Accelerating Toward the Future

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	• The Accidental Time Machine Joe Haldeman Ace Hardcover, 2007 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image
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One of my favorite books!

This was one of my favorite sci-fi books. It had a great sense of humor and was very funny, but had great time-travel sci-fi elements as well. Just a fun, fun read that I wish I could read again for the first time. If only all new sci-fi novels were as fun...

Accelerating Toward the Future

The Accidental Time Machine (2007) is a standalone SF novel. It is a time travel tale, set initially in the near future and then further uptime.

In this novel, Matthew Fuller is a geek and a graduate assistant at MIT. While he is working for Dr. Marsh, Matt builds a calibrator -- it emits one photon per chronon -- that also happens to travel in time. Whenever he pushes the reset button, it disappears and then reappears.

The first time it disappears, Matt calls for Marsh to come see, but the calibrator returns before his boss responds. Marsh thinks he has been awake too long and suggests that he get some rest. Then Marsh leaves to get a little sleep himself.

Matt figures that thirty hours without sleep is not unreasonable and starts testing the device. The next time he presses the button, the device is gone for over ten seconds. Oops!

He decides to get a little more precise in the timing. For the third trial, he checks his watch before pushing the button and the box is gone for slightly less than three minutes. For the next trial, he clocks the disappearance with the stopwatch function: 34 minutes, 33.22 seconds.

When Matt plots the intervals between disappearance and reappearance on semi-log paper, they seem to be increasing in a logarithmic function. Each event takes about twelve times as long as the previous event. He calculates that the next interval probably would be around six hours, so he decides to check it at home.

In this story, Matt blocks the reset button and wraps the device in two trash-can liners. Then he carries the device through the snow to the Red Line and then from the East Lexington station to his apartment. Naturally, he hasn't worn his boots and the sneakers got soaked.

Once he is in his apartment, Matt sets the calibrator on his couch. Then he takes a beer out of the fridge, picks up the latest Physical Review Letters and carries them into the bathroom. He runs a few inches of hot water into the tub, takes off his sneakers, and puts his feet in to soak.

While Matt is thawing out, drinking the beer and reading the journal, his mother calls him and fusses about his bathroom phone. Matt tells her an edited version of his activities, but leaves out all mention of the time machine and his breakup with Kara.

After hanging up the phone, someone knocks on his door. Before he can finish wiping his feet, the door is opened from the outside to let in Kara. She has come to pick up a forgotten item. She does comment about his clean feet prior to giving him the key and walking out to her ride.

This story shows Matt learning how to use the calibrator to transport himself into the future. It also shows him getting into more and more trouble as he travels uptime. His boss reasons out how the device works as a time machine, but Matt only finds out why the device works in the far future.

Matt really doesn't like the future very much and wants to return to his home time. So the tale is basically a quest for knowledge about controlling the device. The time machine itself is not very original, although the terminology used in the story may have some relation to reality (see the Author's Note). So the gist of the story is Matt's relationships with other people; initially very poor, but improving in time.

Recommended for Haldeman fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of time travel, strange futures, and human relationships.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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A Great Summer Blockbuster

This book is the literary equivalent to a great summer blockbuster. There is very little in the way of new ideas about technology, but classic ideas get recycled in very interesting ways. It's a very fast read with great characters, an epic-like story and lots of action and humor. If you want fun, this is it. If you want serious, deep and philosophical then read The Forever War instead.

Summary: More time traveling fun from Haldeman. His third take on the topic won't win him any awards, but it sure is a great read. You'll have trouble putting it down for very long and the pages will pass by at faster than the speed of light.

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Juvenile but interesting

It seemed to me the book was written for the young crowd but I also found it was interesting and creative.

I would not read this type book on a regular basis but every once in a while might be fun.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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