Although a war fought throughout space and time sounds like a straightforward idea, it is anything but. Doctor Who
would have us believe that the Doctor is the last surviving Time Lord
with no access to fellow Time Lords since they all died in a Time War.
However, if they all died at a particular time, then surely he is able
to travel to before they died? And, before dying, some of them would
surely have traveled into their future? Therefore, some may exist now
or, failing that, will in a while? And, if, as its name suggests, the
Time War is fought at various times, then some of it is happening now or
will in the future? Thus, even if all the Time Lords are to die in that
war, they need not be all dead yet and, even if they were, a time
traveler could still have access to them?
I am reading John Brunner's Threshold Of Eternity and expect some surprises before the end. The blurb informs us that:
"...there
was a war going on throughout space and time. A war fought by men of
different epochs, on planets of different cultures..." (Threshold Of Eternity, New York, 1959, p. 1)
So
far in the text, however, the war, in our future, is only against an
alien enemy in space. The time element consists of the fact that a
battling spaceship can suffer a "...temporal surge..." that scatters its
crew throughout history although they have a mechanism by which they
can instantly return to their present (pp. 10-11). I expect that there
is going to be more to it than that but I wonder if the "...men of
different epochs, on planets of different cultures..." exist only in the
blurb? (I will soon find out.)
As always, Poul
Anderson comes to the rescue. His time travelers move through real
history, not through abstract "space and time." In his The Corridors Of Time,
rival human powers on a future Earth dispatch agents throughout history
and prehistory. Unable to change events, they nevertheless recruit
supporters and try to influence long term historical tendencies in order
to determine an outcome in their future from which both sides are
barred by their successors who, we learn, have transcended the conflict.
That really is a war fought throughout space and time.
No comments:
Post a Comment