Stranded in the Past

July 28th, 2004

Filed under: Books

I just finished reading Eric Flint’s 1632 last night. I found it quite a good book and hard to put down. I’ve always liked writers that manage to combine historical figures with fictional characters convincingly (and I think Tim Powers does it best; read The Anubis Gates or On Stranger Tides and tell me who is real and who is made-up).

1632 falls into a genre (or probably a sub-genre) that I really enjoy. The modern-people-get-stranded-back-in-time (or on-a-desolate-planet) –and-build-a-civilization story. I like the idea of reading about people like me (only more clever and resourceful), who are used to the conveniences of modern life, forced to rely on their wits and other skills to not only survive, but flourish. It probably speaks to the repressed pioneer in me.

Besides 1632, other books in this genre include:

  • Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle
  • Castaways in Time by Robert Adams
  • Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling
  • Freedom’s Choice by Anne McCaffrey

(and all their sequels)

5 Responses to “ Stranded in the Past ”

  1. Lucas
    July 28th, 2004 at 11:49 pm

    Have you tried reading some of the elric soga? I find that to have some historical backround to it while still holding true to the almighty main character with big muscles!!

  2. David
    July 29th, 2004 at 7:34 am

    It’s not precisely in the sub-genre, but have you ever read “To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willis? It’s really hilarious; I almost can’t describe it without spoiling a great joke or twist.

  3. Rose
    July 29th, 2004 at 8:11 am

    Connie Willis’s The Doomsday Book uses the same time travel system as To Say Nothing of the Dog and involves even more being trapped, but both are excellent and entertaining. Michael Swanwick’s Bones of the Earth is at least related, about a group of paleontologists whose time travel technology backfires, so they have to survive with dinosaurs and danger and some eventual non-historical science fiction intervention.

  4. Shawn Fumo
    July 29th, 2004 at 8:44 pm

    Woo.. I feel the Pern love. :)

  5. Greg Morrow
    August 11th, 2004 at 11:08 am

    Geez, youngsters, you do know that SF/fantasy is more than just a couple of decades old, right?

    Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp is the granddaddy of the genre.

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