Rivers of Time
Rivers of Time is a 1993 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in paperback by Baen Books. All but one of the pieces were originally published between 1956 and 1993 in the magazines "Galaxy", "Expanse", "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction", "Analog", and "Asimov's Science Fiction", and the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology "The Ultimate Dinosaur". The remaining pieces were first published in the present work. The book collects the author's nine tales of time-traveling hunter Reginald Rivers, the hero of his 1956 classic, "A Gun  for Dinosaur". He wrote another Rivers story in 1990 to fulfil a request by Robert Silverberg for a dinosaur story for his 1992 anthology "The Ultimate Dinosaur"; afterwards, de Camp added to the sequence until he had enough stories for a book. In 2012, Audible Studios released an unabridged audio-book recording of "Rivers of Time" narrated by James Adams. The series. The Rivers stories take the form of first-person narratives by the protagonist told to companions whose identities vary, but who have in common the fact that their contributions to the conversation are omitted, and must be inferred  from those of Rivers. Every story is an anecdote from Rivers' career as a conductor of time safaris to previous eras, both to hunt prehistoric creatures and for scientific purposes (and, occasionally, anti-scientific purposes). In addition to Rivers, the main recurring characters include fellow members of his safari firm, including his partner Chandra Aiyar, camp boss Beauregard Black, and cook Ming. In most instances, the actions of their human clients prove more troublesome than those of the extinct fauna, a theme set in "Faunas", a 1968 poem by de Camp that precedes the stories. An afterword by the author  tells how he came to write the series. Species featured. Prehistoric species of various eras featured in the series include "Agriochoerus", "Alamosaurus", "Archaeotherium", "Brontops", "Camptosaurus", Columbian mammoth, "Coryphodon", "Deinosuchus", "Diprotodon", "Eurypterid", "Gastornis" (called "Diatryma"), "Gorgosaurus", "Hoplophoneus", "Hyaenodon", "Ichthyostega", Mastodon, "Megalania", "Merycoidodon", "Metamynodon", "Metoposaurus", "Mylodon", "Ornithomimus", "Parasaurolophus", "Phenacodus", "Placerias", "Postosuchus", "Procoptodon", "Rutiodon", "Saurophaganax" or "Allosaurus" (referred to as "Epanterias"), "Stegosaurus", "Teratosaurus", "Triceratops", "Troodon formosus" (presented as "Stenonychosaurus", and supposedly a type of pachycephalosaur), and "Tyrannosaurus trionychus". Tyrannosaurs of the genus "Gorgosaurus" are mentioned occasionally, and many times Reginald Rivers will say that the Raja is out in some period in the  Cenozoic, taking a group to hunt some form of prehistoric mammal such as titanothere, entelodont, or uintathere. Prehistoric marsupials and Indricotherium are mentioned in "The Synthetic Barbarian," and numerous Pleistocene megafauna are seen in "The Mislaid Mastodon," including "Castoroides ohioensis" and the American lion. Obsolete science. While "Rivers of Time" is a well researched time travel series, paleontological knowledge has improved since the stories were written, rendering some aspects of its portrait of the prehistoric past obsolete. Dated material includes the following: Sequel. A tenth story of Reginald Rivers, "Gun, Not for Dinosaur", authored by Chris Bunch, appeared in Harry  Turtledove's 2005 tribute anthology honoring L. Sprague de Camp, "". This story contains elements of scientific racism and white supremacism as Rivers' client, a racist Texas millionaire, and his two Boer bodyguards attempt to prevent the evolution of Negroes by going back in time in Africa to kill their prehistoric ancestors.