The Time Traveler's Almanac
The VanderMeers, claiming with a wink to have written their preface in 2150 under the watchful eye of the Preservationist Guild, offer these more than 70 stories as proof that fiction is one of the most effective time travel machines in the universe. Organized into four categories—Experiments, Reactionaries & Revolutionaries, Mazes & Traps, and Communiqués—this extensive survey traces literary time travel from its earliest published example, in 1881, to 2012. A collection of this size has something for ­every speculative-fiction reader, but this one is also carefully curated to show the depth and breadth of the field with stories that are humorous (Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, by Douglas Adams); chilling (Is There Anybody There?, by Kim Newman); or intriguingly odd (Hwang’s Billion Brilliant Daughters, by Alice Sola Kim). Characters move through time with the help of science, sure, but also magic, plants, and random mutation. Entertaining nonfiction essays bookend the sections. Authors include Connie Willis, Kage Baker, Elizabeth Bear, Charles Stross, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, George R. R. Martin, C. J. Cherryh, Charles Yu, and John Chu. --Krista Hutley