Timescape
The author of Tides of Light offers his Nebula Award-winning SF classic--a combination of hard science, bold speculation, and human drama. In the year 1998, a group of scientists works desperately to communicate with the scientists of 1962, warning of an ecological disaster that will destroy the oceans in the future--if it is not averted in the past.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
11mentions
7people
2011–2025years
45% recommend55% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- A few favourites off the top of my head:
The Difference Engine - William Gibson & Bruce Sterling Diaspora - Greg Egan Flashback - Dan Simmons Timescape - Gregory Benford Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (but the "co"-authored sequels are too terrible for words)
- Of the three "The Sheep Look Up" was the most interesting to me. Read that and then read Benford's "Timescape". You won't be able to sleep for at least a week :-)
- Benford's Timescape always freaked me out a bit. Scientists in a dystopian future sending messages into the past in order to prevent their future from occurring.
- The Name of the Wind really is good. The second book of the series (The Wise Man's Fear) is also excellent.
Actually, just reading through the list, I was a little disappointed. Yes, there are some great classics, but Timeline" by Michael Crichton as the "time travel" sci-fi novel of reference. No, just no.
For time travel based sci-fi, Timescape by Gregory Benford is my pick of the lot. Bedford is actually an astrophysicist, so his version of time travel actually make sense. Plus, the characters in the books are scientists. It's a very thought provoking book. He has a second book along those lines, Cosm, which I loved as well, for it's portrayal of the lives of scientists.
- Jaron comes across as afraid of the future. His thesis seems to be that there are many possible horrible futures, and he imagines them to be more likely than "good" outcomes. And it doesn't read like he has any tools to reason about either one or the other. Hence the fear.
Bill Joy went through a similar phase with his infamous grey goo manifesto. I think he has come back somewhat from the brink on that.
I can appreciate the fear aspect of it. Greg Benford's TimeScape [1] scared the crap out me.
- In Gregory Benford's novel "Timescape" a diatom bloom features as a crucial plot element.
