''The Time Stream'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American writer

John Taine Eric Temple Bell (7 February 1883 – 21 December 1960) was a Scottish-born mathematician, educator and science fiction writer who lived in the United States for most of his life. He published non-fiction using his given name and fiction ...

(pseudonym of Eric Temple Bell). The novel was originally serialized in four parts in the magazine ''

Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Sto ...

'' beginning in December 1931. It was first published in book form in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

by The Buffalo Book Company in an edition of 2,000 copies of which only 500 were ever bound. It is the first novel to see time as a flowing stream.

Plot introduction

The novel concerns

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

and links the world Eos at the beginning of the universe with the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

Reception

''Astounding'' reviewer P. Schuyler Miller described ''The Time Stream'' as "the strangest of all John Taine's novels," concluding that it was "less powerful" than other Taine fiction "because he tries to do too much.""Book Review",

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

, March 1947, p.138 Everett F. Bleiler noted that it is "generally conceded to be Taine's best novel, despite its somewhat confusing presentation and very ambivalent theme"; he concluded that the ambivalence "makes the novel interesting."

Notes

Sources

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External links

* 1931 American novels 1931 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Novels about time travel Novels set in prehistory Works about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Wonder Stories Works by Eric Temple Bell Works published under a pseudonym {{1930s-novel-stub