''Time Machine'' is a series of children's novels published in the United States by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

from 1984 to 1989, similar to their more successful ''

Choose Your Own Adventure ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...

'' line of "

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but m ...

" novels. Each book was written in the second person, with the reader choosing how the story should progress. They were designed by Byron Preiss Visual Publications. The main difference between the ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series and the ''Time Machine'' series was that ''Time Machine'' books featured only one ending, forcing the reader to try many different choices until they discovered it. Also, the series taught children basic history about many diverse subjects, from

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Only the sixth book in the series, ''The Rings of Saturn'', departed from actual history; it is set in the future, and features educational content about the solar system. Some books gave the reader their choice from a small list of equipment at the beginning, and this choice would affect events later in the book (e.g. "If you brought the pen knife, turn to page 52, if not turn to page 45.Mueller, Richard; ''World War I Flying Ace'' (''Time Machine'', No. 24); page 32"). Another main difference between the ''Time Machine'' novels and the ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' counterparts was hints offered at certain junctures, where the reader was advised to look at hints at the back of the book. An example was in ''Mission to World War II'' about the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the N ...

uprising, where the reader was given the choice of starting the mission in the Jewish ghetto or the Aryan part of Warsaw, in which the hint read "Ringelblum was Jewish", suggesting the reader should begin in the Jewish section of the city, but not ordering it, or it was possible for the hint to be missed. The line spawned a brief spin-off series for younger readers, the '' Time Traveler'' novels.

Books

1984

* 1. ''Secret of the Knights'' by Jim Gasperini, * 2. ''Search for Dinosaurs'' by David Bischoff, * 3. ''Sword of the Samurai'' by

Michael Reaves James Michael Reaves (born September 14, 1950) is an American writer, known for his contributions as scriptwriter and story editor to a number of 1980s and 1990s animated television series, including '' Disney's Gargoyles'' and '' Batman: The An ...

and Steve Perry, * 4. ''Sail with Pirates'' by Jim Gasperini, * 5. ''Civil War Secret Agent'' by Steve Perry,

1985

* 6. ''The Rings of Saturn'' by Arthur Byron Cover, * 7. ''Ice Age Explorer'' by Dougal Dixon, * 8. ''The Mystery of Atlantis'' by Jim Gasperini, * 9. ''Wild West Rider'' by Stephen Overholser, * 10. ''American Revolutionary'' by Arthur Byron Cover,

1986

* 11. ''Mission to World War II'' by Susan Nanus and Marc Kornblatt, * 12. ''Search for the Nile'' by Robert W. Walker, * 13. ''Secret of the Royal Treasure'' by Carol Gaskin, * 14. ''Blade of the Guillotine'' by Arthur Byron Cover, * 15. ''Flame of the Inquisition'' by Marc Kornblatt,

1987

* 16. ''Quest for the Cities of Gold'' by Richard Glatzer, * 17. ''Scotland Yard Detective'' by

Seymour V. Reit Seymour Victory Reit (11 November 1918 – 21 November 2001) was an American author of over 80 children's books as well as several works for adults. Reit was the creator, with cartoonist Joe Oriolo, of the character Casper the Friendly Ghost. ...

, * 18. ''Sword of Caesar'' by Robin Stevenson and Bruce Stevenson, * 19. ''Death Mask of Pancho Villa'' by Carol Gaskin and

George Guthridge George Guthridge (born 1948) is an American author and educator. He has published over 70 short stories and five novels and has been acclaimed for his successes teaching writing and critical/creative thinking. In 1997 he and coauthor Janet Berlin ...

, * 20. ''Bound for Australia'' by Nancy Bailey, * 21. ''Caravan to China'' by Carol Gaskin,

1988

* 22. ''Last of the Dinosaurs'' by Peter Lerangis, * 23. ''Quest for King Arthur'' by Ruth Ashby, * 24. ''World War I Flying Ace'' by Richard Mueller,

1989

* 25. ''Special Edition: World War II Code Breaker'' by Peter Lerangis,

External links

Time Machine book list and reviews
(gamebooks.org)

Footnotes

{{reflist Gamebooks Lists of fantasy books Novel series Novels about time travel Children's historical novels Bantam Books books