourth Generation” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1959.

BBC Sunday-Night Theater

|pending byline|

For nearly all of 14 years, the BBC staged and broadcast weekly live plays, at least one which included time travel: a production of the 1926 play, Berkeley Square. According to lostshows.com, no copy of Berkeley Square survived, but I did enjoy a telerecording of their 1954 staging of Nineteen-Eighty-Four (with no time travel!) that caused a stir in cold-war era Britain.

Attention, comrades, attention! Here is a complementary production bulletin issued by the Ministry of Plenty giving further glorious news of the success of the seventh three-year plan! In clear demonstration of the rising standards of our new, happy life, the latest calculated increases are as follows. . .

BBC Sunday-Night Theater |pending byline| (31 May 1959).

Obituary

by Isaac Asimov

A young man looking for love in 1959 Brooklyn finds and answers a letter from a young woman in 1869 Brooklyn.

The folded paper opened stiffly, the crease permanent with age, and even before I saw the date I knew this letter was old. The handwriting was obviously feminine, and beautifully clear—it’s called Spencerian, isn’t it?—the letters perfectly formed and very ornate, the capitals especially being a whirl of dainty curlicues. The ink was rust-black, the date at the top of the page was May 14, 1882, and reading it, I saw that it was a love letter.

“Obituary” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1959.

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e05)

Walking Distance

by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Stevens

Stopped at a gas station outside of his boyhood hometown, burnt-out executive Martin Sloan decides to explore the town, which surprisingly has not changed at all in twenty-some years.

— Michael Main

I know you’ve come from a long way from here. . . a long way and a long time.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e05), “Walking Distance” by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Stevens (CBS-TV, USA, 30 October 1959).

Halloween for Mr. Faulkner

by August Derleth

Mr. Guy Faulkner, an American lost in the London fog, finds himself back in the time of the Gunpowder Plot.

I say, Wright, now Guy’s here, we can get on with it.

“Halloween for Mr. Faulkner” by August Derleth, Fantastic Universe, November 1959.

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e12)

What You Need

by Rod Serling, directed by Alvin Ganzer

Rod Serling does an admirable job translating the original story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore to the small screen. The story’s two main incidents (the scissors and the shoes) come through with little change. In this version, the curious shopkeeper has become a street vendor, and the man who’s interested in the vendor’s goods is now a darker lowlife than the original newspaperman. Also, the science fiction aspect has been replaced by psychic precognition, solidly in the realm of fantasy, but not quite into weird fiction.

— Michael Main

What have you got in there? Some sort of machine? Crystal ball?. . . You can see ahead, can’t you? You can look into the future.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e12), “What You Need” by Rod Serling, directed by Alvin Ganzer (CBS-TV, USA, 25 December 1959).

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e18)

The Last Flight

by Rod Serling, directed by William F. Claxton

World War I pilot Terry Decker flies through a white cloud and emerges 42 years later, landing at an American Air Force Base in France, at which point he proves that a Nieuport 28 biplane is capable of doing a causal loop just as well as he can do an Immelmann Turn.

— Michael Main

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e18), “The Last Flight” by Rod Serling, directed by William F. Claxton (CBS-TV, USA, 5 February 1960).

Unusual Tales #20

The Forbidden Camera

by Joe Gill [?], Charles Nicholas, and Vince Alascia

Archeologist Wayne Banford ignores the sanskrit warning to leave the camera where he found it in a cave with an idol.

— Michael Main

He who would claim this camera as his own will have a life of woe heed this warning.

“The Forbidden Camera” by Joe Gill [?], Charles Nicholas, and Vince Alascia, Unusual Tales #21 (Charlton Comics, March 1960).

I Love Galesburg in the Springtime

by Jack Finney

Reporter Oscar Mannheim has many opportunities in his long life, but never wants to leave the midwest Galesburg that he grew up in—and neither do its many other citizens and artifacts of the past.

To make sure, I walked over to a newsboy and glanced at the stack of papers at his feet. It was The World; and The World had’nt been published for years. The lead story said something about President Cleveland. I’ve found that front page since, in the Public Library files, and it was printed June 11, 1894.

“I Love Galesburg in the Springtime” by Jack Finney, in McCall’s Magazine, April 1960.

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e26)

Execution

by Rod Serling, directed by David Orrick McDearmon

Back in the 1880s, just after a man without conscience is dropped from a lone tree with a rope around his neck, a scientist pulls him into 20th-century New York City.

Serling wrote this script based on a George Clayton Johnson’s bare bones, present-tense treatment for a TV script, complete with an indication of where the commercial break should go. For this episode, Serling filled in the flesh and cut the fat from a bare bones, present-tense treatment by George Clayton Johnson. The treatment appeared in Johnson’s 1977 retrospective collection of scripts and stories, and in Volume 9 of Serling’s collected Twilight Zone scripts, Johnson commented that “Rod took my idea and went off to the races with it. He had a remarkable knowledge of what would and wouldn’t work on television, and he took everything that wouldn’t work out of ‘Execution’. He worked like a surgeon; a little snip here, a complete amputation over there, move this bone into place, graft over that one. When he was done, my little story had grown into a television script that lived and breathed on its own.” Serling also added a nice twist at the end that, for us, warranted the TV episode an Eloi Honorable Mention.
Rod Serling wrote this script based on a 1960 Twilight Zone episode of the same name, but I’m uncertain whether the story was published before Johnson’s 1977 retrospective collection.

— Michael Main

Caswell: I wanna see if there are things out there like you described to me. Carriages without horses and the buildings that rise to—

Professor Manion: They’re out there, Caswell.. . . Things you can’t imagine.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e26), “Execution” by Rod Serling, directed by David Orrick McDearmon (CBS-TV, USA, 1 April 1960).

The Boy and the Pirates

by Lillie Hayward and Jerry Sackheim, directed by Bert I. Gordon

Young Jimmy Warren asks a genie to send him from present-day Massachusetts to the time of Blackbeard, and the genie obliges! But now, in order to avoid becoming a genie himself, Jimmy must trick the pirate into returning to Massachusetts.

— Michael Main

This is a funny lookin’ bottle—yeah, neat. But I bet if I took it home, Pop would say, “It’s just another piece of junk.” Nobody let’s me do anything I want to. I wish I was far away from here; I wish I was on a pirate ship.

The Boy and the Pirates by Lillie Hayward and Jerry Sackheim, directed by Bert I. Gordon (at movie theaters, USA, 13 April 1960).

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e30)

A Stop at Willoughby

by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Parrish

On a snowy November evening during his train commute home from New York City, John Daly falls asleep and, perhaps in a dream, sees a simpler life with bands playing in the bandstand, people riding penny farthings through the park, and kids fishin’ at their fishin’ holes the 1888 summertime of idyllic Willoughby.

— Michael Main

Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. Willoughby, July, summer. It’s 1888—really a lovely little village. You ought to try it sometime. Peaceful, restful, where a man can slow down to a walk and live his live full-measure.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e30), “A Stop at Willoughby” by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Parrish (CBS-TV, USA, 6 May 1960).

Time Enough

by Damon Knight

Through the magic of time travel, young Jimmy has the opportunity to relive a traumatic moment with a group of other young boys at the quarry and change the outcome.

I’m a little tensed up, I guess, but I can do it. I wasn’t really scared; it was the way it happened, so sudden. They never gave me a chance to get ready.

“Time Enough” by Damon Knight, in Amazing, July 1960.

The Habit

by A. Bertram Chandler

Pilot Tillot (still grieving over the recent loss of Valerie—yes, the car accident was quite likely his fault) and inventor Abbotsford set out to test the first FTL engine, which turns out to not move so quickly in space after all, although it does make some interesting moves in time.

I’ve seen this listed as a retrofitted alternate timeline story in Chandler’s Rim World series, but I haven’t read enough of that series to know where the FTL time machine would fit in. Stay tuned for updates.

He remembered then that he had been awakened that morning by just such a call.

“The Habit” by A. Bertram Chandler, in Amazing, August 1960.

The Six Fingers of Time

by R. A. Lafferty

The story does not involve time travel, but it does have speeded-up time as in “The New Accelerator” by H. G. Wells.

— Fred Galvin

I awoke this morning to some very puzzling incidents. It seemed that time itself had stopped, or that the whole world had gone into super-slow motion.

“The Six Fingers of Time” by R. A. Lafferty, If, September 1960.

A Christmas Carol

[writer unknown], directed by Robert Hartford-Davis

The Daily Cinema of 21 November 1960 says this 28-minute black-and-white presentation of the Carol “relates the familiar story as economically as possible, managing to retain the spirit without dwelling in detail on the background” (cited in Guida).

— Michael Main

A Christmas Carol [writer unknown], directed by Robert Hartford-Davis (at movie theaters, USA, circa November 1960).

Unusual Tales #25

The Confederate Girl

by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko

Civil War mythbuster Hiram White moves to a small Georgia town where the townspeople believe that Confederate ghosts still ride through the dusk.

— Michael Main

Miss Belle Herbert once lived here! During the Civil War she was a southern spy and captured by Major Joshua White!

“The Confederate Girl” by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko, Unusual Tales #25 (Charlton Comics, December 1960).

The Twilight Zone (r1s02e09)

The Trouble with Templeton

by E. Jack Neuman, directed by Buzz Kulik

The trouble with aging actor Booth Templeton is that he sees life as useless even decades after his young wife died. The answer to his trouble may lie in the people he meets—including his dead wife, Laura!—in what appears to be his hangouts from some thirty years ago. Actual time travel or something more fantastical? You be the judge.

— Michael Main

Laura! The freshest, most radiant creature God ever created. Eighteen when I married her, Marty, . . . twenty-five when she died.

The Twilight Zone (v1s02e09), “The Trouble with Templeton” by E. Jack Neuman, directed by Buzz Kulik (CBS-TV, USA, 9 December 1960).

Der König und der Puppenmacher

English release: The King and the Dollmaker Literal: The king and the dollmaker

by Wolfgang Jeschke

“Der König und der Puppenmacher” by Wolfgang Jeschke, Munich Round-Up #43, 1961 [fanzine].

The Twilight Zone (r1s02e13)

Back There

by Rod Serling, directed by David Orrick McDearmon

An engineer in the 1960s slips back to the night of Lincoln’s assassination.

— Michael Main

I’ve got a devil of a lot more than a premonition. Lincole will be assassinated unless somebody tries to prevent it!

The Twilight Zone (v1s02e13), “Back There” by Rod Serling, directed by David Orrick McDearmon (CBS-TV, 13 January 1961).

Where the Cluetts Are

by Jack Finney

Ellie and Sam Cluett build a house that duplicates every fine detail of a house from Victorian times, and over time, the house gradually takes them back to that time.

We’re looking at a vanished sight. This is a commonplace sight of a world long gone and we’ve reached back and brought it to life again. Maybe we should have let it alone.

“Where the Cluetts Are” by Jack Finney, in McCall’s Magazine, January 1962.

Unusual Tales #32

Out of “Ur”

[writer unknown]

A man and his future wife show up in the 20th century with a bag of diamonds and a fabulous story of ancient royalty.

— Michael Main

I refuse to make any statement about whether or not those two crossed a Time Barrier.

“Out of ‘Ur’” [writer unknown], Unusual Tales #32 (Charlton Comics, February 1962).

Unusual Tales #33

Death of a Hot Rod

by Joe Gill [?], Charles Nicholas, and Rocco “Rocke” Mastroserio

After high school, young Joe Bragan is offered a job driving his hot rod around the deserts of Libya.

— Michael Main

He looks for real! So does the chariot!

“Death of a Hot Rod” by Joe Gill [?], Charles Nicholas, and Rocco “Rocke” Mastroserio, Unusual Tales #33 (Charlton Comics, mAY 1962).

Seven-Day Magic

by Edward Eager

After two books with no time travel and possibly no magic, the series’ final book returns to both realms with the immediate appearance a magical book that brings forth dragons and 19th century Little House on the Prairie. Admitedly, it‘'s not clear whether any of the locales of the past are more than places out of fiction for Barnaby, John, Susan, Abbie, and Fredericka—but never mind.

“I knew it was a book!” whispered Susan excitedly. “It’s the girl in the Half Magic picture! It’s the little girl in the last chapter who finds the charm after Jane and Mark and Katharine and Martha pass it on!”

Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager (Harcourt, Brace and World, October 11962).

The Unfortunate Mr. Morky

by Vance Aandahl

When Mr. Morky runs into the carny-man, the result is a plethora of funhouse mirrors, time travel, and a possible explanation for why people nowadays are so much alike.

For many years, Vance Aandahl was an English professor at nearby Metro State College in Denver, and among his students was another favorite Colorado writer, James Van Pelt.

On the way, he met the other Mr. Morky, who was still struggling to get back, and there was a collision. He fused with himself. Unfortunately, it was an abnormal fusion, quite cancerous; all that custard pie started dividing and re-dividing and re-re-dividing into an infinite multiple division.

“The Unfortunate Mr. Morky” by Vance Aandahl, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1962.

Le notaire et la conspiration

English release: The Notary and the Conspiracy Literal: The notary and the conspiracy

by Henri Damonti

Mssr. Duplessis, a notary, joins a secret club that allows him to lead a parallel life in fifteenth century Florence, which with plagues and conspiracies against the prince turns out to be a more dangerous second life than he’d anticipated.

I GUARANTEE UNUSUAL DIVERSIONS—NO ENTRANCE FEE—ONE TRIAL WILL CONVINCE YOU—APPLY NOW—BECOME A MEMBER OF OUR SOCIETY—DISCRETION ASSURED—ADDRESS BOX 322628

[ex=bare]“Le notaire et la conspiration” | The notary and the conspiracy[/ex] by Henri Damonti, Fiction #106, September 1962.

Adventures in the Time Machine 1

The Anytime Rings

by Bruce Cassiday

The Anytime Rings by Bruce Cassiday (Dell, 1963).

Time Cat

by Lloyd Alexander

Jason’s cat, Gareth, calmly reveals that he can take Jason to nine different times, and the history lessons ensue.

I can visit nine different lives. Anywhere, any time, any country, any century.

Time Cat: The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth by Lloyd Alexander (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963).

The Nature of the Place

by Robert Silverberg

Paul Dearborn is quite certain that he’ll go to hell, a prospect that bothers him in only one way: the uncertainty of what it will be.

And the only thing that bothers me is that I just had to read this in the month of my own sixtieth birthday. Oh, that no-goodnick Silverberg!

He thought back over his sixty years. The betrayals, the disappointments, the sins, the hangovers. He had some money now, and by some standards he was a successful man. But life hadn't been any joyride. It had been rocky and fear-torn, filled with doubts and headaches, moments of complete despair, others of frustrated pain.

“The Nature of the Place” by Robert Silverberg, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1963.

Now Wakes the Sea

by J. G. Ballard

At night, Richard Mason hears an ancient sea outside his house, a sea that has not existed for a thousand, thousand years; eventually, he is drawn to it.

Off-shore, the deeper swells of the open sea surged across the roofs of the submerged houses, the white-caps cleft by the spurs of isolated chimnies.

“Now Wakes the Sea” by J. G. Ballard, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1963.

Time at the Top

by Edward Ormondroyd

When motherless young Susan Shaw stumbles into a seventh floor porthole to the 19th century where she meets two fatherless children, the story from seems predictable, but Ormondroyd (and I) still had fun with it. Of course, at the end we all assume that Susan’s success at dragging her father back to 1881 will have a happy ending at the alter—but wait! There’s a sequel.

It had come to her that part of the seventh floor must have been converted in o a very realistic stage set, and that the woman and the girl had been rehearsing their parts in a play. But no, that couldn’t be it. No stage set that she had ever seen was so realistic thatyoucould hear cows and smell flowers and feel the warmth of the sunlight.

Time at the Top by Edward Ormondroyd (Parnassus Press, June 1963).

Strange Tales #111

Face-to-Face with the Magic of Baron Mordo!

by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Steve Ditko’s second-ever story of the master of the mystic arts includes one panel that, based on Stan Lee’s caption, involves time travel. Even though it was just one panel, it got me wondering whether the phrase race through time could possibly have a meaning. What would it mean for one time traveler to arrive at the final destination before another? Isn't the whole set up kind of like Doc Strange saying to Baron Mordo, “I’ll bet I can think of a number bigger than you can.”

— Michael Main

Unseen by human eyes, the two mighty spirit images race thru time and space. . .

“Face-to-Face with the Magic of Baron Mordo!” by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, in Strange Tales 111 (Marvel Comics, August 1963).

Adventures in the Time Machine 2

Samax the Gladiator

by Bruce Cassiday

Samax the Gladiator by Bruce Cassiday (Dell, 1964).

Mr. Scrooge

by Richard Morris and Ted Wood, directed by Bob Jarvis

In this 54-minute black-and-white CBC broadcast of Claman and Morris’s stage musical, the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives on a tricycle, Christmas Present is inebriated, and Christmas Future holds his own severed head in his hands.

— Michael Main

♫We’re knockin’ off his knick-knacks♫

Mr. Scrooge by Richard Morris and Ted Wood, directed by Bob Jarvis (CBC-TV, Canada, 21 December 1964).

Les fleurs bleues

Literal: The blue flowers

by Raymond Queneau

Les fleurs bleues by Raymond Queneau (Gallimard, 1965).

The Kilimanjaro Device

by Ray Bradbury

This story is Bradbury’s tribute to Hemingway, a time-traveling tribute told from the point of view of a reader who admired him and felt that his Idaho grave was wrong.

On the way there, with not one sound, the dog passed away. Died on the front seat—as if he knew. . . and knowing, picked the better way.

“The Kilimanjaro Machine” by Ray Bradbury, in Life, 22 January 1965.

Magic (Andre Norton) 1

Steel Magic

by Andre Norton

Steel Magic by Andre Norton (World, August 1965).

Gorgo #23

Time Pocket

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

Although this one-page feature is title “Time Pocket,” it seems to be about travel to another dimension rather than through time.

— Michael Main

A person can suddenly disappear before our eyes, by accidentally or purposely stepping into another dimension.

“Time Pocket” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, in Gorgo #23 (Charlton Comics, September 1965).

Strange Tales #148—150

Kaluu!

by Denny O’Neil, Roy Thomas, and Bill Everett

When Kaluu triumphantly sends the all-powerful Book of Vishanti back to the time of its origin, it falls to Doc Strange and the Ancient One to banish it to a timeless period so that it will never again fall into the wrong hands.

— Michael Main

We approach the time-space continuum of ancient Babylonia— It is there that the book which we seek was created milenniums [sic] ago!

“Kaluu!” by Denny O’Neil, Roy Thomas, and Bill Everett, in Strange Tales 148–150 (Marvel Comics, September to November 1966).

Jessamy

by Barbara Sleigh

Visiting with the caretaker of an empty old mansion, orphaned Jessamy emerges from the nursery closet into the world of 1914 when her namesake lived in the same house and left her adventures and a mystery to be solved again in the present.

— from publicity material

Somehow I’ve become another Jessamy in a different time! It must be a different time because of the clothes. Nobody wears long skirts like Matchett and Aunt now—I mean that—oh, I don’t know what I mean!

Jessamy by Barbara Sleigh (Bobbs-Merrill, 1967).

Dark Shadows

by Dan Curtis

If you were a cool kid in the 60s, you ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows, a vampiresque soap opera that presaged Twilight by about four decades. I wasn’t that cool myself, but my sister Lynda was, and from time to time I overheard her and the cool kids talking about the inhabitants of Collinwood trekking to the late 1700s (in episodes from late 1967 through early 1969) and the late 1800s (in the March 1969 episodes). There may well be other time-travel escapades that have escaped me.

I’m afraid you must forgive me, miss. If we have met before, I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember it.

Dark Shadows by Dan Curtis (17 November 1967).

Quicksand

by John Brunner

Quicksand by John Brunner (Doubleday, December 1967).

The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden

by Mary Chase

The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden by Mary Chase (Alfred A. Knopf, 1968).

The Chronicle of the 656th

by George Byram

In a flash of light, a U.S. Army 656th Regimental Combat Team is transported from a training exercise in 1944 Tennessee to 1864 where the Northerners and Southerners debate whether they can or should try to affect the War Between the States.

We could see the cavalry, the caissons and the old-time cannon. The men said we must of lost our way—and we’d run into a movie outfit makin’ a Civil War picture.

“The Chronicle of the 656th” by George Byram, Playboy,March 1968.

Yellow Submarine

by Lee Minoff et al. , directed by George Dunning

Yellow Submarine by Lee Minoff et al. , directed by George Dunning (at movie theaters, UK, 17 July 1968).

The Ghosts

by Antonia Barber

In the 1960s, a solicitor—Mr. Blunden—arranges for a widow and her children to move to an English house while the rightful heir is tracked down. The two children, Lucy and Jamie, soon meet two orphans, Sara and Georgie, who are living in the house—with their own version Mr. Blunden—exactly one century before! The orphans need help, so with the aid of a magic potion, Lucy and Jamie go back in time to the very day before the orphans will die in a fire (according to the gravestone that Lucy and Jamie found). They definitely have a fix-the-past mission, and they definitely succeed, but in the process, an amazing twist on the grandfather paradox arises (see the spoiler below).

The story has a kind of reverse grandfather paradox: [spoiler Lucy and Jamie’s great-great-grandparents are Sara and Tom (a boy who died trying to save Sara and George). So, initially, Lucy and Jamie actually have no grandparents (at least not on that side), and it’s only by Lucy and Jamie going back in time to save Sara and George (as well as Tom) that Sara and Tom live long enough to have offspring. So where did Lucy and Jamie come from initially in order to be able to go back in time and create the conditions so that they will be born? This is almost a single nonbranching, static timeline, except for the fact that initially, Sara, Georgie, and Tom did die (as evinced by what Lucy and Jamie see and hear in the graveyar), so Lucy and Jamie did change things. I think we need a new name for it, perhaps the grandchild paradox.[/spoiler]

— Michael Main

Lucy found it very confusing. “I don’t think I really understand this Wheel of Time business even now,” she said.

“Oh, I don’t understand it,” said Jamie cheerfully, “but then I don’t understand television either. But when you’ve seen it working, you can’t help believing in it.”

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber (Jonathan Cape, 1969).

Bob Morane 93

Les sortilèges de l’ombre jaune

Literal: The yellow shadow spells

by Henri Vernes

Les sortilèges de l’ombre jaune by Henri Vernes (Marabout, 1969).

Trovo 1

The Eyes of Bolsk

by Robert Lory

The Eyes of Bolsk by Robert Lory, in Ace Double 77710: The Eyes of Bolsk by Robert Lory / The Space Barbarians by Mack Reynolds (Ace Books, June 1969).

Aviary Hall 3

Charlotte Sometimes

by Penelope Farmer

Two young, boarding-school students—Charlotte in 1963 and Clare in 1918—swap minds through time every night, until one day the bed that’s causing all this magic gets moved to the hospital ward, and they are stuck in each other’s times.

— Michael Main

“But I’m not Clare,” Charlotte began to say hopelessly, then stopped herself, explanation being impossible, especially since this girl seemed to think so incredibly that she was Clare.

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer (Chatto and Windus, September 1969).

The Green Hill of Nendrum

by J. S. Andrews

The Green Hill of Nendrum by J. S. Andrews (Hawthorn Books, 1970).

クレオパトラ

Kureopatora English release: Cleopatra: Queen of Sex Literal: Cleopatra

by 里吉しげみ, directed by 手塚治虫 and 山本暎

To solve the mystery of their plan, it’s most effective to travel back to the time of Cleopatra and investigate.

[ex=bare]クレオパトラ | Cleopatra | Kureopatora[/ex] by 里吉しげみ, directed by 手塚治虫 and 山本暎 (at movie theaters, Japan, 15 September 1970).

Scrooge

by Leslie Bricusse, directed by Ronald Neame

A faithful musical retelling of the original (complete with humbugs and the ambiguity over whether viewing the past and present consists of actual time travel).

— Michael Main

Humbug! Insolent young ruffians coming here with their Christmas nonsense!

Scrooge by Leslie Bricusse, directed by Ronald Neame (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 5 November 1970).

One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty

by Harlan Ellison

At 42, Gus Rosenthal is in a place of security, importance, recognition—in short, the perfect time to dig up that toy soldier that he buried in his back yard 30 years ago with the knowledge that doing so will take him back to that time to be an influence on an angry, bullied 12-year-old Gus.

My thoughts were of myself: I’m coming to save you. I’m coming, Gus. You won’t hurt any more. . . you’ll never hurt.

“One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty” by Harlan Ellison, in Orbit 8, edited by Damon Knight (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, December 1970).

A Game of Dark

by William Mayne

A Game of Dark by William Mayne (E. P. Dutton, 1971).

In Entropy’s Jaws

by Robert Silverberg

John Skein, a communicator who telepathically facilitates meetings between minds, suffers a mental overload that causes him to experience stressful flashbacks and flashforwards, some of which lead him to seek a healing creature in the purple sands and blue-leaved trees by an orange sea under a lemon sun.

Time is an ocean, and events come drifting to us as randomly as dead animals on the waves. We filter them. We screen out what doesn’t make sense and admit them to our consciousness in what seems to be the right sequence.

“In Entropy’s Jaws” by Robert Silverberg, in Infinity Two, edited by Robert Hoskins (Lancer Books, 1971).

Beware the God Who Smiles

by Larry Townsend

Beware the God Who Smiles by Larry Townsend (Greenleaf Classics, April 1971).

The Old Powder Line

by Richard Parker

The Old Powder Line by Richard Parker (Gollancz, June 1971).

The Dancer from Atlantis

by Poul Anderson

On a romantic cruise with his wife and his troubled marriage, forty-year-old Duncan Reid is snatched from the deck by a vortex and deposited around 4000 B.C., where he meets three others who were similarly taken: the Russian Oleg, the Goth Uldin, and the beautiful bull-breeder Erissa who remembers the gods of her time, remembers Atlantis, and remembers Duncan fathering her child.

She was lean, though full enough in hips and firm breasts to please any man, and long-limbed, swan-necked, head proudly held. That head was dolichocephalic but wide across brow and cheeks, tapering toward the chin, with, a classically straight nose and a full and mobile mouth which was a touch too big for conventional beauty. Arching brows and sooty lashes framed large bright eyes whose hazel shifted momentarily from leaf-green to storm-gray. Her black hair, thick and wavy, fell past her shoulders; a white streak ran back from the forehead. Except for suntan, a dusting of freckles, a few fine wrinkles and crow’s-feet, a beginning dryness, her skin was clear and fair. He guessed her age as about equal to his.

The Dancer from Atlantis by Poul Anderson (Nelson Doubleday, August 1971).

The Utterly Perfect Murder

by Ray Bradbury

A moving story of an outcast boy who continued to feel the pain of how he’d been excluded throughout his adult life. You’ll need to decide for yourself whether time travel creeps in.

— Michael Main

I tossed the few bits of gravel and did the thing that had never been done, ever in my life.

“My Perfect Murder” by Ray Bradbury, in Playboy, August 1971.

Lord of the Chained

by George Goldsmith-Carter

Lord of the Chained by George Goldsmith-Carter (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1972).

(Now + n, Now - n)

by Robert Silverberg

Investor Aram Kevorkian has the unique advantage that he can communicate with himself 48 hours yore and 48 hours hence, until he falls in love with Selene who dampens his psychic powers and his trading profits.

“Go ahead, (now + n),” he tells me. ((To him I am (now + n). To myself I am (now). Everything is relative; n is exactly forty-eight hours these days.))

“(Now + n, Now - n)” by Robert Silverberg, in Nova 2, edited by Harry Harrison (Walker, October 1972).

The Amazing Mr. Blunden

written and directed by Lionel Jeffries

As in the The Ghosts, which formed the basis for the film, a mysterious Mr. Blunden arranges for a widow and her children to move to an old English house while the rightful heir to the house is tracked down. But in the film, young Lucy and Jamie are in 1918 rather than the 1960s, and the “ghost children” are from 1818 rather than the 1860s. Nevertheless, Lucy, Jamie, Sara, George, and Tom all have the same adventure in the past along with a cool Grandchild Paradox.

— Michael Main

Now is the time. Look straight ahead and don’t be afraid.

The Amazing Mr. Blunden written and directed by Lionel Jeffries (at movie theaters, UK, 30 November 1972).

Claudia and Evan 1

The Sword of Culann

by Betty Levin

The Sword of Culann by Betty Levin (Macmillan, 1973).

Road Map

by F. M. Busby

When Ralph Ascione dies, he is reincarnated as a female baby—but in what year and exactly which female?

A new sound came; in the blurred distances, something moved. Vaguely seen, a huge face looked over him and made soft, deep clucking noises. Then he understood.

“Road Map” by F. M. Busby, in Clairion III, edited by Robin Scott Wilson (Signet, October 1973).

12:01 P.M.

by Richard A. Lupoff

Myron Castleman is reliving 59 minutes of one day over and over for eternity.

And Myron Castleman would be permitted to lie forever, piling up experiences and memories, but each of only an hour’s duration, each resumed at 12:01 PM on this balmy spring day in Manhattan, standing outside near the Grand Central Tower.

“12:01 P.M.” by Richard A. Lupoff (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1973).

The Golden Crucifix

by John Rae

The Golden Crucifix by John Rae (Brockhampton Press, 1974).

Master Ghost and I

by Barbara Softly

A 17th century soldier inherits a house with a squatter from the future.

“D-dark?” he stammered. “I’ll switch on the light.”

“Master Ghost and I” by Barbara Softly, in The Tenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, edited by R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Fontana, 1974).

If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy

by F. M. Busby

Larry Garth skips from year to year in his life (not linearly, of course), waiting to meet his once and future wife, Elaine.

He lit a cigarette and leafed through the cards and minutiae that constituted his identity in the outside world. Well. . . knowing himself, his driver’s permit would be up-to-date and all credit cards unexpired. The year was 1970. Another look outside: autumn. So he was thirty-five, and the pans clattered at the hands of Judy.

“If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy” by F. M. Busby, in Universe 5, edited by Terry Carr (Random House, November 1974).

Bid Time Return

by Richard Matheson

Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson (Viking Press, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 4

The Day of the Dinosaurs

by Eve Bunting

When one of them pulls the lever on the museum's dinosaur display, three children are transported back to a prehistoric dinosaur land.

— the Library of Congress

Allosaurus stopped as the water rushed over his feet. They could see the bulk of him, his neck and heavy legs; his tail that was flattenedon the sides. He was big as a full grown tree. Then he turned and Joe saw his teeth. They were jagged as steak knives.

“The Day of the Dinosaurs” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 3

Death of a Dinosaur

by Eve Bunting

Carmen, Joe, and Riley go back through time once more to witness the end of the dinosaurs.

— the Library of Congress

“Death of a Dinosaur” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 2

The Dinosaur Trap

by Eve Bunting

Joe and Riley go back to dinosaur land determined to bring back Carmen who stayed behind on their last trip. [Whew!]

— the Library of Congress

“The Dinosaur Trap” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 1

Escape from Tyrannosaurus

by Eve Bunting

Kids today are pandered to way too much in that every book they’re given to read presents an unrealistically rosie view of life. No, that’s not for me! Give my kids the harsh reality of life and time travel! Case in point: Three kids travel to the Cretcaeous where they meet a T. rex. Two return.

— Michael Main

“Escape from Tyrannosaurus” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Trying to Connect You

by John Rowe Townsend

A man realizes the mistake he made with Elaine, and he desperately searches for a phone booth to call her before she leaves the country forever, but others want the phone booth, too, for a series of disasters that haven’t yet happened.

Twenty-four hours after I left her, I knew I was wrong and knew what I should have said.

“Trying to Connect You” by John Rowe Townsend, in The Eleventh Ghost Book, Aiden Chambers (Barry and Jenkins, 1975).

Rosemary 1

Parsley Sage, Rosemary & Time

by Jane Louise Curry

Parsley Sage, Rosemary & Time by Jane Louise Curry (Margaret K. McElderry, February 1975).

Timetipping

by Jack Dann

People, animals (or at least parts of them), and a reluctant wandering Jew are tossed back and forth through alternate realities at various times.

Nothing was for certain, anything could change (depending on your point of view), and almost anything could happen, especially to forgetful old men who often found themselves in the wrong century rather than on the wrong street.

“Timetipping” by Jack Dann, in Epoch, edited by Roger Elwood and Robert Silverberg (Berkley Putnam, November 1975).

A String in the Harp

by Nancy Bond

Twelve-year-old Peter Morgan is not happy about being uprooted from Massachusetts and hauled off to a tiny coastal hamlet in Wales, but he is fascinated by the ancient harp key that he finds wedged between two cracks on a dike. Oh, did I mention that the key is magic, letting him (and eventually other children) see the legendary Welsh bard Taliesin?

— Michael Main

I can tell you that the things you have seen and explained with reason could fit the story of Taliesin, though your sister would rather not hear it.

A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond (Margaret K. McElderry, 1976).

Room 409

by Nance Donkin

A thirteen-year-old Australian boy on vacation in England gets a key to a room that existed during World War II but no longer does.

He didn’t seem to fit in at all well with the modern decor of the place, but I got the key from him and went towards the lift.

“Room 409” by Nance Donkin, in A Handful of Ghosts: Thirteen Eerie Tales by Australian Authors, edited by Barbara Ker Wilson (Knight Books, 1976).

Time Tangle

by Frances Eagar

Time Tangle by Frances Eagar (Hamish Hamilton, 1976).

The Chronopath Stories

by Steven Utley

I’ve read only the first of this series of stories which predates Utley’s better known Silurian tales. The first-person narrator, Bruce Holt, tells of his power (which he didn’t ask for and has no control over) of traveling through time and being deposited in other beings’ minds for a brief few seconds at a time.

What do you want me to do? Go back and find out where Captain Kidd buried his loot?

“The Chronopath Stories” by Steven Utley, in Galaxy, January 1976.

The Nonsuch Lure

by Mary Luke

— based on publicity material

Timothy spoke. “Are you there? In 1536?” He avoided using Andrew’s name. If there was to be an answer, any name would be unfamiliar at the moment. “Do you wish to tell me, my friend, what you see?”

The Nonsuch Lure by Mary Luke (Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, September 1976).

Balsamo’s Mirror

by L. Sprague de Camp

MIT student W. Wilson Newbury has a creepy Lovecraftian friend who is enamored with the 18th century, so naturally they visit an Armenian gypsy who makes them passengers in the bodies of an 18th century pauper and his father.

This story gave me a game that I play of pretending that I have just arrived as a passenger in my own body with no control over my actions or observations. How long does it take to figure out who and where I am? So, I enjoyed that aspect of the story, but I have trouble reading phonetically spelled dialects.

In his autobiography, de Camp says he based the setting of the story on his time as a graduate student at MIT in 1932, when Lovecraft (whom de Camp didn’t know) lived in nearby Providence: “I put H.P. Lovecraft himself, unnamed, into the story and stressed the contrast between his idealized eighteenth-century England and what he would have found if he had actually been translated back there. To get the dialect right, I read Fielding’s Tom Jones.”

I didn’t say that we could or should go back to pre-industrial technology. The changes since then were inevitable and irreversible. I only said. . .

“Balsamo’s Mirror” by L. Sprague de Camp, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1976.

The Ghost Diviners

by Elisabeth Mace

The Ghost Diviners by Elisabeth Mace (Andre Deutsch, 1977).

Backspace

by F. M. Busby

After fixing the smog problem by reversing the direction of Earth’s spin, Pete’s flaky friend Sam shows up with device that includes a calendar display and a grey backspace button. That, of course, was in the 1977 story, “Backspace.” I don’t know whether there were any earlier stories of Peter and Sam before the backspace button appeared, but there were several others afterward in Asimov’s Science Fiction. In the second story (“Balancing Act”), Sam could still “edit” time, even though he’d burned out the backspace button by stopping World War III. It’s unclear whether this second sort of editing involves time travel, but it is fun to speculate on what I might edit if given the chance.

My friend Sam is the only person I know who edits events. Which is to say, he does something in his head and the past changes; the alterations, of course also reflect into the present and the future.

“Backspace” by F. M. Busby, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Winter 1977.

Dead of Night [segment 1]

Second Chance

by Richard Matheson, directed by Dan Curtis

For the first of three short segments of the TV movie Dead of Night, Richard Matheson wrote this adaptation of Jack Finney’s 1956 story “Second Chance” where a college student lovingly restores a 1920s-era Jordan Playboy roadster and takes it back in time.

— Michael Main

I remember what someone once said; I think it was Einstein or somebody like that. He compared time to a winding river, with all of us in a boat drifting along between two high banks. And we can’t see the future beyond the next curve or the past beyond the curves in back of us, but it’s all still there, as real as the moment around us. To which I now add my own theory . . . that you can’t drive into the past in a modern car because there were no modern cars back then, and you can’t drive into 1926 along a four-lane superhighway, but my car and I—the way I felt about it anyway—were literally rejected that night by our own time.

Second Chance by Richard Matheson, directed by Dan Curtis (NBC-TV, USA, 29 March 1977).

Time Storm

by Gordon R. Dickson

Marc Despard, along with his teenaged friend Girl and their leopard Sunday, travels through an Earth ravaged by storms that push and pull swathes of land from one time to another.

Although the book was published in Oct 1977, it’s first half appeared as two long extracts in the first two issues of Asimov’s Science Fiction (“Time Storm” in Spring 1977 and “Across the River” in Summer 1977).

In the weeks since the whole business of the time changes started, I had not been this close to being caught since that first day in the cabin northwest of Duluth, when I had, in fact, been caught without knowing what hit me.

Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Spring-Summer 1977.

The Twilight Zone [s1e30] (treatm.ent)

Execution

by George Clayton Johnson

Back in the Old West, just after outlaw Jason Black is dropped from a lone tree with a rope around his neck, two scientists pull him into the 20th century. The story isn’t your typical short story; instead, it’s a treatment that Johnson presented to Rod Serling for a Twilight Zone episode that aired on 1 April 1960.

Listen to me. There is a strange world outside that door. Without us to help you, anything can happen to you. This is the twentieth century, don’t you understand?

“Execution” by George Clayton Johnson, in A Collection of Scripts and Stories written for “The Twilight Zone” by George Clayton Johnson, limited edition of 100 looseleaf copies (Valcour and Krueger, 1977).

Jeffty Is Five

by Harlan Ellison

“Jeffty Is Five” by Harlan Ellison, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1977.

The Mirror

by Marlys Millhiser

In 1978, a 20-year-old Boulder woman exchanges places with her grandmother in 1900 on the eve of their respective weddings.

— Michael Main

He thought she wouldn’t answer but finally she said, “What if I can’t go back? What if I have to live out Brandy’s life? She lives an awfully long time, Corbin.”

The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978).

The Rushton Inheritance

by Elisabeth Mace

The Rushton Inheritance by Elisabeth Mace (Andre Deutsch, 1978).

Jubilee

written and directed by Derek Jarman

In this early punk movie, John Dee, advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, calls forth the spirit Ariel who transports Dee and the queen to an anarchistic and largely unintelligible) England not far beyond the 1970s.

— Michael Main

Now shall one king rise up against another. And there shall be bloodshed throughout the whole world, fighting between the devil, his kingdom, and the kingdom of light.

Jubilee written and directed by Derek Jarman (at movie theaters, UK, February 1978).

A Hitch in Time

by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Jan Darnley-Smith

A Hitch in Time by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Jan Darnley-Smith (unknown release details, 5 May 1978).

Scrap from the Notebooks of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by K. W. MacAnn

Mephistopheles agrees to take Faust into Hell and one other destination in time.

Faust and Mephistopheles entered the tavern and shed their heavy overcoats.

“Scrap from the Notebooks of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe” by K. W. MacAnn, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, September/October 1978.

The Humanic Complex

by Ray Russell

An amnesiac receives a visit from a tiny creature from the future who offers to grant him any three wishes he wants, but somehow the wishes keep being deflected in a theological direction.

This may sound pompous, but. . . I wish to know whether or not there is a God.

“The Humanic Complex” by Ray Russell, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1978.

Palely Loitering

by Christopher Priest

At age ten, Mykle jumps off the time-flux bridge at a sharp angle and goes far into the future where he sees a lovely girl named Estyll, and as he grows older, he is drawn to the future and to her over and over again.

One of these traversed the Channel at an angle of exactly ninety degrees, and to walk across it was no different from crossing any bridge across any ordinary river.

One bridge was built slightly obtuse of the right-angle, and to cross it was to climb the temporal gradient of the flux-field; when one emerged on the other side of the Channel, twenty-four hours had elapsed.

The third bridge was built slightly acute of the right-angle, and to cross to the other side was to walk twenty-four hours into the past. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow existed on the far side of the Flux Channel, and one could walk at will among them.

“Palely Loitering” by Christopher Priest, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1979.

Loob

by Bob Leman

Tom Perman remembers his home town differently, but in his actual life, the town is run-down and neither his grandmother nor her elegant house exist—a situation Tom can explain only through changes made to the past by Loob, the town idiot; although ironically, it’s only through those changes that Loob himself even exists.

Their only dreams are of winning prizes on television giveaway shows.

“Loob” by Bob Leman, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1979.

Xanth 3

Castle Roogna

by Piers Anthony

Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony (Del Rey, July 1979).

Kindred

by Octavia E. Butler

Dana Franklin, a 26-year-old African-American woman living in modern-day California, finds herself transported back to the antebellum south whenever young redheaded Rufus is in trouble.

Fact then: Somehow, my travels crossed time as well as distance. Another fact: The boy was the focus of my travels—perhaps the cause of them.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Doubleday, July 1979).

Xanth

by Piers Anthony

Deborah Baker first introduced me to this series of books in 1982, and I read the first nine in the 1980s. The books are set in a pun-infested world in which people have individual magic powers that they must discover. The first time travel that I remember was in the 1979 Castle Roogna where characters could step into a tapestry that took them to the past.

It was embroidered with scenes from the ancient past of Castle Roogna and its environs, eight hundred years ago.

Xanth by Piers Anthony (July 1979).

Roadmarks

by Roger Zelazny

As Red Dorakeen tries to avoid assassination, he travels on a highway that links all times via mutable exits that appear every few years.

There are other Zelazny works that drew me in much deeper (try Seven Princes of Amber). Still, Roadmarks has some interesting techniques. For example, Zelazny said that the second of the two storylines, which take place off the Road, was written as separate chapters and then shuffled into no particular order.

It traverses Time—Time past, Time to come, Time that could have been and Time that might yet be. It goes on forever, so far as I know, and no one knows all of its turnings.

Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny (Del Rey, October 1979).

Alpha Centauri

by Robert Siegel

Alpha Centauri by Robert Siegel (Cornerstone Books, 1980).

Playing Beatie Bow

by Ruth Park

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (Thomas Nelson, January 1980).

Can I Get There By Candlelight?

by Jean Slaughter Doty

Can I Get There By Candlelight? by Jean Slaughter Doty (Macmillan, May 1980).

A Touch of Petulance

by Ray Bradbury

On his way home on the train, Jonathan Hughes meets Jonathan Hughes + 20 years and receives a warning that his marriage to a lovely young bride will end in murder.

— Michael Main

Me, thought the young man. Why, that old man is. . . me.

“A Touch of Petulance” by Ray Bradbury, in Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley (The Viking Press, August 1980).

L’insolite aventure de Marina Sloty

Literal: The unusual adventure of Marina Sloty

by Raoul de Warren

L’insolite aventure de Marina Sloty by Raoul de Warren (Éditions de l’Herne, 1981).

Time Bandits

by Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, directed by Terry Gilliam

A boy’s bedroom is invaded by six dwarves who have stolen The Supreme Being’s map, which naturally leads both boy and dwarves on adventures through time.

— Michael Main

Is it all ready? Right. Come on then. Back to creation. We mustn’t waste any more time. They’ll think I’ve lost control again and put it all down to evolution.

Time Bandits by Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, directed by Terry Gilliam (at movie theaters, USA, 16 July 1981).

retold for children

A Christmas Carol

abridged by Joan Collins from the original by Charles Dickens

The tale is a somewhat faithful retelling for children, abridge to about a third of the original length, in simple language, and with copious illustrations by Chris Russell. It even retains the metaphysical thought that the future will be bleak for Tiny Tim if things remain unchanged.

— Michael Main

If these shadows do not change, Tiny Tim will not see another Christmas.

“A Christmas Carol” abridged by Joan Collins from the original by Charles Dickens (Ladybird Books, 1982).

The Other Elizabeth

by Karleen Bradford

The Other Elizabeth by Karleen Bradford (Gage, 1982).

Miss Switch to the Rescue

by Sheldon Stark, directed by Charles A. Nichols

After the Miss Switch children’s book and cartoon, there was a two-part ABC Weekend Special (“Miss Switch to the Rescue”) where a pirate who’s been stuck in a bottle for centuries takes one of Miss Switch’s students (Amelia) back to his time, and the teacher-cum-witch and another student (Rupert) go back to rescue her.

— Michael Main

Miss Switch to the Rescue by Sheldon Stark, directed by Charles A. Nichols (ABC-TV, USA, 16 January 1982).

Clap Hands and Sing

by Orson Scott Card

Ancient Charlie sees a momentary vision of young Rachel, barely into her teens, and a moment with her that was never to be.

I’ve read other Card stories where he portrays the dark side of a character in realistic and frightening form that I could deal with, but for me, the seeming comfort that the character gets at the end is more disturbing than anything else Card has written.

He almost stops himself. Few things are left in his private catalog of sin, but surely this is one. He looks into himself and tries to find the will to resist his own desire solely because its fulfillment will hurt another person. He is out of practice—so far out of practice that he keeps losing track of the reason for resisting.

“Clap Hands and Sing” by Orson Scott Card, in The Best of Omni Science Fiction No. 3, edited by Ben Bova and Don Myrus (Omni Publications International Ltd., February 1982).

The Thousand Cuts

by Ian Watson

Alison, Don, and Hugh have philosophical discussions on what it means when the entire world skips two or three days at a time and then picks up at some random moment in the future. In the blackout period, amazing progress is made in arms control and hostage negotiations. Time travel? Maybe not, but certainly a fun read with some echoes of Sturgeon’s “Yesterday Was Monday.”

God has decided to cut reality and re-edit it.

“The Thousand Cuts” by Ian Watson, in The Best of Omni Science Fiction No. 3, edited by Ben Bova and Don Myrus (Omni Publications International Ltd., February 1982).

Il mondo di Yor

English release: Yor, the Hunter from the Future Literal: The world of Yor

by Robert D. Bailey and Antonio Margheriti, directed by Antony M. Margheriti

Il mondo di Yor by Robert D. Bailey and Antonio Margheriti, directed by Antony M. Margheriti (at movie theaters, Italy, 10 February 1983).

Max and Me 1

Max and Me and the Time Machine

by Gery Greer

Max and Me and the Time Machine by Gery Greer (Harcourt Childrens’ Books, May 1983).

Building Blocks

by Cynthia Voigt

Building Blocks by Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum, 1984).

Your Time, My Time

by Ann Walsh

Your Time, My Time by Ann Walsh (Dundurn, 1984).

Bunjee I

The Bunjee Venture

by Malcolm Marmorstein, directed by Steve Lumley

The Bunjee Venture by Malcolm Marmorstein, directed by Steve Lumley (ABC-TV, USA, 24 March 1984).

Merlin and the Sword

by David Wyles, directed by Clive Donner

When Katherine Davidson falls into an underground ice cave beneath Stonehenge, she finds that Merlin and his lover Niniane have been trapped there for a millennium, whereupon Merlin and Niniane proceed to show Katherine the story of how Morgan le Fay trapped them.

— Michael Main

Love cancels all curses, love breaks all spells. Love is a magic greater than any wizard or witch, warlock or shaman.

Merlin and the Sword by David Wyles, directed by Clive Donner (at limited theaters, Davao, Phillipines, 5 January 1985).

Hauntings

by Kim Antieau

“Hauntings” by Kim Antieau, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, February 1985.

The Lost Garden of Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Lucy Atwell and the Rest of the Lads of the 32nd Parachute Regiment

by Garry Kilworth

Offa Smith travels to the Garden of Eden to prevent Eve from eating the apple and thereby guarantee immortality for himself (and all mankind, though that’s beyond the point).

Let’s put it this way—if you do persuade the lady to take a bite, you lose your legs.

“The Lost Garden of Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Lucy Atwell and the Rest of the Lads of the 32nd Parachute Regiment” by Garry Kilworth, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, March 1985.

Bunjee II

The Return of the Bunjee

by Malcolm Marmorstein, [director unknown]

Finding a mate for Bunjee and a mother for the Bunjee babies takes the gang back to the Middle Ages.

— Michael Main

The Return of the Bunjee by Malcolm Marmorstein, [director unknown] (ABC-TV, USA, 6 April 1985).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02)

The Playground

by Ray Bradbury, directed by William Fruet

Charles visits his boyhood playground, at first on his own and then with his own son. There, he sees Ralph, the bully who tormented him, who’s still a boy and who still seems to be tormenting Charlie.

Perhaps Ralph was meant to be a ghost bully, perhaps the curly haired boy is young Charlie, perhaps Charlie switches bodies with his own son, or perhaps there’s time travel invovled. We doubt that even Captain Kirk could sort out all those perhapses in this TV version of Ray Bradbury’s story starring William Shatner. But clarity can be had if you read the original story, which takes about the same amount of time as watching the TV episode but shows the rich inner life of Charles Underwood and leaves no ambiguity about what’s up with “Ralph.”

— Michael Main

Ralph? The bully. When I was a kid, he used to wait for me on the corner every day.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02), “The Playground” by Ray Bradbury, directed by William Fruet (HBO, USA, 4 June 1985).

Paladin of the Lost Hour

by Harlan Ellison

“Paladin of the Lost Hour” by Harlan Ellison, in Universe 15, edited by Terry Carr (Doubleday, August 1985).

The Twilight Zone (r2s01e07b)

Paladin of the Lost Hour

by Harlan Ellison, directed by Gilbert Cates

Paladin of the Lost Hour by Harlan Ellison, directed by Gilbert Cates (CBS-TV, USA, 8 November 1985).

Time Out of Mind

by John R. Maxim

Time Out of Mind by John R. Maxim (Houghton Mifflin, January 1986).

Meg Murry 4

Many Waters

by Madeleine L’Engle

Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 1986).

Peggy Sue Got Married

by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Middle-aged Peggy Sue has two grown children and an adulterous husband whom she married at 18, so will she do things the same when she finds herself back in 1960 in her senior year of high school?

— Michael Main

Well, Mr Snelgrove, I happen to know that in the future I will not have the slightest use for algebra, and I speak from experience.

Peggy Sue Got Married by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, directed by Francis Ford Coppola (New York Film Festival, 5 October 1986).

Superfantagenio

by Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, and Marcello Fondato, directed by Bruno Corbucci

Superfantagenio by Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, and Marcello Fondato, directed by Bruno Corbucci (at movie theaters, Italy, 24 December 1986).

Le gouffre des années

English release: The Gulf of the Years Literal: The gulf of the years

by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud

I read the English translation from Châteaureynaud’s collection, A Life on Paper (2010). The story tells of a man who returns to occupied France during World War II on the morning that his mother was killed by an errant bomb. I enjoyed the writing, but was unsatisfied with the ending.

You’re Jean-Jacques Manoir, aren’t you? Right? You don’t know me, but I know all about you.

[ex=bare]“Le gouffre des années” | The gulf of years[/ex] by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, in Héros blessé au bras: Nouvelles (Grasset, 1987).

Fraggle Rock

by Jim Henson

The symbolic and colorful world of Jim Henson’s Fraggle Muppets included at least one moment of time travel when Mokey, Boober, and Wembly are mysteriously transported back to a time of Fraggles who cannot laugh.

Wouldn’t it be fun to travel in time? O’ course, you wouldn’t really go anywhere. No, Sprocket, because the past and the future are happening now, here in the present. It’s all a question of perception. I thought dogs knew things like that.

Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson (23 February 1987).

Dinosaur on a Bicycle

by Tim Sullivan

Harry Quince-Pierpont Fotheringgay, the assistant to the learned Sir Brathewaite pedals a time bicycle from a civilized Victorian era to the distant path where, among others, he meets his own tyrannosaur ancestor and two talking simians.

As far as Harry was concerned, they were getting altogether too near his gigantic ancestor now.

“Dinosaur on a Bicycle” by Tim Sullivan, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 1987.

The Silver Box

by Louise Lawrence

While searching for a ghost in the past, Mark and Zak stumble upon young Carole, shut up in her bedroom with glandular fever in 1987.

What else do we live for but the little mundane things of life? If we sit around waiting for the few, rare wonderful moments that make it all worthwhile we may as well not live at all.

“The Silver Box” by Louise Lawrence, in A Quiver of Ghosts, edited by Aidan Chambers (The Bodley Head, March 1987).

from The Teacher of Symmetry Cycle

Преподаватель симметрии

Prepodavatelʹ simmetrii Literal: Teacher of symmetry

by Андре́й Би́тов

Based on a review at the Modern Novel website, part of this story involves the devil showing photographs of the future to a man named Vanoski (an obscure author from the 1930s). So, we’ve got photos-from-the-future, but no actual time travel. However, there is time travel in another story (“Fotografiya Pushkin (1799–2099)”) from the Teacher of Symmetry Cycle. And just to pile satire on top of satire, the 16 stories in the cycle were purportedly written by an obscure Englishman named A. Tired-Boffin, and Bitov was merely the humble messenger who provided translations of these lost gems into Russian.

Also, according to Fantlab[/b] and Labirint, this is the central story of Bitov’s Teacher of Symmetry Cycle, which consists of 16 of avant-garde stories by an unknown English author, A. Tired-Boffin (1859–1937). Bitov purportedly found and translated some of these stories to Russian.

Итак, на фотографии был бесспорно я, и мое будущее лицо мне нравилось и подходило, но чем же оно тогда было так искажено?

So, it was undeniably me in the photograph, and I liked and suited my future face, but why was it so distorted then?

English

[ex=bare]Преподаватель симметрии | The Teacher of Symmetry | “Prepodavatelʹ simmetrii”[/ex] by Андре́й Би́тов, [ex=bare]Юность || Yunostʹ[/ex], April 1987.

The Twilight Zone (r2s02e10a)

Time And Teresa Golowitz

by Alan Brennert, directed by Shelley Levinson

“Time And Teresa Golowitz” by Alan Brennert, directed by Shelley Levinson (CBS-TV, USA, 10 July 1987).

Book of The New Sun 5

The Urth of the New Sun

by Gene Wolfe

The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (Gollancz, August 1987).

Project Pendulum

by Robert Silverberg

Ricky and Sean Gabrielson, 23-year-old identical twins, are the first men to travel through time, taking ever larger swings that send one backward and one forward.

This was the first book that I read in the rare books room of the University of Colorado library from the Brian E. Lebowitz Collection of 20th Century Jewish American Literature.

Hi there. You’re not going to believe this, but I’m you of the year 2016, taking part in the first time-travel experiment ever.

Project Pendulum by Robert Silverberg (Walker, September 1987).

A Breath of Fresh Air

by Geraldine Kaye

A Breath of Fresh Air by Geraldine Kaye (Trafalgar Square Publishing, October 1987).

The Best-Kept Secret

by Emily Rodda

The Best-Kept Secret by Emily Rodda (Angus and Robertson, 1988).

Lightning

by Dean R. Koontz

Right from her birth, Laura Shane has had a quick wit, a fateful loss of those close to her, and a time-traveling guardian angel who is himself chased by his evil compatriots.

One of the things he had learned from the experiments in the institute was that reshaping fate was not always easy. Destiny struggled to reassert the pattern that was meant to be. Perhaps being molested and psychologically destroyed was such an immutable part of Laura’s fate that Stefan could not prevent it from happening sooner or later.

Lightning by Dean R. Koontz (Putnam, 1988).

Fire, Fire

by Allison Prince

When young Emma falls behind her parents on a country outing, she finds herself at a Neolithic funeral pyre.

Emma, we can’t keep waiting for you all the time. We"re nearly at the top—see you up there, all right? It’s not far.

“Fire, Fire” by Allison Prince, in A Haunting Refrain (Methuen Children’s Books, May 1988).

Something Upstairs

by Avi

Something Upstairs by Avi (Orchard Books, September 1988).

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

by Geoff Chapple, Kely Lyons, and Vincent Ward, directed by Vincent Ward

To ward off the Black Death, young Griffin, local hero Connor, and others from their village plan to dig a hole through the Earth where they’ll give an offering to the powers that be, but instead, they end up digging a tunnel to a marvelous twentieth-century city.

— Michael Main

Think how much power you’d need for all that!

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey by Geoff Chapple, Kely Lyons, and Vincent Ward, directed by Vincent Ward (Toronto International Film Festival, 16 September 1988).

The Devil’s Arithmetic

by Jane Yolen

In fifth grade, Hannah read this intense novel of a young modern Jewish girl thrown back to the concentration camps of World War II Germany.

Hannah was stunned. It was as if she’d suddenly been transported to a movie set.

The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (Viking Kestrel, November 1988).

Merryll of the Stones

by Brian Caswell

Merryll of the Stones by Brian Caswell (University of Queensland Press, 1989).

Pieces of Eight

by Charles Johnson

Pieces of Eight by Charles Johnson (Discovery Press, January 1989).

The Price of Oranges

by Nancy Kress

Harry’s closet takes him back to 1937 where his social security income buys cheaper oranges, treats for his friend Manny, and possibly a companionable man for his jaded granddaughter Jackie.

Harry bought a pair of socks, thick gray wool, for 89 cents. When the man took his dollar, Harry held his breath: each first time made a little pip in his stomach. But on one ever looked at the dates of old bills. He bought two oranges for five cents each, and then, thinking of Manny, bought a third. At a candystore he bought G-8 and His Battle Aces for fifteen cents. At The Collector’s Cozy in the other time they would gladly give him thirty dollars for it. Finally, he bought a cherry Coke for a nickel and headed towards the park.

“The Price of Oranges” by Nancy Kress, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, April 1989.

The Time Tree

by Enid Richemont

The Time Tree by Enid Richemont (Walker Books, April 1989).

Field of Dreams

written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson

Corn farmer Ray Kinsella is called to build a ballpark in his cornfield; once the field is built, various ballplayers from the past come. The players seem more like ghosts who regard the field as their heaven rather than time travelers, so the actual time travel element is slight, arising from a walk when Ray slips into 1972.

— Michael Main

If you build it, they will come.

Field of Dreams written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson (at limited movie theaters, USA, 21 April 1989).

Mazemaker

by Catherine Dexter

Mazemaker by Catherine Dexter (William Morrow, May 1989).

Warlock I

Warlock

by David Twohy, directed by Steve Miner

A captured warlock in 1691 Massachusetts is thrown forward 300 years to Los Angeles with warlock-hunter Giles Redferne in hot pursuit. Twentieth century chase ensues with pretty nurse Kassandra aiding the hunter.

— Michael Main

A grand grimore? Here? Now?

Warlock by David Twohy, directed by Steve Miner (Cannes Film Festival, May 1989).

Where the Towers Pierce the Sky

by Marie D. Goodwin

Where the Towers Pierce the Sky by Marie D. Goodwin (Four Winds Press, October 1989).

Turn Back the Clock

by Lee Hutson and Linday Harrison, directed by Larry Elikann

Turn Back the Clock by Lee Hutson and Linday Harrison, directed by Larry Elikann (NBC-TV, USA, 20 November 1989).

Stonewords 1

Stonewords: A Ghost Story

by Pam Conrad

Stonewords: A Ghost Story by Pam Conrad (Harper and Row, March 1990).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s04e06)

Touch of Petulance

by Ray Bradbury, directed by John Laing

A faithful adaptation of Bradbury’s 1980 story of a man who returns to his warn his younger self about the future course of his marriage.

— Michael Main

We are one, the same person: Jonathan Hughes.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s04e06), “Touch of Petulance” by Ray Bradbury, directed by John Laing (USA Network, USA, 12 October 1990).

The Time Traveler

by Isaac Asimov

The little demon Azazel (the hero of many an Asimov tale) sends a world-renowned writer travels back in time to see his first writing teacher at a 1934 school that is remarkably like Asimov’s own Boys High in Brooklyn.

“Because,” and here he struck his chest a resounding thump, “the burning memories of youthful snubs and spurnings remain unavenged and, indeed, forever unavengable.”

“The Time Traveler” by Isaac Asimov, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, November 1990.

Time Barbarians

written and directed by Joseph John Barmettler

In an ancient world of swords, sorcery, loin cloths, and bejeweled bikinis, an evil thief kills King Deran’s queen before escaping to modern-day Los Angeles. Since the thief also took a magic amulet with him, a loinclothless wizardess sends Deran after him to retrieve the amulet and avenge the queen’s brutal death.

— Michael Main

The man you seek is in this world no longer. You must travel to another time to find him.

Time Barbarians written and directed by Joseph John Barmettler (direct-to-video, USA, circa 1990).

Mavis Road Medley

by Goldie Alexander

Mavis Road Medley by Goldie Alexander (Margaret Hamilton Books, 1991).

天地玄門

Tian di xuan men English release: An Eternal Combat Literal: The mysterious spacetime gate

by 何东, directed by 叶成康

[ex=bare]天地玄門 | The mysterious spacetime gate | Tian di xuan men[/ex] by 何东, directed by 叶成康 (at movie theaters, Hong Kong, 5 January 1991).

A Dig in Time

by Peni R. Griffin

A Dig in Time by Peni R. Griffin (Margaret K. McElderry, April 1991).

Tales of Maroth 1

The Gateway of Time

by Bentley Carr

The Gateway of Time by Bentley Carr (Merlin Books, June 1991).

ゴジラvsキングギドラ

Gojira tai Kingu Gidora English release: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Literal: Gojira vs Kingu Gidora

written and directed by 大森一樹

That’s right, sir: It was invented long ago. We’re from the 23rd century.

[ex=bare]ゴジラvsキングギドラ | Gojira vs Kingu Gidora | Gojira vs Kingu Gidora[/ex] written and directed by 大森一樹 (at movie theaters, Japan, 14 December 1991).

Down the River Road

by Gregory Benford

On the verge of becoming a man, John travels a river that is an admixture of time-flow and liquid metal—or possibly of magic and science—with the goal of finding out about a father whom he barely remembers.

John followed the boot tracks away from the launch. They led inland, so there was no time pressure to fight. His clothes dried out as he walked beneath a shimmering patch of burnt-goald worldwall that hung tantalizingly behind roiling clouds.

“Down the River Road” by Gregory Benford, in After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Tor Books, January 1992).

Langdon St. Ives 2

Lord Kelvin’s Machine

by James P. Blaylock

Lord Kelvin’s Machine by James P. Blaylock (Arkham House, February 1992).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s05e06)

The Utterly Perfect Murder

by Ray Bradbury, directed by Stuart Margolin

I felt that Bradbury’s adaptation of his own 1971 story lost its impact by turning young Doug’s childhood tortures into clichéd scenes—and still leaving it up to the viewer to decide whether there’s a moment of time travel.

— Michael Main

Old Doug: Doug, Doug.. . . Come on out and play.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s05e06), “The Utterly Perfect Murder” by Ray Bradbury, directed by Stuart Margolin (USA Network, USA, 7 February 1992).

Waxwork II

Waxwork II: Lost in Time

written and directed by Anthony Hickox

After the flaming climax at the end of Waxwork (which had no time travel that I could see), Mark and Sarah (a different actress) crawl home only to be followed by a disembodied hand that (before being garbage-disposaled into tiny pieces) hacks Sarah’s nearly evil stepfather to death. Nobody at Sarah’s subsequent trial for murder believes that story, so after listening to a movie of dead Patrick Macnee, they escape into a series of bad horror movie remakes from Frankenstein to Aliens.

Of course, all these movies are set in different times, but is there any actual time travel? The final scene gives a definitive answer, when Sarah meets James Westborn, after the verdict of her trial.

— Michael Main

We burned that place to the ground. Nothing could have got out.

Waxwork II: Lost in Time written and directed by Anthony Hickox (Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, March 1992).

Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail

by James Morrow

A lovely series of letters between Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella—as conveyed by messenger albatross in 1492!—describing a modern-day NYC, wondrous yet horrifying.

— Dave Hook

“Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail” by James Morrow, Amazing Stories, April 1992.

Goosebumps 4

Say Cheese and Die!

by R. L. Stine

Say Cheese and Die! by R. L. Stine (Scholastic, April 1992).

Friends in Time

by Grace Chetwin

Friends in Time by Grace Chetwin (Bradbury Press, May 1992).

The Magic Tree House 1

Dinosaurs before Dark

by Mary Pope Osborne

Eight-year-old prospective scientist Jack and his imaginative little sister Annie discover a tree house full of books, the first of which magicks them into the age of reptiles with a friendly Pteranodon they call Henry, a not-so-friendly T. Rex, and a drove of other dinosaurs.

— Michael Main

“Wow,” whispered Jack. “I wish we could go to the time of Pteranodons.”

Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky.

“Ahhh!” screamed Annie.

“What?” said Jack.

“A monster!” Annie cried. She pointed out the tree house window.

Dinosaurs before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 1992).

Forever, Ashley

by Lori Copeland

Forever, Ashley by Lori Copeland (Dell, July 1992).

Heartlight 2

The Ancient One

by T. A. Barron

The Ancient One by T. A. Barron (Philomel Books, September 1992).

The Time Travelling Cat

The Time-Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess

by Julia Jarman

The Time-Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess by Julia Jarman (Andersen Press, December 1992).

Witches 1

Witches

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Witches by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (Zebra Books, January 1993).

Visitors I

Les visiteurs

English release: The Visitors Literal: The visitors

by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Les visiteurs by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré (at movie theaters, France, 27 January 1993).

The Magic Tree House 2

The Knight at Dawn

by Mary Pope Osborne

Cautious Jack and his gung-ho sister Annie have their second adventure through time when a book in the magic tree house sends them to the age of knights and chivalry. For the most part, they’re passive observers, but when they return back to Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, Jack discovers another clue about the magic person who may have built the treehouse.

— Michael Main

“My magic wand!” Annie said, waving the flashlight. “Get down. Or I’ll wipe you out!”

The Knight at Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, February 1993).

Glimpses

by Lewis Shiner

A weak marriage isn’t enough to sustain Ray Shackleford, but he doesn’t want to leave either, so he spends time in his mind wondering what various unmade albums would be like from the Beatles and other 60s bands (the Doors, the Beach Boys), and one day the music of those unmade albums starts coming from the speakers in his stereo repair shop.

When I opened my eyes it was nighttime and I was crouched on the sidewalk in front of Brian’s house and it wasn't 1989 anymore.

Glimpses by Lewis Shiner (William Morrow, July 1993).

The Magic Tree House 3

Mummies in the Morning

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie go to the pyramids in Egypt where they help the thousand-year-old ghost of Queen Hupeti find her way to the next life. If this info from the queen is correct, that places them sometime in the period of 1500 BC to AD 700. They also ran into a tomb robber, the likes of which were a problem even in Ancient Egypt.

— Michael Main

“For a thousand years,” said the ghost-queen. “I have waited for help.”

Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 1993).

Goodnight Sweetheart

by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran

Television repairman Gary Sparrow walks into a pub and meets a friendly barmaid in London during World War II, a spot where he repeatedly returns to escape a mundane life and loving but sometimes trying wife in 1993.

Oh, I must say you might be takin’ this 1940s theme a bit too far.

Goodnight Sweetheart by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (18 November 1993).

Dreamslip

by Brian Caswell

Dreamslip by Brian Caswell (University of Queensland Press, 1994).

Help! I’m Trapped in the First Day of . . .

by Todd Strasser

Most of Strasser’s 17 Help! books trap young Jake Sherman in the body of this or that adult (or dog), but two of the books have the boy repeating the day over and over (. . . in the First Day of School and . . . in the First Day of Summer Camp).

It was the first day again!

Help! I’m Trapped in the First Day of . . . by Todd Strasser (1994).

The Magic Tree House 4

Pirates Past Noon

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are thrown into a pack of pirates in the Caribbean who are intent on finding Captain Kidd’s treasure.

— Michael Main

“No one escapes Cap’n Bones!” he roared. His breath was terrible.

Pirates Past Noon by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 1994).

The Magic School Bus

by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

In The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs, Miss Frizzle and her charges turn the bus into a time machine that takes them to the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous. The bus had several other adventures in time, too, although not all by Cole and Degen.

Class, we’re in the late triassic period—the time of the early dinosaurs!

The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (8 September 1994).

Goosebumps 27

A Night in Terror Tower

by R. L. Stine

A Night in Terror Tower by R. L. Stine (Scholastic, 1995).

Goosebumps 28

The Cuckoo Clock of Doom

by R. L. Stine

The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R. L. Stine (Apple Paperbacks, February 1995).

The Magic Tree House 5

Night of the Ninjas

by Mary Pope Osborne

The tree house finally returns to Frog Creek, but with only a note from Morgan[/ex] pleading for help, so the kids end up following a clue to medieval Japan where they find the first of four items that they’ll need to save Morgan.

— Michael Main

“The moonstone will help you find your missing friend,” the master said.

Night of the Ninjas by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 1995).

The Anywhere Ring 1

Miracle Island

by Louise Ladd

Miracle Island by Louise Ladd (Berkley Books, July 1995).

The Magic Tree House 6

Afternoon on the Amazon

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel to the Amazon, encountering army ants, snakes, crocodiles (does the Amazon have crocodiles?), a jaguar, and a monkey who gives them the second object they need to collect in their quest to save Morgan[/ex].

This is the first tree house story where the kids’ desitination might be in the present time, although there is still some time travel since the tree house always returns to the same time that it left, presumably so The Parents don’t worry. In any case. we’ve decided to mark this type of possibly-present-day story as having debatable time travel to distinguish this kind of destination from those in the past or future.

— Michael Main

Jack nodded. Now he remembered. The ninja master said they wouldn’t be able to find the Pennsylvania book until they had found what they were looking for.

Afternoon on the Amazon by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 1995).

君は時のかなたへ

Kimi wa toki no kanata e English release: Beyond Your Time Literal: You on the other side of time

by 中島かずき, directed by 中島豪

A 16th-century samurai is stranded in the 20th century, where is rival hunts him down.

— Michael Main

君は時のかなたへ | Kimi wa toki no kanata e by 中島かずき, directed by 中島豪 (テレビ朝日 [TV Asahi], Japan) 18 September 1995.

The Magic School Bus

by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

Apart from “The Busasaurus,” in which The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs comes to the little animated screen (although only with the Cretaceous period), I don’t know whether Miss Frizzle and her charges ever took any other trips through time.

To really understand a dinosaur, you really need to walk in its shoes.

The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (23 September 1995).

Mirror, Mirror

by Poise Graeme-Evans

Troubled 14-year-old Jo Tiegan is given a mirror that lets her visit back-and-forth with another girl who lives in her very bedroom in 1919 New Zealand.

I was just positioning the mirror for your daughter.. . . Jo, you must leave it right there. It’s right for it to be there. By tomorrow morning, you’ll understand.

Mirror, Mirror by Poise Graeme-Evans (30 September 1995).

The Anywhere Ring 2

Castle in Time

by Louise Ladd

Castle in Time by Louise Ladd (Berkley Books, November 1995).

Dinosaur Valley Girls

written and directed by Donald F. Glut

Action-movie hero Tony Markham is tossed by a magic talisman into a time of dinosaurs, cavemen, and sex-starved cavewomen (including one named Buf-Fee) who shave their legs with clam shells. Someday I must decide whether movies with simultaneous dinosaurs and cavemen can be classified as time travel or must always be relegated to mere fantasy.

— Michael Main

That skull you saw, those slabs and more, are all carbon-dated at less than a million years old. My only explanation is that there once existed a place I call Dinosaur Valley, where unknown forces somehow brought together creatures from different times and places.

Dinosaur Valley Girls written and directed by Donald F. Glut (unknown release details, 1996).

Johnny and the Bomb

by Terry Pratchett

In this third book of the series, teenaged Johnny Maxwell and his yahoo friends uses Mrs. Tachyon’s shopping trolley to travel through time to World War II.

. . . if you go mad, do you know you’ve gone mad? If you don’t, how do you know you’re not mad?

Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 1996).

Der Trip

Literal: The trip

written and directed by Wolfgang Büld

Der Trip written and directed by Wolfgang Büld (unknown release details, 11 January 1996).

The Anywhere Ring 3

Lost Valley

by Louise Ladd

Lost Valley by Louise Ladd (Berkley Books, February 1996).

Daughter of Storms / Shar Tillmer 1

Daughter of Storms

by Louise Cooper

Daughter of Storms by Louise Cooper (Hodder Children’s Books, April 1996).

The Magic Tree House 7

Sunset of the Sabertooth

by Mary Pope Osborne

The tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the stone age where they run into Cro-Magnon man, a cave bea, a sabertooth tiger, a mammoth, a woolly rhino, and other prehistoric beasties before returning home with the third magic object to rescue Morgan.

— Michael Main

She stroked the mammoth’s giant ear. “Bye, Lulu. Thank you,” she said.

Sunset of the Sabertooth by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, April 1996).

The Anywhere Ring 4

Cherry Blossom Moon

by Louise Ladd

Cherry Blossom Moon by Louise Ladd (Berkley Books, May 1996).

Bring Back Yesterday

by Harriet Sirof

Bring Back Yesterday by Harriet Sirof (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, September 1996).

Early Edition

by Bob Brush

A calico cat brings Gary tomorrow’s newspaper every morning—and at least two episodes in the four seasons sent soft-spoken Gary back in time (to the Chicago Fire in “Hot Time in the Old Time” and to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in “Everybody Goes to Rick’s). Go Gary!

One of the reasons this show appealed to me is the occurrence of a strong, introverted lead character, which is a rarity in all fiction.

What if, by some magic, you found the power to really change things? People, events, maybe even your life. Would you even know where to start? Maybe you can’t know. Until it happens.

Early Edition by Bob Brush (28 September 1996).

The Ancient Future 1

The Ancient Future: The Dark Age

by Traci Harding

The Ancient Future: The Dark Age by Traci Harding (Voyager, October 1996).

The Magic Tree House 8

Midnight on the Moon

by Mary Pope Osborne

For the first time, the tree house takes Jack and Annie to the future and off the Earth!

— Michael Main

Jack nodded. “The book says the moon base was built in 2031,” he said. “So this book was written after that! Which means this book os from the future!.”

Midnight on the Moon by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, October 1996).

The Ancient Future 2

An Echo in Time: Atlantis

by Traci Harding

An Echo in Time: Atlantis by Traci Harding (Voyager, 1997).

Carry Me Back

by Laura Watt

Carry Me Back by Laura Watt (St. Martin’s Press, February 1997).

Files of the Time Rangers

by Richard Bowes

I’ve read several of the Time Rangers’ stories, including “Straight to My Lover’s Heart’, in which a ranger named Raz (aka Cupid) takes two time-traveling children under his wings—not literal wings, although they could well have been, given the stories’ backdrop of ancient meddling gods.

Raz’s specialty is outcasts of Time. Runaways. Fugitives. Ones who can’t go home on holidays, because home hasn’t been built yet. Or it’s a place that's long gone or never was.

“Files of the Time Rangers” by Richard Bowes, in Bending the Landscape: Fantasy, edited by Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (White Wolf Publishing, March 1997).

The Magic Tree House 9

Dolphins at Daybreak

by Mary Pope Osborne

The tree house transports the kids to a coral reef somewhere in the South Pacific or Indian ocean where a mini-submarine gives them a tour of the wildlife, including dolphins and giant clams. We’ve marked the story as having debatable time travel since the only certain time travel comes from returning to Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, at the moment of their departure.

— Michael Main

“You must show that you know how to do research,” said Morgan. “And show that you can find answers to hard questions.”

Dolphins at Daybreak by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, April 1997).

In His Father’s Shoes

by Gary Gelt, directed by Vic Sarin

In His Father’s Shoes by Gary Gelt, directed by Vic Sarin (Showtime, USA, 15 June 1997).

Lord of the Isles 1

Lord of the Isles

by David Drake

Lord of the Isles by David Drake (Tor, August 1997).

The Magic Tree House 10

Ghost Town at Sundown

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie head back to the Old West where they meet a piano-playing ghost, cattle rustlers, and a cowboy who’s a budding writer.

— Michael Main

“Slim, you should write your book,” said Annie.

Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 1997).

Animorphs

by K. A. Applegate

Five kids and their alien friend Ax can change into any animal that they touch, which is a good thing given that they’re the only ones standing between the Yeerks and the conquest of all mankind.

Tim liked the Animorphs even more than their earlier cousin, the Goosebumps books, and I agree. But I asked him recently why the books needed to introduce time travel. Weren’t there enough fantastical elements already? But he pointed out that without time travel, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias and Ax couldn’t turn into dinosaurs.

“We were blown through time, Jake,” Cassie said. “We aren’t where we want to be, and we aren’t when we want to be.”

Animorphs by K. A. Applegate (October 1997).

A Memory of the Nineteen-Nineties

by Teller

Max Beerbohm, an author in the 1890s and early twentieth century, told a tale of Enoch Soames who made a deal with the devil to visit the Reading Room in the British Museum on 3 June 1997. Famed magician Teller recounts what happened at ten past two on the designated day, a day that Teller has been waiting and planning for for thirty-four and a half years.

In other words, anyone in the Round Reading Room of the British Museum at ten past two on June 3, 1997, would be able to verify Beerbohm’s memoir, and see an authentic, guaranteed, proven ghost.

“A Memory of the Nineteen-Nineties” by Teller, in The Atlantic Monthly, November 1997.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s02e08)

Inna-Gadda-Sabrina

by Sheldon Bull, directed by Gary Halvorson

In a crossover involving all four of ABC’s Friday night family-friendly shows, Salem eats Sabrina’s time ball, sending their world back to the 1960s and sending each of the other shows’ characters to a different decade as well. You could argue that the time ball causes the whole culture to experience the world as if it were back in the 1960s rather than producing actual time travel.

— Inmate Jan

You hold it and your surroundings become whatever decade you think of.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s02e08), “Inna-Gadda-Sabrina” by Sheldon Bull, directed by Gary Halvorson (ABC-TV, USA, 7 November 1997) \pt. 1 of the 1997 TGIF Crossover].

Boy Meets World (s05e06)

No Guts, No Cory

by Lara Olsen and Patricia Carr, directed by Alan Myerson

As part of ABC’s Friday night crossover, Salem (the cat from tag-4138 Sabrina) transports the Boy Meets World world to 1940s America where Cory, his dad, and Shawn all ship off to war.

— Michael Main

I don’t know how I would handle living back then. You know, I wonder what it was like during World War II.

Boy Meets World (s05e06), “No Guts, No Cory” by Lara Olsen and Patricia Carr, directed by Alan Myerson (ABC-TV, USA, 7 November 1997) \pt. 2 of the 1997 TGIF Crossover].

You Wish (s01e07)

Genie without a Cause

by Jeff Sherman, directed by Jeff McCracken

In the third part of ABC’s Friday night crossover, Sabrina’s cat Salem transports the You Wish gang to the 1950s Travis has a James Dean-ish drag race, Genie inspires a young Bob Dylan, and Salem tries to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Felix the Cat.

— Michael Main

I hope this is the one where she stomps on the grapes.

You Wish (s01e07), “Genie without a Cause” by Jeff Sherman, directed by Jeff McCracken (ABC-TV, USA, 7 November 1997) \pt. 3 of the 1997 TGIF Crossover].

Teen Angel (s01e07)

One Dog Night

by Michael Price, directed by Gary Halvorson

The final part of ABC’s Friday night crossover took Salem the cat to Teen Angel’s house where he transports Teen Angel and the family back to the time of disco and, apparently, altered the course of the 1976 presidential election.

— Michael Main

Oh, honey, you can go any time. Disco’s gonna last forever.

Teen Angel (s01e07), “One Dog Night” by Michael Price, directed by Gary Halvorson (ABC-TV, USA, 7 November 1997) \pt. 4 of the 1997 TGIF Crossover].

The Bad Twin

by Walter Jon Williams

All the time travel paradoxes in one convenient location!

— Michael Main

“The Bad Twin” by Walter Jon Williams, in Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (NESFA Press, 1998).

Discworld

by Terry Pratchett

Discworld humor either bites you or it doesn’t—not so much for me, but my friend Jim Martin talked me into reading The Last Continent (1998) for its send-up of “The Sound of Thunder” and the grandfather paradox. And I did laugh. I can’t guarantee that that book is the first time travel in Discworld, but it does precede the other time travel that I know of in Night Watch (2002).

“It’s not just that things in the future can affect things in the past,” he said. “Things that didn’t happen but might have happened can. . . affect things that really happened. Even things that happened and shouldn’t have happened and were removed still have, oh, call ’em shadows in time, things left over which interfere with what’s going on.”

Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1998).

The Magic Tree House 11

Lions at Lunchtime

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel to the plains of Africa—probably with no time travel apart from returning to their exact moment of departure—where among the lions and giraffes, they solve the third of four riddles on their way to becoming Master Librarians.

— Michael Main

Jack watched as she hopped off the ladder. Then she started to walk through the tall grass, between the zebras and giraffes.

Lions at Lunchtime by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, February 1998).

Met by Moonlight

by Rosemary Edghill

Met by Moonlight by Rosemary Edghill (Pinnacle Books, February 1998).

Visitors II

Les couloirs du temps: Les visiteurs II

English release: The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time Literal: The visitors II: The corridors of time

by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Christian Clavier

Les couloirs du temps: Les visiteurs II by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Christian Clavier (at movie theaters, France and Switzerland, 11 February 1998).

I Am a Fine Musician . . .

by Roberta Rogow

When Judy’s genius husband goes off to a conference, he leaves a machine on in his lab that keeps bringing musical geniuses from the past to the present.

I could hear music all the way through the house. From the sounds drifting down, I could tell that Schubert was strumming the guitar, Haydn had formed his string quartet, Bach must have figured out how to turn on the Moog, and Handel had Vivaldi and Corelli working on a motet (or maybe the Italians were working with Handel).

“I Am a Fine Musician . . .” by Roberta Rogow, in Don’t Open This Book!, edited by Marvin Kaye (GuildAmerica Books, March 1998).

The Magic Tree House 12

Polar Bears Past Bedtime

by Mary Pope Osborne

In the Arctic, a native seal-hunter and the animals of the north show Jack and Annie their way of life while the kids solve the final riddle in their quest to join the Ancient Society of Master Librarians.

— Michael Main

The tree house was on the ground. There were no trees and no houses, only an endless field of ice and snow.

Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, April 1998).

Berkeley Square

by Deborah Cook et al.

Berkeley Square by Deborah Cook et al. (BBC-TV, 10 May 1998).

You Wish (s01e09)

All in the Family Room

by Linda Mathious and Heather MacGillvray, directed by Jeff McCracken

Slighted by his sister, Travis uses Genie’s time travel portal to run away to a pirate ship.

— based on ShareTV

You Wish (s01e09), “All in the Family Room” by Linda Mathious and Heather MacGillvray, directed by Jeff McCracken (ABC-TV, USA, 29 May 1998).

The Magic Tree House 13

Vacation under the Volcano

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie take on their first mission as members of the Ancient Society of Master Librarians: retreiving a lost scroll from Pompeii!

— Michael Main

“This story was in a library in a Roman town. I need you to get it before thelibrary becomes lost.”

Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, June 1998).

You Wish (s01e13)

Gift of the Travi

by Daniel Paige and Sue Paige, directed by Jeff McCracken

When Genie gives each of the kids a Christmas wish, Mickey wishes for a white Christmas in LA, and Travis wishes that it would be Christmas every day. Yeah, like that ever works out.

— Michael Main

I wish every day was Christmas.

You Wish (s01e13), “Gift of the Travi” by Daniel Paige and Sue Paige, directed by Jeff McCracken (ABC-TV, USA, 24 July 1998).

The Magic Tree House 14

Day of the Dragon King

by Mary Pope Osborne

In ancient China, Jack and Annie meet the heavenly beings behind the legend of the Silk Weaver and the Cowherd, and they rescue the first written book that tells their tale.

— Michael Main

“Give a message to the silk weaver. You will see her at the farmhouse,” said the young man. “Tell her to meet me here at twilight.”

Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 1998).

Clockmaker

by Neal Marshall Stevens, directed by Christopher Coppola

Clockmaker by Neal Marshall Stevens, directed by Christopher Coppola (unknown release details, 18 August 1998).

Twice Upon a Yesterday

by Rafa Russo, directed by Maria Ripoll

A year after he left his long-time girlfriend for a fling, actor Victor Bukowski hits rock bottom and desperately wants her back on the eve of her wedding to another. So, when two Spanish rubbishmen find him falling down drunk, they send him back in time for a second chance.

— Michael Main

And then I tried to go back to Sylvia, but it was too late. If only I could go back.

The Man with Rain in His Shoes by Rafa Russo, directed by Maria Ripoll (Montreal World Film Festival, 30 August 1998).

Pleasantville

written and directed by Gary Ross

Pleasantville written and directed by Gary Ross (Toronto International Film Festival, 17 September 1998).

The Ancient Future 3

Masters of Reality: The Gathering

by Traci Harding

Masters of Reality: The Gathering by Traci Harding (Voyager, October 1998).

The Magic Tree House 15

Viking Ships at Sunrise

by Mary Pope Osborne

Another book for Jack and Annie to rescue, this time a collection of Celtic tales from the 9th century AD.

— Michael Main

The serpent’s neck was as tall as a two-story building. Its green scales were covered with sea slime.

Viking Ships at Sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, October 1998).

Daughter of Storms 1

Keepers of Light

by Louise Cooper

Keepers of Light by Louise Cooper (Hodder Children’s Books, November 1998).

The Magic Tree House 16

Hour of the Olympics

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie meet Plato and learn about the treatment of women in ancient Greece, while also rescuing a fourth lost book from history for Morgan’s library

— Michael Main

At that moment, Plato returned. With him was a young woman dressed in a long tunic with a colored border. She was holding a scroll.

Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, December 1998).

. . . and Three to Go

by Ken Cowley

A recently retired historical researcher visits a 900-year-old inn and cannot stop himself from researching its past.

The area was too gloomy for close examination, but surely there should be rope marks.

“. . . And Three to Go” by Ken Cowley, in Miscellany Macabre: Tales of the Unknown, edited by Ken Cowley (The British Fantasy Society, 1999).

Man of the Century

by Adam Abraham and Gibson Frazier, directed by Adam Abraham

Man of the Century by Adam Abraham and Gibson Frazier, directed by Adam Abraham (Slamdance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, 24 January 1999).

The Magic Tree House 17

Tonight on the Titanic

by Mary Pope Osborne

A note from Morgan introduces Jack and Annie to a little brown dog named Teddy who needs three gifts to free him from a spell. Then they all head back to the Titanic to find the first gift (but not to save the sinking ship).

— Michael Main

“Well, at least that’s good,” said Jack. “The ship won’t sink, even if it is lost.”

Tonight on the Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 1999).

The Devil’s Arithmetic

by Robert J. Avrech, directed by Donna Deitch

Hannah Stern, reluctant to listen to her elders’ talk of their Jewish heritage, finds herself thrown back to the time World War II Germany in this made-for-TV adaptation of the novel.

— Michael Main

You should know my parents are still alive, and I want to go back to New Rochelle.

The Devil’s Arithmetic by Robert J. Avrech, directed by Donna Deitch (Showtime, USA, 28 March 1999).

The Magic Tree House 18

Buffalo before Breakfast

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are given a second gift for Teddy from the legendary White Buffalo Woman of the Lakota.

— Michael Main

“. . . I got in the way of the buffalo. I couldn’t escape. So I held up my hands and shouted, ‘Stop!’ Then, out of nowhere, a beautiful lady in a white leather dress came to help me.”

Buffalo before Breakfast by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, May 1999).

Tom’s Midnight Garden

written and directed by Willard Carroll

Tom’s Midnight Garden written and directed by Willard Carroll (Seattle International Film Festival, 15 May 1999).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

by J. K. Rowling

In the third Harry Potter book, (among other things) Harry’s friend Hermione uses a time-turner amulet to travel short distances in time so she can attend more classes, and the device also proves useful when Harry and friends must rescue Sirius and Buckbeak.

Mysterious thing, time. Powerful. . . and when meddled with, dangerous.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (Bloomsbury, July 1999).

The Magic Tree House 19

Tigers at Twilight

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack, Annie, and their spellbound dog Teddy face tigers and other wildlife in India.

— Michael Main

“When you saved the tiger, you saved all of him,” said the blind man. “You saved his graceful beauty—and his fierce, savage nature. You cannot have one without the other.”

Tigers at Twilight by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 1999).

Restless Spirits

by Semi Chellas, directed by David Wellington

A Flying Dutchman story with no real time travel.

— Michael Main

Katie: For goodness sakes, where’s Leiutenant Nungesser?
Coli: He doesn’t believe in ghosts.

Restless Spirits by Semi Chellas, directed by David Wellington (Showtime, USA, 1 August 1999).

Symphony of Ages: Rhapsody 1

Rhapsody: Child of Blood

by Elizabeth Haydon

Rhapsody: Child of Blood by Elizabeth Haydon (Tor, September 1999).

R.I.P.D.

by Peter M. Lenkov and Lucas Marangon

R.I.P.D. by Peter M. Lenkov and Lucas Marangon, #1–#4 ([tag-3906 | Dark Horse], October 1999 to January 2000).

Whose Millennium?

by Michael A. Burstein

A time-traveling Jew shows up in a police station on the final date of the Hebrew calendar.

It’s September 29, 2239.

“Whose Millennium?” by Michael A. Burstein, in Analog, January 2000.

The Magic Tree House 20

Dingoes at Dinnertime

by Mary Pope Osborne

The little dog, Teddy, needs one more gift before the spell he is under can be broken, so Jack and Annie take him to the Australian outback where the final gift comes from a mama kangaroo.

— Michael Main

But at least I got to have exciting adventures as a dog!

Dingoes at Dinnertime by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2000).

The Magic Tree House 21

Civil War on Sunday

by Mary Pope Osborne

Morgan sends a plea for help to Jack and Annie, asking them to find four kinds of writing that are needed to save Camelot, which starts the kids on their next trip, back to the American Civil War where they volunteer at a Union field hospital.

— Michael Main

We’d like to volunteer as nurses.

Civil War on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, May 2000).

Out of Time

by Rob Gilmer and Ernest Thompson, directed by Ernest Thompson

A Rip Van Winkle sleep with no actual time travel, but a sweet plot.

— Michael Main

Out of Time by Rob Gilmer and Ernest Thompson, directed by Ernest Thompson (Showtime, USA, 18 June 2000).

The Kid

by Audrey Wells, directed by Jon Turteltaub

I never quite figured out how Russ Duritz meets his own eight-year-old self, Rusty, but time travel must have been involved and the young kid certainly manages to straighten out the older kid.

— Michael Main

So, I’m forty, I’m not married, I don’t fly jets, and I don’t have a dog? I grow up to be a loser.

The Kid by Audrey Wells, directed by Jon Turteltaub (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 7 July 2000).

The Magic Tree House 22

Revolutionary War on Wednesday

by Mary Pope Osborne

In their second quest to find a sample of writing to save Camelot, Jack and Annie find themselves at the start of the American Revolution as Washington and his men prepare to cross the Delaware.

— Michael Main

“Yes! And you have to keep going for our sake,” said Annie. “For the sake of the future children of America, sir.”

Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 2000).

시월애

Siworae English release: Il Mare Literal: Time-transcending love

by 여지나 et al., directed by 이현승

In December of 1997, when Sung-hyun moves into the newly built house-on-stilts above the tidal sand, he names it Il Mare from the Italian for “the sea”—and via a letter in the mailbox, he learns that Eun-joo wants him to forward any mail that may arrive for her, since she has just moved out . . . in December of 1999.

— Michael Main

Sung-hyun! Don’t go there!

[ex=bare]시월애 | Time-transcending love | Siworae[/ex] by 여지나 et al., directed by 이현승 (at movie theaters, South Korea, 9 September 2000).

Is There Anybody There?

by Kim Newman

More horror than anything else, but amusing nevertheless as an internet stalker in 2001 communicates via a Ouija board with a psychic in 1923.

Always, he would leave memories to cherish; months later, he would check up on his net-pals—his score so far was five institutionalisations and two suicides—just to see that the experience was still vivid. He was determined to crawl into IRENE D’s skull and stay there, replicating like a virus, wiping her hard drive.

“Is There Anybody There?” by Kim Newman, in The New English Library Book of Internet Stories, Maxim Jakubowski (New English Library, November 2000).

The Pottawatomie Giant

by Andy Duncan

In the early 1900s, boxer Jess Willard wins the world championship but then snubs Houdini; after he dies, he gets a second chance.

He opened them to find himself in a far more uncomfortable chair, in a balcony at the Los Angeles Orpheum, in the middle of Harry Houdini’s opening-night performance, November 30, 1915.

“The Pottawatomie Giant” by Andy Duncan, in Sci Fiction, 1 November 2000.

Seventeen Again

by Jeffrey W. Byrd, directed by Stewart St. John

A grandmother and grandfather are transformed into their teenaged selves, but no time travel occurs.

— Michael Main

Don’t you call me a freak just because something weird happened to me. I’m your grandmother, boy!

Seventeen Again by Jeffrey W. Byrd, directed by Stewart St. John (Showtime, USA, 12 November 2000).

The Family Man

by David Diamond and David Weissman, directed by Brett Rather

The Family Man by David Diamond and David Weissman, directed by Brett Rather (at movie theaters, USA, 22 December 2000).

The Magic Tree House 23

Twister on Tuesday

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie go to a one-room schoolhouse on the Kansas prairie where they save everyone from a twister and find the third piece of writing to save Camelot.

— Michael Main

Suddenly, the schoolhouse door blew off its hinges! It went flying through the air!

Twister on Tuesday by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, Marcy 2001).

The Lost Empire

by David Henry Hwang, directed by Peter MacDonald

The Lost Empire_), 2 pts. by David Henry Hwang, directed by Peter MacDonald (NBC-TV, USA, 11–12 March 2001).

Just Visiting

by Christian Clavier, Jean-Marie Poiré, and John Hughes, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Witchcraft transports a 13th-century knight and his servant to the year 2000. Hijinks ensue.

— Michael Main

You could tell from the petulant arch on his furrowed brow that he was not en route to a good deed.

Just Visiting by Christian Clavier, Jean-Marie Poiré, and John Hughes, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré (at movie theaters, USA, 6 April 2001).

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

by Patrick Massett and John Zinman, directed by Simon West

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider by Patrick Massett and John Zinman, directed by Simon West (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 11 June 2001).

劇場版ポケットモンスターセレビィ時を越えた遭遇

Gekijoban Poketto monsuta serebyi toki o koeta deai English release: Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi—Voice of the Forest Literal: Pocket monsters the movie: Celebi—a timeless encounter

by 園田英樹, directed by 湯山邦彦

[ex=bare]劇場版ポケットモンスターセレビィ時を越えた遭遇 | Pocket monsters the movie: Celebi—a timeless encounter | Gekijoban poketto monsuta serebyi toki o koeta[/ex] by 園田英樹, directed by 湯山邦彦 (at movie theaters, Japan, 7 July 2001).

The Magic Tree House 24

Earthquake in the Early Morning

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie help a man rescue old, treasured books after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and before the fire. And with their fourth piece of writing, they finally get to visit Camelot!

— Michael Main

Jack slowly stood up. His legs felt wobbly. As he brushed off his pants, the deep rumbling came again—louder than before.

Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2001).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 1*

Christmas in Camelot

by Mary Pope Osborne

On Christmas Eve, Jack and Annie’s tree house transports them to King Arthur’s castle in Camelot. They arrive to find that all is not well in Camelot, Merlin has been banned, and all magic use is forbidden. Many of the bravest knights have been lost on a mysterious quest to the Otherworld. The Christmas feast is interrupted by a knight, who sets a challenge to find the knights and break the curse. He demands to know “Who will go?” Annie, naturally, accepts. She and Jack set out on a quest to the Otherworld, to bring back magic and joy to Camelot.

— based on fandom.com

Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, October 2001) [print · e-book].

Palimpsest Day

by Gary A. Braunbeck

In his forties, Danny’s parents are long gone as is the hope he had of marrying the girl he longed for in high school; instead, he runs a used bookstore in his childhood hometown, takes care of his Downs Syndrome sister, and has a surprising chance to change everything in the past.

— Michael Main

Live your life as if you were already living for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.

“Palimpsest Day” by Gary A. Braunbeck, in Past Imperfect, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff (DAW Books, October 2001).

The Royal Hunter

by Donna Kauffman

The Royal Hunter by Donna Kauffman (Bantam Books, October 2001).

Things I Didn’t Know My Father Knew

by Peter Crowther

After his wife leaves for the day, writer Bennett Differing’s house is engulfed in a thick white fog, out of which comes his father who died 27 years before.

— Michael Main

Maybe the dead did use mist as a means of getting around—so many movies had already figured that one out. . . and maybe they did travel in time.

“Things I Didn’t Know My Father Knew” by Peter Crowther, in Past Imperfect, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff (DAW Books, October 2001).

Other People

by Neil Gaiman

The demon of this story carries out an exquisite torture of his victim. At the end, we do discover the victim’s fate, though I wondered what became of the demon. Time travel? I haven’t heard Gaiman talk of this story, but I like to think of it in that way because of the opening and closing quotes.

“Time is fluid here,” he told the new arrival.

“Other People” by Neil Gaiman, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October/November 2001.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

by Joss Whedon

Time travel was not a staple for the young bloodsucker nemesis, but Buffy did slay time on a few occasions.

Via, concursus, tempus, spatium, audi me ut imperio. Screw it! Mighty forces, I suck at Latin, okay? But that’s not the issue. I’m the one in charge, and I’m telling you open that portal, now!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon (23 October 2001).

Die Abrafaxe: Unter schwarzer Flagge

English release: The Pirates of Tortuga: Under the Black Flag Literal: The Abrafaxe: Under the black flag

by Richard Everett, Julius Grützke, and Thomas Platt, directed by Gerhard Hahn and Anthony Power

Abrax (English: Alex), Brabax (Max) and Califax—the young troublemakers from the long-running German comic book, Mosaik—came to the animated screen in this time-travel adventure where they meet the 18th century pirates Anne Bonnie (good and beautiful) and Blackbeard (bad and bearded).

— Michael Main

The future’s a cruel mistress. She never declares her hand until it’s too late.

Die Abrafaxe: Unter schwarzer Flagge by Richard Everett, Julius Grützke, and Thomas Platt, directed by Gerhard Hahn and Anthony Power (at movie theaters, Germany, 25 October 2001).

What Time Is It?

by Rita Lamb

A 15-year-old boy sits with his elderly grandmother who had trouble remembering what time she is in, and at least once, the trouble slips over to the boy, too.

— Michael Main

And drowsily I put my hand down to where I felt the warm, heavy head shifting restlessly on my kneww, and I stoked the silky crown, and I looked into the puzzled brown eyes of a young dog.

“What Time Is It?” by Rita Lamb, in The Young Oxford Book of Timewarp Stories, edited by Dennis Pepper (Oxford University Press, November 2001).

Black Knight

by Darryl Quarles, Peter Gaulke, and Gerry Swallow, directed by Gil Junger

When janitor Jamal Walker falls into the moat at Medieval World, he wakes up in Camelot and carries out a weak impersonation of a Connecticut Yankee.

— Michael Main

Your Majesty, starting at small forward from Englewood High, two-time all-county conference player of the year, the messenger from Normandie—Jamal “Skyyyyyy” Walker!

Black Knight by Darryl Quarles, Peter Gaulke, and Gerry Swallow, directed by Gil Junger (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 15 November 2001).

Bonaventure-Carmody

by Chris Roberson

After boarding-school student Roxanne Bonaventure stumbles across a bloody old woman who gives her a bracelet, she begins to find herself in different times and alternate universes with different Beatles’ songs and alternate Beatles.

This first novel, Any Time at All: The Lives and Time of Roxanne Bonaventure, was expanded into Here, There & Everywhere and followed by three more books.

Roxanne smiled awkwardly, and looked over Julien’s shoulder at the open stall. It looked unremarkable now, drab green-painted metal walls and a white porcelain toilet. Hardly the thing you’d expect from some sort of door in time. At least proper English children in books got to travel through wardrobes and garden holes, not through unhygenic high school bathrooms.

Bonaventure-Carmody by Chris Roberson (December 2001).

Another Day

by Helen Frost and Don MacLeod, directed by Jeffrey Reiner

After pregnant Kate’s boyfriend dies in a factory fire, she decides to forgo medical school and raise the baby with help from her best friend David until four years later when a traumatic incident, some melodramatic music, and godawful narration throw her back to before the fire.

— Michael Main

That’s impossible. It’s one of a kind, and I made it with Meghan in crafts class last week.

Another Day by Helen Frost and Don MacLeod, directed by Jeffrey Reiner (USA Network, USA, 4 December 2001).

Eternal Gangstas

written and directed by D. A. Jackson

Grey and Mongoose—two halves of the same soul—are repeatedly reincarnated as adversaries, but they never travel through time.

— Michael Main

My sanity is dripping away like blood from an open wound. Somehow. . . Somehow I can’t help but get an incessant feeling of déjà vu.

Eternal Gangstas written and directed by D. A. Jackson (direct-to-video, USA, 2002).

Joshua Cross 1

Joshua Cross

by Diane Redmond

Joshua Cross by Diane Redmond (Icon Books, 2002).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 1

Viaggio nel tempo

English release: The Journey through Time Literal: Time travel

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo | Time travel[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Piemme, 2002).

Tachycardia

by Paul Park

A retired widower travels back to his son’s death during an operation in which his heart is momentarily stopped.

“Geoffrey,” I tried to say. He wasn’t looking at me. He was staring through the bars of his cage, his arms as thin as the sticks of bamboo, as they had been toward the end.

“Tachycardia” by Paul Park, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 2002.

Werewolf Club 5

The Werewolf Club Meets Oliver Twit

by Daniel M. Pinkwater

The Werewolf Club Meets Oliver Twit by Daniel M. Pinkwater (Aladdin, February 2002).

The Magic Tree House 25

Stage Fright on a Summer Night

by Mary Pope Osborne

The two young tree house time travelers go to the Globe Theatre in Shakespearian times where they play the parts of two fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and discover their first kind of magic without wands.

— Michael Main

“’Tis,” said Wil “The queen pretends to be young and beautiful. Just as you pretended to be a boy, and the bear pretended to be an actor. You see, all the world’s a stage.”

Stage Fright on a Summer Night by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2002).

Cuentos de hadas para dormir cocodrilos

Literal: Bedtime fairy tales for crocodiles

written and directed by Ignacio Ortiz

Cuentos de hadas para dormir cocodrilos written and directed by Ignacio Ortiz (Muestra de Cine Mexicano en Guadalajara, 10 March 2002).

Ravine

by Janet Hickman

Ravine by Janet Hickman (Greenwillow Books, April 2002).

Kendall Drennan 2

The Last Snake Runner

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

The Last Snake Runner by Kimberley Griffiths Little (Alfred A. Knopf, May 2002).

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s06e22)

I Fall to Pieces

by Jon Vandergriff, directed by Melissa Joan Hart

On the rebound from a breakup, Aunt Hilda meets her soul mate—the conductor from the Halloween mystery train—and if the wedding is to go on, Rodin to do his thing.

— Inmate Jan

Oh, I can’t believe it: The only time a witch falls to pieces is when she’s separated from her soul mate.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s06e22), “I Fall to Pieces” by Jon Vandergriff, directed by Melissa Joan Hart (The WB-TV, USA, 10 May 2002).

The Magic Tree House 26

Good Morning, Gorillas

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel to an African rain forest, encountering a young gorilla before being separated from each other for the night. But all turns out well when they find each other, find a family of bigger gorillas, and find a second kind of magic without wands.

As with several of the Magic Tree House stories, the kids’ destination in this one might be in the present time.

— Michael Main

But he couldn’t find the magic. He couldn’t find the words that finished the rhyme. Worst of all, he couldn’t find Annie.

Good Morning, Gorillas by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2002).

Ghost Voyages 1

Ghost Voyages

by Cora Taylor

Ghost Voyages by Cora Taylor (Coteau Books, September 2002).

Do Over

by Kenny Schwartz and Rick Wiener

Thirty-something Joel Larsen, disappointed in his life, finds himself back in 9th grade with a chance to do things over again.

That, young time traveler, is your first kiss.

Do Over by Kenny Schwartz and Rick Wiener (19 September 2002).

The Magic Tree House 27

Thanksgiving on Thursday

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie visit the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they learn little things about the pilgrims’ way of life and big things about the magic of community and being kind.

— Michael Main

Be kind to those who feel different and afraid.

Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, October 2002).

The Whisper of Discs

by John Meaney

“The Whisper of Discs” by John Meaney, in Interzone, October 2002.

Discworld 29

Night Watch

by Terry Pratchett

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, November 2002).

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e08)

Bada Ping!

by Nancy Cohen, directed by Anson Williams

Sabrina takes Salem into the future to find out her fate after gangster Mickey Brentwood finds out that she’s writing an exposé on his shady practices.

— Inmate Jan

You see, this thug nightclub owner threatened our little Lois Lame over there—

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e08), “Bada Ping!” by Nancy Cohen, directed by Anson Williams (The WB-TV, USA, 22 November 2002).

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e09)

It’s a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas

by Dan Kael, directed by Melissa Joan Hart

While on a Christmas trip to Florida, Sabrina and Salem travel back in time to see who robbed the condo where everyone is staying

— Inmate Jan

Oh, oh, oh—I think you went back a little too far!

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e09), “It’s a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas” by Dan Kael, directed by Melissa Joan Hart (The WB-TV, USA, 6 December 2002).

Circles of Stone

by Pamela Rushby

Circles of Stone by Pamela Rushby (Angus and Robertson, 2003).

Merlin’s Wood

by Anne Hamilton

Merlin’s Wood by Anne Hamilton (Peranga Post, 2003).

The Magic Tree House 28

High Tide in Hawaii

by Mary Pope Osborne

When Jack and Annie visit Hawaii before any Western influences, Annie is the more natural surfer. They also discover a fourth kind of magic in the everyday world, earning the title of Magicians of Everyday Magic.

— Michael Main

Jack took a deep breath. “I’d like to read a little about surfing first,” he said. He put his board down and pulled out the research book.

High Tide in Hawaii by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2003).

Children of the Red King #2

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

by Jenny Nimmo

In 1916, young Henry Yewbeam’s lily-livered cousin tricks him into staring at the Time Twister marble, sending Henry ninety years into the future, where the cousin is still alive at over a hundred years and just as lily-livered as ever. The other children of time, some of whom are endowed with magic powers from an ancestor, are neatly divided into nice kids and horrid kids. There is never a doubt about which is which, although there are plenty of doubts about whether a rational model of time travel underlies the two (or possibly three) time travel instances. Please see the book’s tags for a short discussion of the issues.

— Michael Main

“People can’t go back. You can’t change history Think about it! When my father was five years old, he lost his brother. It changed his life. He became an only child, grew up as an only child. All his memories are of being an only one. You can’t change that now, can you?”

“No,” Charlie said quickly. “I’m sorry.”

His uncle hadn’t finished. “Henry’s parents mourned him, just as they mourned poor little Daphne. James was their only child and, as a result, he was probably spoiled. His father died in the war and his mother left everything to him, including her lovely cottage by the sea. You can’t change that, can you?”

The Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo (Egmont Books Ltd, April 2003).

Uh-oh, Leonardo! The Adventures of Providence Traveler

by Robert Sabuda

Uh-oh, Leonardo! The Adventures of Providence Traveler by Robert Sabuda (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, April 2003).

A Wrinkle in Time

by Susan Shilliday, directed by John Kent Harrison

I’m sorry, but apart from the fact that instantaneous travel through space always implies time travel, I didn’t see a lick of time travel in this version of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic.

— Michael Main

We’re mostly just ordinary.

A Wrinkle in Time by Susan Shilliday, directed by John Kent Harrison (Toronto International Film Festival for Children, 25 April 2003).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 2*

Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve

by Mary Pope Osborne

In their magic tree house, Jack and Annie are again transported to King Arthur’s realm, where invisible beings, giant ravens, and mistaken magic spells have a duke’s castle in an uproar on Halloween night.

— based on fandom.com

Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, June 2003) [print · e-book].

The Only-Known Jump across Time

by Eugene Mirabelli

In the 1920s, Lydia Chase and her father’s tailor fall in love and jump across time.

The only known jump across time produced by an apparatus, a so-called time machine, took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in May of 1928.

“The Only-Known Jump across Time” by Eugene Mirabelli, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 2003.

The Time Traveler’s Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Due to a genetic disorder, Henry DeTamble reacts to stress by jumping to important and unimportant moments of his life, including many visits to his once and future wife.

To me, the story owes a lot to one of F.M. Busby's stories (“If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy”)—a debt that Niffenegger might be acknowledging in the quote below.

Could I? Do I have kids, Henry? In 2006 do I have a husband and a house in Winnetka and 2.5 kids?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (McAdam / Cage Publishing, September 2003).

Tru Calling

by Jon Harmon Feldman

From time to time, a dead guy asks morgue worker Tru Davies for help, which causes her day to rewind and gives her a chance to save the dead person with the help of her shy boss Davis and her ne’er-do-well brother Harry.

Hannah gave me the DVD of the first season for Christmas, and it took a few episodes for the show to grow on me. I was hooked about halfway through the season, with the introduction of Jack Harper and the suggestions of an overarching plot.

Have a little faith in your sister.

Tru Calling by Jon Harmon Feldman (30 October 2003).

Ulysses Moore 1

La porta del tempo

English release: The Door to Time Literal: The door of time

by Pierdomenico Baccalario

In this of the first Ulysses Moore books, three kids explore a house—once occupied by Ulysses Moore and his wife—and the surrounding cliffs and town of Kilmore Cove. Despite the title, La porta del tiempo, the door doesn’t manage to take the characters through time until the final chapter, ’Inizia l’avventura..” That particular door can take intrepid travelers whenever they wish, but the other books in the series have doors that lead to only one particular time and place.

— Michael Main

Non siamo più a Kilmore Cove.

“We’re not in Kilmore Cove anymore,” he said aloud.

English

[ex=bare]La porta del tempo | The door of time[/ex] by Pierdomenico Baccalario (Piemme, 2004).

The Sorcerer’s Letterbox

by Simon Rose

The Sorcerer’s Letterbox by Simon Rose (Tradewind Books, January 2004).

If Only

by Christina Welsh, directed by Gil Junger

If Only by Christina Welsh, directed by Gil Junger (Sarasota Film Festival, 23 January 2004).

Century to Starboard

by Liz Williams

Sometime around the publication of this story, Tim and I saw a ship called The World docked on the Willamette in Portland. The ship is privately owned by the occupants of its 165 residences, and as a group they vote on their itinerary every year. It’s a nice fantasy to think about leading such a life, so long as the ship doesn’t run into the kind of storms that Liz Williams’s similar ship hits in this story.

Each of those storms take the entire ship, including Italian citizen Vittoria Pellini, further and further into the future.

I finally got my head together and told Julio what I thought—that maybe, just maybe, we’ve gone through some kind of slip in time, like the Bermuda Triangle, only in the Pacific. I know other people sometimes say—just to be spiteful—that I’m maybe a little bit of a bimbo, and Julio tends to laugh at me sometimes. Affectionately, of course. But this time I really thought he’d laugh, and he didn’t.

“Century to Starboard” by Liz Williams, in Strange Horizons, 2 February 2004.

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 3*

Summer of the Sea Serpent

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel in their magic tree house to the land of the mystical selkies to seek a magical sword for Merlin.

— based on fandom.com

Summer of the Sea Serpent by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2004) [print · e-book].

The Winning Season

by Steve Bloom, directed by John Kent Harrison

Eleven-year-old Joe Soshack finds a priceless 1909 baseball card (never mind that it belongs to that little old-lady down the street) that takes him back to the 1909 World Championship Series where he becomes a not-very-loyal sidekick to the Pittsburgh Pirate’s Honus Wagner in a face-off against the Detroit Tigers and the vicious Ty Cobb.

— Michael Main

You know I’ve had people come from all over the world to see me play baseball, but I’ve never had someone come from the future.

The Winning Season by Steve Bloom, directed by John Kent Harrison (TNT-TV, USA, 4 April 2004).

13 Going On 30

by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, directed by Gary Winick

Everything that could go wrong is going wrong for 13-year-old Jenna Rink. If only she could be already grown up in the future!

— Michael Main

I wanna be thirty and flirty and thriving.

13 Going on 30 by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, directed by Gary Winick (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 14 April 2004).

A Taste of Time

by Abby Goldsmith

A bottle of wine mysteriously appears inside Jane’s apartment on her 29th birthday with the cryptic message Tabula Rasa—Warning: There Is No Return. So since she is suicidal and drunk and other things associated with country music songs, Jane swallows a mouthful, figuring that the worst it could be is a dignified poison.

Jane gagged on the sour taste in her mouth. She was so dizzy, she’d fallen. . . but she was sitting in an office chair, with no memory whatsoever of leaving her dark and quiet apartment.

Florescent lights beat down on her, and the familiar voices of a call center surrounded her. None of this was possible. She was back at her old workplace. It was a workday, late afternoon, judging by the angle of light. Ultimata Insurance had laid her off months ago, yet here she was.

“A Taste of Time” by Abby Goldsmith, in Deep Magic, May 2004.

Harry Potter 3

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

by Steve Kloves, directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Compared to the books, I find the Harry Potter movies drawn-out and boring, but I rewatched this one during the pandemic and found that I enjoyed all three thirteen-year-olds as well as Hagrid, Sirius, Snape, Lupin, and—most of all—the fact that the filmmakers didn’t blithely destroy the single static timeline out of a misplaced sense that time travelers are meant to change the timeline willy-nilly.

— Michael Main

Hang on! That’s not possible. Ancient Runes is at the same time as Divination. You’d have to be in two classes at once.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Steve Kloves, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 23 May 2004).

The Lost Pilgrim

by Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe has such subtle plots and such perfection of word choice that he lulls you into a story without your ever realizing that you are in a story—even his titles are perfection. In this story, an apparent time traveler finds himself on a journey with Greek gods and mortals, but cannot remember who he is or why he was sent to this far past.

I have been hoping to speak privately with Amphiareaws about Time’s enmity. I know that I will not be born for many years. I know also that I have traveled the wrong way through those many years to join our crew. Was that in violation of Time’s ordinances? If so, it would explain his displeasure; but if not, I must look elsewhere.

“The Lost Pilgrim” by Gene Wolfe, in The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age, edited by Noreen Doyle and Harry Turtledove (Tor Books, June 2004).

11,000 Years Lost

by Peni R. Griffin

11,000 Years Lost by Peni R. Griffin (Amulet Books, September 2004).

Delhi

by Vandana Singh

Aseem, a sometimes suicidal man in Delhi, sees and interacts with past and future versions of the city while he searches for the woman who a computer says is his purpose in life.

A computer is like a beehive. Many bits and parts, none is by itself intelligent. Combine together and you have something that can think.

“Delhi” by Vandana Singh, in So Long Been Dreaming, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan (Arsenal Pulp Press, September 2004).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 4*

Winter of the Ice Wizard

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are joined by Teddy and Kathleen as they travel to the snowy Land-Behind-the-Clouds, where they search for the eye of the Ice Wizard and attempt to help Merlin and Morgan.

— based on fandom.com

Winter of the Ice Wizard by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 2004) [print · e-book].

The Polar Express

by Robert Zemeckis and William Broyles, Jr., directed by Robert Zemeckis

You didn’t think that Robert Zemeckis put that flux capacitor in the engine room for no reason, did you? Then again, maybe he did, because apart from the three Back to the Future Easter eggs, I didn’t spot a lick of time travel in The Polar Express.

— Michael Main

Boy: (blowing train whistle) I’ve wanted to do that my whole life!

The Polar Express by Robert Zemeckis and William Broyles, Jr., directed by Robert Zemeckis (Chicago International Film Festival, 21 October 2004).

いま、会いにゆきます

Ima, ai ni yukimasu English release: Be with You Literal: Now I will meet you

by 岡田惠和, directed by 土井裕泰

[ex=bare]いま、会いにゆきます | Now I will meet you | Ima, ai ni yakimasu[/ex] by 岡田惠和, directed by 土井裕泰 (Tokyo International Film Festival, 27 October 2004).

Ulysses Moore 2

La bottega delle mappe dimenticate

English release: The Long-Lost Map Literal: The shop of forgotten maps

by Pierdomenico Baccalario

[ex=bare]La bottega delle mappe dimenticate | The long-lost map[/ex] by Pierdomenico Baccalario (Piemme, 2005).

Ulysses Moore 3

La casa degli specchi

English release: The House of Mirrors Literal: The house of mirrors

by Pierdomenico Baccalario

[ex=bare]La casa degli specchi | The house of mirrors[/ex] by Pierdomenico Baccalario (Piemme, 2005).

Blackfell 1

Portrait of a Bride

by Tracy Fobes

Portrait of a Bride by Tracy Fobes (Love Spell, January 2005).

The Black Canary

by Jane Louise Curry

The Black Canary by Jane Louise Curry (Margaret K. McElderry, March 2005).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 5*

Carnival at Candlelight

by Mary Pope Osborne

While on a mission to prove to Merlin that they can use magic wisely, Jack and Annie travel to eighteenth-century Venice, Italy, to save the city from disaster.

— based on fandom.com

Carnival at Candlelight by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2005) [print · e-book].

A Path in Time

written and directed by Keith Eidse

A Path in Time written and directed by Keith Eidse (unknown release details, 19 May 2005).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 6*

Season of the Sandstorms

by Mary Pope Osborne

Guided by a magic rhyme, Jack and Annie travel to ancient Baghdad on a mission to help the caliph disseminate wisdom to the world.

— based on fandom.com

Season of the Sandstorms by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, June 2005) [print · e-book].

Bewitched

by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, directed by Nora Ephron

Not only does Isabel the witch want to live just like any normal woman, she also gets talked into playing the role of witch Samantha who wants to live just like any normal woman in a remake of Bewitched—and like the original Samantha, she has some trouble constraining her powers. Yes, she’s also an occasional failure at constraining her power to rewind the hands of time.

— Michael Main

No breakfast after eleven.

Bewitched by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, directed by Nora Ephron (at movie theaters, USA, 24 June 2005).

Tenebrae 1

Knight Tenebrae

by J. Ardian Lee

Knight Tenebrae by J. Ardian Lee (Heyne, July 2005).

Scream Quietly

by Sheila Crosby

In 1849 England, Sophie’s abusive husband abuses her and beats their one-year-old son, so at the first opportunity, she and her son flee to a friend’s house where they are visited by apparent faeries.

They said they were not faeries, but men, “even as yourselne,” from the far distant future, and they were journeying in time! They were most astonished to hear this was the year of our Lord 1849, for they had believed themselves in 1343 and were in great fear of being burned as witches.

“Scream Quietly” by Sheila Crosby, in Farthing, July 2005.

Molly Moon 3

Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure

by Georgia Byng

Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure by Georgia Byng (HarperCollins, August 2005).

Fetching Cody

written and directed by David Ray

Druggie Art finds his girlfriend, Cody, in an overdose coma, so he gets in a time-traveling chair to go back and set things right—like The Butterfly Effect, but without horror-flick tension.

— Michael Main

Okay, okay, take me back before Cody got sick, before she got all fucked up, when there were bullies and shit.

Fetching Cody written and directed by David Ray (Toronto International Film Festival, 12 September 2005).

Nancy Drew, Girl Detective 14

Bad Times, Big Crimes

by Carolyn Keene

Bad Times, Big Crimes by Carolyn Keene (Aladdin, November 2005).

Cynthia’s Attic 1

The Missing Locket

by Mary Cunningham

The Missing Locket by Mary Cunningham (Echelon Press, December 2005).

Chasing Christmas

by Todd Berger, directed by Ron Oliver

Jack Cameron, a Christmas grump, is taken back to 1965 by the ghost of Christmas Past who then decides to stay there, putting Jack and the cosmos at risk. It’s then up to Christmas Present to save the day, although in the end it’s deus ex machina rather than Christmas Present who puts things right.

— Michael Main

Past: Charles Dickens was a former target of ours who chose to write a book about his experiences even though we explicitly told him not to.
Jack: But it was a great book—
Past: It was crap, like everything he did! Did you ever read A Tale of Two Cities? ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst . . .’ Make up your mind, Mr. Dickens!

Chasing Christmas by Todd Berger, directed by Ron Oliver (ABC Family, USA, 4 December 2005).

Kingdom of the Serpent 1

Jack of Ravens

by Mark Chadbourn

Jack of Ravens by Mark Chadbourn (Gollancz, 2006).

Black Douglas 1

The Bride Of Black Douglas

by Elaine Coffman

The Bride Of Black Douglas by Elaine Coffman (Mira, January 2006).

戦国自衛隊関ケ原の戦い

Sengoku Jieitai: Sekigahara no tatakai Literal: Sengoku Self-Defense Force: The Battle of Sekigahara

by 石原武龍, directed by 猪崎宣昭

[ex=bare]戦国自衛隊関ケ原の戦い | Sengoku Self-Defense Force: The Battle of Sekigahara | Sengoku Jieitai Sekigahara no tatakai[/ex] by 石原武龍, directed by 猪崎宣昭 (日本テレビ [Nippon TV], Japan), two episodes, 31 January and 7 Feburary 2006.

Lost

by Jeffrey Lieber et al.

Sadly, I never bonded with Lost, the six-season story of plane crash survivors on a supernatural island, but Tim assures me that I must list it with at least four stars.

Sayid: Radio waves at this frequency bounce off the ionosphere. They can travel thousands of miles. It could be coming from anywhere.
Hurley: Or any time . . .

Lost by Jeffrey Lieber et al. (8 February 2006).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 7*

Night of the New Magicians

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie visit the Paris World’s Fair of 1889 in an effort to protect four scientific pioneers from an evil sorcerer.

— based on fandom.com

Night of the New Magicians by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2006) [print · e-book].

Ulysses Moore 4

L’isola delle maschere

English release: The Isle of Masks Literal: The island of masks

by Pierdomenico Baccalario

[ex=bare]L’isola delle maschere | The isle of masks[/ex] by Pierdomenico Baccalario (Piemme, April 2006).

Blackfell 2

Portrait of a Man

by Tracy Fobes

Portrait of a Man by Tracy Fobes (Love Spell, April 2006).

The 4th Dimension

written and directed by Tom Mattera and David Mazzoni

The 4th Dimension written and directed by Tom Mattera and David Mazzoni (Philadelphia International Film Festival, 1 April 2006).

Tenebrae 2

Knight’s Blood

by J. Ardian Lee

Knight’s Blood by J. Ardian Lee (Piemme, June 2006).

Click

by Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe, directed by Frank Coraci

Michael Newman falls asleep on a store mattress, and when he awakes, he is given a universal remote control that lets him fast forward through the boring parts of his life.

— Michael Main

It’s an advanced piece of equipment like TiVo.

Click by Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe, directed by Frank Coraci (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 14 June 2006).

The Lake House

by David Auburn, directed by Alejandro Agresti

Letters—eventually love letters—pass back and forth between Dr. Kate Foster and architect Alex Wyler who are two years apart in time.

— Michael Main

It’s kind of a long distance relationship.

The Lake House by David Auburn, directed by Alejandro Agresti (at movie theaters, Canada and USA, 16 June 2006).

The Runestone Saga 1

The Fetch

by Chris Humphreys

The Fetch by Chris Humphreys (Alfred A. Knopf, July 2006).

The Legend of Zoey

by Candie Moonshower

The Legend of Zoey by Candie Moonshower (Delacorte Press, July 2006).

Navigator 1

The Navigator

by Eoin McNamee

The Navigator by Eoin McNamee (HarperCollins Children’s Books, August 2006).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 8*

Blizzard of the Blue Moon

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house carries Jack and Annie to New York City in 1938 on a mission to rescue the last unicorn.

— based on fandom.com

Blizzard of the Blue Moon by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 2006) [print · e-book].

A Kind of Magic

by Susan Sizemore

A Kind of Magic by Susan Sizemore (Ellora’s Cave, September 2006).

Leapholes

by James Grippando

Leapholes by James Grippando (ABA Publishing, September 2006).

London Calling

by Edward Bloor

London Calling by Edward Bloor (Alfred A. Knopf, September 2006).

Amanda, Sally and Roxanne 1

Shadow Island

by Raymond Bial

Shadow Island by Raymond Bial (Blue Horse Books, September 2006).

The Fountain

by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, directed by Darren Aronofsky

An immortality serum, possible reincarnation, and three intertwined, surreal stories spread over a millennium, but no explicit time travel that I can see.

— Michael Main

Together we will live forever!

The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, directed by Darren Aronofsky (Venice Film Festival, 4 September 2006).

7 Zwerge #2

7 Zwerge: Der Wald ist nicht genug

English release: 7 Dwarves: The Forest Is Not Enough Literal: 7 Dwarves: The forest Is not enough

by Otto Waalkes, Bernd Eilert, and Sven Unterwaldt, Jr., directed by Sven Unterwaldt, Jr.

In this retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, an older Snow White is the distraught mother in danger of losing her child, and she enlists the help of her seven old friends who (among other things) travel through a magic mirror to modern-day Hamburg. Do they time travel? That depends on whether you consider their homeland to be a secondary world (which implies travel from one world or universe to another) or a part of old Germany (which implies actual time travel!). There is a case to be made for it being old Germany, given that the first movie in the 7 Zwerge series told us that they lived in a “sinister forest, deep in the heart of a country known as. . . Germany.”

— based on Wikipedia

I need you. All seven of you.

[ex=bare]7 Zwerge: Der Wald ist nicht genug | 7 Dwarves: The forest is not enough[/ex] by Otto Waalkes, Bernd Eilert, and Sven Unterwaldt, Jr., directed by Sven Unterwaldt, Jr. (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Hamburg, Germany, 24 October 2006).

Mr. Barrington’s Mysterious Trunk 1

Journey to the Alamo

by Melodie A. Cuate

Journey to the Alamo by Melodie A. Cuate (Texas Tech University Press, November 2006).

The Santa Clause 3

The Escape Clause

by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, directed by Michael Lembeck

Now that Santa and Mrs. Claus have the North Pole running smoothly, the Counsel of Legendary Figures has called an emergency meeting on Christmas Eve! The evil Jack Frost has been making trouble, looking to take over the holiday! So he launches a plan to sabotage the toy factory and compel Scott to invoke the little-known Escape Clause and wish he'd never become Santa.

— from publicity material

This is the part where I’m transported through time and everything goes back to the way it was, like I’d never become Santa at all.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, directed by Michael Lembeck (at movie theaters, Germany, 2 November 2006).

Cynthia’s Attic 2

The Magic Medallion

by Mary Cunningham

The Magic Medallion by Mary Cunningham (Echelon Press, December 2006).

Christmas Do-Over

by Trevor Reed Cristow and Jacqueline David, directed by Catherine Cyran

Kevin, a grump of a divorced father, reluctantly visits his ex-wife’s house on Christmas Day causing his son to wish it were Christmas every day. As in other repeat-Christmas stories (or repeat-a-certain-February-holiday), Kevin wakes up again and again on Christmas Day until he gets it right. And of course, only he knows the day is repeating.

— Michael Main

Dad, it’s so fun having you here. Go ahead and stay: I wish it was Christmas every day.

Christmas Do-Over by Trevor Reed Cristow and Jacqueline David, directed by Catherine Cyran (ABC Family, USA, 16 December 2006).

Night at the Museum I

Night at the Museum

by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, directed by Shawn Levy

Museum exhibits of T. Rex and other characters from the past come to life, but no time travel.

— Michael Main

It can get a little spooky around here at night, so you might wanna put a few lights on. And the most important thing of all to remember: Don’t let anything in. . . or out.

Night at the Museum by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, directed by Shawn Levy (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 17 December 2006).

[tag-3841 | Masters of Time Romance[/ex] 1

Dark Seduction

by Brenda Joyce

Claire has done everything possible to make a safe, secure life for herself in a city where danger lurks on every street corner, especially in the dark of night. But nothing can prepare her for the powerful and sexual warrior who sweeps her back into medieval Scotland—a treacherous, frightening world where the hunters and the hunted are one and the same. Claire needs Malcolm to survive, yet she must somehow keep the dangerously seductive Master at arm’s length.

— based on publicity material

She turned her back to him, hugging herself, aware that her entire body was shaking as if with convulsions. She had always wanted to believe in time travel. There were scientists who said it was possible, and they had put forth theories of quantum physics and black holes to explain it. Claire hadn’t even tried to understand, as science was not an easy subject for her. But she understood the basics: If one traveled faster than the speed of light, one would go into the past.

None of the theories or what she had thought or even currently believed mattered. She know with every fiber of her being that Malcolm was the medieval laird of Dunroch.

Dark Seduction by Brenda Joyce (Harlequin, January 2007).

Matterhorn the Brave 1

The Sword and the Flute

by Mike Hamel

The Sword and the Flute by Mike Hamel (Living Ink Books, January 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 1

Beware, Pirates!

by Frieda Wishinsky

Beware, Pirates! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, February 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 2

Danger, Dinosaurs!

by Frieda Wishinsky

Danger, Dinosaurs! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, February 2007).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 9*

Dragon of the Red Dawn

by Mary Pope Osborne

When Merlin is weighed down by sorrows, Jack and Annie travel back to feudal Japan to learn one of the four secrets of happiness.

— based on fandom.com

Dragon of the Red Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, February 2007) [print · e-book].

Premonition

by Bill Kelly, directed by Mennan Yapo

In a troubled marriage, Linda Hansen finds herself skipping back and forth in time during a week that ends with one of her daughters scarred from running through a plate glass door and her husband dead in a car accident.

The title suggests that the things Linda sees are just premonitions, but to me they felt more like travel through time with no ability to alter events.

— Michael Main

I’m sorry to tell you this. Your husband was in a car accident. He died on the scene yesterday.

Premonition by Bill Kelly, directed by Mennan Yapo (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 12 March 2007).

Mr. Barrington’s Mysterious Trunk 2

Journey to San Jacinto

by Melodie A. Cuate

Journey to San Jacinto by Melodie A. Cuate (Texas Tech University Press, April 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 3

Crazy for Gold

by Frieda Wishinsky

Crazy for Gold by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, May 2007).

Stuck in the 70’s

by D. L. Garfinkle

Stuck in the 70’s by D. L. Garfinkle (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, May 2007).

Swing Time

by Carrie Vaughn

Carrie Vaughn lives just down the road from me, and I met her once at a reading. Her voice captured me, and her stories do too, although this tale—of time traveling thieves, Madeline and her nemesis Ned, who gain their ability from dancing—did not grab me as much as her non-time-travel story, “The Librarian’s Daughter.”

With a few measures of dancing, a charge of power crept into Madeline's bones, enough energy to take her anywhere: London 1590. New York 1950. There was power in dancing.

“Swing Time” by Carrie Vaughn, in Jim Baen’s Universe, June 2007.

Matterhorn the Brave 4

Jewel Heist

by Mike Hamel

Jewel Heist by Mike Hamel (Living Ink Books, July 2007).

Tenebrae 3

Knight’s Lady

by J. Ardian Lee

Knight’s Lady by J. Ardian Lee (Heyne, July 2007).

Matterhorn the Brave 3

Pyramid Scheme

by Mike Hamel

Pyramid Scheme by Mike Hamel (Living Ink Books, July 2007).

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

by Laurie Viera Rigler

A modern-day L.A. woman wakes up in the body of a thirty-something spinster in 19th century England and, until the right man appears, refuses to believe it’s anything more than a dream.

I’m still here. Shit. It’s morning. Birds singing. The scent of roses wafting through my window. Mrs. Mansfield in my doorway.

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (Dutton, August 2007).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 10*

Monday with a Mad Genius

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel 500 years back in time to Florence, Italy, and spend a day helping Leonardo da Vinci in the hope of learning another secret of happiness.

— based on fandom.com

Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2007) [print · e-book].

The Runestone Saga 2

Vendetta

by Chris Humphreys

Vendetta by Chris Humphreys (Alfred A. Knopf, August 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 4

Yikes, Vikings!

by Frieda Wishinsky

Yikes, Vikings! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, August 2007).

[tag-3841 | Masters of Time Romance[/ex] 2

Dark Rival

by Brenda Joyce

A golden man, he is called Black Royce—a battle-hardened soldier of the gods. His vows are his life—until he is sent to New York City to protect a Healer from those who would use her powers for themselves. The moment Royce sees beautiful, feisty Allie Monroe, he knows she will be his only weakness—and he is right.

— from publicity material

No, he had stepped out of time, she somehow thought. Allie trembled, her heart accelerating so wildly she felt faint. There was so much power emanating from him, and finally he was bathed in moonlight. Allie breathed hard. He was even better than she had dreamed. Big, bronzed, beautiful.

Dark Rival by Brenda Joyce (Harlequin, September 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 5

Flying High!

by Frieda Wishinsky

Flying High! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, September 2007).

Journeyman

by Kevin Falls

Reporter Dan Vasser’s life is thrown into disarray when he starts jumping backward in time to help others in peril.

Don’t ask me to explain time travel paradoxes. All I do is fix the time gates when something goes wrong. Paradoxes are argued over at a much higher pay grade than mine.

Journeyman by Kevin Falls (24 September 2007).

The Stone Testament

by Celia Rees

The Stone Testament by Celia Rees (Scholastic, October 2007).

The Seeker

by John Hodge, directed by David L. Cunningham

Birthdays in the U.K. are a big deal for young boys: Just ask Harry Potter, or (in this case), ask Will Stanton, an American whose family is visiting England. On his fourteenth birthday, Will is told of his destiny as the last of the time-traveling warriors called the Old Ones who wield their ancient powers of The Light against those who follow The Dark.

According to those who know, the movie doesn’t follow the book that it’s based on (the second book of Susan Cooper’s, The Dark Is Rising Sequence), but I got some enjoyment from the innocence and soppiness of Will, his sister Gwen, his infatuation with the town’s pretty girl, and even Will’s stereotypical brothers. But the horror and fantasy parts of the film were as formulaic as the fact that Will is the seventh son of a seventh son; and Will’s ability to step through time is incidental to the story.

— Michael Main

Merriman: Walk with us, Will.
Will: Where?
Merriman: Through time.

The Seeker by John Hodge, directed by David L. Cunningham (at movie theaters, Australia, 4 October 2007).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 6

Pioneer Kids

by Frieda Wishinsky

Pioneer Kids by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, November 2007).

Cynthia’s Attic 3

Curse of the Bayou

by Mary Cunningham

Curse of the Bayou by Mary Cunningham (Echelon Press, December 2007).

Miri and Molly 2

Magic in the Mix

by Annie Barrows

After their first adventure united Miri and Molly as twins in the 21st century, the pair discover more about the magic of time travel via doorways and other openings in their house. Unfortunately, their twin brothers also go traveling, getting into hot water in 1864 Virginia.

— Michael Main

Molly, that’s totally crazy. You can’t stop yourself from existing because you do exist, you have to exist.

Magic in the Mix by Annie Barrows (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, December 2007).

Masters of Magic

by Tony Garcia, directed by Anthony Stephens

Masters of Magic by Tony Garcia, directed by Anthony Stephens (direct-to-video, USA, 2008).

Navigator 2

City of Time

by Eoin McNamee

City of Time by Eoin McNamee (HarperCollins Children’s Books, January 2008).

His and Hers

by Dawn Calvert

His and Hers by Dawn Calvert (Zebra Books, January 2008).

Miri and Molly 1

The Magic Half

by Annie Barrows

As a middle child stuck between two sets of twins, eleven-year-old Miri Gill feels an outsider until one day in her attic room, she slips back in time from the 21st century to 1935 where she meets Molly, another eleven-year-old who needs her help.

Also in need of some help is the model of time travel in the story, which is a mishmash of popular representations that no person at age eleven or elsewhen should be exposed to. Specifically, I would have enjoyed an attempt to square the Branching Timeline implied by the hole in floor with the single nonbranching, static timeline and Ex Nihilo paradox hinted at by the time-travel device. I truly liked that ex nihilo paradox, and wish it had been explicitly dealt with rather than swept under the carpet.

— Michael Main

If you think about it too long, you’re going to go crazy, and then I’ll never get to your time.

The Magic Half by Annie Barrows (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, January 2008).

Saving Juliet

by Suzanne Selfors

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors (Walker, February 2008).

Train to Yesterday

by Nell DuVall

Train to Yesterday by Nell DuVall (Five Star, February 2008).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 11*

Dark Day in the Deep Sea

by Mary Pope Osborne

When Jack and Annie join a group of nineteenth-century explorers aboard the H.M.S. Challenger, they learn about the ocean, solve the mystery of its fabled sea monster, and gain compassion for their fellow creatures.

— based on fandom.com

Dark Day in the Deep Sea by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2008) [print · e-book].

Canadian Flyer Adventures 7

Hurry, Freedom

by Frieda Wishinsky

Hurry, Freedom by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, March 2008).

Kingdom of the Serpent 2

The Burning Man

by Mark Chadbourn

The Burning Man by Mark Chadbourn (Gollancz, April 2008).

The Heretic’s Tomb

by Simon Rose

The Heretic’s Tomb by Simon Rose (Tradewind Books, April 2008).

Mr. Barrington’s Mysterious Trunk 3

Journey to Gonzales

by Melodie A. Cuate

Journey to Gonzales by Melodie A. Cuate (Texas Tech University Press, April 2008).

The Seventh Tide

by Joan Lennon

The Seventh Tide by Joan Lennon (Puffin, April 2008).

Temptation of the Warrior

by Margo Maguire

Temptation of the Warrior by Margo Maguire (Avon Books, April 2008).

Waiting for Dawn

written and directed by James T Williams

“Shropshire isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of movie making talent, but we’re hoping to change that,” says writer/director James T. Williams in an interview about his metaphysical love story of Carl waiting for his girlfriend in a pub—The Waiting Room—that always seems to be closed. From there, says MJ Simpson, Carl wanders in and out of various portals through time and space, all the while undergoing self-reflection.

— Michael Main

Waiting for Dawn written and directed by James T Williams (at limited movie theaters, UK, 1 April 2008).

The Forbidden Kingdom

by John Fusco, directed by Rob Minkoff

Modern-day martial-arts-obsessed teen Jason Tripitikas falls off a building with a golden staff and finds himself in feudal China fulfilling the legend of the seeker who will return the staff to The Monkey King.

— Michael Main

Jason: Is this a dream?
Lu Yan: No, where you come from is the dream, through the gate of no gate.

The Forbidden Kingdom by John Fusco, directed by Rob Minkoff (AFI Dallas Film Festival, 4 April 2008).

Legend of the Great Horse 1

Eclipsed by Shadow

by John Allen Royce

Eclipsed by Shadow by John Allen Royce (Micron Press, June 2008).

Boadicea 1

Love’s Magic

by Traci E. Hall

Love’s Magic by Traci E. Hall (Medallion Press, June 2008).

Artemis Fowl, Book #6

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

by Eoin Colfer

When fourteen-year-old genius Artemis Fowl realizes that the only cure for his mother’s case of Spelltropy lies in a species of lemur that Artemis made extinct eight years ago, there is only one solution: Grab your 80-year-old, elfin-police-captain-friend Holly Short and trick her into traveling back in time to stop your formerly evil, ten-year-old self from killing off the last of the all-cure lemurs.

Author Eoin Colfer does a masterful job presenting a single nonbranching, static timeline, complete with three consistent causal loops (further described in our tag notes for this story). But really, Eoin, you missed the shuttle on “the kiss”! With the help of N°1, Artemis can time travel, so if you're intent on his first romantic kiss coming from Holly Short, couldn’t N°1 have brought Holly’s actual fourteen-year-old self into the story? Might have even presented an opportunity for a fourth causal loop: Fourteen-year-old Holly kissees fourteen-year-old Artemis, but only because fifteen-year-old Artemis had already told thirteen-year-old Holly that they would enjoy it.

— Michael Main

Oh, bless my bum-flap. You’re time travelers.

The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion Books for Children, July 2008).

Hell’s Underground 2

The Demon Assassin

by Alan Gibbons

The Demon Assassin by Alan Gibbons (Orion, July 2008).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 8

A Whale Tale

by Frieda Wishinsky

A Whale Tale by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, July 2008).

Masters of Time Romance 3

Dark Embrace

by Brenda Joyce

Aidan, the Wolf of Awe, has abandoned the Brotherhood and forsaken his vows. Feared by all and trusted by none, he hunts alone, seeking vengeance against the evil that destroyed his son. He has not saved an Innocent in sixty-six years—until he hears Brianna Rose’s scream of terror across centuries, and leaps to modern-day Manhattan to rescue her.

— from publicity material

Aidan hadn’t noticed her, she was certain, but she had taken one look at him and had fallen hard. She was hopelessly infatuated. She thought about him every day, dreamed about him at night and had even spent hours on the Web, reading about themedieval Highlands.

Dark Embrace by Brenda Joyce (Harlequin, August 2008).

The Runestone Saga 3

Possession

by Chris Humphreys

Possession by Chris Humphreys (Alfred A. Knopf, August 2008).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 12*

Eve of the Emperor Penguin

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to Antarctica to search for the fourth secret of happiness for Merlin.

— based on fandom.com

Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 2008) [print · e-book].

Ghost Voyages 2

Ghost Voyages II: The Matthew

by Cora Taylor

Ghost Voyages II: The Matthew by Cora Taylor (Coteau Books, September 2008).

Lost in Austen

by Guy Andrews

Amanda Price, a young 21st-century Englishwoman and devotee of Jane Austen, swaps places with the heroine of Pride and Prejudice.

Unfortunately, the U.S. DVD movie mash-up omitted the bit where Amanda Price serenades Mr. Darcy, Mr. Binley, and Miss Bingley with Petula Clark’s “Downtown.” Damn those cheapskates who won’t pay for music rights! So, head straight for the full miniseries on Hulu!

♫Just listen to the misic of the traffic in the city. La la la la, la la la and the neon lights are pretty. How can you lose?♫

Lost in Austen by Guy Andrews (3 September 2008).

The Faerie Door

by B. E. Maxwell

The Faerie Door by B. E. Maxwell (Harcourt, October 2008).

The Unwritten Books 3

The Young City

by James Bow

The Young City by James Bow (Boardwalk Books, November 2008).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 9

All Aboard!

by Frieda Wishinsky

All Aboard! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, December 2008).

The Witch’s Daughter 1

The Book of Shadows

by Paula Brackston

The Book of Shadows by Paula Brackston (Snowbooks, December 2008).

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

by Eric Roth, directed by David Fincher

Sure, his body ages backward and something bizarre is happening with entropy, but Button puts his watch on the same way as us chronotypical agers. No time travel needed.

— Michael Main

For what it’s worth: It’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you, I hope you feel things you never felt before, I hope you meet people with a different point of view, I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Eric Roth, directed by David Fincher (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Sydney, 10 December 2008).

Augusta Prima

English release: Aususta Prima Literal: Aususta Prima

by Karin Tidbeck

A curious story about a curious girl, Augusta Prima, who lives in the most perfect of the eight lands, a land where places and time (and other abstractions, I would say) float in an unmeasurable way.

After its original Swedish publication, this story was translated to English and widely reprinted, including Weird Tales, Lightspeed and The Time Traveler’s Almanac. Artistic stories tend to be hit-or-miss with me (mostly miss). This one hit, but I never seem to be able to say why.

The hands are moving now. Time is passing now.

[ex=bare]“Augusta Prima” | Aususta Prima[/ex] by Karin Tidbeck, in Mitrania (Third Quarter, 2009).

My Fair Godmother 1

My Fair Godmother

by Janette Rallison

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison (Walker, January 2009).

Edelstein Trilogie, Book 1

Rubinrot

English release: Ruby Red Literal: Ruby red

by Kerstin Gier

Sixteen-year-old Gwendolyn Shepherd [Gwyneth in the English translation] always seems to be in the shadow of her cousin Charlotte Montrose, just because Charlotte—born the day before “Gwenny”—is prophesized to be the twelfth and final carrier of a rare time-travel gene passed down through the centuries. But Gwenny doesn’t mind, as she can’t think of anything worse than Charlotte’s carefully prescribed upbringing and the prospect of dizzy spells sending her uncontrollably through time. As the first book of the tightly connected Edelstein Trilogy, the plot plods through Gwenny’s anxious awakening to complicated family mysteries and to her feelings for the pompous Gideon de Villiers, aka time traveler #11.

— Michael Main

Es regnete fürchterlich. Ich hätte besser nicht nur den Regenmantel, sondern auch Gummistiefel angezogen. Mein Lieblings-Magnolienbaum an der Ecke ließ traurif sein Blüten hängen. Brevor ich ihn erreicht hatte, war ich schon dreimal in eine Pfütze getreten. Als ich gerade eine vierte umgehen wollte, riss es mich vollkommen ohne Vorwarnung von den Beinen. Mein magen fuhr Achterbahn und die Straße verschwamm vor meinen Augen zu einem grauen Fluss.

It was raining cats and dogs, and I wished I’d put on my wellies. The flowers on my favorite magnolia tree on the corner were drooping in a melancholy way. Before I reached it, I’d already splashed through three puddles. Just as I was trying to steer my way around a fourth, I was swept suddenly off my soggy feet. My stomach flip-flopped, and before my eyes, the street blurred into a grey river.

English

[ex=bare]Rubinrot | Ruby red[/ex] by Kerstin Gier (Arena Verlag, January 2009).

Being Erica (s01e01)

Dr. Tom

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale

Being Erica (s01e01), “Dr. Tom” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale (CBC-TV, Canada, 5 January 2009).

Being Erica (s01e02)

What I Am Is What I Am

by Aaron Martin, directed by Chris Grismer

Being Erica (s01e02), “What I Am Is What I Am” by Aaron Martin, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 12 January 2009).

Being Erica (s01e03)

Plenty of Fish

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

Dr. Tom: Ultimately, Erica, you just have to decide. You have to choose how are you going to be. I mean, you could spend the rest of your life caught up, in that fear. Okay. Or, you could face it. Take the leap. See what comes. Your ice cream’s melting.

Being Erica (s01e03), “Plenty of Fish” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 19 January 2009).

Being Erica (s01e04)

The Secret of Now

by James Hurst, directed by Peter Wellington

Dr. Tom: Do you think that it’s appropriate to address one of your life regrets through plagiarism?

Being Erica (s01e04), “The Secret of Now” by James Hurst, directed by Peter Wellington (CBC-TV, Canada, 26 January 2009).

Masters of Time Romance 4

Dark Victory

by Brenda Joyce

Ruthless Highlander Black Macleod has refused his destiny. His life is revenge for the massacre of his family. But fate is impatient and, when a woman from another time summons him, he cannot resist her powers—or her.

— from publicity material

Across the room, upon the floor, he saw the gold necklace she had worn for two-and-a-half centuries, the amulet he had given her. The talisman was an open palm, a pale moonstone glittering in its center.

It had survived the fire, untouched and unscarred; his wife, who had powerful magic, had not.

“No!” He leaped into time.

Dark Victory by Brenda Joyce (Harlequin, February 2009).

Baseball Card Adventures 9

Ray And Me

by Dan Gutman

Ray And Me by Dan Gutman (HarperCollins, February 2009).

Being Erica (s01e05)

Adultescence

by Daegan Fryklind, directed by Kelly Makin

Being Erica (s01e05), “Adultescence” by Daegan Fryklind, directed by Kelly Makin (CBC-TV, Canada, 2 February 2009).

Being Erica (s01e06)

Til Death

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Jeff Woolnough

Being Erica (s01e06), “Til Death” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Jeff Woolnough (CBC-TV, Canada, 11 February 2009).

Before You Say “I Do”

by Elena Krupp, directed by Paul Fox

Using a wish (followed by a car crash), George Murray travels from 2009 back to 1999 to stop his girlfriend Janie from marrying her no-good ex-husband.

— Michael Main

I wish I’d met Jane before she was married.

Before You Say “I Do” by Elena Krupp, directed by Paul Fox (Hallmark Channel, USA, 14 February 2009).

Being Erica (s01e07)

Such a Perfect Day

by Michael MacLennan, directed by Ron Murphy and Mary Murphy

Erica: Leave my brother alone. Don't mess with the babysitter.

Being Erica (s01e07), “Such a Perfect Day” by Michael MacLennan, directed by Ron Murphy and Mary Murphy (CBC-TV, Canada, 18 February 2009).

Being Erica (s01e08)

This Be the Verse

by Daegan Fryklind, directed by David Wharnsby

Dr. Tom: It’s 1974
Erica: ’74? But how can that be? I'm not born until ’76.

Being Erica (s01e08), “This Be the Verse” by Daegan Fryklind, directed by David Wharnsby (CBC-TV, Canada, 25 February 2009).

Backtracked

by Pedro de Alcantara

Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara (Delacorte Press, March 2009).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 13*

Moonlight on the Magic Flute

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel to Vienna, Austria, in 1762, where they meet the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister and help save the young budding genius’s life through music.

— based on fandom.com

Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2009) [print · e-book].

Being Erica (s01e09)

Everything She Wants

by Aaron Martin, directed by Jeff Woolnough

Erica: I should have gone to her the next day and talked it through.

Being Erica (s01e09), “Everything She Wants” by Aaron Martin, directed by Jeff Woolnough (CBC-TV, Canada, 4 March 2009).

Being Erica (s01e10)

Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma

by Semi Chellas, directed by Chris Grismer

Erica: Our friendship, it’s still there. And I know that I’ll find my way back to it, but I need some time.
Ethan: What do I do?
Erica: Nothing. You just have to wait for me to be ready.

Being Erica (s01e10), “Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma” by Semi Chellas, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 11 March 2009).

17 Again

by Jason Filardi, directed by Burr Steers

An accident makes 37-year-old Mike O’Donnell twenty years younger, but given that he stays in his current time, no time travel occurs.

— Michael Main

Bet you wish you had it to do all over again.

17 Again by Jason Filardi, directed by Burr Steers (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Sydney, 11 March 2009).

Being Erica (s01e11)

She’s Lost Control

by Aaron Martin, directed by Phil Earnshaw

Erica: If I could go back, I would not kiss Ethan.

Being Erica (s01e11), “She’s Lost Control” by Aaron Martin, directed by Phil Earnshaw (CBC-TV, Canada, 18 March 2009).

Being Erica (s01e12)

Erica the Vampire Slayer

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale and Susan Dale

I’m giving you one special power: shape-shifting.. . . You know, like Odo on Deep Space Nine.

Being Erica (s01e12), “Erica the Vampire Slayer” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale and Susan Dale (CBC-TV, Canada, 25 March 2009).

Come-From-Aways

by Tony Pi

I am a sucker for a soppy, romantic time-travel story. In this case, linguist Kate Tannhauser is one of the members of a team that’s assembled to deal with the arrival of a man who can be nothing but Prince Madoc of Gwynedd—a twelfth-century Welsh seafarer who seems to be skipping through time at 75-year intervals—and Kate intends to be with him on the next skip.

Based on the linguistic evidence, I must conclude Madoc is truly a man out of time.

“Come-From-Aways” by Tony Pi, in On Spec, Spring 2009.

Canadian Flyer Adventures 11

Far from Home

by Frieda Wishinsky

Far from Home by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, April 2009).

Timeslip Fantasies 1

The Locket of Dreams

by Belinda Murrell

The Locket of Dreams by Belinda Murrell (Random House, April 2009).

Being Erica (s01e13)

Leo

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

Dr. Tom: What have you done?
Erica: I . . . I didn’t have a choice.
Dr. Tom: Really?
Erica: Okay, fine. I did have a choice.

Being Erica (s01e13), “Leo” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 1 April 2009).

Cicada Summer

by Kate Constable

Cicada Summer by Kate Constable (Allen and Unwin, May 2009).

Hourglass Door 1

The Hourglass Door

by Lisa Mangum

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum (Shadow Mountain, May 2009).

The Jewel Keepers

by E. J. Bousfield

The Jewel Keepers by E. J. Bousfield (Kings Hart Books, May 2009).

Mr. Barrington’s Mysterious Trunk 4

Journey to Goliad

by Melodie A. Cuate

Journey to Goliad by Melodie A. Cuate (Texas Tech University Press, May 2009).

The Princess and the Bear

by Mette Ivie Harrison

An enchanted king (now a bear) and a wolf (who was a princess for a while) are sent back in time to stop the spread of unmagic in this second book of Harrison’s Animal Magic Universe.

Although I didn’t connect strongly with this book, I did enjoy meeting Mette, a friendly young mother who reads and writes all the time when she isn't spending time with her family. That meeting was at Orson Scott Card’s writing boot camp in Orem, Utah, in the summer of 2002.

I suspect that the title of this book is a nod to one of my favorite Card stories, also called “The Princess and the Bear,” although there is no other connection between the two stories.

Yet your kingdom needs you to return, so I held time open for you to go back and be king once more. If you so choose.

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison (HarperTeen, May 2009).

Dino Dan

by J. J. Johnson

Young Dino Dan is a boy who sees dinosaurs in his world. Sometimes others see the dinosaurs, too, and from time to time, time traveling occurs back to the Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous. It could just be a boy’s overly active imagination, but that’s okay by me.

Unfortunately, the time machine ain’t working right now. We gotta get some new space-time capacitors.

Dino Dan by J. J. Johnson (11 May 2009).

Night at the Museum II

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, directed by Shawn Levy

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, directed by Shawn Levy (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Washington, D.C., 14 May 2009).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 12

On the Case

by Frieda Wishinsky

On the Case by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, June 2009).

Prada and Prejudice

by Mandy Hubbard

Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard (Razorbill, June 2009).

Kingdom of the Serpent 3

Destroyer of Worlds

by Mark Chadbourn

Destroyer of Worlds by Mark Chadbourn (Gollancz, July 2009).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 14*

A Good Night for Ghosts

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie must travel back in time to New Orleans in 1915 to help a teenage Louis Armstrong fulfill his destiny and become the “King of Jazz.”

— based on fandom.com

A Good Night for Ghosts by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 2009) [print · e-book].

Masters of Time Romance 5

Dark Lover

by Brenda Joyce

Ian Maclean’s arrogance hides a terrible secret – for decades he was held prisoner by demons and he is tormented by his darkest memories. As the powers of the evil from his past gather, Samantha Rose will do anything to help him – even if it means following him into a different time and facing his worst nightmares with him.

— based on publicity material

Sam’s excitement increased. She believed in the Duisean. The Rose women had their own book, the Book of Roses, which contained all the magic and wisdom entrusted to them by higher powers, and passed down through the generations. The Book was now in Tabby’s keeping—it was always in the keeping of a Rose witch. One of the Highlanders had come for it, to bring it back to her. Why wouldn’t the Masters of Time have a book of power?

Dark Lover by Brenda Joyce (Harlequin, August 2009).

The Missing 2

Sent

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, August 2009).

The Time Traveler’s Wife

by Bruce Joel Rubin, directed by Robert Schwentke

I thought the book suffered from not exploring the consequences of Henry’s travel on free will and determinism, but the movie was even shallower.

I watched this one with Harry on my short visit to Scotland in the summer of 2010.

— Michael Main

And after she gives him the blanket she happens to be carrying, he explains to her that he’s a time traveler. Now, for some reason I’ll never understand, she believes him.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Bruce Joel Rubin, directed by Robert Schwentke (at movie theaters, USA and elsewhere, 14 August 2009).

Triangle

written and directed by Christopher Smith

Triangle written and directed by Christopher Smith (London FrightFest Film Festival, 27 August 2009).

Aden Stone 1

Intertwined

by Gena Showalter

Intertwined by Gena Showalter (Harlequin Teen, September 2009).

Being Erica (s02e01)

Being Dr. Tom

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Alex Chapple

Being Erica (s02e01), “Being Dr. Tom” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Alex Chapple (CBC-TV, Canada, 22 September 2009).

Being Erica (s02e02)

Battle Royale

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Mary Murphy and Ron Murphy

I don't want to talk to you about time travel or therapy or anything.

Being Erica (s02e02), “Battle Royale” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Mary Murphy and Ron Murphy (CBC-TV, Canada, 29 September 2009).

The Pharaoh’s Secret

by Marissa Moss

The Pharaoh’s Secret by Marissa Moss (Amulet Books, October 2009).

Canadian Flyer Adventures 13

Stop That Stagecoach!

by Frieda Wishinsky

Stop That Stagecoach! by Frieda Wishinsky (Maple Tree Press, October 2009).

Being Erica (s02e03)

Mama Mia

by Shelley Scarrow, directed by Michael McGowan and Rosemary McGowan

Jude: [holding baby] You know I can’t stand these things, right?

Being Erica (s02e03), “Mama Mia” by Shelley Scarrow, directed by Michael McGowan and Rosemary McGowan (CBC-TV, Canada, 6 October 2009).

Being Erica (s02e04)

Cultural Revolution

by Karen McClellan, directed by Chris Grismer

Erica: My dream is to write fiction, and that will happen someday. I am not letting that go.

Being Erica (s02e04), “Cultural Revolution” by Karen McClellan, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 13 October 2009).

From Time to Time

written and directed by Julian Fellowes

At his granny’s house during World War II, 13-year-old Tolly sees ghosts from the 19th century and then finds that he can travel there, interact with those who believe, and solve a family mystery.

This one had several British actors that another indexer—British Janet—likes, including Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins and Alex Etel.

— Michael Main

Rose: Are you a ghost?
Tolly: I don’t think I can be. I’m not dead.

From Time to Time written and directed by Julian Fellowes (BFI London Film Festival, 15 October 2009).

Being Erica (s02e05)

Yes We Can

by Aaron Martin, directed by Rick Rosenthal

Erica: [with Kai at her side][/actor]

Being Erica (s02e05), “Yes We Can” by Aaron Martin, directed by Rick Rosenthal (CBC-TV, Canada, 20 October 2009).

Being Erica (s02e06)

Shhh . . . Don’t Tell

by Jessie Gabe and Aaron Martin, directed by Jerry Ciccoritti

There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.

Being Erica (s02e06), “Shhh. . . Don’t Tell” by Jessie Gabe and Aaron Martin, directed by Jerry Ciccoritti (CBC-TV, Canada, 27 October 2009).

Boadicea 2

Beauty’s Curse

by Traci E. Hall

Beauty’s Curse by Traci E. Hall (Medallion Press, November 2009).

Love Across Time 1

Stay with Me

by Ruby Duvall

Stay with Me by Ruby Duvall (Ellora’s Cave, November 2009).

Being Erica (s02e07)

The Unkindest Cut

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by David Wharnsby

You were expecting robots, flying cars, everybody in silver jump suits?

Being Erica (s02e07), “The Unkindest Cut” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by David Wharnsby (CBC-TV, Canada, 3 November 2009).

Being Erica (s02e08)

Under My Thumb

by Shelley Scarrow, directed by Chris Grismer

Erica must deal with her problems without time travel.

— Michael Main

Dr. Tom: I think it might be time to rip away the safety net. Erica, today you’re gonna solve your problems like the other six billion souls on this planet: all on your own.

Being Erica (s02e08), “Under My Thumb” by Shelley Scarrow, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 10 November 2009).

Being Erica (s02e09)

A River Runs through It . . . It Being Egypt

by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Phil Earnshaw

It’s amazing, you know? You stand beneath a car: There’s always so much more going on underneath than you’re aware of.

Being Erica (s02e09), “A River Runs through It . . . It Being Egypt” by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Phil Earnshaw (CBC-TV, Canada, 17 November 2009).

Being Erica (s02e10)

Papa Can You Hear Me?

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Phil Earnshaw

As Erica struggles with her feelings for Kai, the tables are turned on Dr. Tom whose therapist sends him back to his most difficult day.

— Michael Main

Dr. Tom: Why am I having the same fight with Erica that I used to have with my daughter?

Being Erica (s02e10), “Papa Can You Hear Me?” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Phil Earnshaw (CBC-TV, Canada, 24 November 2009).

Ethan Cheeseman 1

A Whole Nother Story

by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, December 2009).

Being Erica (s02e11)

What Goes Up Must Come Down

by Jessie Gabe and Lindsey Stewart, directed by Gary Harvey

Erica: If I woulda stayed, I woulda been rich in my twenties. I . . . I mean I could have paid off all my student loans, and I never would have needed to work at that stupid call center. I would have had the time and the means to dedicate to my writing, and my life—it would have been completely different.

Being Erica (s02e11), “What Goes Up Must Come Down” by Jessie Gabe and Lindsey Stewart, directed by Gary Harvey (CBC-TV, Canada, 1 December 2009).

Being Erica (s02e12)

The Importance of Being Erica

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

It’s not complicated. You can’t stay in this hallway forever—you have to choose.

Being Erica (s02e12), “The Importance of Being Erica” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 8 December 2009).

Chronological Order

by Cris Silvent and Michael Seminerio, directed by Cris Silvent

I have, in my possession, a door of time travel.

Chronological Order by Cris Silvent and Michael Seminerio, directed by Cris Silvent (unknown release details, 2010).

Письмовник

Pysʹmovnyk English release: The Light and the Dark Literal: Writer

by Михаил Шишкин :: [exn]Mikhail Shishkin[/exn]

[ex=bare]Письмовник | The light and the dark | Pysʹmovnyk[/ex] by Михаил Шишкин :: [exn]Mikhail Shishkin[/exn] (Астрель :: Astriel, 2010).

The Missing 3

Sabotaged

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix (dtv, 2010).

Aden Stone 2

Unraveled

by Gena Showalter

Unraveled by Gena Showalter (Harlequin Teen, 2010).

Gimme a Call

by Sarah Mlynowski

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski (Van Goor, January 2010).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 15*

Leprechaun in Late Winter

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel back to nineteenth-century Ireland to inspire a young Augusta Gregory to share her love of Irish legends and folktales with the world.

— based on fandom.com

Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2010) [print · e-book].

The Santa Louise Kid 1

Murder

by T. Robert Yani

Murder by T. Robert Yani (Black Rose Writing, January 2010).

Edelstein Trilogie, Book 2

Saphirblau

English release: Sapphire Blue Literal: Sapphire blue

by Kerstin Gier

Apart from amusing blustering from the Count during her trips to the 18th century, time travel took a back seat to Gwenny’s on-again-off-again romance with Gideon in this second book of the trilogy. Gwenny’s new pal, the ghost/demon/gargoyle Xemerius, was enjoyable, though we wish that he would be time traveller #13.

— Michael Main

Rubinrot, Begabt mit der Magie des Raben, Schließt G-Dur den Kreis, Den zwölf gebildet haben.

Ruby Red, with G-major, the magic of the raven, brings the Circle of Twelve home into safe haven.

English

[ex=bare]Saphirblau | Sapphire blue[/ex] by Kerstin Gier (Arena Verlag, January 2010).

Beswitched

by Kate Saunders

Beswitched by Kate Saunders (Marion Lloyd Books, February 2010).

The Sixty-Eight Rooms 1

The Sixty-Eight Rooms

by Marianne Malone

The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone (Random House, February 2010).

Faerie Fate

by Silver James

Faerie Fate by Silver James (Wild Rose Press, March 2010).

Chronicles of the Tempus 1

The Queen Must Die

by K. A. S. Quinn

The Queen Must Die by K. A. S. Quinn (Atlantic Books, March 2010).

Valley of the Misty Mountain

by Christine Buzzi

Valley of the Misty Mountain by Christine Buzzi (Agio Publishing House, March 2010).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 3

Viaggio nel tempo 3

English release: The Race against Time Literal: Time travel 3

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo 3 | Time travel 3[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Piemme, March 2010).

A Stitch in Time

written and directed by Stephen Graves

A Stitch in Time written and directed by Stephen Graves (Athens International Sci-Fi and Fantasy FIlm Festival, 7 March 2010).

Anna’s Dream

by Vonnie Banville Evans

Anna’s Dream by Vonnie Banville Evans (Code Green Publishing, April 2010).

Entangled

by Graham Hancock

Entangled by Graham Hancock (Century, April 2010).

Time Entity Trilogy 1

Heaven’s Jewel

by J. H. Sweet

Heaven’s Jewel by J. H. Sweet (Westin Hills Books, April 2010).

The Time Traveller Smith

by JC McLaughlin

Watchmaker apprentice Maxwell Smith is hurled by an explosion from 1908 London to a dystopian 2008.

But that’s the thing, Miss Brown, don’t you see? I did not vanish from the face of the Earth, I merely vanished from time.

“The Time Traveller Smith” by JC McLaughlin (Smashwords, April 2010).

Shrek Forever After

by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, directed by Mike Mitchell

Shrek Forever After by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, directed by Mike Mitchell (Tribeca Film Festival, New York City, 21 April 2010).

Fantasy Time Inc.

by Sherri Rabinowitz

Fantasy Time Inc. by Sherri Rabinowitz (Outskirts Press, May 2010).

Hourglass Door 2

The Golden Spiral

by Lisa Mangum

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum (Shadow Mountain, May 2010).

Timeslip Fantasies 2

The Ruby Talisman

by Belinda Murrell

The Ruby Talisman by Belinda Murrell (Random House, May 2010).

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

by Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard, directed by Mike Newell

In ancient Persia, young street-urchin Dastan’s noble behavior draws the attention of the king, who brings the boy into the royal family as an equal with two other princes. As the boys grow up and lead the king’s army, they conquer the magical city of Alamut. But when Dasmat and the Alamut princess are forced to flee after being framed for the king’s murder, Dasmat realizes that the entire reason for attacking Alamut in the first place was a deception. Of course, he also realizes that he’s in love with the princess and that her magic dagger can turn back time minute by minute.

— Michael Main

Incredible! Releasing the sand turns back time.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard, directed by Mike Newell (premiered at an unknown movie theater, London, 9 May 2010).

Dino Time

by Adam Beechen et al., directed by 최윤석 and John Kafka

Rocket-boarding Ernie Fitzpatrick is always pushing his mom’s rules to the limit (and beyond) along with his best friend Max (and usually tailed by his tattle-tale sister Julia). On one escapade, the trio accidentally activates Max’s dad’s time machine and end up back in the age of friendly, anthropomorphic T. Rexes.

Although the film was made and initially released in Korea, it had a simultaneous, elaborate English production of the audio with an intention to release the work simultaneously in the US. In watching it, I wondered whether the animation software may have produced two versions of the lip movement for the two different languages, but I haven’t found any discussion of that. I guess I just don’t know the real details.: maybe the original was only English audio with Korean subtitles. The film does have both native English and native Korean writers and directors. With all that, it seems to be an example of a multiple-language version film, and we decided to list the Korean version as the primary with the English as a variant. Please fill me in if you can!

The English version was released as Dino Time around the same time as 다이노 타임 (a phonetic rendering of Dino Time). For some reason, though, the planned US release was delayed until 2015, when it was retitled Back to the Jurassic.

— Michael Main

See that carving? It’s been dated all the way back to the Cretacious period. Which is weird, ’cause who could have carved it? No humans were around 145 million years ago, just dinosaurs.

Dino Mom by Adam Beechen et al., directed by 최윤석 and John Kafka (Cannes Film Festival, 14 May 2010).

Boadicea 3

Boadicea’s Legacy

by Traci E. Hall

Boadicea’s Legacy by Traci E. Hall (Medallion Press, June 2010).

The Blackhope Enigma 1

The Blackhope Enigma

by Teresa Flavin

The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin (Templar Publishing, July 2010).

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright

Yes, Scott Pilgrim also travels back in time —can you guess which level that’ll happen in?

— Michael Main

Steal my boyfriend, taste my steel!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright (Fantasia International Film Festival, 27 July 2010).

Bright Empires 1

The Skin Map

by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, August 2010).

The Time Travelling Cat 6

The Time-Travelling Cat and the Great Victorian Stink

by Julia Jarman

The Time-Travelling Cat and the Great Victorian Stink by Julia Jarman (Andersen Press, August 2010).

Along the River: A Chinese Cinderella Novel

by Adeline Yen Mah

Along the River: A Chinese Cinderella Novel by Adeline Yen Mah (Delacorte Press, September 2010).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 16*

A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel back to Victorian London when Merlin asks them to use their magic to inspire Charles Dickens to write “A Christmas Carol.”

— based on fandom.com

A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, September 2010) [print · e-book].

Secret Series 4

This Isn’t What It Looks Like

by Pseudonymous Bosch

This Isn’t What It Looks Like by Pseudonymous Bosch (Little, Brown, September 2010).

When the Spirit 1

When the Spirit Moves You

by Thomas DePrima

When the Spirit Moves You by Thomas DePrima (Thomas J. DePrima, September 2010).

Wildwing

by Emily Whitman

Wildwing by Emily Whitman (Greenwillow Books, September 2010).

The Window of Time

by Richard Matheson

Eighty-two-year-old Rich Swanson, “Swanee,” knows that he’s a burden living with his daughter, so he decides to rent a room on his own, but instead finds himself 68 years in his past, but still at age 82 and uncertain about why or what he can do in the years of his childhood.

Of course! How had I missed it? If there was any reasonable point to all this. . .

“The Window of Time” by Richard Matheson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2010.

Being Erica (s03e01)

The Rabbit Hole

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale

Erica: I feel ready to start phase two.

Being Erica (s03e01), “The Rabbit Hole” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Holly Dale (CBC-TV, Canada, 21 September 2010).

Being Erica (s03e02)

Moving On Up

by Kate Miles Melville, directed by Rick Rosenthal

What do you do when a piece of your life is suddenly missing? We know we’re supposed to move on, but how?

Being Erica (s03e02), “Moving On Up” by Kate Miles Melville, directed by Rick Rosenthal (CBC-TV, Canada, 28 September 2010).

Archvillain 1

Archvillain

by Barry Lyga

Archvillain by Barry Lyga (Scholastic Press, October 2010).

In His Prime

by K. C. Ball

After being stripped of his license to box for refusing to be inducted into the Army based on his religious beliefs, the Greatest finds himself in a dreamlike locker room being prepared for a fight while the crowd outside cheers his name.

He remembers going to bed, tired after a long day of training, and he remembers noises in the night, the rush of cool air over his bared body, but he doesn’t recall how he got here; wherever here may be.

“In His Prime” by K. C. Ball, in Every Day Fiction, October 2010.

Mary’s Son

by Darryl Nyznyk

Mary’s Son by Darryl Nyznyk (Cross Dove Publishing, October 2010).

Sorenson’s Gift

by Robin Roberts

Sorenson’s Gift by Robin Roberts (Dailey Swan Publishing, October 2010).

Being Erica (s03e03)

Two Wrongs

by Sean Reycraft, directed by Holly Dale

Dr. Tom: And this time?
Erica: I’ll spend every second with Leo. No Trent, no distractions.
Dr. Tom: I wouldn’t count on it.

Being Erica (s03e03), “Two Wrongs” by Sean Reycraft, directed by Holly Dale (CBC-TV, Canada, 5 October 2010).

Being Erica (s03e04)

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

by Esta Spalding, directed by Rick Rosenthal

Kai: In a few weeks, I come back to 2010 on another regret, and while I’m here, we sleep together.

Being Erica (s03e04), “Wash, Rinse, Repeat” by Esta Spalding, directed by Rick Rosenthal (CBC-TV, Canada, 12 October 2010).

Addendum to the Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo

by Edoardo Albert

A man visits Saint Augustine in the final days of the of Hippo, where the future saint tells him how his own son (and others) traveled through time in dreams.

I wrote once that the more I thought about time, the less I understood it.

“Addendum to the Confessions of St Augustine of Hippo” by Edoardo Albert, Daily Science Fiction, 15 October 2010 [webzine].

Being Erica (s03e05)

Being Adam

by Ian Carpenter, directed by Jeff Woolnough

Adam: I would walk away from Sean instead of hitting him, and that would change everything, Dr. Tom—and I know that’s not how this works.
Dr. Tom: Why don’t you let me worry about how this works.

Being Erica (s03e05), “Being Adam” by Ian Carpenter, directed by Jeff Woolnough (CBC-TV, Canada, 20 October 2010).

Being Erica (s03e06)

Bear Breasts

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Alex Chapple

Being Erica (s03e06), “Bear Breasts” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Alex Chapple (CBC-TV, Canada, 27 October 2010).

Hwang’s Billion Brilliant Daughters

by Alice Sola Kim

Because of Hwang’s problem, he ends up in odd, far future times, trying to make connections to his daughters.

Whenever Hwang goes to sleep, he jumps forward in time. This is a problem. This is not a problem that is going to solve itself.

“Hwang’s Billion Brilliant Daughters” by Alice Sola Kim, in Lightspeed, November 2010.

In Dreams Begin

by Skyler White

In Dreams Begin by Skyler White (Berkley Books, November 2010).

Preincarnate

by Shaun Micallef

Preincarnate by Shaun Micallef (Hardie Grant Books, November 2010).

Being Erica (s03e07)

Jenny from the Block

by Aaron Martin, directed by Phil Earnshaw

Friendship . . . two people choose each other through some mysterious mix of alchemy and circumstance. On the surface, the reason for our choice seems obvious: They share our interests, they make us laugh—but isn’t there more to it than that? And do we ever really stop and wonder why this person and not another?

Being Erica (s03e07), “Jenny from the Block” by Aaron Martin, directed by Phil Earnshaw (CBC-TV, Canada, 3 November 2010).

Being Erica (s03e08)

Physician, Heal Thyself

by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

Erica: Can I change this? I mean, can I avoid sleeping with him ’cause Kai said it was gonna happen—which means it’s already happened for him, which means . . .
Darryl: . . . you have to go through with it to avoid creating a paradox.

Being Erica (s03e08), “Physician, Heal Thyself” by Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 10 November 2010).

Being Erica (s03e09)

Gettin’ Wiggy Wit’ It

by Jessie Gabe, directed by John Fawcett

Because using information that you have gleaned from a trip to the past to try to fix your life in the present contravenes the rules.

Being Erica (s03e09), “Gettin’ Wiggy Wit’ It” by Jessie Gabe, directed by John Fawcett (CBC-TV, Canada, 17 November 2010).

Being Erica (s03e10)

The Tribe Has Spoken

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Kelly Makin

Like twin phoenixes, we rise from the ashes—right?

Being Erica (s03e10), “The Tribe Has Spoken” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Kelly Makin (CBC-TV, Canada, 24 November 2010).

Ethan Cheeseman 2

Another Whole Nother Story

by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

Another Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, December 2010).

Being Erica (s03e11)

Adam’s Family

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

Look at me. You went back there and you faced what happened, and now you have to face how it made you feel. And that’s how you break the pattern.

Being Erica (s03e11), “Adam’s Family” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 1 December 2010).

Being Erica (s03e12)

Erica, Interrupted

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Jeff Woolnough

Sent you back? No, Miss Strange, you don’t understand. You’ve been in a coma for two weeks.

Being Erica (s03e12), “Erica, Interrupted” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Jeff Woolnough (CBC-TV, Canada, 8 December 2010).

Being Erica (s03e13)

Fa La Erica

by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Érik Canuel

When Erica wakes up in Julianne’s 1980s body, I do wish she’d said “Oh boy” instead of “Oh my God!”

— Michael Main

I'm so sorry—I . . . I. . . I didn’t mean to dredge up the Ghosts of Christmas Past.

Being Erica (s03e13), “Fa La Erica” by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Érik Canuel (CBC-TV, Canada, 15 December 2010).

All Souls Trilogy 1

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (De Boekerij, 2011).

The Books of Beginning 1

The Emerald Atlas

by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (Doubleday, 2011).

Ghosts of the Titanic

by Julie Lawson

Ghosts of the Titanic by Julie Lawson (Scholastic, 2011).

A Traveller in Time

by Michael Johnston

Novelist and playwright Michael Johnston adapted Alison Uttley’s 1939 children’s book to the stage in this short three-act play with multiple transitions between the twentieth and the sixteenth century.

The lights dim and the kitchen is “transformed” into how it was in the Spring of 1582 but many of the kitchen props, including the table and rocking chair remain. As the lights come up again, loud cock crows are heard suggesting that time has passed and it is the following morning. An offstage voice is heard calling out for Dame Cecily. Tabitha enters stage leading a puzzled Penelope by the hand. Penelope is wearing a green dress with wide sleeves.

A Traveller in Time by Michael Johnston (2011).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 4

Viaggio nel tempo 4

English release: Lost in Time Literal: Time travel 4

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo 4 | Lost in time[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Piemme, 2011).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 17*

A Crazy Day with Cobras

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie back to India during the Mogul Empire in the 1600s to search for an emerald needed to break a magic spell.

— based on fandom.com

A Crazy Day with Cobras by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2011) [print · e-book].

Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time

by Roger K. Driscoll

Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time by Roger K. Driscoll (Grosvenor House Publishing, January 2011).

The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time

by Tamsyn Muir

Dr. Rosamund Tilly lives in a house that fights her every step of her life, including a day when it keeps resetting time to 8:14.

She would have been excited if she hadn’t been so horrified: The house was probably destroying the space-time continuum right now and forming a thousand glittering paradoxes all because she hadn’t really cleaned the kitchen. Once she’d forgotten to weed the window boxes and the house had dissolved her feet right up to the ankle.

“The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time” by Tamsyn Muir, in Fantasy Magazine, February 2011.

Kaminishi 1

Kaminishi

by Jan Suzukawa

Kaminishi by Jan Suzukawa (Dreamspinner Press, February 2011).

The Locket

by Stacey Jay

The Locket by Stacey Jay (Razorbill, February 2011).

The Victorian Time Traveller

by James D. Quinton

The Victorian Time Traveller by James D. Quinton (Xplosive Books, February 2011).

Do Over!

by Jeff Kirvin

Our hero, Rick “Richie” Preston, is ten years out of high school and doing nothing but flipping burgers when a fight with his father (and bargain landlord) tosses him back into his senior year of high school where he gets a chance to redo everything so long as he agrees to not alter other people’s lives.

Even though I didn’t see this released until 2011, it is set in 1998 and 1988, and I think the writing predated the identically named and similarly plotted 2002 TV show. In any case, I’m glad that Denver resident Jeff Kirvin released this story on Kindle.

As I stood gaping at the rows of ten-year-old magazines, a fortyish, balding man sidled up next to me. ”Pretty cool, huh, Preston?”

“Do Over!” by Jeff Kirvin (Jeff Kirvin, February 2011) [e-book].

The Imagination Station 2

Attack at the Arena

by Marianne Hering

Attack at the Arena by Marianne Hering (Tyndale House Publishers, March 2011).

Verona 1

The Lens and the Looker

by Lory S. Kaufman

The Lens and the Looker by Lory S. Kaufman (Fiction Studio, March 2011).

The Gates of Heaven 2

Map Across Time

by C. S. Lakin

Map Across Time by C. S. Lakin (AMG Publishers, March 2011).

Quest for the Nail Prints

by Don Furr

Quest for the Nail Prints by Don Furr (Sheaf House, March 2011).

Steel

by Carrie Vaughn

Steel by Carrie Vaughn (HarperTeen, March 2011).

Time Travel Tales

by Jay Dubya

Jay Dubya notes that these 21 stories share similar anachronistic plots and themes dealing with movements or shifts in time. I read the first one—“The Music Disk”—about the nostalgic music experts Chad and Jeremy who long for the 50s and find themselves taken to the times sung about in the war songs on a CD from Satan Records. Two of the stories (“The Music Disk” and “Batsto Village”) are part of the free Kindle sample at Amazon.

“And look! There’s an abnormal fog cloud up ahead right near the entrance to Atlantic Blueberry’s packing house!” the history teacher alerted the already distressed and bewildered driver.

“Time Travel Tales” by Jay Dubya, in Time Travel Tales, (Bookstand Publishing, March 2011).

The Imagination Station 1

Voyage with the Vikings

by Marianne Hering

Voyage with the Vikings by Marianne Hering (Tyndale House Publishers, March 2011).

My Fair Godmother 2

My Unfair Godmother

by Janette Rallison

My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison (Walker, April 2011).

The Imagination Station 3

Peril in the Palace

by Marianne Hering

Peril in the Palace by Marianne Hering (Tyndale House Publishers, April 2011).

The Imagination Station 4

Revenge of the Red Knight

by Marianne Hering

Revenge of the Red Knight by Marianne Hering (Tyndale House Publishers, April 2011).

Friends Forever 1

The Time Spell

by Judi Curtin

The Time Spell by Judi Curtin (Puffin, April 2011).

The Time-Traveling Fashionista

by Bianca Turetsky

Twelve-year-old Louise Lambert has a passion for vintage fashions from the turn of the century through the 70s, although when she wakes up as a seventeen-year-old actress on the Titanic, she’s worried about more than just fashion.

I found this book in the ship library on a cruise of my own (no, not the Titanic, though we did see some icebergs. The first book, on the Titanic, was followed by two others.

It seemed as though on the inside she was Louise Lambert, but to everyone else she was this Miss Baxter, a gorgeous teenage actress. Definitely rich. Probably even famous. She smiled and unconsciously began twirling a strand of hair between her thumb and index finger. That was how she did her best thinking, and none of this made any sense. Somehow she had woken up in the body of a woman who was taking a first-class trip on the White Star Line, with her own personal maide and her uncle/manager, from England to New York City.

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky (Poppy, April 2011).

The Santa Louise Kid 2

Warcry

by T. Robert Yani

Warcry by T. Robert Yani (Dog Ear Publishing, April 2011).

Judas Kiss

written and directed by Carlos Pedraza

Filmmaker Zachary Wells (née Danny Reyes) totally flopped when he dropped out of the first year of film school to head to Hollywood after winning a college festival award. Years later, he reluctantly returns to the college to be a festival judge, but somehow after making love to a student, he finds that the student is his very own younger self entered in the very same contest—only now he’s the judge. Hard to tell whether he’s in the past or his younger self is in the future, but the question either way is whether he’ll he let himself win, causing him to head down the same failed path as the first time.

— Michael Main

Wise Father Figure: Danny Reyes went to school here fifteen years ago.
Zach: That was me.
W.F.F.: Huh! What happened to him?

Judas Kiss written and directed by Carlos Pedraza (Phoenix International Film Festival, 1 April 2011).

Timeslip Fantasies 3

The Ivory Rose

by Belinda Murrell

The Ivory Rose by Belinda Murrell (Random House, May 2011).

Midnight in Paris

written and directed by Woody Allen

Would-be novelist Gil Prender is in Paris with his fiancée who doesn’t understand why he would want to live in Paris or hang out with Hemingway and his pals in the 1920s.

— Michael Main

I was trying to escape my present the same way you’re trying to escape yours—to a golden age.

Midnight in Paris written and directed by Woody Allen (Cannes Film Festival, 11 May 2011).

Hourglass Door 3

The Forgotten Locket

by Lisa Mangum

The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum (Shadow Mountain, June 2011).

Miss Peregrine 1

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books, June 2011).

Pug

by Theodora Goss

In the time of Napoleon, a sickly English girl discovers a dog in her garden, and the dog leads her through a door to other times and places.

— Michael Main

(Imagine our relief to learn of Waterloo.)

“Pug” by Theodora Goss, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 2011.

The Imagination Station 5

Showdown with the Shepherd

by Brock Eastman

Showdown with the Shepherd by Brock Eastman (Tyndale House Publishers, July 2011).

Fool Us

by Penn & Teller

I love Penn and Teller’s friendly and praise-filled personalities as much as the magic of the magicians who are trying to fool the most renowned magicians (Penn and Teller themselves). One episode included the time traveling pair of Reece Morgan and Robert West.

And not only are we magicians, time travelers, and all-around spiffy chaps, we are also tourists—fourth-dimensional tourists.

Fool Us by Penn & Teller (16 July 2011).

Only Backwards

by Kenneth S. Kao

Just as Mason is leaning in for his first kiss, he finds himself naked and decades in the future.

We rewound your biology.

“Only Backwards” by Kenneth S. Kao, Daily Science Fiction, 26 July 2011 [webzine].

Crow Country

by Kate Constable

Crow Country by Kate Constable (Allen and Unwin, August 2011).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 18*

Dogs in the Dead of Night

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel to a monastery in the Swiss Alps where, with the help of St. Bernard dogs and magic, they seek the second of four special objects necessary to break the spell on Merlin’s pet penguin, Penny.

— based on fandom.com

Dogs in the Dead of Night by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2011) [print · e-book].

The Missing 4

Torn

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix (dtv, August 2011).

We Were the Wonder Scouts

by Will Ludwigsen

As an old man, Harald recounts the days of 1928 when he was one of Mr. Fort’s original Wonder Scouts, seeking out the true explanations for inexplicable phenomena in the woods of upstate New York.

At worst, we’ll be absorbed into the super-consciousness, learning and seeing all knowledge at once in a single stupendous flash. More likely, we’ll find a tunnel to an underground civilization of pygmies or a portal through time.

“We Were the Wonder Scouts” by Will Ludwigsen, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 2011.

Willow Falls (Wendy Mass) 3

13 Gifts

by Wendy Mass

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass (Scholastic Press, September 2011).

Bright Empires 2

The Bone House

by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Bone House by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, September 2011).

The Juliet Spell

by Douglas Rees

The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees (Harlequin Teen, September 2011).

The Last Musketeer 1

The Last Musketeer

by Stuart Gibbs

While chasing the cad who stole his family’s prized black crystal, young Greg Rich ends up back in AD 1615 where he and three future Musketeers must save Greg’s parents from Dominic Richelieu (the cardinal’s evil brother) and the deadly prison known as La Mort.

— Michael Main

When joined as a whole, the Devil’s Stone was rumored to perform many miracles: strike people dead in an instant, turn lead into gold, even open portals in time.

The Last Musketeer by Stuart Gibbs (HarperCollins, September 2011) [print · e-book].

Simon Grenville 1

No Proper Lady

by Isabel Cooper

No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper (Sourcebooks Casablanca, September 2011).

History Keepers 1

The Storm Begins

by Damian Dibben

The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben (Doubleday, September 2011).

Being Erica (s04e01)

Doctor Who?

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Ken Girotti

Erica: So what do I do? Do I just go out there, hand him the card, and ask him how he’s handling the divorce?

Being Erica (s04e01), “Doctor Who?” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Ken Girotti (CBC-TV, Canada, 26 September 2011).

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

by Frank Cottrell-Boyce

At the end of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, the fabulous car’s Chronojuster is jolted, taking them to the Jurassic and the start of the second sequel (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time) to Ian Flemming’s original story. In the third sequel (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon), the modern-day family that now has the car find themselves in 1966 where they need help from the original owners.

Most cars don’t have a Chronojuster. It’s a special handle that allows you to drive backward and forward in time. That’s how special Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is—time travel is fitted as standard.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Macmillan Children’s Books, October 2011).

The Blackhope Enigma 2

The Crimson Shard

by Teresa Flavin

The Crimson Shard by Teresa Flavin (Templar Publishing, October 2011).

EVE, Book 1

Essence

by A. L. Waddington

Essence by A. L. Waddington (Tate Publishing and Enterprises, October 2011).

De Vere and Lambourne 1

Johnny Doesn’t Drink Champagne

by Cody Young

Johnny Doesn’t Drink Champagne by Cody Young (Golden Bay Press, October 2011).

The Imagination Station 6

Problems in Plymouth

by Marianne Hering

Problems in Plymouth by Marianne Hering (Tyndale House Publishers, October 2011).

Spirit Winds 1

The Sixth Precept

by Larry Ivkovich

The Sixth Precept by Larry Ivkovich (IFWG Publishing, October 2011).

Tim Hartwell 1

Tim Hartwell and the Magical Galon of Wales

by Aeneas Middleton

Tim Hartwell and the Magical Galon of Wales by Aeneas Middleton (self-published, October 2011).

Veronica Britton: Chronic Detective 2

Time of Death

by Niall Boyce

Time of Death by Niall Boyce (Proxima, October 2011).

Being Erica (s04e02)

Osso Barko

by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Gary Harvey

Erica: It’s not that I’m not happy doing what I’m doing—I mean, I love my work. It’s just sometimes I wonder if I shoulda tried harder to be a writer.

Being Erica (s04e02), “Osso Barko” by James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow, directed by Gary Harvey (CBC-TV, Canada, 3 October 2011).

Being Erica (s04e03)

Baby Mama

by Julia Cohen, directed by Ken Girotti

Erica: My mother is my patient?!

Being Erica (s04e03), “Baby Mama” by Julia Cohen, directed by Ken Girotti (CBC-TV, Canada, 10 October 2011).

Being Erica (s04e04)

Born This Way

by Shelley Scarrow and James Hurst, directed by Gary Harvey

Being Erica (s04e04), “Born This Way” by Shelley Scarrow and James Hurst, directed by Gary Harvey (CBC-TV, Canada, 17 October 2011).

Shuffle

written and directed by Kurt Kuenne

Each time he wakes up, photographer Lovell Milo finds himself in a different piece of his life in seemingly random order. It’s hell, and he wants it to stop, and then he learns two things: (1) He’s married to his childhood best friend, and (2) His traveling (according to a little girl) is “a present” which he’s supposed to use to save someone in trouble.

— Michael Main

I’m 28. The day before that I was 15. The day before that I was 30. The day before that I was 8. One day, recently, I was past 90. Every day I wake up at a different age and a different year on a different day of my life, and it’s scaring the hell out of me. I want it to stop. I need help. I’ve been awake for the past 48 hours because I don’t know where I’m going to be once I fall asleep. Can you help me? Have you ever heard of this before? Anywhere?

Shuffle written and directed by Kurt Kuenne (Hollywood Film Festival, 21 October 2011).

Being Erica (s04e05)

Sins of the Father

by Ian Carpenter, directed by Paul Fox

Being Erica (s04e05), “Sins of the Father” by Ian Carpenter, directed by Paul Fox (CBC-TV, Canada, 24 October 2011).

Being Erica (s04e06)

If I Could Turn Back Time

by Graeme Manson, directed by Phil Earnshaw

Being Erica (s04e06), “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Graeme Manson, directed by Phil Earnshaw (CBC-TV, Canada, 31 October 2011).

The Freedom Maze

by Delia Sherman

The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House, November 2011).

Veronica Britton: Chronic Detective 3

The Last Londoner

by Niall Boyce

The Last Londoner by Niall Boyce (Proxima, November 2011).

Parry Pretty and the Eight Realms: Caught in the Slipstream of Time

by S. J. Musgraves

Parry Pretty and the Eight Realms: Caught in the Slipstream of Time by S. J. Musgraves (Snappy Turtle Publishing, November 2011).

Hidden Mickey 4

Wolf! : Happily Ever After?

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

Wolf! : Happily Ever After? by Nancy Temple Rodrigue (Double-R Books, November 2011).

Being Erica (s04e07)

Being Ethan

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Kari Skogland

Being Erica (s04e07), “Being Ethan” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Kari Skogland (CBC-TV, Canada, 7 November 2011).

Being Erica (s04e08)

Please, Please Tell Me Now

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by John Fawcett

Being Erica (s04e08), “Please, Please Tell Me Now” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by John Fawcett (CBC-TV, Canada, 14 November 2011).

Hoops&Yoyo Ruin Christmas

by Mike Adair, Bob Holt, and Bev Carlson, directed by Tony Craig

Cheaply animated Hallmark greeting card icons Hoops and Yoyo (and their dog Piddle) travel through a wormhole to the days of Santa’s youth where they endanger Christmas for all time.

— Michael Main

I think that kid in there . . . is Santa Claus.

Hoops&Yoyo Ruin Christmas by Mike Adair, Bob Holt, and Bev Carlson, directed by Tony Craig (CBS-TV, USA, 25 November 2011).

Being Erica (s04e09)

Erica’s Adventures in Wonderland

by Amanda Fahey and Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Paul Fox

Being Erica (s04e09), “Erica’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Amanda Fahey and Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Paul Fox (CBC-TV, Canada, 28 November 2011).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 19*

Abe Lincoln At Last

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie to Washington, D.C. in the 1860s where they meet Abraham Lincoln and collect a feather that will help break a magic spell.

— based on fandom.com

Abe Lincoln At Last by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, December 2011) [print · e-book].

Veronica Britton: Chronic Detective 4

An Everlasting Cold

by Niall Boyce

An Everlasting Cold by Niall Boyce (Proxima, December 2011).

Warrior [Mayhue] 1

Warrior’s Redemption

by Melissa Mayhue

Warrior’s Redemption by Melissa Mayhue (Pocket Star Books, December 2011).

Being Erica (s04e10)

Purim

by Amanda Fahey and Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by John Fawcett

Being Erica (s04e10), “Purim” by Amanda Fahey and Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by John Fawcett (CBC-TV, Canada, 5 December 2011).

12 Dates of Christmas

by Aaron Mendelsohn and Blake Harris, directed by James Hayman

After the requisite bump on the head, Kate Stanton finds herself reliving Christmas Eve over and over, whereupon romantic hijinks ensue.

— Michael Main

That ship has sailed. You blew your chance. You can’t go back and change it.

12 Dates of Christmas by Aaron Mendelsohn and Blake Harris, directed by James Hayman (ABC Family, USA, 11 December 2011).

Being Erica (s04e11)

Dr. Erica

by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer

Being Erica (s04e11), “Dr. Erica” by Aaron Martin and Jana Sinyor, directed by Chris Grismer (CBC-TV, Canada, 12 December 2011).

In the Name of the King II

In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds

by Michael Nachoff, directed by Uwe Boll

Because Granger ends up in forested war-torn Kingdom of Ehb (from the fantasy film, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which came from a video game)rather than a real place in our history, this feels like a secondary world story. Nevertheless, it sounds as if Elianna says “the past is open” (or is it “the path is open”?—the audio is unclear) right before dragging our hero off to Ehb, so we’ll count this as time travel. This view is also bolstered by a short interview with the director, Uwe Boll, who said that Granger falls into a vortex back in time.

— Michael Main

The past is open.

In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds by Michael Nachoff, directed by Uwe Boll (direct-to-video, Canada and USA, 27 December 2011).

Alcatraz

|pending byline|

This show has a Ph.D. with a comic book shop, a kindly old uncle, Vince Lombardi as a 1963 jail warden, a crotchety FBI agent who really has a kind heart, residents of 1963 Alcatraz showing up today, and a girl with a gun! What’s not to love?

All the prisoners were transferred off the island, only that’s not what happened—not at all.

Alcatraz |pending byline|.

All Souls Trilogy 2

Shadow of Night

by Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (De Boekerij, 2012).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 5

Viaggio nel tempo 5

English release: No Time to Lose Literal: Time travel 5

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo 5 | No time to lose[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Piemme, 2012).

The Treasure Chest 1

Angel of the Battlefield

by Ann Hood

Angel of the Battlefield by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, January 2012).

The Treasure Chest 2

Little Lion

by Ann Hood

Little Lion by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, January 2012).

Archvillain 2

Mad Mask

by Barry Lyga

Mad Mask by Barry Lyga (Scholastic Press, January 2012).

The Imagination Station 7

Secret of the Prince’s Tomb

by Marianne Hering

Secret of the Prince’s Tomb by Marianne Hering (Focus, January 2012).

The Sixty-Eight Rooms 2

Stealing Magic

by Marianne Malone

Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone (Random House, January 2012).

The Blue Thread Saga 1

Blue Thread

by Ruth Tenzer Feldman

Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Ooligan Press, February 2012).

Friends Forever 2

Double Trouble

by Judi Curtin

Double Trouble by Judi Curtin (Puffin, February 2012).

Hollow Earth 1

Hollow Earth

by Carole E. Barrowman

Hollow Earth by Carole E. Barrowman (Buster Books, February 2012).

Tim Hartwell 2

Tim Hartwell and the Brutus of Troy

by Aeneas Middleton

Tim Hartwell and the Brutus of Troy by Aeneas Middleton (self-published, February 2012).

Mysterious Island

by Cameron Larson, directed by Mark Sheppard

I wonder whether all eighteen executive producers (yes, I counted them) of this movie were sitting around (maybe in a hot air balloon with no burner), trying to come up with a movie idea.

“Let’s do a movie of Lost,” said one. “It’s a big hit.”

“No, we can’t do Lost,” said another. “We don’t have the rights.”

“Then let’s find some old sci-fi thing—you know, by one of those old French dudes—and rewrite it so that it’s like Lost with time travel.”

“Wait, didn’t Lost have time travel?”

“Maybe, but not with Civil War dudes and hot chicks in a crashed plane.”

— Michael Main

Well honestly, to me ma’am, it looked like a flying locomotive.

Mysterious Island by Cameron Larson, directed by Mark Sheppard (at limited movie theaters, USA, 11 February 2012).

Life and Death and Bongo Drums

by Larry Hodges

Life and Death argue over the fate of a time traveler.

“You are a problem,” Death finally said. “You were scheduled to die seventy years ago, during World War II, but since you hadn’t yet been born, I skipped the appointment.”

“Life and Death and Bongo Drums” by Larry Hodges, in Every Day Fiction, 20 February 2012.

Unbound [Mont] 1

A Breath of Eyre

by Eve Marie Mont

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont (Kensington Books, March 2012).

de Piaget Family 14

All for You

by Lynn Kurland

All for You by Lynn Kurland (Jove Books, April 2012).

Under the Hill 1

Bomber’s Moon

by Alex Beecroft

Bomber’s Moon by Alex Beecroft (Samhain Publishing, April 2012).

Parallon 1

Fever

by Dee Shulman

Fever by Dee Shulman (Puffin, April 2012).

Simon Grenville 2

Lessons After Dark

by Isabel Cooper

Lessons After Dark by Isabel Cooper (Sourcebooks Casablanca, April 2012).

When Lilacs Bloom

by Nell DuVall

When Lilacs Bloom by Nell DuVall (Etopia Press, April 2012).

Under the Hill 2

Dogfighters

by Alex Beecroft

Dogfighters by Alex Beecroft (Samhain Publishing, May 2012).

Haunters

by Thomas Taylor

Haunters by Thomas Taylor (Chicken House, May 2012).

The Treasure Chest 3

Jewel of the East

by Ann Hood

Jewel of the East by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, May 2012).

The Adventures of Jo Schmo 1

Dinos Are Forever

by Greg Trine

Dinos Are Forever by Greg Trine (Harcourt Children’s Books, July 2012).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 20*

A Perfect Time For Pandas

by Mary Pope Osborne

Magically transported to southwest China to find the final object needed to break the spell on Merlin’s beloved penguin, Jack and Annie take a side trip to the world’s largest giant panda reserve.

— based on fandom.com

A Perfect Time For Pandas by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 2012) [print · e-book].

Lady Molly & the Snapper

by Gerry McCulough

Lady Molly & the Snapper by Gerry McCulough (Precious Oil, August 2012).

The Treasure Chest 4

Prince of Air

by Ann Hood

Prince of Air by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, August 2012).

The Blood Coven 8

Blood Forever

by Marianne Mancusi

Blood Forever by Marianne Mancusi (Berkley Books, September 2012).

The Missing 5

Caught

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, September 2012).

The Imagination Station 9

Escape to the Hiding Place

by Marianne Hering

Escape to the Hiding Place by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, September 2012).

Mira’s Diary 1

Lost in Paris

by Marissa Moss

Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, September 2012).

Cat Crawford 1

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

by Rachel Harris

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris (Entangled Teen, September 2012).

Ethan Cheeseman 3

No Other Story

by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

No Other Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, September 2012).

Bright Empires 3

The Spirit Well

by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Spirit Well by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, September 2012).

Record/Play

written and directed by Jesse Atlas

By listening to a cassette tape labeled “Bosnia 2/10/93,” a man is repeated taken back to the time of his lover’s death. Each time he gets closer to saving her, but in the end, he realizes that there’s only one way to fully save her.

— Michael Main

I’ll never know your touch again. I’ll never know your kiss.

Record/Play written and directed by Jesse Atlas (New York City Short Film Festival, 28 September 2012).

The Imagination Station 8

Battle for Cannibal Island

by Wayne Thomas Batson

Battle for Cannibal Island by Wayne Thomas Batson (Focus on the Family, October 2012).

Egypt: Trouble with Temples

by Guy Antibes

Egypt: Trouble with Temples by Guy Antibes (CasiePress, October 2012).

The Books of Beginning 2

The Fire Chronicle

by John Stephens

The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens (Random House, October 2012).

Immortal Descendants: Original Series #1

Marking Time

by April White

Seventeen year-old Saira Elian’s mother has disappeared, as she does for a few days every couple of years. But this time, Saira ends up searching for her—in time. Along the way she makes friends for the first time in her nomadic life, and she learns that Vampires, Seers, and Shifters are real. But she also makes enemies, including Jack the Ripper.

— Tandy Ringoringo

I was tracing a design that was etched into the wall, and it started glowing and humming. And then my whole body was being stretched and pulled, like I was a giant rubber band. And there was a sound that vibrated through my skin and into my stomach, which is probably what made me want to puke—er, vomit.

Marking Time by April White (Corazon Entertainment, October 2012).

Midnight in Your Arms

by Morgan Kelly

Midnight in Your Arms by Morgan Kelly (Avon Impulse, October 2012).

Warrior (Melissa Mayhue) 2

Warrior Reborn

by Melissa Mayhue

Warrior Reborn by Melissa Mayhue (Pocket Books, October 2012).

Found in Time

written and directed by Arthur Vincie

In a world populated by a variety of psychic people (including the psycops and doctors who wear storm-trooper masks), a mystic pushes Chris back to an earlier time, starting him on a journey that skips through his entire lifetime.

— Michael Main

Just push me back.

Found in Time written and directed by Arthur Vincie (Shriekfest, Los Angeles, 6 October 2012).

Crow Boy 1

Crow Boy

by Philip Caveney

Crow Boy by Philip Caveney (Fledgling Press, November 2012).

Dobrenica 3

Revenant Eve

by Sherwood Smith

Revenant Eve by Sherwood Smith (DAW Books, November 2012).

The Quickening Milieu 4

The Scrivener’s Tale

by Fiona McIntosh

The Scrivener’s Tale by Fiona McIntosh (HarperVoyager, November 2012).

The Gorry Brothers: First Leap

by Eve Maguire

The Gorry Brothers: First Leap by Eve Maguire (Matador, December 2012).

Mrythdom: Game of Time

by Jasper T. Scott

Mrythdom: Game of Time by Jasper T. Scott (Anthem Press, December 2012).

The Adventures of Jo Schmo 2

Wyatt Burp Rides Again

by Greg Trine

Wyatt Burp Rides Again by Greg Trine (Harcourt Children’s Books, December 2012).

Darkness into Light

by David Fairman and Christopher Gawor, directed by David Fairman

Darkness into Light by David Fairman and Christopher Gawor, directed by David Fairman, on hold since 2012.

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 6

Viaggio nel tempo-6

English release: The Test of Time Literal: Time travel 6

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo-6 | The test of time[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Piemme, 2013).

The Imagination Station 10

Challenge on the Hill of Fire

by Marianne Hering

Challenge on the Hill of Fire by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, January 2013).

Rage Is Back

by Adam Mansbach

Rage Is Back by Adam Mansbach (Viking, January 2013).

The Timesmith Chronicles 1

Sorrowline

by Niel Bushnell

Sorrowline by Niel Bushnell (Andersen Press, January 2013).

Archvillain 3

Yesterday Again

by Barry Lyga

Yesterday Again by Barry Lyga (Scholastic Press, January 2013).

95ers: Echos

written and directed by Thomas Gomez Durham

At the start, a young girl’s father has died and then snow starts falling upward. Later, after a slightly creepy falling-in-love by a man named Horatio, there’s an FBI agent (quite possibly Fox Mulder in a different timeline) who’s very good at guessing things. Then her husband dies and we discover that her good guessing comes from being able to wind back time a few seconds—and I’m lost after that.

— Michael Main

Account locked out.
Account locked out.
Account locked out.
Account locked out.
Account locked out.
Password accepted.
[Sally smiles.]

95ers: Echos written and directed by Thomas Gomez Durham (LDS Film Festival, Orem, Utah, late January 2013).

John Dies at the End

written and directed by Don Coscarelli

Dave’s friend John takes a psychedelic drug (given to him by Bob Marley—no, not that Bob Marley) that endows him with a distorted sense of time and pitches him into an interdimensional battle with leech monsters. It’s possible that there’s time travel, too, or at least a time telephone.

— Michael Main

You know what I think? You’re going to be getting phone calls from me for, like, the next eight or nine years, all from tonight.

John Dies at the End written and directed by Don Coscarelli (Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, 23 January 2013).

Back to Blackbrick

by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald (Orion Children’s Books, February 2013).

Hollow Earth 2

Bone Quill

by Carole E. Barrowman

Bone Quill by Carole E. Barrowman (Buster Books, February 2013).

Stone Ends 1

Keeper of the Black Stones

by PT McHugh

Keeper of the Black Stones by PT McHugh (Glass House Press, February 2013).

Poisoned Heart

by Anna O’Neill

“Poisoned Heart” by Anna O’Neill, in Forbidden Love, no credited editors (Noble Romance Publishing, February 2013).

Chronicles of the Tempus 2

The Queen at War

by K. A. S. Quinn

The Queen at War by K. A. S. Quinn (Corvus, February 2013).

The Treasure Chest 5

Crazy Horse: Brave Warrior

by Ann Hood

Crazy Horse: Brave Warrior by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, March 2013).

Love Across Time 2

Escape With Me

by Ruby Duvall

Escape With Me by Ruby Duvall (Ellora’s Cave, March 2013).

The Fabulous Tumble Disk

by John Peter Green

The Fabulous Tumble Disk by John Peter Green (My Spirit Books, March 2013).

Geek Girls 1

The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl

by Gina Lamm

The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl by Gina Lamm (Sourcebooks Casablanca, March 2013).

De Vere and Lambourne 2

Johnny and the Vampires of Versailles

by Cody Young

Johnny and the Vampires of Versailles by Cody Young (Golden Bay Press, March 2013).

Todd Family 1

Life after Life

by Kate Atkinson

In one instantiation of her life, Ursula Todd dies just moments after her birth in 1910. Fortunately (for the sake of the novel), time seems to be cyclic, so she and the rest of the world get many chances at life. At times, she partially recalls her other lives, resulting in many consequences to history and her personal development.

— Michael Main

So much hot air rising above the tables in the Café Heck or the Osteria Bavaria, like smoke from the ovens. It was difficult to believe from this perspective that Hitler was going to lay waste to the world in a few years’ time.

“Time isn’t circular,” she said to Dr. Kellet. “It’s like a palimpsest.”
“Oh, dear,” he said. “That sounds very vexing.”
“And memories are sometimes in the future.”

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday, March 2013).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 21*

Stallion by Starlight

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are magically transported to Ancient Greece to find the meaning of greatness. There, they meet the young Alexander the Great and take part in the famous story of how he tamed his horse, Bucephalus.

— based on fandom.com

Stallion by Starlight by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2013) [print · e-book].

Unbound (Eve Marie Mont) 2

A Touch of Scarlet

by Eve Marie Mont

A Touch of Scarlet by Eve Marie Mont (K Teen, March 2013).

The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone

by Bill Muir, directed by Bill Muir

The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone by Bill Muir, directed by Bill Muir (at limited movie theaters, USA, 1 March 2013).

Rubinrot Movie I

Rubinrot

English release: Ruby Red Literal: Ruby red

by Katharina Schöde, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner

Rubinrot by Katharina Schöde, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Munich, 5 March 2013).

Mira’s Diary 2

Home Sweet Rome

by Marissa Moss

Home Sweet Rome by Marissa Moss (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, April 2013).

The Imagination Station 11

Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon

by Wayne Thomas Batson

Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon by Wayne Thomas Batson (Focus on the Family, April 2013).

Jumper

by Jeff LaFerney

Jumper by Jeff LaFerney (Tower Publications, April 2013).

The Loop

by Shandy Lawson

The Loop by Shandy Lawson (Hyperion Books, April 2013).

Shamansland 3

Malarat

by Jessica Rydill

Malarat by Jessica Rydill (shamansland.com, April 2013).

Friends Forever 3

The Mystery Tour

by Judi Curtin

The Mystery Tour by Judi Curtin (Puffin, April 2013).

The Adventures of Spangle The Magical Spaniel

by Julia A. Fletcher

The Adventures of Spangle The Magical Spaniel by Julia A. Fletcher (Beauclarke Publishing, May 2013).

Parallon 2

Delirium

by Dee Shulman

Delirium by Dee Shulman (Penguin Books, May 2013).

Odessa Again

by Dana Reinhardt

Odessa Again by Dana Reinhardt (Wendy Lamb Books, May 2013).

The Sixty-Eight Rooms 3

The Pirate’s Coin

by Marianne Malone

The Pirate’s Coin by Marianne Malone (Random House, May 2013).

The Blackhope Enigma 3

The Shadow Lantern

by Teresa Flavin

The Shadow Lantern by Teresa Flavin (Templar Publishing, May 2013).

Teen Beach Movie

[writer unknown]

Teen Beach Movie [writer unknown] (Disney Press, May 2013).

Frankie’s Magic Football 1

Frankie vs The Pirate Pillagers

by Frank Lampard

Frankie vs The Pirate Pillagers by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, June 2013).

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

by Andrew Sean Greer

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer (Ecco, June 2013).

Plague in the Mirror

by Deborah Noyes

Plague in the Mirror by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick Press, June 2013).

The Treasure Chest 6

Queen Liliuokalani: Royal Prisoner

by Ann Hood

Queen Liliuokalani: Royal Prisoner by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, June 2013).

The Wells Bequest

by Polly Shulman

The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman (Nancy Paulsen Books, June 2013).

Jinki and the Paradox

by Sathya Stone

Mathematical beings called the Rathki set up three experimental human colonies, one of which includes Jinki, a child made of light, and Mr. Quest, a trickster whose job is to generate random errors. Jinki would rather talk with Mr. Quest than anyone else, because he talks of interesting things such as Alice in Wonderland, the dangers of recursive wishes on falling stars, walking through Time, and (most importantly) avoiding pa-ra-dox!

There’s many a reason a light baby mustn’t walk through Time. You shouldn’t, Jinki, because you’re tied with the human timeline, you’d cause a thing, a great big knot of a thing like a briar-rose patch, called a paradox. A pa-ra-dox!

“Jinki and the Paradox” by Sathya Stone, in Strange Horizons, 3 June 2013.

Time Hunters 1

Gladiator Clash

by Marnie Riches

Gladiator Clash by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, July 2013).

Time Hunters 4

Greek Warriors

by Marnie Riches

Greek Warriors by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, July 2013).

Time Hunters 2

Knight Quest

by Marnie Riches

Knight Quest by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, July 2013).

The Adventures of Jo Schmo 3

Shifty Business

by Greg Trine

Shifty Business by Greg Trine (Harcourt Children’s Books, July 2013).

The Montauk Project 2

This Strange and Familiar Place

by Rachel Carter

This Strange and Familiar Place by Rachel Carter (HarperTeen, July 2013).

Time Hunters 3

Viking Raiders

by Marnie Riches

Viking Raiders by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, July 2013).

R.I.P.D.

by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, directed by Robert Schwentke

Note to self: When you’re a detective having second thoughts about stealing that gold from a drug bust, don’t express your thoughts to your partner who might give you a shotgun blast to the face, whereupon time will momentarily freeze and you will be recruited to an understaffed supernatural police department. Apart from time freezing, there are no time phenomena in this adaptation of the earlier comic book miniseries.

— Michael Main

Proctor: You’re lucky, Nick. You have skills that we want, so we’re giving you a choice: You can take your chances with judgement, or. . . [fishes undeader gun from a drawer and places it on the desk]/actor] you can join the R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D. by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, directed by Robert Schwentke (at movie theaters, Iceland, 17 July 2013).

Frankie’s Magic Football 2

Frankie vs The Rowdy Romans

by Frank Lampard

Frankie vs The Rowdy Romans by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2013).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 22*

Hurry Up Houdini!

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie meet one of the world’s most famous illusionists, Harry Houdini.

— based on fandom.com

Hurry Up Houdini! by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2013) [print · e-book].

Cat Crawford 2

A Tale of Two Centuries

by Rachel Harris

A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris (Entangled Teen, August 2013).

The Beauchamp Family 3

Winds of Salem

by Melissa de la Cruz

Winds of Salem by Melissa de la Cruz (Hyperion Books, August 2013).

Are You Experienced?

by Jordan Sonnenblick

Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick (Feiwel and Friends, September 2013).

Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light

by Jaimie M. Engle

Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light by Jaimie M. Engle (Wayman Publishing, September 2013).

Stocker and Holmes 1

The Clockwork Scarab

by Colleen Gleason

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason (Chronicle Books, September 2013).

The Imagination Station 12

Danger on a Silent Night

by Marianne Hering

Danger on a Silent Night by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, September 2013).

Fortunately, the Milk

by Neil Gaiman

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (Harper, September 2013).

Geek Girls 2

Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes

by Gina Lamm

Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes by Gina Lamm (Sourcebooks Casablanca, September 2013).

Willow Falls 4

The Last Present

by Wendy Mass

The Last Present by Wendy Mass (Scholastic Press, September 2013).

Namesake

by Sue MacLeod

Namesake by Sue MacLeod (Pajama Press, September 2013).

The Missing 6

Risked

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Risked by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, September 2013).

Scorched 1

Scorched

by Marianne Mancusi

Scorched by Marianne Mancusi (Sourcebooks Fire, September 2013).

Bright Empires 4

The Shadow Lamp

by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, September 2013).

The Treasure Chest 7

Alexander Graham Bell: Master of Sound

by Ann Hood

Alexander Graham Bell: Master of Sound by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, October 2013).

Frankie’s Magic Football 3

Frankie vs The Cowboy’s Crew

by Frank Lampard

Frankie vs The Cowboy’s Crew by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, October 2013).

The Graham Saga 4

A Newfound Land

by Anna Belfrage

A Newfound Land by Anna Belfrage (SilverWood Books, November 2013).

The Blue Thread Saga 2

The Ninth Day

by Ruth Tenzer Feldman

The Ninth Day by Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Ooligan Press, November 2013).

Pete’s Christmas

by Peter McKay, Gregg Rossen, and Brian Sawyer, directed by Nisha Ganatra

We all watched this on a visit to Colorado by Hannah and Paul, and everyone agreed that it was a nice (and moralistic) Groundhog Day take-off with 14-year-old Pete reliving Christmas until he gets it right.

— Michael Main

Santa forgot my present? Again?!

Pete’s Christmas by Peter McKay, Gregg Rossen, and Brian Sawyer, directed by Nisha Ganatra (Hallmark Channel, USA, 1 November 2013).

Kristin’s Christmas Past

by Rachel Stuhler, directed by Jim Fall

Thirty-four-year-old Kristin, miserable and estranged from her family, is given a Christmas bottle of champagne by a New York City liquor store owner, and after taking a sip, she wakes up beside her 17-year-old self with a chance to fix all her past wrongs.

Janet and I watched this on Christmas Day in 2015, shortly after watching Rachel Stuhler’s similar but later movie, Back to Christmas.

— Michael Main

ou’ve had a lotta years to make mistakes: It’s my turn now!

Kristin’s Christmas Past by Rachel Stuhler, directed by Jim Fall (Lifetime, USA, 23 November 2013).

The Adventures of Jo Schmo 4

Pinkbeard’s Revenge

by Greg Trine

Pinkbeard’s Revenge by Greg Trine (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, December 2013).

The Ninja Librarians 1

The Accidental Keyhand

by Jen Swann Downey

The Accidental Keyhand by Jen Swann Downey (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2014).

Time Hunters 6

Egyptian Curse

by Marnie Riches

Egyptian Curse by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, January 2014).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 23*

High Time for Heroes

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are magically transported to mid-1800s Thebes, Egypt, where they are saved from a dangerous accident by Florence Nightingale.

— based on fandom.com

High Time for Heroes by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2014) [print · e-book].

Mr. Peabody & Sherman: The Junior Novelization

by Erica David

Mr. Peabody & Sherman: The Junior Novelization by Erica David (Random House, January 2014).

Time Hunters 5

Pirate Mutiny

by Marnie Riches

Pirate Mutiny by Marnie Riches (HarperCollins Children’s Books, January 2014).

The Imagination Station 13

The Redcoats Are Coming!

by Marianne Hering

The Redcoats Are Coming! by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, January 2014).

Seven Stories Up

by Laurel Snyder

Seven Stories Up by Laurel Snyder (Random House, January 2014).

Whatever Happened to Billy Parks?

by Gareth R. Roberts

Whatever Happened to Billy Parks? by Gareth R. Roberts (Friday Project, January 2014).

Paranormal Activity #5

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

written and directed by Christopher Landon

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones written and directed by Christopher Landon (at movie theaters, France and elsewhere, 1 January 2014).

Cigarette Lighter Love Song

by Josh Rountree

Every ten years, Melissa casts a spell that makes her and the narrator flit back, experiencing earlier times, all in the spot where the roller rink used to be.

See, this is how it happens. I’m in that place I want to be, then suddenly it’s twenty years later and Melissa is telling me what a son of a bitch I am and why did I have to screw the whole thing up just as she’d finally got the fucking spell right?

“Cigarette Lighter Love Song” by Josh Rountree, Daily Science Fiction, 17 January 2014 [webzine].

Chameleon in a Mirror

by Ruth Nestvold

Chameleon in a Mirror by Ruth Nestvold (Red Dragon Books, February 2014).

Time Hunters 7

Cowboy Showdown

by Lisa Fiedler

Cowboy Showdown by Lisa Fiedler (HarperCollins Children’s Books, February 2014).

Tales of the Time Dragon 1

Days of the Knights

by Robert Neubecker

Days of the Knights by Robert Neubecker (Scholastic, February 2014).

Frankie’s Magic Football 4

Frankie vs The Mummy’s Menace

by Frank Lampard

Frankie vs The Mummy’s Menace by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown, February 2014).

Time Hunters 9

Outback Outlaw

by Martin Howard

Outback Outlaw by Martin Howard (HarperCollins Children’s Books, February 2014).

Time Hunters 8

Samurai Assassin

by Martin Howard

Samurai Assassin by Martin Howard (HarperCollins Children’s Books, February 2014).

Time Hunters 10

Stone Age Rampage

by Lisa Fiedler

Stone Age Rampage by Lisa Fiedler (HarperCollins Children’s Books, February 2014).

In the Name of the King III

In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission

by Joel Ross, directed by Uwe Boll

Well, if the second film was officially time travel from present day back to the kingdom of Ehb then this one must be the same, even though Ehb really seems like a dragon world far from our timeline. And admittedly, the trailer says “In the past, his destiny awaits.” Okay, I’ll let go of that annoyance and simply tell you that this time it’s contract killer Hazen Kaine who passes through the portal to fight dragons and such in Ehb.

— Michael Main

You believe in dragons?

In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission by Joel Ross, directed by Uwe Boll (direct-to-video, Sweden, 5 February 2014).

Alex Wayfare 1

The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare

by M. G. Buehrlen

The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen (Strange Chemistry, March 2014).

The Treasure Chest 8

Amelia Earhart: Lady Lindy

by Ann Hood

Amelia Earhart: Lady Lindy by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, March 2014).

EVE, Book 2

Enlightened

by A. L. Waddington

Enlightened by A. L. Waddington (Booktrope Editions, March 2014).

Magic 2.0, Book 1

Off to Be the Wizard

by Scott Meyer

Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer (47North, March 2014).

The Graham Saga 5

Serpents in the Garden

by Anna Belfrage

Serpents in the Garden by Anna Belfrage (SilverWood Books, March 2014).

The Timesmith Chronicles 2

Timesmith

by Niel Bushnell

Timesmith by Niel Bushnell (Andersen Press, March 2014).

Veil of Time

by Claire R. McDougall

Veil of Time by Claire R. McDougall (Gallery Books, March 2014).

신의 선물 – 14일

Sinui sunmil—14 il

by 최란, directed by 이동훈

Kim Soo-hyun is a mother whose young daughter Han Saet-byul gets kidnapped and murdered. Discovering a miraculous ability to go back in time exactly two weeks before the event, Soo-hyun is determined to expose the kidnapping plot and save her daughter before she dies all over again. Helping her is Ki Dong-chan, a former cop turned private investigator out to prove the innocence of his mentally challenged brother, who is falsely accused of murdering Dong-chan's ex-girlfriend.

— based on Wikipedia

[ex=bare]신의 선물 – 14일 | God’s gift: 14 days | Sinui sunmil—14 il[/ex] by 최란, directed by 이동훈 (SBS-TV (Korea, 3 March – 22 April 2014).

Resurrection

by Aaron Zelman et al.

After eight-year-old Jake Langston drowns in a river, 32 years pass before he reappears, unchanged, in a rice paddy in China. They can call it resurrection, but it quacks like time travel to me, even if Jake’s original body is still in that mausoleum.

What’s red and green and goes a million miles an hour?

Resurrection by Aaron Zelman et al. (10 March 2014).

Parallon 3

Afterlife

by Dee Shulman

Afterlife by Dee Shulman (Penguin Books, April 2014).

The Camelot Code 1

The Camelot Code

by Marianne Mancusi

The Camelot Code by Marianne Mancusi (NLA Digital, April 2014).

Frankie’s Magic Football 5

Frankie vs The Knight’s Nasties

by Frank Lampard

Frankie vs The Knight’s Nasties by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, April 2014).

The Noble Pirates

by Rima Jean

The Noble Pirates by Rima Jean (CreateSpace, April 2014).

Saving Lucas Biggs

by Marisa de los Santos

Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa de los Santos (HarperCollins, April 2014).

Crow Boy 2

Seventeen Coffins

by Philip Caveney

Seventeen Coffins by Philip Caveney (Fledgling Press, April 2014).

Time Hunters 12

Aztec Attack

by Martin Howard

Aztec Attack by Martin Howard (HarperCollins Children’s Books, May 2014).

The Imagination Station 14

Captured on the High Seas

by Marianne Hering

Captured on the High Seas by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, May 2014).

Order of the Dragon Knights 1

Dragon Knight’s Sword

by Mary Morgan

Dragon Knight’s Sword by Mary Morgan (Wild Rose Press, May 2014).

A Gift in Time

by Maggie Clark

From his little office where he works for an esteemed antiquities dealer, Mr. Mouse Musset wills himself back in time to retrieve objects in a way that only he can, but the secretary above him—the very secretary that Mouse worships—does not appreciate Mouse’s finds.

I have had quite enough assurance, Mr. Musset, from the carbon dating Mr. Hazlitt had performed. Granted, the calligraphy is clever, and the materials all true to form—but how old would you say Beowulf is? Tenth century? Maybe eighth?

“A Gift in Time” by Maggie Clark, in Clarkesworld 92, May 2014.

Hereafter

by Samuel Peralta

Caitlyn, a military nurse, instantly falls in love with a time traveler who must then disappear. The next time they meet, he dies in her arms, and each subsequent time follows a Fibonacci sequence in the number of years of separation.

You know how some satellites stay in the same place in orbit, where the gravity of the earth and moon balance each other?

“Hereafter” by Samuel Peralta, in Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel (edited by David Gatewood, David Gatewood) May 2014.

The Mirror

by Irving Belateche

A rambling story of a young man who comes to New York, eventually takes over the ownership of an antique store, and comes upon a young woman who has a mirror (with slight time-travel powers connected to the time of the Black Plague) to sell and a heart to capture.

I was working late as usual, when our new employee—Dolores, whom I’d hired myself—came into the back office, now my office, to let me know tht a Rebecca Ward was on the phone and wanted to have Remembrance broker a sale for an antique mirror she owned.

“The Mirror” by Irving Belateche, in Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel (edited by David Gatewood, David Gatewood) May 2014.

Time Hunters 11

Mohican Brave

by Lisa Fiedler

Mohican Brave by Lisa Fiedler (HarperCollins Children’s Books, May 2014).

City Kids 1

The Phoenix on Barkley Street

by Zetta Elliott

The Phoenix on Barkley Street by Zetta Elliott (Rosetta Press, May 2014).

Reset

by MeiLin Miranda

Sandy tells about her life-long friend Catherine who on her 50th birthday always has her mind transferred back to her sixteen-year-old body.

Sandy, you’re the one thing that never really changes, no matter how many times I go through this.

“Reset” by MeiLin Miranda, in Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel (edited by David Gatewood, David Gatewood) May 2014.

Timeslip Fantasies 5

The Sequin Star

by Belinda Murrell

The Sequin Star by Belinda Murrell (Random House, May 2014).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 24*

Soccer on Sunday

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie search for the fourth secret of greatness for Merlin in Mexico City at the 1970 World Cup Games. They hope to learn something new from soccer player great, Pele.

— based on fandom.com

Soccer on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, May 2014) [print · e-book].

Once Upon a Time

by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

I loved the first season of this show in which the Evil Queen casts a spell that takes all of Fairy Tale Land to a small town in Maine. The show definitely jumped the shark in season 3 when they went to Neverland, but I came back to watch the last three episodes of that season when a time portal opened into the pre-spell Fairy Tale Land.

I’m still here. How is that possible? We saw her die. I should never be born.

Once Upon a Time by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (4 May 2014).

Magic 2.0, Book 2

Spell or High Water

by Scott Meyer

Spell or High Water by Scott Meyer (47North, June 2014).

Spiritus Chronicles 4

Vermilion Justice

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

Vermilion Justice by Sheri Lewis Wohl (Bold Strokes Books, June 2014).

Audi A8

|pending byline|

You’re me, right?

Audi A8 |pending byline| (24 June 2014).

Hollow Earth 3

The Book of Beasts

by Carole E. Barrowman

The Book of Beasts by Carole E. Barrowman (Head of Zeus, July 2014).

All Souls Trilogy 3

The Book of Life

by Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness (Viking, July 2014).

The Montauk Project 3

Find Me Where the Water Ends

by Rachel Carter

Find Me Where the Water Ends by Rachel Carter (HarperTeen, July 2014).

The Treasure Chest 9

Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Master

by Ann Hood

Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Master by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, July 2014).

The Graham Saga 6

Revenge and Retribution

by Anna Belfrage

Revenge and Retribution by Anna Belfrage (SilverWood Books, July 2014).

The Sixty-Eight Rooms 4

The Secret of the Key

by Marianne Malone

The Secret of the Key by Marianne Malone (Random House, July 2014).

The Seventh Miss Hatfield 1

The Seventh Miss Hatfield

by Anna Caltabiano

The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano (Gollancz, July 2014).

The Time of the Fireflies

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

The Time of the Fireflies by Kimberley Griffiths Little (Scholastic Press, July 2014).

Witchcraft Mysteries 6

A Vision in Velvet

by Juliet Blackwell

To save her pet pig/gargoyle/familiar, shopkeeper and fabric whisperer Lily Ivory must solve a mystery using clues picked up via a traveling cloak that spirits her off to the Salem witch trials.

— Inmate Jan

The cape was in the trunk. When I put it on . . . It’s hard to explain, but it was as though I had been transported to another time and place.

A Vision in Velvet by Juliet Blackwell (Obsidian Mystery, July 2014) [print · e-book].

Makeisha in Time

by Rachael K. Jones

My favorite Star Trek episode from the entire franchise is The Inner Light, where Picard lives an entire life on a long-dead alien planet. That episode has no time travel, since the life was a virtual life lived out in minutes in his mind, but Makeisha’s form of repeated living past lives on Earth is actual time travel.

For me, Makeisha’s story suffered from having no sustaining characters outside of Makeisha herself, although I did enjoy the idea.

She will be yanked from the present without warning, and live a whole lifetime in the past. When she dies, she returns right back to where she left, restored to a younger age. It usually happens when she is deep in conversation with her boss, or arguing with her mother-in-law, or during a book club meeting just when it is her turn to speak.

“Makeisha in Time” by Rachael K. Jones, in Crossed Genres Magazine, August 2014.

Angel Detectives 2

The Man Who Rose from the Sea

by Eve Paludan

The Man Who Rose from the Sea by Eve Paludan (self-published, August 2014).

Tales of the Time Dragon 2

Racing the Waves

by Robert Neubecker

Racing the Waves by Robert Neubecker (Scholastic, August 2014).

Time Crash

by Jane Elliot

So far, Catherine has repeated the same day with the same deadly robbery 10,376 times.

10,376 times the woman’s mouth opened in a small ‘o,’ her brown lids pulled back to show the whiteness of her eyes, and she stared straight out into space before looking down and sticking a single finger in the slowly spreading blood. Every time it happened, Catherine dropped her half gallon of milk, and she waited for the end to come.

“Time Crash” by Jane Elliot, in Crossed Genres Magazine, August 2014.

Welcome to Camelot

by Tony Cleaver

Welcome to Camelot by Tony Cleaver (Roundfire Books, August 2014).

Rubinrot Movie II

Saphirblau

English release: Sapphire Blue Literal: Sapphire blue

by Katharina Schöde, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner and Schöde

Saphirblau by Katharina Schöde, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner and Schöde (at movie theaters, Luxembourg, 14 August 2014).

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

by Catherine Webb

Harry August is living his life over and over again, always born to the same mother in the same time and place, but living in a world that’s altered each time because of the actions of the others who are also reliving their lives. The world Claire North (aka Cat Webb) built has a rich, interlocking structure: The repetitions are synchronous in that the entire life of the universe plays out before restarting from the beginning for everyone, but only a handful, such as Harry, remember the previous time around. Those who do remember have formed a society whose overriding purpose is to keep the status quo because once a change is made and a person is not born during a cycle of the universe, that person will never again be born. The society also arranges a system to send messages back through the generations by having young reborn children contact older society members who are near death. From time to time, changes in the universe cause new members to be born, and thus, Harry appears just in time to become embroiled in a vicious plot to change everything.

I was fortunate to meet Cat Webb at the 2015 Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, where she cheerfully talked to me and Rob Maslen about anything and everything during the week leading up to the announcement of Harry August as the winner of the 2015 Campbell Award for the best novel of the year. Yay, Cat (and yay for your friendliness and wry sense of humor)!

My first life, for all it lacked any real direction, had about it a kind of happiness, if ignorance is innocence, and loneliness is a separation of care. But my new life, with its knowledge of all that had come before, could not be lived the same. It wasn’t merely awareness of events yet to come, but rather a new perception of the truths around me, which, being a child raised to them in my first life, I had not even considered to be lies.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Catherine Webb (Orbit, April 2014).

Peyton Clark 3

Once Haunted, Twice Shy

by H. P. Mallory

Once Haunted, Twice Shy by H. P. Mallory (Montlake Romance, September 2014).

The Missing 7

Revealed

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Revealed by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, September 2014).

Scorched 2

Shattered

by Marianne Mancusi

Shattered by Marianne Mancusi (Sourcebooks Fire, September 2014).

Embrace of the Planets

by Brenda Carre

For a long time, maybe the entire ten years since that horrific accident, Eleanora Watson has been hoping that the strange little shop calledTrove would be open some day, and now it is. Inside, she finds the even stranger owner and a lost book by Jules Verne (who pointedly never wrote of time travel).

Ah, yes. Embrace of the Planets. As far as I know it’s the only copy of Verne’s theories of the universe ever printed.

“Embrace of the Planets” by Brenda Carre, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2014.

Effect and Cause

by Grove Koger

Over dinner, a group of professional men and women called the Club discuss a recent happening at a house that’s been haunted since 1928.

— Michael Main

The house Parry lived in had been built in 1928, right before the Depression hit, and the odd thing was that it apparently was haunted from the very beginning. From day one.

“Effect and Cause” by Grove Koger, Bewildering Stories, 15 September 2014.

Monster High, Movie #10

Monster High: Freaky Fusion

by Keith Wagner, directed by William Lau

The animated gang of teen monsters travel centuries into the past to the first day ever at Monster High, but when they return they have each merged with another in the group creating freaky hybrid monsters all around. I’m not sure, but I’m betting that Mattel used this DVD release as an opportunity to also sell freaky hybrid fashion dolls.

— Michael Main

It’s 1814: They’ve never seen fashion styles like ours before.

Monster High: Freaky Fusion by Keith Wagner, directed by William Lau (direct-to-video, USA, 16 September 2014).

The Treasure Chest 10

Anastasia Romanov: The Last Grand Duchess

by Ann Hood

Anastasia Romanov: The Last Grand Duchess by Ann Hood (Grosset and Dunlap, October 2014).

EVE, Book 3

Perception

by A. L. Waddington

Perception by A. L. Waddington (Booktrope Editions, October 2014).

Obsidian Heart 1

The Wolves of London

by Mark Morris

The Wolves of London by Mark Morris (Titan Books, October 2014).

The Cloisters

by Jeff Grimshaw

I freely admit that I don’t take to dreamlike stories, but Grimshaw’s 15-minute surreal read about a jilted man who wanders through the Cloisters with a pony-tailed guard drew me in; and I’m sure it would have done so even if the space-bending tunnels that connected the medieval gardens to sundry places throughout New York hadn’t also connected to sundry times.

Actually it wasn’t cool, but I threw the scarf around my neck and headed for the Cloisters, inertia being my guiding principle.

“The Cloisters” by Jeff Grimshaw, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2014.

Order of the Dragon Knights 2

Dragon Knight’s Medallion

by Mary Morgan

Dragon Knight’s Medallion by Mary Morgan (Wild Rose Press, November 2014).

Bright Empires 5

The Fatal Tree

by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Fatal Tree by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, November 2014).

Chronicles of the Tempus 3

The Queen Alone

by K. A. S. Quinn

The Queen Alone by K. A. S. Quinn (Corvus, November 2014).

The Imagination Station 15

Surprise at Yorktown

by Marianne Hering

Surprise at Yorktown by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, November 2014).

Touch and Go

by Russell James

Gerald Greene, a failed World War I pilot on his final SPAD VII mission, ducks into a cloud in a dogfight only to emerge in the next world war.

What are you doing landing this antique at a military airfield?

“Touch and Go” by Russell James, in Still Out of Time, by Janet Guy et al., Unknown Publisher, November 2014 [e-book].

Xfinity Scrooge

|pending byline|

Yes, I remember about Rules #1 and #2 (viewing the past or viewing a possible future is not time travel), but future Tiny Tim does interact with Scrooge and the ghost!

Now remember, Mr. Scrooge, we can see them, but they can’t see us.

Xfinity Scrooge |pending byline| (10 November 2014).

Frozen in Time

by Melissa Rundle, directed by Alex Leung

Frozen in Time by Melissa Rundle, directed by Alex Leung (direct-to-video, USA, 11 November 2014).

Skip 1

Skip: Book 1

by Perrin Briar

Skip: Book 1 by Perrin Briar (self-published, December 2014).

Odd Squad

by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltman

This Fred-Rogersish gang of mathy kids teach a small lesson in each episode, including more than one episode with time travel.

Ms. O Uh-Oh (3 Dec 2014) Ms. O from the past
6:00 to 6:05 (22 Jan 2015) dinosaurs
Back to the Past (21 Jun 2015) to the future and back
Drop Gadget Repeat (9 Nov 2016) a time loop

Because I traveled through time, I don’t know if I’m 10 or 11. . . I just know I can’t see color any more.

Odd Squad by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltman (3 December 2014).

The Librarians

by John Rogers

Under the guidance of the ~~Warehouse~~ caretaker (John Larroquette), three apprentice Librarians and their Guardian venture forth each episode to contain various rogue magic threats while the actual Librarian (Noal Wyle) who put the team together tries to find the library which is lost in space and time. Apart from that lost library, there is no time travel until the final episode of the second season (“. . . And the Final Curtain”) when two of the team depart for the year 1611.

For me, the characters, acting, writing, and plot arcs were well below that of Warehouse 13, although the setup was nice.

More than that, I’m offering you an opportunity to save the world every week.

The Librarians by John Rogers (7 December 2014).

Back to Christmas

by Rachel Stuhler, directed by Tim O’Donnell

One year after breaking up with her boyfriend on Christmas Eve, still-regretful Ali runs into her fairy godmother at a diner, and the next morning Ali wakes up in the previous year.

Janet and I watched this movie on Black Friday, and at the 23:00 mark, she predicted how it would end!

— Michael Main

Isn’t this supposed to be like déjà vu where everything happens the same and I get to react differently and fix everything?

Back to Christmas by Rachel Stuhler, directed by Tim O’Donnell (Ion Television, USA, 20 December 2014).

Magic Tree House: Super Edition 1

Danger in the Darkest Hour

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back in time to England in 1944, where the country is fighting for its life in World War II. Before long, Jack and Annie find themselves parachuting to Normandy, France, behind enemy lines, and they realize that they’ve arrived on the day before D-Day. Will the brave brother and sister be able to make a difference during one of the darkest times in history?

— based on fandom.com

Danger in the Darkest Hour by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2015) [print · e-book].

The Imagination Station 16

Doomsday in Pompeii

by Marianne Hering

Doomsday in Pompeii by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, January 2015).

The Door That Led to Where

by Sally Gardner

The Door That Led to Where by Sally Gardner (Hot Key Books, January 2015).

Scarlett and Sam

Escape from Egypt

by Eric A. Kimmel

Escape from Egypt by Eric A. Kimmel (Kar-Ben Publishing, January 2015).

Thessaly 1

The Just City

by Jo Walton

The Just City by Jo Walton (Tor, January 2015).

Ranger in Time 1

Rescue on the Oregon Trail

by Kate Messner

Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, January 2015).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 2

Viaggio nel tempo 2

English release: Back in Time Literal: Time travel 2

by Geronimo Stilton

[ex=bare]Viaggio nel tempo 2 | Time travel 2[/ex] by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic Paperbacks, January 2015).

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

by Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel, directed by Paul Tibbitt and Mike Mitchell

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water by Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel, directed by Paul Tibbitt and Mike Mitchell (at movie theaters, Belgium and Netherlands, 28 January 2015).

Magic 2.0, Book 3

An Unwelcome Quest

by Scott Meyer

An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer (47North, February 2015).

Marking Time

by Stephanie Burgis

After an adult life of painful and disappointing moments, a woman hears about a crazier woman at the farmers’ market who can put each of those moments into a string of beads that have a power more than mere jewelry.

This bead marks the moment you told Tom Merchant (high on your first-ever vodka shots and the teeth-jittering adrenaline of being out—even just as part of a group—with Tom Merchant, the most brilliant, amazing guy you’d ever met) that you couldn’t care less about your practical engineering major, that thing that your parents were both so proud of.

“Marking Time” by Stephanie Burgis, Daily Science Fiction, 20 February 2015 [webzine].

The Books of Beginning 3

The Black Reckoning

by John Stephens

The Black Reckoning by John Stephens (Van Goor, March 2015).

Pushed 1

Vampire Twin

by Tim O’Rourke

Vampire Twin by Tim O’Rourke (CreateSpace, March 2015).

Wild Wood

by Posie Graeme-Evans

Wild Wood by Posie Graeme-Evans (Atria Books, March 2015).

Subconscious

written and directed by Georgia Hilton

Subconscious written and directed by Georgia Hilton (at movie theaters, USA, 10 March 2015).

Monster High, Book 3

Freaky Fusion: The Junior Novel

by Perdita Finn

Freaky Fusion: The Junior Novel by Perdita Finn (Little, Brown, April 2015).

Willow Falls (Wendy Mass) 5

Graceful

by Wendy Mass

Graceful by Wendy Mass (Scholastic Press, April 2015).

Lexi Smith and the Search for Excalibur

by Michael Stewart

Lexi Smith and the Search for Excalibur by Michael Stewart (Bookworm Publishing, April 2015).

Three Great Lies

by Vanessa MacLellan

Three Great Lies by Vanessa MacLellan (Hadley Rille Books, April 2015).

The Age of Adaline

by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz, directed by Lee Toland Krieger

Adaline lives most of the 20th century and into the 21st, all at age 29 with no actual time travel.

— Michael Main

Tell me something I can hold onto forever and never let go.

The Age of Adaline by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz, directed by Lee Toland Krieger (at movie theaters, Belgium, 8 April 2015).

Welcome to Happiness

written and directed by Oliver Thompson

Welcome to Happiness written and directed by Oliver Thompson (Newport Beach International Film Festival, 27 April 2015).

Todd Family 2

A God in Ruins

by Kate Atkinson

In the first of the Todd Family books, we saw Ursula Todd live different lives over and over through the two world wars of the 20th century. Now—in the second book—we see the lives of Ursula’s sensitive younger brother, Teddy, as he becomes an RAF bomber pilot in World War II.

— Michael Main

He had never met the farmer’s daughter in the yard, feeding the geese. Wasn’t there a nursery rhyme in there somewhere? No, he was thinking of the farmer’s wifem wasn’t he?—cutting off tails with a carving knife. A horrid image. Poor mice, he had thought when he was a boy. Still thought the same now that he was a man. Nursery rhymes were brutal affairs.

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday, May 2015).

Goddess Marked

by Hanna Martine

Goddess Marked by Hanna Martine (self-published, May 2015).

My Fair Godmother 3

My Fairly Dangerous Godmother

by Janette Rallison

My Fairly Dangerous Godmother by Janette Rallison (Rally Point Press, May 2015).

Crow Boy 3

One for Sorrow

by Philip Caveney

One for Sorrow by Philip Caveney (Fledgling Press, May 2015).

Alfie Bloom 1

Alfie Bloom and the Secrets of Hexbridge Castle

by Gabrielle Kent

Alfie Bloom and the Secrets of Hexbridge Castle by Gabrielle Kent (Scholastic Press, June 2015).

Ranger in Time 2

Danger in Ancient Rome

by Kate Messner

Danger in Ancient Rome by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, June 2015).

Order of the Dragon Knights 3

Dragon Knight’s Axe

by Mary Morgan

Dragon Knight’s Axe by Mary Morgan (Wild Rose Press, June 2015).

Thessaly 2

The Philosopher Kings

by Jo Walton

The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton (Tor, June 2015).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 25*

Shadow of the Shark

by Mary Pope Osborne

As a thank-you gift from Merlin and Morgan, Jack and Annie are sent on what should be a vacation at a luxurious resort in Cozumel, Mexico, but is, by mistake, an adventure with ancient Mayans instead.

— based on fandom.com

Shadow of the Shark by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, June 2015) [print · e-book].

Flight World War II

by Jacob Cooney and Bill Hanstock, directed by Emile Edwin Smith

Captain Will Strong flies his 757 and about two dozen passengers into a weather anomaly only to emerge over 1940 France.

I’ve heard of this happening before, but this is the first time that I've actually seen a combination of writing and acting that’s so bad I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

— Michael Main

That radar is more advanced than anything the Germans are using at this point.

Flight World War II by Jacob Cooney and Bill Hanstock, directed by Emile Edwin Smith (at movie theaters, USA, 2 June 2015).

Lost Days

by Michael Jan Friedman

Lost Days by Michael Jan Friedman (Crazy 8 Press, July 2015).

Amanda, Sally and Roxanne 2

The Dress-Up Mirror

by Raymond Bial

The Dress-Up Mirror by Raymond Bial (Crispin Books, August 2015).

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

by Scott Wilbanks

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks (Sourcebooks Landmark, August 2015).

Second Chance Delivery

by Brandon Terrell

Second Chance Delivery by Brandon Terrell (12-Story Library, August 2015).

The Seventh Miss Hatfield 2

The Time of the Clockmaker

by Anna Caltabiano

The Time of the Clockmaker by Anna Caltabiano (Gollancz, August 2015).

Arcadia

by Iain Pears

Arcadia by Iain Pears (Faber and Faber, September 2015).

Ike Saturday 1

Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My

by Adam Mansbach

Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My by Adam Mansbach (Hyperion, September 2015).

A Betrayal of Time

by Lucía Ashta

A Betrayal of Time by Lucía Ashta (Awaken to Peace Press, September 2015).

City Kids 2

Dayshaun’s Gift

by Zetta Elliott

Dayshaun’s Gift by Zetta Elliott (Rosetta Press, September 2015).

EVE, Book 4

Illumination

by A. L. Waddington

Illumination by A. L. Waddington (Booktrope Editions, September 2015).

Katy Parker and the House That Cried

by Margaret Mulligan

Katy Parker and the House That Cried by Margaret Mulligan (A and C Black, September 2015).

Longbow Girl

by Linda Davies

Longbow Girl by Linda Davies (Chicken House, September 2015).

The Missing 8

Redeemed

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Redeemed by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, September 2015).

Scorched 3

Smoked

by Marianne Mancusi

Smoked by Marianne Mancusi (Sourcebooks Fire, September 2015).

Wonders of the Invisible World

by Christopher Barzak

Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak (Alfred A. Knopf, September 2015).

The Traveler

by Anthony Bradford, directed by Jonathan Lawrence and Bradford

The Traveler by Anthony Bradford, directed by Jonathan Lawrence and Bradford (Action on Film International Film Festival, Monrovia, California, late September 2015).

Jane Unwrapped

by Kate Rooper

Jane Unwrapped by Kate Rooper (Entangled Publishing, October 2015).

Obsidian Heart 2

The Society of Blood

by Mark Morris

The Society of Blood by Mark Morris (Titan Books, October 2015).

Walking to Boston

by Rick Wilber

At the outset of World War II, Young Harry Mack is flying a bomber to Europe for the lend-lease program. The plane malfunctions and is heading for a crash-landing on the coast of neutral Ireland when an equally young Niamh calls to her selkie sisters of the sea to save the plane’s occupants. Even at the time, Niamh knows there will be a cost for their aid, but that cost isn’t revealed until the end of a long marriage between the two when Niamh, now suffering from dementia, and an aging Harry, regretful of his philandering life, take a time-travel-infused road trip.

Will this whole dream last through all that drive and any time after they get there? Is he losing it, maybe, the way Niamh is? Are they both lying in a mortuary somewhere, dead and cold, and this is some kind of afterlife? Has time been changed somehow, so he can do better for her this time around? Jesus, would that even work? Could he be better. do better, given the chance?

“Walking to Boston” by Rick Wilber, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2015.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

by Jason Pagan et al. , directed by Gregory Plotkin

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension by Jason Pagan et al. , directed by Gregory Plotkin (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Paris, 20 October 2015).

de Piaget Family 16

Stars in Your Eyes

by Lynn Kurland

Stars in Your Eyes by Lynn Kurland (Jove Books, November 2015).

Until We Meet Again

by Renee Collins

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins (Sourcebooks Fire, November 2015).

Beasts of the Earth

by Ernie Lindsey

Eleven months after Lucy Quinn died of brain cancer, her mother struggles with hourly grief while her oncologist father is pulled through a portal to a time of Noah and unicorns.

Dutton nudged forward, arm shaky, stick wobbling, and when the tip pierced the surface, he was caught unawares by the forceful tug from the other end. He didn’t let go fast enough, stumbling forward, falling into it with two faint words whispering in his mind: Jess . . . Lucy. . .

“Beasts of the Earth” by Ernie Lindsey, in The Time Travel Chronicles, edited by Crystal Watanabe (Windrift Books, 2 November 2015).

Eighty-Three

by Erik Wecks

Starting at age thirteen, Noah jumps through his life—to his time as a kid, a college student, a movie producer, Rachel’s husband, and an old man—sometimes forward and sometimes backward, but (nearly) always landing in a prime-numbered year and never quite sure whether he’s really time traveling or, if he is, whether he’s able to change things.

If I remember right, I don’t have much time, so let me get to the point. What’s really hard to understand is whether or not you can change stuff.

“Eighty-Three” by Erik Wecks, in The Time Travel Chronicles, edited by Crystal Watanabe (Windrift Books, 2 November 2015).

Shades

by Lucas Bale

Every five years on the dot, William Edward McIntyre jumps forward ten years in time. Will doesn’t fully understand the pattern given that this latest jump wasn’t just ten years. And there are other things that he doesn’t understand such as why, after his first jump, he was in a world where his parents had never had a child.

Five years later, on September 1st, 1980, just after midday, I ceased to exist for a second time. There was no flash, no blinding light or thunderouse drama. No perfect sphere of swirling lightning. I just blinked and everything changed. If I remember it right, on September 1st, 1990, which is where I was when I next opened my eyes, it was raining.

“Shades” by Lucas Bale, in The Time Travel Chronicles, edited by Crystal Watanabe (Windrift Books, 2 November 2015).

A Time Travel Short

written and directed by Antonette Ho

A mysterious box allows Linda to travel back in time for five minutes at each go, so she starts out by taking five minutes at age 14 to stand up to a bully who’s harrassing a friend.

— Michael Main

Rule 3: Owner will be sent back to the present after 5 minutes are up.

A Time Travel Short written and directed by Antonette Ho, 3-part serial (Youtube: Antonette H Channel, 4 November 2015) to 17 January 2016).

Sage Hannigan 1

Fated

by Peggy Martinez

Fated by Peggy Martinez (Clean Teen Publishing, December 2015).

Ranger in Time 3

Long Road to Freedom

by Kate Messner

Long Road to Freedom by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, December 2015).

All the Birds in the Sky 1

All the Birds in the Sky

by Charlie Jane Anders

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (Titan Books, 2016).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 26*

Balto of the Blue Dawn

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie travel back in time to 1925 Nome, Alaska, where they meet Balto, the famous sled dog, and save the town from an illness.

— based on fandom.com

Balto of the Blue Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2016) [print · e-book].

Dogs of S.T.E.A.M.

by Ralph E. Vaughan

Dogs of S.T.E.A.M. by Ralph E. Vaughan (Dog in the Night Books, January 2016).

Once Upon a Kiss

by Robin Palmer

Once Upon a Kiss by Robin Palmer (Speak, January 2016).

Sage Hannigan 2

Undone

by Peggy Martinez

Undone by Peggy Martinez (Clean Teen Publishing, January 2016).

Wilfred the (Un)wise

by Cas Lester

Wilfred the (Un)wise by Cas Lester (Piccadilly Press, January 2016).

The Girl from Everywhere 1

The Girl from Everywhere

by Heidi Heilig

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (Greenwillow Books, February 2016).

The Imagination Station 17

In Fear of the Spear

by Marianne Hering

In Fear of the Spear by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, February 2016).

Myth Raiders 1

Medusa’s Curse

by Allan Frewin Jones

Medusa’s Curse by Allan Frewin Jones (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, February 2016).

Frankie’s Magic Football 14

Team T. Rex

by Frank Lampard

Team T. Rex by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, February 2016).

Sage Hannigan 3

Unbound

by Peggy Martinez

Unbound by Peggy Martinez (Clean Teen Publishing, February 2016).

Pushed 2

Vampire Chronicle

by Tim O’Rourke

Vampire Chronicle by Tim O’Rourke (Ravenwoodgreys, February 2016).

The Spirit Winds Quartet / Kim Yoshima 2

Warriors of the Light

by Larry Ivkovich

Warriors of the Light by Larry Ivkovich (IFWG Publishing, February 2016).

11.22.63

by Bridget Carpenter

When Stephen King’s book was first announced, I felt skeptical: After all, could even Stephen King breath new life into the most worn-out time travel trope of all? Yet he came through, not by adding anything new to the save JFK lore, but by blending in a unique brand of horror and producing a captivating page turner. So when Hulu announced that they’d make an eight-part miniseries of the book, I looked forward to its release. Never have I been so disappointed with an adaptation of a book. The acting is admirable, but the characters and plot have been flattened, presumably based on Hulu’s assumptions about what their viewers want.

You’re going to feel apart from other people. That doesn’t go away.

11.22.63 by Bridget Carpenter (15 February 2016).

僕だけがいない街

Boku dake ga inai machi English release: Erased Literal: The city where only I am missing

by 後藤法子, directed by 平川雄一朗

[ex=bare]僕だけがいない街 | The city where only I am missing | Boku dake ga inai machi[/ex] by 後藤法子, directed by 平川雄一朗 (at movie theaters, Japan, 19 March 2016).

Orion Chronicles 1

Conjuror

by Carole E. Barrowman

Conjuror by Carole E. Barrowman (Head of Zeus, April 2016).

Outlaws of Time 1

The Legend of Sam Miracle

by N. D. Wilson

The Legend of Sam Miracle by N. D. Wilson (Katherine Tegen Books, April 2016).

Mel Foster 2

Mel Foster and the Time Machine

by Julia Golding

Mel Foster and the Time Machine by Julia Golding (Egmont Books, April 2016).

Horace J. Edwards 1

The Secret of the Scarab Beetle

by William Meyer

The Secret of the Scarab Beetle by William Meyer (Sleeping Bear Press, April 2016).

Alex Wayfare 2

The Untimely Deaths of Alex Wayfare

by M. G. Buehrlen

The Untimely Deaths of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen (Diversion Publishing, April 2016).

The Year We Turned Forty

by Liz Fenton

The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton (Washington Square Press, April 2016).

Visitors III

Les visiteurs: La révolution

English release: The Visitors: Bastille Day Literal: The visitors: The revolution

by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Les visiteurs: La révolution by Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré, directed by Jean-Marie Poiré (at movie theaters, France, 6 April 2016).

Time Has a Funny Way of Selling Itself Short

written and directed by RJ Cusyk

Time Has a Funny Way of Selling Itself Short written and directed by RJ Cusyk (Vimeo: Decades Apart Productions, 24 April 2016).

Back in the Day

by Jess Bright

Back in the Day by Jess Bright (Oxford University Press, May 2016).

Myth Raiders 2

Claw of the Sphinx

by Allan Frewin Jones

Claw of the Sphinx by Allan Frewin Jones (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, May 2016).

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

by Lev Grossman

This novelette version of Mark and Margaret living August 4th over and over preceded the Amazon movie by about three years, but the charm of both teens and their growth through the repeating day was evident even in this original version. If you read the standalone Kindle version of the story, you’ll be rewarded with an epilogue where Gooseman talks about the path he took from the novelette to his first screenplay that became the movie, which we awarded a Gold Eloi Medal.

— Michael Main

“Look, I don’t know how to put this exactly,” I said, “but would you happen to be trapped in a temporal anomaly? Like right now? Like there’s something wrong with time?”

“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” by Lev Grossman, in Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins (St. Martin’s Griffin, May 2016).

Stone Ends 2

A Rebel’s Stone

by PT McHugh

A Rebel’s Stone by PT McHugh (Glass House Press, May 2016).

Alice Through the Looking Glass

by Linda Woolverton, directed by James Bobin

Alice Through the Looking Glass by Linda Woolverton, directed by James Bobin (premiered at an unknown movie theater, London, 10 May 2016).

Game of Thrones

by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Throughout its first six seasons, the HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones had a handful of time-travelish moments mostly centered on young Bran’s dreams of the past. But it wasn’t until the origin story of Bran’s half-giant companion, Hodor, that we saw a definitive influence of present-day Bran on Hodor’s past. The interaction is a terrific example of a closed causal loop: Bran is observing Hodor in the past because of who Hodor is to Bran, and it is Bran’s presence that creates that very Hodor.

The past is written; the ink is dry.

Game of Thrones by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (22 May 2016).

Alfie Bloom 2

Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief

by Gabrielle Kent

Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief by Gabrielle Kent (Scholastic, June 2016).

Ranger in Time 4

Race to the South Pole

by Kate Messner

Race to the South Pole by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, June 2016).

Spell Slinger

by K. N. Lee

Spell Slinger by K. N. Lee (Captive Quill Press, June 2016).

Rubinrot Movie III

Smaragdgrün

English release: Emerald Green Literal: Emerald green

by Katharina Schöde, Felix Fuchssteiner, and Barry Thomson, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner and Katharina Schöde

Smaragdgrün by Katharina Schöde, Felix Fuchssteiner, and Barry Thomson, directed by Felix Fuchssteiner and Katharina Schöde (Filmfest München, 24 June 2016).

The Seventh Miss Hatfield 3

The Day Before Forever

by Anna Caltabiano

The Day Before Forever by Anna Caltabiano (Katherine Tegen Books, July 2016).

Thessaly 3

Necessity

by Jo Walton

Necessity by Jo Walton (Tor, July 2016).

Magic Tree House: Merlin Mission 27*

Night of the Ninth Dragon

by Mary Pope Osborne

When a mysterious note invites them to Camelot, Jack and Annie travel in the magic tree house to the magical kingdom where they must find a lost dragon.

— based on fandom.com

Night of the Ninth Dragon by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 2016) [print · e-book].

Frankie’s Magic Football 16

Olympic Flame Chase

by Frank Lampard

Olympic Flame Chase by Frank Lampard (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, July 2016).

Vishnu Summer

by David Prill

Audrey lost one arm in a farm accident as a child; so now, as a young adult, she becomes fascinated when a three-armed man from the next county over is put on trial for murder.

And my interpretation is that the ending involves a brief bit of time travel, back to an alternate world that has returned to the start of Three-Arm’s trial.

I felt like something was being stripped away from me. From inside. Like something was being unwound. I don’t know it that’s the right way to explain it. I couldn’t explain it. It was just one of those feelings without a name.

“Vishnu Summer” by David Prill, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July/August 2016.

Alistair1918

by Annie K. McVey, directed by Guy Birtwhistle

Alistair1918 by Annie K. McVey, directed by Guy Birtwhistle (San Diego Comic-Con, 21 July 2016).

Groundhog Day

by Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin

Phil Conner sings and re-sings his day across the stage, although for me, the production had too much Frozen and not enough Grease.

♫If I had my time again, I would do it all the same, they say, but that’s insane—surely you’d want to make a couple of fixes!♫

Groundhog Day, by Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin (16 August 2016 at The Old Vic, London).

Nora O’Reilly 1

Bury the Living

by Jodi McIsaac

Bury the Living by Jodi McIsaac (47North, September 2016).

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

by Jane Goldman, directed by Tim Burton

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Jane Goldman, directed by Tim Burton (Fantastic Fest, Austin, Texas, 25 September 2016).

Blast to the Past

by Tommy Donbavand

Blast to the Past by Tommy Donbavand (ReadZone Books Limited, October 2016).

A Darkly Beating Heart

by Lindsay Smith

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith (Roaring Brook Press, October 2016).

Foxheart

by Claire Legrand

Foxheart by Claire Legrand (Greenwillow Books, October 2016).

The Imagination Station 18

Trouble on the Orphan Train

by Marianne Hering

Trouble on the Orphan Train by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, October 2016).

Obsidian Heart 3

The Wraiths of War

by Mark Morris

The Wraiths of War by Mark Morris (Titan Books, October 2016).

Arthur (s20e01a)

Buster’s Second Chance

by Ken Scarborough and Cilbur Rocha, directed by Greg Bailey

According to Brain, the past cannot be changed, but Buster still tries to do so when he’s thrown back to preschool by a time vortex.

— Tony Carr

Buster: What’s the square root of 49? [Buster thinks] I don’t know. I don’t know!. . . I’m baaaaack!

Arthur (s20e01a), “Buster’s Second Chance” by Ken Scarborough and Cilbur Rocha, directed by Greg Bailey (PBS-TV, USA, 10 October 2016).

Marvel Cinematic Universe 14

Doctor Strange

by Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill, directed by Scott Derrickson

After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under her wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.

— from publicity material

Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain.

Doctor Strange by Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill, directed by Scott Derrickson (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Hong Kong, 13 October 2016).

All the Birds in the Sky

Clover

by Charlie Jane Anders

Clover by Charlie Jane Anders, Tor.com Original Fiction, 25 October 2016 [webzine].

Saving Hamlet

by Molly Booth

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth (Hyperion, November 2016).

The Compromise

by Karin Terebessy

In a ghetto, a time traveler asks Leo to gather together ten men to sing a Kaddish for the traveler’s long gone grandfather.

Two months earlier, the time traveler had appeared, and taught Leo the mourner’s Kaddish.

“The Compromise” by Karin Terebessy, Daily Science Fiction, 1 November 2016 [webzine].

How the Damned Live On

by James Sallis

An island castaway discusses life with a spider named Mmdhf who understands time as a single whole that has already been written.

The closest I can come to the giant spider’s name is Mmdhf. She loves to talk philosophy.

“How the Damned Live On” by James Sallis, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, December 2016.

Ranger in Time 5

Journey through Ash and Smoke

by Kate Messner

Journey through Ash and Smoke by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, December 2016).

Mind Over Mindy

written and directed by Robert Alaniz

Mind Over Mindy written and directed by Robert Alaniz (unknown release details, circa 2016).

City Kids 3

The Ghosts in the Castle

by Zetta Elliott

The Ghosts in the Castle by Zetta Elliott (Rosetta Press, January 2017).

Nora O’Reilly 2

Summon the Queen

by Jodi McIsaac

Summon the Queen by Jodi McIsaac (47North, January 2017).

Before I Fall

by Maria Maggenti, directed by Ry Russo-Young

Before I Fall by Maria Maggenti, directed by Ry Russo-Young (Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, 21 January 2017).

The Way We Fall

by Michelle Muenzler

A man responds to a break-up by diving off a building, which causes a time loop.

Or is it the first—

“The Way We Fall” by Michelle Muenzler, Daily Science Fiction, 26 January 2017 [webzine].

The Imagination Station 19

Light in the Lions’ Den

by Marianne Hering

Light in the Lions’ Den by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, February 2017).

The Blue Thread Saga 3

Seven Stitches

by Ruth Tenzer Feldman

Seven Stitches by Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Ooligan Press, February 2017).

The Girl from Everywhere 2

The Ship Beyond Time

by Heidi Heilig

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig (Greenwillow Books, February 2017).

Evie’s Ghost

by Helen Peters

Evie’s Ghost by Helen Peters (Nosy Crow, April 2017).

Outlaws of Time 2

The Song of Glory and Ghost

by N. D. Wilson

The Song of Glory and Ghost by N. D. Wilson (Katherine Tegen Books, April 2017).

The Endless

by Justin Benson, directed by Benson and Aaron Moorhead

The Endless by Justin Benson, directed by Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Tribeca Film Festival, New York City, 21 April 2017).

Shaun the Sheep 6

Blast to the Past

by Martin Howard

Blast to the Past by Martin Howard (Candlewick Entertainment, May 2017).

Dear Reader

by Mary O’Connell

Could it be that when Heathcliff disappeared from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights in pain after overhearing Catherine’s marriage plans that he went to 21st-century New York City, where 17-year-old Flannery Fields would enlist him to help find her stray English teacher?

— Michael Main

Here she was dancing at O’Kelleys while Miss Sweeney wandered the city in despair; here she was marveling at literary time travel as a true possibility, though literary time travel sounded so goofy and grandiose that it shamed her further.

Dear Reader by Mary O’Connell (Flatiron Books, May 2017).

Orion Chronicles 2

Nephilim

by Carole E. Barrowman

Nephilim by Carole E. Barrowman (Head of Zeus, May 2017).

The Scribe of Siena

by Melodie Winawer

The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer (Touchstone, May 2017).

Aleca Zamm 1

Aleca Zamm Is a Wonder

by Ginger Rue

Aleca Zamm Is a Wonder by Ginger Rue (Aladdin, June 2017).

Aleca Zamm 2

Aleca Zamm Is Ahead of Her Time

by Ginger Rue

Aleca Zamm Is Ahead of Her Time by Ginger Rue (Aladdin, June 2017).

Ike Saturday 2

Benjamin Franklin: You’ve Got Mail

by Adam Mansbach

Benjamin Franklin: You’ve Got Mail by Adam Mansbach (Hyperion, June 2017).

Ranger in Time 6

Escape from the Great Earthquake

by Kate Messner

Escape from the Great Earthquake by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, June 2017).

D.O.D.O. 1

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

by Nicole Galland

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Nicole Galland (William Morrow, June 2017).

Time Shadows

by Deborah D. Moore

Time Shadows by Deborah D. Moore (Permuted Press, June 2017).

Alfie Bloom 3

Alfie Bloom and the Witch of Demon Rock

by Gabrielle Kent

Alfie Bloom and the Witch of Demon Rock by Gabrielle Kent (Scholastic, July 2017).

The Dream Keeper’s Daughter

by Emily Colin

The Dream Keeper’s Daughter by Emily Colin (Ballantine Books, July 2017).

How to Stop Time

by Matt Haig

As a 400-something-year-old member of the Albatross Society, Tom Hazard ages less than a month for each year of life. But now, after falling in the 21st-century and butting heads with the Society, he seems to be on a mental trip that covers his entire life (but not an actual time traveling trip).

— Michael Main

But as time goes by, at birthdays or other annual markers, people begin to notice you aren’t getting any older.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (Canongate Books, July 2017).

In 27 Days

by Alison Gervais

In 27 Days by Alison Gervais (Blink, July 2017).

The Last Magician 1

The Last Magician

by Lisa Maxwell

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell (Simon Pulse, July 2017).

No Good Deed

by Kara Connolly

No Good Deed by Kara Connolly (Delacorte Press, July 2017).

Somewhere Between

by Stephen Tolkin et al., directed by Duane Clark et al.

After San Francisco suffers a week of terror at the hands of a serial killer ending with the death of Laura Price’s eight-year-old daughter Serena, Laura falls into a dark depression and attempts suicide. Next thing she knows, she’s waking up before that week, whereupon she teams up with ex-police detective Nico Jackson (who also got thrown back in time), hoping to change the week, catch the killer, save Nico’s brother’s life, and save Serena—all in a mere nine additional episodes.

— Michael Main

I’m not going to let anybody hurt you this time. I swear to you on my life.

Somewhere Between by Stephen Tolkin et al., directed by Duane Clark et al., 10 pts. (ABC-TV, USA, 24 July – 19 September 2017).

The Magic Tree House 29*

A Big Day for Baseball

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie go back to Jackie Robinson’s major league debut at Ebbett’s Field in 1947. The story has a twist we haven’t seen before: When they put on two magic hats, everyone sees Jack and Annie as if they were teenage bat boys rather than little children.

— Michael Main

One minute he’s tall! The next he’s short! One minute he can throw the ball! The next he can’t!

A Big Day for Baseball by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2017).

Plain Jane Learns to Knit Wormholes

by Wendy Nikel

A church group, knitting in the Fellowship Hall, attempts to teach Jane, a new knitter, how to cast on. They realize her dropped stitch has created a wormhole when Beverly, a member of the group, falls into it. They can see she has gone back in time, but are somehow able to reach into the wormhole and pull her back out. They spend the next several minutes debating which Biblical event they would like to witness. The Pastor eventually arrives and interrupts them, causing a disaster which, fortunately, does not result in any loss of life.

— Tandy Ringoringo

And that, fellow members of St. Paul’s, is how our Fellowship Hall got sucked through time and space and why today’s potluck will be held in the basement instead.

“Plain Jane Learns to Knit Wormholes” by Wendy Nikel, in Flash Fiction Online, August 2017 [webzine].

Naked

by Cory Koller, Marlon Wayans, and Rick Alvarez, directed by Michael Tiddes

Rob Anderson wakes up naked in an elevator and late for his wedding, and every time the church bell rings, he’s back at the beginning again.

— Michael Main

You are sending me back in time . . . ah, well, not you—God!

Naked by Cory Koller, Marlon Wayans, and Rick Alvarez, directed by Michael Tiddes (Netflix, USA, 11 August 2017).

The Balloonmakers 1

The Girl with the Red Balloon

by Katherine Locke

The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (Albert Whitman, September 2017).

The Storm Dog

by Holly Webb

The Storm Dog by Holly Webb (Stripes Publishing, September 2017).

Ugo

by Giovanni De Feo

At age six, Ugo began leaping into other parts of his life: sometimes into an older Ugo, sometimes younger, sometimes in control of his body, sometimes just observing. The whole leaping business isn’t entirely clear except fo his connection with his future wife Cynthia—or sometimes Ciznia—and his insistence that nothing he sees can ever be changed.

— Michael Main

Later on, Ugo developed a theory about it. He said that in reality everybody Leaps all the time. The proof? Déjà vu. The feeling of having already experienced what is in fact happening for the first time was for him the ultimate, definitive evidence of Leaping. The only difference between Ugo and everyone else was that he remembered, while we don’t.

“Ugo” by Giovanni De Feo, Lightspeed, September 2017.

The Battle of Worcester

written and directed by Joe Gaffney

The first-ever film focusing on one of the most important battles in British history—the Battle of Worcester. A freak accident sends lazy college dropout Tim Bagnall back to 17th Century England. He becomes embroiled in the Battle of Worcester—the final battle of the English Civil War.

— from publicity material

The Battle of Worcester written and directed by Joe Gaffney (unknown release details, 3 September 2017).

Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic

by Armand Baltazar

Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar (HarperCollins Children’s Books, October 2017).

Magic 2.0, Book 4

Fight and Flight

by Scott Meyer

Fight and Flight by Scott Meyer (Rocket Hat Industries, October 2017).

The Imagination Station 20

Inferno in Tokyo

by Marianne Hering

Inferno in Tokyo by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, October 2017).

The Medievalist

by Anne-Marie Lacy

The Medievalist by Anne-Marie Lacy (City Owl Press, October 2017).

Horace J. Edwards 2

The Search for the Lost Prophecy

by William Meyer

The Search for the Lost Prophecy by William Meyer (Sleeping Bear Press, October 2017).

Camouflage

by Kyell Gold

Camouflage by Kyell Gold (FurPlanet Productions, November 2017).

City Kids 4

The Phantom Unicorn

by Zetta Elliott

The Phantom Unicorn by Zetta Elliott (Rosetta Press, November 2017).

Skavenger’s Hunt

by Mike Rich

Skavenger’s Hunt by Mike Rich (Inkshares, November 2017).

Weave a Circle Round

by Kari Maaren

Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren (Tor, November 2017).

Broken Sleep

written and directed by Tom Dowuona-Hyde

Emily, a Victorian woman, appears in modern-day Nathan’s tattoo parlor, but every time she falls asleep, she disappears.

— Michael Main

Help me stay awake.

Broken Sleep written and directed by Tom Dowuona-Hyde (Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 1 November 2017).

The Afterlives

by Thomas Pierce

The Afterlives by Thomas Pierce (Riverhead Books, January 2018).

Aleca Zamm 3

Aleca Zamm Fools Them All

by Ginger Rue

Aleca Zamm Fools Them All by Ginger Rue (Aladdin, January 2018).

Ranger in Time 7

D-Day: Battle on the Beach

by Kate Messner

D-Day: Battle on the Beach by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, January 2018).

Scarlett and Sam

Search for the Shamir

by Eric A. Kimmel

Search for the Shamir by Eric A. Kimmel (Kar-Ben Publishing, January 2018).

Tick Tock

by K. S. Hardy

“Tick Tock” by K. S. Hardy, Outposts of Beyond, January 2018.

WaR: Wizards and Robots

by Brian David Johnson

WaR: Wizards and Robots by Brian David Johnson (Penguin Books, January 2018).

The Art of the Swap

by Kristine Asselin

The Art of the Swap by Kristine Asselin (Aladdin, February 2018).

Brain Freeze

by Tom Fletcher

Brain Freeze by Tom Fletcher (Puffin, February 2018).

Ice Chips 1

The Ice Chips and the Magical Rink

by Kerry MacGregor

The Ice Chips and the Magical Rink by Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins, February 2018).

A Wrinkle in Time

by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell, directed by Ava DuVernay

An unabashedly pretentious adaptation of L’Engle’s fine children’s, well deserving of the Rotten Tomatoes consensus that it’s “less than the sum of its parts.” Meg views her past, but with no actual time travel[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]™[/font].

— Michael Main

Seriously, Charles Wallace, I’m underwhelmed.

A Wrinkle in Time by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell, directed by Ava DuVernay (premiered at El Capitan Theatre, Los Angeles, 26 February 2018).

The Summerhouse 3

As You Wish

by Jude Deveraux

As You Wish by Jude Deveraux (Mira, March 2018).

The Story Pirates Present 1

Stuck in the Stone Age

by Geoff Rodkey

Stuck in the Stone Age by Geoff Rodkey (Random House, March 2018).

지금만나러갑니다

Jigeum mannareo gabmida English release: Be with You Literal: Now I will meet you

by 강수진 and 이장훈, directed by 이장훈

[ex=bare]지금만나러갑니다 | Now I will meet you | Jigeum mannareo gabmida[/ex] by 강수진 and 이장훈, directed by 이장훈 (at movie theaters, South Korea, 14 March 2018).

Outlaws of Time 3

The Last of the Lost Boys

by N. D. Wilson

The Last of the Lost Boys by N. D. Wilson (Katherine Tegen Books, April 2018).

The Imagination Station 21

Madman in Manhattan

by Marianne Hering

Madman in Manhattan by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, April 2018).

Rewind (Carolyn O’Doherty) 1

Rewind

by Carolyn O’Doherty

Rewind by Carolyn O’Doherty (Boyds Mills Press, April 2018).

Lazzaro Felice

English release: Happy as Lazzaro Literal: Happy Lazzaro

written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher

Lazzaro Felice written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher (Cannes Film Festival, 13 May 2018).

超时空同居

Chao shikong tongju English release: How Long Will I Love U Literal: Cohabitation

written and directed by 苏伦

In this rollicking romantic comedy, a man and a woman living in the same apartment nearly twenty years apart wake one day to find their timelines have merged.

— from publicity material

[ex=bare]超时空同居 | Cohabitation | Chao Shikong Tongju[/ex] written and directed by 苏伦 (at movie theaters, China and elsewhere, 18 May 2018).

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

by Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, directed by Terry Gilliam

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote by Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, directed by Terry Gilliam (Cannes Film Festival, 19 May 2018).

Ranger in Time 8

Hurricane Katrina Rescue

by Kate Messner

Hurricane Katrina Rescue by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, June 2018).

Charlie Fiction

by Todd Fahnestock

Charlie Fiction by Todd Fahnestock (Parker Hayden Media, August 2018).

Time-Seekers 1

A Chase in Time

by Sally Nicholls

A Chase in Time by Sally Nicholls (Nosy Crow, August 2018).

The Magic Tree House 30*

Hurricane Heroes in Texas

by Mary Pope Osborne

The children play a role in saving thousands during the Great Galviston Hurricane[/ex].

— Michael Main

Annie turned back to the couple. “Excuse me again, do you know today’s date?” she asked.
“September eighth,” the woman said with a friendly smile.
“Nineteen-hundred?” Jack asked.

Hurricane Heroes in Texas by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, August 2018).

Orion Chronicles 3

Inquisitor

by Carole E. Barrowman

Inquisitor by Carole E. Barrowman (Head of Zeus, August 2018).

Time Jumpers 1

Stealing the Sword

by Wendy Mass

Stealing the Sword by Wendy Mass (Scholastic, August 2018).

Your Day Plus One

by John Hoggard

How would you like to receive your own tweets 24 hours before you send them?

— Michael Main

I stumbled over @yourdayplus1when I first joined Twitter [. . .]

“Your Day Plus One” by John Hoggard, in Chronos: An Anthology of Time Drabbles, edited by Eric S. Fomley (Shacklebound Books, August 2018).

Unli Life

by Jeps Gallon et al. , directed by Miko Livelo

A man discovers a magical bottle of whiskey which would let him go back in time. The perfect solution that would help him get back with his ex-girlfriend, he goes from different eras, hoping that he could go back to the time where he could prevent their break-up.

— from publicity material

Unli Life by Jeps Gallon et al. , directed by Miko Livelo (Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, showings across the Philippines, 15 August 2018).

Aleca Zamm 4

Aleca Zamm Travels Through Time

by Ginger Rue

Aleca Zamm Travels Through Time by Ginger Rue (Aladdin, September 2018).

Frost

by Holly Webb

Frost by Holly Webb (Stripes Publishing, September 2018).

Ice Chips 2

The Ice Chips and the Haunted Hurricane

by Kerry MacGregor

The Ice Chips and the Haunted Hurricane by Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins, September 2018).

Time Castaways 1

The Mona Lisa Key

by Liesl Shurtliff

The Mona Lisa Key by Liesl Shurtliff (Katherine Tegen Books, September 2018).

Steel Empires 4

Steel Time

by J. L. Gribble

Steel Time by J. L. Gribble (Dog Star Books, September 2018).

Very Rich

by Polly Horvath

Very Rich by Polly Horvath (Margaret Ferguson Books, September 2018).

The Last Magician 2

The Devil’s Thief

by Lisa Maxwell

The Devil’s Thief by Lisa Maxwell (Simon Pulse, October 2018).

Time Jumpers 2

Escape from Egypt

by Wendy Mass

Escape from Egypt by Wendy Mass (Scholastic, October 2018).

The Imagination Station 22

Freedom at the Falls

by Marianne Hering

Freedom at the Falls by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, October 2018).

Found Things #1

The Little Shop of Found Things

by Paula Brackston

Xanthe Westlake and her mother are looking for a fresh start as owners of an antique shop in the village of Marlborough when a 17th century silver chanelaine calls to Xanthe’s psychic powers and eventually takes her on a quest to save a young servant girl in 1605 (and maybe, in the process, meet a handsome young architect with oddly modern views on women).

— Michael Main

Had she somehow crucially alterted her own present by changing Alice’s future? The thought that she might have started some terrible chain of events that she could not possibly have foreseen, nor known about, worried her more and more. It was only in the small hours of Wednesday night that an answer came to her that seemed to make sense. The present that she knew, the way things were in her time, could only have come about if she had traveled back to the past. Her finding the chatelaine, her answering Alice’s call for help, those things were necessary to shape the past and bring about the future as it was. She had to believe this. It did work. She was a part of how things had turned out, not an alternative version, but the one she was meant to live in. If she hadn’t gone back, hadn’t taken the decision to help Alice, well, that wouldhave resulted in a different future from the one she knew.

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston (St. Martin’s Press, October 2018).

The Islevale Cycle 1

Time’s Children

by David B. Coe

Time’s Children by David B. Coe (Angry Robot, October 2018).

Elemental Witch 1

Timespell

by Ann Gimpel

Timespell by Ann Gimpel (self-published, October 2018).

Serendipity Falls Universe

Totally Tubular

by Gwen Hayes

Totally Tubular by Gwen Hayes (unknown publisher, October 2018).

The Invisible Library 5

The Mortal Word

by Genevieve Cogman

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman (Ace Books, November 2018).

The Ancient Future 0

This Present Past

by Traci Harding

This Present Past by Traci Harding (Voyager, November 2018).

Magic 2.0, Book 5

Out of Spite, Out of Mind

by Scott Meyer

Out of Spite, Out of Mind by Scott Meyer (Rocket Hat Industries, December 2018).

Perfectly Timed 1

Perfectly Timed

by Jamie Campbell

Perfectly Timed by Jamie Campbell (self-published, December 2018).

Twist of Time 1

Twist of Time

by Blake Cahoon

Twist of Time by Blake Cahoon (Twilight Media Books, December 2018).

The Fare

by Brinna Kelly, directed by D. C. Hamilton

Taxi driver Harris and his fare, Penny, are trapped in a time loop, repeating the first few minutes of their ride on desolate night roads.

— Michael Main

Harris: Wait, wait, don’t tell me. Literature, art: History of DC comics with a focus on the Jack Kirby Years.
Penny: Is that a real thing?
H: It was a blow-off course seniors could take at my high school.
P: Wait—I thought Kirby worked for Marvel.

The Fare by Brinna Kelly, directed by D. C. Hamilton (Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival, 9 December 2018).

Ranger in Time 9

Disaster on the Titanic

by Kate Messner

Disaster on the Titanic by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, January 2019).

The Magic Tree House 31*

Warriors in Winter

by Mary Pope Osborne

Morgan sends Jack and Annie back to the time of Marcus Aurelius on the northern border of the Empire where they meet kind soldiers, mean soldiers, and the emperor himself.

— Michael Main

“So I hear,” said the emperor. “When I first met you, I thought you must live nearby in Carnuntum. But now I do not think that is so. Where is your home?”
“Frog Creek, Pennsylvania,” said Annie.
“Beyond the Danube,” said Jack.

Warriors in Winter by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2019).

Time Jumpers 3

Fast-Forward to the Future

by Wendy Mass

Fast-Forward to the Future by Wendy Mass (Branches, February 2019).

Time-Seekers 2

The Secret in Time

by Sally Nicholls

The Secret in Time by Sally Nicholls (Nosy Crow, February 2019).

Tangled in Time 1

The Portal

by Kathryn Lasky

The Portal by Kathryn Lasky (HarperCollins, March 2019).

The Wanderer 2

Smoke in Her Eyes

by Anna Belfrage

Smoke in Her Eyes by Anna Belfrage (Troubador Publishing, March 2019).

The Imagination Station 23

Terror in the Tunnel

by Marianne Hering

Terror in the Tunnel by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, March 2019).

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Modern Romance

by Madeline J. Reynolds

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Modern Romance by Madeline J. Reynolds (Entangled Teen, March 2019).

Abby McQuade 3

Daylight Saving

by Evan Jacobs

Daylight Saving by Evan Jacobs (Saddleback Educational Publishing, April 2019).

Drew Pendous, Book 2

Drew Pendous Travels to Ancient Egypt

[writer unknown]

Drew Pendous Travels to Ancient Egypt [writer unknown] (Sterling Children’s Books, April 2019).

Ice Chips 3

The Ice Chips and the Invisible Puck

by Kerry MacGregor

The Ice Chips and the Invisible Puck by Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins Canada, April 2019).

Legendary Alston Boys 1

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer

by L. R. Giles

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by L. R. Giles (Versify, April 2019).

The Murder of Jesus Christ

by John R. Little

The Murder of Jesus Christ by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books, April 2019).

Again, but Better

by Christine Riccio

Shy Shane Primaveri heads to London for a semester abroad for a semester abroad program in creative writing where she hopes to become more outgoing, kiss a boy that she likes, and convince her parents after-the-fact that her decision to explore paths outside of a pre-med major was the right one. But things don’t go exactly as planned the first time through the semester.

— Michael Main

Could the elevator have been, like, a time machine?

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio (Wednesday Books, May 2019).

Again, But Better

by Christine Riccio

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio (Wednesday Books, May 2019).

Fatechanger: Penny Lost

by L. M. Poplin

Fatechanger: Penny Lost by L. M. Poplin (Black Rose Writing, May 2019).

Jagger Jones 1

Jagger Jones and the Mummy’s Ankh

by Malayna Evans

Jagger Jones and the Mummy’s Ankh by Malayna Evans (Month9Books, May 2019).

The Ottoman Secret

by Raymond Khoury

Secret police agent Kamal teams with his sister-in-law Nisreen, fleeing through time from pursuing gunmen who killed Nisreen’s family because toprotect the secret that their world was created by a violent temporal disruptor who altered history in favor of an autocratic Islam theocracy.

— Michael Main

Nisreen: I want to know how it is different and why he wanted to change it. Don’t you see? That’s how the world was supposed to be.

Ramazan: Assuming no one else had gone back and changed things before he did.

The Ottoman Secret by Raymond Khoury (Michael Joseph, May 2019).

Time Sight

by Lynne Jonell

Time Sight by Lynne Jonell (Henry Holt, May 2019).

The Islevale Cycle 2

Time’s Demon

by David B. Coe

Time’s Demon by David B. Coe (Angry Robot, May 2019).

Time Dogs 1

Balto and the Race Against Time

by Helen Moss

Balto and the Race Against Time by Helen Moss (Henry Holt, June 2019).

Time Dogs 2

Seaman and the Great Northern Adventure

by Helen Moss

Seaman and the Great Northern Adventure by Helen Moss (Henry Holt, June 2019).

Time after Time

by Lisa Grunwald

Time after Time by Lisa Grunwald (Random House, June 2019).

You Cannot Mess This Up: A True Story That Never Happened

by Amy Weinland Daughters

You Cannot Mess This Up: A True Story That Never Happened by Amy Weinland Daughters (She Writes Press, June 2019).

Time Jumpers 4

Dodging Dinosaurs

by Wendy Mass

Dodging Dinosaurs by Wendy Mass (Branches, July 2019).

Ranger in Time 10

Night of Soldiers and Spies

by Kate Messner

Night of Soldiers and Spies by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, July 2019).

The Magic Tree House 32*

To the Future, Ben Franklin!

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie bring a rather fainthearted and confused Ben Franklin to their own time, hoping to convince him to sign the Constitution.

— Michael Main

Morgan’s telling us to take Ben to Frog Creek. To our time.

To the Future, Ben Franklin! by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 2019).

Warriors and Warlocks: Outcast

by Monther AlKabbani

Warriors and Warlocks: Outcast by Monther AlKabbani (Yatakhayaloon, July 2019).

A Dreidel in Time

by Marcia Berneger

Nine-year-old Benjamin and his younger sister Devorah are given a dreidel that takes them back to the Maccabean Revolt and the first Hanukkah.

— Michael Main

“What’s happening?” Benjamin cried. The dreidel spun faster and faster until the whole room whirled with it. He grabbed onto Devorah and shut his eyes.

A Dreidel in Time: A New Spin on an Old Tale by Marcia Berneger (Kar-Ben, September 2019).

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House

by Michael Poore

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House by Michael Poore (Random House, September 2019).

Tangled in Time 2

The Burning Queen

by Kathryn Lasky

The Burning Queen by Kathryn Lasky (HarperCollins, October 2019).

The Camelot Code 2

Geeks and the Holy Grail

by Marianne Mancusi

Geeks and the Holy Grail by Marianne Mancusi (Hyperion, October 2019).

Time Castaways 2

The Obsidian Compass

by Liesl Shurtliff

The Obsidian Compass by Liesl Shurtliff (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2019).

The Imagination Station 24

Rescue on the River

by Marianne Hering

Rescue on the River by Marianne Hering (Focus on the Family, October 2019).

A Time Traveler’s Theory of Relativity

by Nicole Valentine

A Time Traveler’s Theory of Relativity by Nicole Valentine (Carolrhoda Books, October 2019).

The Spirit Quest 1

Transcendence

by A. L. Waddington

Transcendence by A. L. Waddington (Scarlett Ink Publishing, October 2019).

Scarlett and Sam

Whale of a Tale

by Eric A. Kimmel

Whale of a Tale by Eric A. Kimmel (Kar-Ben Publishing, October 2019).

The Knight before Christmas

by Cara J. Russell, directed by Monika Mitchell

In AD 1334, a crone prophesizes Sir Cole’s future and sends the Englishman on an ambiguous quest to 2019 Ohio, where he does knightly non-Ohioan things and discovers the love of his life on Christmas Eve.

— Michael Main

You shall travel to faraway lands, see things undreamed of: flying steel dragons and horses, magic boxes that make merry.

The Knight before Christmas by Cara J. Russell, directed by Monika Mitchell (Netflix, USA, 21 November 2019).

A Christmas Carol

by Steven Knight, directed by Nick Murphy

A radical retelling of the holiday classic that starts with a Victorian performance of the Charles Dickens tale before diving into the imagination of one of the children in the audience, taking the story to a darker fantasy realm.

— from publicity material

A Christmas Carol by Steven Knight, directed by Nick Murphy, 3 pts. (FX Channel, USA, 19 December 2019).

The Magic Tree House 33*

Narwhal on a Sunny Night

by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie visit the first Icelandic settlers in Greenland.

— Michael Main

“Oh, I get it—your dad is Erik, so you are called Erik-son!” said Annie.

Narwhal on a Sunny Night by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2020).

Not This Tide

by Sheila Finch

Through the eyes of young Rosemary (in 1944 London during the time of buzz bombs and V-2 rockets) and old Rosemary (now called Mary in 2035 Oslo), we see the picture of her whole life from her imaginary friend during the war to her physicist grandson at Princeton.

— Michael Main

“Not This Tide” by Sheila Finch, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2020.

Ranger in Time 11

Escape from the Twin Towers

by Kate Messner

Escape from the Twin Towers by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, February 2020).

Ice Chips 4

The Ice Chips and the Stolen Cup

by Kerry MacGregor

The Ice Chips and the Stolen Cup by Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins, February 2020).

Geronimo Stilton: Journey 7

Viaggio nel tempo 7

by Geronimo Stilton

Viaggio nel tempo 7 by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic Paperbacks, February 2020).

Time Dogs 3

Barry and the Great Mountain Rescue

by Helen Moss

Barry and the Great Mountain Rescue by Helen Moss (Henry Holt, March 2020).

Emily Windsnap 9

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time

by Liz Kessler

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time by Liz Kessler (Orion Children’s Books, March 2020).

Frankie Fish 5

Frankie Fish and the Wild Wild Mess

by Peter Helliar

Frankie Fish and the Wild Wild Mess by Peter Helliar (Hardie Grant Egmont, March 2020).

Hello Now

by Jenny Valentine

Teenager Jude enjoys thinking in similes and metaphors, so much so that perhaps Jude’s whole story—being uprooted, meeting an odd man, and meeting an otherworldly boy who sees no difference between space and time—is itself a metaphor for first love. The odd boy, Novo, has equally odd conversations with Jude—I’m unsure whether the conversations are deep or metaphors or both or neither—while he manipulates time, space and memories.

— Michael Main

You are the place I return to, in between times. My fulcrum, the point at my center, around which all of me turns. You are my chance at stillness. The rock in my water. I know you.

Hello Now by Jenny Valentine (Philomel Books, March 2020).

Keeping Time

by Thomas Legendre

Keeping Time by Thomas Legendre (Acre Books, March 2020).

Amazing Stories (r2s01e01)

The Cellar

by Jessica Sharzer, directed by Chris Long

Sam Taylor, a carpenter remodeling houses with his brother, feels ungrounded in 2019 until he uncovers a century-old photograph of a young bride along with a matchbook from a 1919 speakeasy. Like everyone else, we wondered at the end who Evelyn’s child is. Sam might be the father if a pregnant Evelyn traveled forward a second time, but that seems unlikely. I enjoyed that the writers left things open for us to wonder, and I also enjoyed the carefully constructed single static timeline.

— Michael Main

You were right—the photograph, it was me, it. . . It will be. I don’t know how, but it will.

Amazing Stories (v2s01e01), “The Cellar” by Jessica Sharzer, directed by Chris Long (Apple TV, 6 March 2020).

The Magic in Changing Your Stars

by Leah Henderson

The Magic in Changing Your Stars by Leah Henderson (Sterling Children’s Books, April 2020).

Dream Walker Academy 3

Belong

by Joanna Reeder

Belong by Joanna Reeder (Reed It and Weep, May 2020).

Throwback 2

The Chaos Loop

by Peter Lerangis

The Chaos Loop by Peter Lerangis (HarperCollins, May 2020).

Immortal Descendants: Baltimore Mysteries #1

Death’s Door

by April White

Ren (Alexandra Reynolds) owns a neighborhood bar in Baltimore. One evening, Edgar Allan Poe stumbles in—not an early Halloween reveler in costume, but the real thing. In the course of their acquaintance, both Ren and Poe learn more about themselves. Did I mention that Ren is descended from a freed slave mother and a white slave-owning father? And that Poe was an anti-abolitionist?

— Tandy Ringoringo

The notepaper was faded with age, and although I’d never seen it before, I knew he’d hidden it there the night I met him again, so many, many years before.

“Death’s Door” by April White (Corazon Entertainment, May 2020).

All in a Garden Green

by Paul J. Willis

All in a Garden Green by Paul J. Willis (Slant, June 2020).

Something No One Knows

by Joshua Gayou

Something No One Knows by Joshua Gayou (Audible Originals, June 2020).

Ranger in Time 12

Attack on Pearl Harbor

by Kate Messner

Attack on Pearl Harbor by Kate Messner (Scholastic Press, July 2020).

The Magic Tree House 34*

Late Lunch with Llamas

by Mary Pope Osborne

The children rescue a llama at the height of the Inca Empire.

— Michael Main

“Show us,” the emperor ordered. “Show us all how this little llama speaks.”

Late Lunch with Llamas by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 2020).

Wish & Wander

Paris on Repeat

by Amy Bearce

Paris on Repeat by Amy Bearce (Jolly Fish Press, July 2020).

Paris Magic

[writer unknown], directed by Mary Anne Spier, produced by Laine Cummings

I love that show! A young woman time-travelling her way through the French Revolution!

— Laine Cummings

♫ I traveled back in time and love has come my way. ♫

Paris Magic [writer unknown], directed by Mary Anne Spier, produced by Laine Cummings (Moosehead Theater, Greenville, Maine, 3 July 2020).

Jagger Jones 2

Aria Jones & the Guardian’s Wedja

by Malayna Evans

Aria Jones & the Guardian’s Wedja by Malayna Evans (Month9Books, August 2020).

Little Badman 2

Little Badman and the Time-travelling Teacher of Doom

by Humza Arshad

Little Badman and the Time-travelling Teacher of Doom by Humza Arshad (Puffin, August 2020).

The Midnight Library

by Matt Haig

After thirty-something Nora Seed kills herself, she arrives as a possibly metaphorical library with an infinite number of books containing her possible lives, each one of which she may try out, always starting on the night of her suicide.

For me, the depiction of Nora’s suicidal ideation and eventual killing of herself were dismissive of those who face depression every day, and the outcome was fictionally romanticized in a way that may induce suicide rather than showing understanding and encouragement to seek out help when life is dark. I don’t see this as intentional by the author.

— Michael Main

“Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations. These books are portals to all the lives you could be living.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Canongate Books, August 2020).

A Mummy Ate My Homework

by Thiago de Moraes

A Mummy Ate My Homework by Thiago de Moraes (Scholastic, August 2020).

The Greats

by Deborah Ellis

The Greats by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, September 2020).

Popcorn-Eating Squirrels Go Nuts with the Dinosaurs

by Matt Dickinson

Popcorn-Eating Squirrels Go Nuts with the Dinosaurs by Matt Dickinson (Shrine Bell, September 2020).

Press Start! 9

Super Rabbit Boy’s Time Jump!

by Thomas Flintham

A superhero rabbit from a low-resolution handheld video game fights his arch-nemesis, King Viking, who plans to stop Baby Rabbit Boy from ever getting superpowers.

— Michael Main

I built this Super Mega Robot Time Machine to use the Time Crystal’s power. That means I can travel through time!

Super Rabbit Boy’s Time Jump! by Thomas Flintham (Branches, September 2020) [print · e-book].

The Time-Seekers 3

A Christmas in Time

by Sally Nicholls

A Christmas in Time by Sally Nicholls (Nosy Crow, October 2020).

Time Castaways 3

The Forbidden Lock

by Liesl Shurtliff

The Forbidden Lock by Liesl Shurtliff (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2020).

Frankie Fish

Frankie Fish and the Tomb of Tomfoolery

by Peter Helliar

Frankie Fish and the Tomb of Tomfoolery by Peter Helliar (Hardie Grant Egmont, October 2020).

No Ordinary Thing

by G. Z. Schmidt

No Ordinary Thing by G. Z. Schmidt (Holiday House, October 2020).

The Time Traveller and the Tiger

by Tania Unsworth

The Time Traveller and the Tiger by Tania Unsworth (Zephyr, October 2020).

The Unusual Histories of a Curious Dog

by Scott McLean

The Unusual Histories of a Curious Dog by Scott McLean (Grosvenor House Publishing, October 2020).

The Christmas Chronicles 2

by Matt Liebermann and Chris Columbus, directed by Chris Columbus

Two years after the first Christmas Chronicles movie, young Kate Pierce is sitting on a beach in Cancun, missing her father and losing her status as a True Believer, all of which causes her to try flying back to Boston on her own—a plan that plays right into evil Belsnickel’s plan to overthrow Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus.

— Michael Main

Santa: [shaking head] Only Belsnickel would power a time machine with triple-A’s.

The Christmas Chronicles 2 by Matt Liebermann and Chris Columbus, directed by Chris Columbus (at movie theaters, USA and elsewhere, 25 November 2020).

The Dog Who Saved the World

by Ross Welford

The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford (Schwartz and Wade, December 2020).

Tudo Bem No Natal Que Vem

English release: Just Another Christmas Literal: Everything will be okay next Christmas

by Paulo Cursino, directed by Roberto Santucci

While playing Santa on the roof, avowed Christmas hater Jorge takes a fall that results in him waking up every Christmas with no memories of what happened since the last Christmas.

— Michael Main

Teu avô disse que eu ainda ia descobrir pra que serve o Natal. Foi você, né, sue velho?

He did it! Two days ago he said I’d find out what Christmas is all about! You cursed me, didn’t you, old man?

English

[ex=bare]Tudo Bem No Natal Que Vem | Everything will be okay next Christmas[/ex] by Paulo Cursino, directed by Roberto Santucci (Netflix, worldwide, 3 December 2020).

Ice Chips 5

The Ice Chips and the Grizzly Escape

by Kerry MacGregor

The Ice Chips and the Grizzly Escape by Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins, January 2021).

囚われた王女は二度、幸せな夢を見る

Torawareta ojo wa nido, shiawasena yume o miru English release: Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! Literal: The captive princess has happy dreams of another chance

by 三沢ケイ :: [exn]Misawa Kei[/exn]

[ex=bare]囚われた王女は二度、幸せな夢を見る | Reset! The imprisoned princess dreams of another chance! | Torawareta ojo wa nido, shiawasena yume o miru[/ex] by 三沢ケイ :: [exn]Misawa Kei[/exn] (Cross Infinite World, January 2021).

Annie and the Wolves

by Andromeda Romano-Lax

Historical research Ruth McClintock and local high school student Reece have a journal written by Annie Oakley, from which they conclude that Annie was a time traveler to traumatic moments in her own life—a power that Ruth seems to share.

— Michael Main

Reece, it isn’t just clarvoyance or neurosis, either.
She’d tell him in person, the thing they should have come out and admitted from the start.
It’s time travel.

“Annie and the Wolves” by Andromeda Romano-Lax (Soho, February 2021).

The Retake

by Jen Calonita

The Retake by Jen Calonita (Delacorte Press, February 2021).

Wish and Wander 1

Rome Reframed

by Amy Bearce

Rome Reframed by Amy Bearce (Jolly Fish Press, February 2021).

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

by Lev Grossman, directed by Ian Samuels

Mark is living an endlessly time-looping day of skipping summer school to, um, let’s call it “requisition” a front loader, do little acts of kindness around town, and annoy his younger sister when he’s unexpectedly interrupted by Margaret who’s careening her way through the same day while nobody else around them realizes what’s going on.

<spoiler!>One reviewer suggested that the story would have been better told from Margaret’s point of view. Certainly she has an interesting story of her own—one of loss so intense that it stops her world and kidnaps Mark. And yet, for me, Mark’s story is both compelling and well told, and I’m glad the author told his story. He is sensitive and lost and looking for his way in an upended world. He’s not particularly aware of how others feel, but maybe he’s getting there, and somehow Margaret grounds him and provides room to grow to the point where he can offer unconditional friendship to her (and to others) exactly when it’s needed. Is that a corny, uplifting story about tiny, perfect hypercubes that were meant to be? Yes, enjoyably so. I also enjoyed the nods to other popular-culture time travel escapades, though not so much the handwaving attempt at grounding things in science with Mark’s algebra teacher.</spoiler!> Sorry. Sometimes I feel a compulsion to drop into critic mode myself.

— Michael Main

Hi, uh, I’m Mark. I just had a quick question.. . . I was wondering—this is gonna sound really strange, God, really bizaare, but—are you experiencing any kind of temporal anomaly. . . in your life?

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman, directed by Ian Samuels (Netflix, USA, 12 February 2021).

The Magic Tree House 35*

Camp Time in California

by Mary Pope Osborne

Annie and Jack are given magical drawing powers when they meet a grizzly bear and a few other wanderers in 1903 Yosemite.

— Michael Main

If you’re a friend of bears, then take my advice: Walk softly and carry a big stick.

Camp Time in California by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, March 2021).

Throwback 3

Out of Time

by Peter Lerangis

Out of Time by Peter Lerangis (HarperCollins, March 2021).

The Last Magician 3

The Serpent’s Curse

by Lisa Maxwell

The Serpent’s Curse by Lisa Maxwell (De Boekerij, March 2021).

Heroes of the Secret Underground

by Susanne Gervay

Heroes of the Secret Underground by Susanne Gervay (HarperCollins, April 2021).

Foxheart

Thornlight

by Claire Legrand

Thornlight by Claire Legrand (Greenwillow Books, April 2021).

The Magic Tree House: Graphic Novel 1

Dinosaurs before Dark: The Graphic Novel

adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews

The adaptation and artwork are faithful and delightful, although I’m disappointed that commercial pressures resulted in a graphic novel for what was explicitly designed to engage early readers.

— Michael Main

Wow. I wish we could go there.

Dinosaurs before Dark: The Graphic Novel adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews (Random House Children’s Books, June 2021) [print · e-book].

Fantasy Island (r3s01e01), pt. 2

Mel Loves Ruby

by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Adam Kane

I see the original 1977 Fantasy Island through nostalgia-colored glasses, making it hard for any island-come-lately to compete in my eyes. So I was happily surprised when I enjoyed the premiere of the 2021 revival, complete with a relative or the original Mr. Roarke and a new sidekick named Ruby. In the second of the episode’s two subplots (“Mel Loves Ruby”), there is even a bit of time-related fantasy when the island makes Ruby young again (although without sending her back in time).

— Michael Main

What is your deepest desire, your most heartfelt need? The island knows, even if you don’t.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e01), seg. 2, “Mel Loves Ruby” by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Adam Kane (Fox-TV, USA, 10 August 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e02), pt. 2

The Heartbreak Hotel

by Jane Espenson, directed by Adam Kane

As with the first episode of the 2021 Fantasy Island revival, the second has no actual time travel, but the side-plot (“The Heartbreak Hotel”) does have a time-related phenomenon when Elena and Mr. Jones try to connect with a grieving widower who wakens only once every five years to see whether life is worth living.

— Michael Main

Okay, that’s not the deal my great uncle made. Now, you’re allowed to sleep on Fantasy Island as long as you wish, but every five years, you have to spend at least 48 hours awake.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e02), seg. 2, “The Heartbreak Hotel” by Jane Espenson, directed by Adam Kane (Fox-TV, USA, 17 August 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e03)

Quantum Entanglement

by Adria Lang, directed by Kimberly McCullough

The new Fantasy Island inches closer to actual time travel when Elana helps “invisible” Eileen understand her relationship with her grown daughter by acting as a Dickensian guide and showing Eileen how her daughter experienced growing up. And young Ruby receives news of how her family is managing without her.

— Michael Main

Eileen: She absolutely loved it here.
Elena: Are you sure?

Fantasy Island (v3s01e03), “Quantum Entanglement” by Adria Lang, directed by Kimberly McCullough (Fox-TV, USA, 24 August 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e04)

Once Upon a Time in Havana

by Dailyn Rodriguez, diected by Laura Belsey

Finally! Some Actual Time Travel™ as Elena takes young drummer Alma Garcia back to 1967 Havana to learn the real story of the musical grandfather who abandoned his family decades ago—and the role Alma played in that single, static timeline.

— Michael Main

Grandfather: Who are you? Where do you really come from? Elma: Just an Americana who plays the drums.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e04), “Once Upon a Time in Havana” by Dailyn Rodriguez, diected by Laura Belsey (Fox-TV, USA, 31 August 2021).

What If `. . .` ? [s1e04]

What If . . . Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

by A. C. Bradley, directed by Bryan Andrews

As we all know, when the world’s formost surgeon, Doctor Strange, lost the use of his hands in a car wreck, it prompted him to search out mystic treatments and eventually become the Master of the Mystic Arts. But what if he had lost something else in that wreck?

— Michael Main

The Ancient One: Her death is an Absolute Point in time.
Dr. Strange: Absolute?
A.O.: Unchangable. Unmovable. Without her death, you would never have defeated Dormamu and become the Sorcerer Supreme—and the guardian of the Eye of Agamotto. If you erase her death, you never start your journey.

“What If . . . Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” by A. C. Bradley, directed by Bryan Andrews, What If. . . ? [s01e04] (Disney+, worldwide, 1 September 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e05)

Twice in a Lifetime

by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Adam Kane

The Island takes Nisha into two different versions of her future life in order to help her decide which man to marry. Only the Island knows whether Nisha is actually time traveling or merely experiencing potential futures, but the story’s ending suggests the latter. And meanwhile, out in the Island wilderness, Elena and Javier share intimate moments.

— Michael Main

Let the future unfold.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e05), “Twice in a Lifetime” by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Adam Kane (Fox-TV, USA, 7 September 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e06)

The Big Five Oh

by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Diana Valentine

Lifetime friends Camille, Margot, and Nettie are celebrating their 50th birthdays on the Island along with a bit of time-slowing for Margot and a non-interactive trip to view a potential future for all three.

— Michael Main

Margot [after seeing the future]: Was that real?
Elena: As of this moment, yes.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e06), “The Big Five Oh” by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Diana Valentine (Fox-TV, USA, 12 September 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e07), pt. 2

The Bromance

by Mary Angelica Molina and Adam Belanoff, directed by Laura Belsey

Brian Cole, a hard-core survivalist, faces his greatest challenge: working with and understanding his own young self.

— Michael Main

I might be you, but I’m not a moron.

Fantasy Island (v3s01e07), seg. 2, “The Bromance” by Mary Angelica Molina and Adam Belanoff, directed by Laura Belsey (Fox-TV, USA, 14 September 2021).

Fantasy Island (r3s01e07), pt. 1

The Romance

by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Diana Valentine

To help Miss Marshall find her way in the real wrld, the Island sends her to Victorian England to spend time with her favorite author.

— Michael Main

Do you ever think you were born in the wrong time?

Fantasy Island (v3s01e07), seg. 1, “The Romance” by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, directed by Diana Valentine (Fox-TV, USA, 14 September 2021).

The Magic Tree House: Graphic Novel 2

The Knight at Dawn: The Graphic Novel

adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews

Retells, in graphic form, the tale of eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister, Annie, who are whisked back in the magic tree house to the time of knights and castles.

— from publicity material

Annie: [turning on her flashlight] That’s right! We have a magic wand and we’re not afraid to use it!

The Knight at Dawn: The Graphic Novel adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews (Random House Children’s Books, November 2021) [print · e-book].

A Demon’s Christmas Carol

by Jennie Goloboy

A enjoyable Christmastime tale of a demon who hasn’t been on Earth since Victorian times, but despite the title, there are no Dickensian guides and no time travel.

— Michael Main

This was it; this was the summoning Mastema had been waiting for.

“A Demon’s Christmas Carol” by Jennie Goloboy, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November/December 2021.

Magic Tree House 36*

Sunlight on the Snow Leopard

by Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house is back with a message from Morgan le Fay telling Jack and Annie to seek out the Gray Ghost and listen to her story, and immediately they are whisked away to Nepal where they meet Tenzin, a climber who has recently lost his family, and who takes them up to the mountain to meet a snow leopard and renew himself.

— based on fandom.com

Sunlight on the Snow Leopard by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, January 2022) [print · e-book].

This Time Tomorrow

by Emma Straub

After turning forty in a snit because of her career decisions, her unexciting boyfriend, and her dying father, Alice Stern wakes up on her 16th birthday in her teen body.

— Michael Main

“I know it’s your birthday,” Leonard said. “You’ve made me watch Sixteen Candles enough times to ensure that I wouldn’t let this one slide.”

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (Riverhead Books, May 2022.

The Magic Tree House: Graphic Novel 3

Mummies in the Morning: The Graphic Novel

adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews

For the first time in graphic novel—live the adventure again with new full-color vibrant art that brings the magic to life!

— from publicity material

Mummies in the Morning: The Graphic Novel adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews (Random House Children’s Books, June 2022) [print · e-book].

Future Tense

by Danny Macks

John—a.k.a. kiddo to his mom—has the “gift” of seeing possible futures and trying to avoid them.

— Michael Main

There are always more than two options, John. Find option C.

“Future Tense” by Danny Macks, Daily Science Fiction, 28 June 2022 [webzine].

The Alchemies of Time

by Jack Pagliante

A king who fears only the passage of time takes one drastic step after another to try to stop time altogether.

— Michael Main

Time will take us away from what we love, who we love, and Time will take us, finally, from ourselves.

“The Alchemies of Time” by Jack Pagliante, Daily Science Fiction, 20 July 2022 [webzine].

Ghosts of Christmas Always

by Zach Hug and Annika Marks[/urlx, directed by Rich Newey

This time around, the usual three ghosts are only one of the many three-ghost teams who are given a yearly assignment to scrooge one of the many Scrooges who seem to be more numerous than ever before. Together with their 2022 assignment—Peter Baron, an unsatisfied son of a food baron—they provide a nice tear-jerker for the entire family.

— Michael Main

He’s like the anti-Scrooge.

Ghosts of Christmas Always by Zach Hug and Annika Marks[/urlx, directed by Rich Newey (Hallmark Channel, USA, 30 October 2022).

Magic Tree House 37*

Rhinos at Recess

by Mary Pope Osborne

Rhinos at Recess by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, forthcoming) [print · e-book].

僕だけがいない街

Boku dake ga inai machi English release: Erased Literal: The city where only I am missing

|pending byline|

This 12-part anime adaptation of Kei Sambe’s manga felt more abbreviated than the 12-part live-action version, and the characters were not as captivating for me.

I call the process “Revival.” I usually go back between one and five minutes.

[ex=bare]僕だけがいない街 | The city where only I am missing | Boku dake ga inai machi[/ex] |pending byline|.