Living in the past

Time travel has long fascinated people. References to time travel can be found in myths and tales dating back thousands of years. What does the future look like? How could we change the past? H G Wells fired up the sci-fi enthusiasts with The Time Machine in 1895 and storytellers have continued to reinvent the concept ever since. For decades now the Doctor has zipped in and out of time in his TARDIS, interacting with key events in our history as he tries to save the world yet again.

Currently, I'm in the midst of Stephen King's 11.22.63 and I'm cranky that I have to leave it behind to go to work. Ironically, this novel sat on my dresser for over six months while I built up the courage to try it out. Time travel is a genre that I adore, especially when my mind is twisted into knots by paradox after paradox. It is also a genre that can leave me disappointed, when it promises much and delivers something quite different. Earlier this year, I tried Felix J Palma's The Map of Time only to find the time travel element seemed a mere technicality at the end. Clever, but not satisfying.

However, it's not just impossibilities that fascinate me. I love Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch series because it features (relatively) modern people living in past eras. There is something irresistible about being forced to start again in an alien world when the protagonist is isolated - all the people they have known are gone, and every social convention needs to be rediscovered as they find their place and start new lives.

I suspect this aspect appeals to me because we've moved to new cities quite a few time. Most notabaly, I remember arriving in Mt Isa in 1995 and being quite delighted that the only person I knew in town was my husband! It was exciting starting from scratch, meeting people, finding work, and establishing ourselves once more. As I get older, I'm more than happy to stay put, but the idea of change still calls to me.

Right, well, time I got back to 1963 where my hero is trying to save JFK from assassination. And, I'm sorry to say, I don't really care if he does or doesn't manage that feat; I just want to read more about him living life in a world that died fifty years ago.

Oh, how I need a time machine! Perhaps I will have to write my own...