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Time Travel

Simply, Time Travel Science Fiction are stories in which travelling to the past or future is possible. Time travel is a natural complement to space travel and so it is a frequent occurrence in Sci Fi stories.

Paradoxes are a common trope of Time Travel Sci Fi. Paradoxes are created when an event is altered. For example, the grandfather paradox: you travel to the past and kill your grandfather and so you are not born, but if you are not born you cannot travel to the past and kill your grandfather, so your grandfather lives and you are born. Other tropes of this sub genre: time loops, time police, time tourism, fixed/unalterable points of time, cognitive estrangement.

Time travel is a great device for any writer because the viewpoint can be moved to and from anywhere, which opens the narrative possibilities. As such, Time Travel stories are not always seen as science fiction stories. For example, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol employs time travel to help his protagonist see the error of his ways, but the story is not really science fiction. Generally, what makes a Time Travel story Sci Fi is that there is some kind of device/technology that causes allows for travel through time.

You can view the crowd-ranked "Popular" Time Travel Science Fiction Books list and vote and/submit entries to it.

Time Travel Book Characteristics

  • Level of Real Science

    Low. There is not much real world evidence that time travel is possible so scientific explanations for time travel can seem far-fetched.

  • Level of Grand Ideas/Social Implications

    Variable. Depending on what other sub-genre Time Travel Sci Fi is coupled with, the level of grand ideas and exploration of social implications changes. For example, when coupled with Pulp Sci Fi, which was popular, the stories are not concerned with grand ideas. However, when Time Travel Sci Fi is coupled with Alternate History Sci Fi, the discussion of ideas and social implications can be serious and engaging.

  • Level of Characterization

    Variable. Characters can be well developed so that readers are invested in the character, resulting in the suspension of disbelief. However, characters can also be relatively underdeveloped and merely a way to describe and see a new ( past or future) world.

  • Level of Plot Complexity

    High. Time travelling, especially to the past, can result in complex plots full of excitement. When moving through time, changing events, and postulating possible outcomes, plot becomes the core of any Time Travel story.

  • Level of Violence

    Variable. The level of violence in a Time Travel Sci Fi story is going to vary widely.

Related Science Fiction subgenres

  • Alternate History. Alternate History Sci Fi can take place when someone travels through the timeline and changes something, resulting in an alternate version of history.

  • Parallel Worlds. One version of Parallel Worlds Sci Fi creates a parallel world when an event is changed in the past and a new, parallel timeline is created resulting in two timelines.

  • Speculative Fiction. Because time travel can be seen as unscientific, time travel stories become speculative--stories that explore a what if without scientific grounding.

  • Pulp Sci Fi. Pulp Sci Fi writers have a history of employing time machine devices in their stories and exploring the melodramatic potential of time travel.

Popular Time Travel Books