Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Tor Books (2007), Edition: First Edition, 352 pages
Description
Sam Dance is a young enlisted soldier in 1941 when his older brother Keenan is killed at Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, Sam promises that he will do anything he can to stop the war. During his training, Sam begins to show that he has a knack for science and engineering, and he is plucked from the daily grunt work of twenty-mile marches by his superiors to study subjects like code breaking, electronics, and physics in particular, a science that is growing more important to the war effort. While studying, Sam is seduced by a mysterious female physicist that is teaching one of his courses, and given her plans for a device that will end the war, perhaps even end the human predilection for war forever. But the device does something less, and more, than that. After his training, Sam is sent throughout Europe to solve both theoretical and practical problems for the Allies. He spends his free time playing jazz, and trying to construct the strange device. It's only much later that he discovers that it worked, but in a way that he could have never imagined.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dukedom_enough
The "Times" of Kathleen Ann Goonan's novel refers to at least three meanings of "times" - historical eras, the everyday time in which our lives are lived, and musical time signatures, as fractured and complicated by modern jazz. OK, at least four meanings - time as a physical dimension which may
This excellent story of alternate history, our own grim history, and the nature of consciousness follows Sam Dance through World War II and the postwar years. He serves in the war and lives out a civilian life afterward, while burdened with the knowledge of a strange technology that might permit altering history, or reaching alternate timelines.
The novel brings us the war and the early part of the occupation of Germany, the excitement and the grind of scientific and engineering research, and the politics of the era, and of the postwar years through the 1970 Cambodian invasion, seen through the well-imagined eyes of Sam. Best of all, perhaps, is his glimpse of the thrilling early days of the invention of bebop, on furloughs to New York. Every jazz fan wishes to have been in those smokey, after-hours clubs where Parker and Gillespie were inventing new ways to use harmonies - ways that give Goonan a metaphor for the changeable nature of time.
Dance comes to realize that the timeline he lives in has gone terribly wrong, with war never actually ending with the Japanese surrenders - the war times continue through the decades, and Dance cannot be free of a continuing connection to US intelligence intrigues. His burden is balanced by the hope that he can learn to use the time technology to restore his, and the world's, losses.
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have branches and alternate paths.This excellent story of alternate history, our own grim history, and the nature of consciousness follows Sam Dance through World War II and the postwar years. He serves in the war and lives out a civilian life afterward, while burdened with the knowledge of a strange technology that might permit altering history, or reaching alternate timelines.
The novel brings us the war and the early part of the occupation of Germany, the excitement and the grind of scientific and engineering research, and the politics of the era, and of the postwar years through the 1970 Cambodian invasion, seen through the well-imagined eyes of Sam. Best of all, perhaps, is his glimpse of the thrilling early days of the invention of bebop, on furloughs to New York. Every jazz fan wishes to have been in those smokey, after-hours clubs where Parker and Gillespie were inventing new ways to use harmonies - ways that give Goonan a metaphor for the changeable nature of time.
Dance comes to realize that the timeline he lives in has gone terribly wrong, with war never actually ending with the Japanese surrenders - the war times continue through the decades, and Dance cannot be free of a continuing connection to US intelligence intrigues. His burden is balanced by the hope that he can learn to use the time technology to restore his, and the world's, losses.
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LibraryThing member kd9
I nominate and vote on the Hugo awards. I even moderate panels at Baycon and Loscon about Hugo Nominees. This is the first book of 2007 that is definitely on my Hugo nominating ballot for next year.
It starts off as a simple elegiac report of one youth's experiences in World War II. Yes, he has a
Gradually, he becomes obsessed with building and working with this mysterious device. But does it work? And if it does, what is it really doing? As the years pass, he marries, has children and moves around the world. What started as a simple tale of WWII experiences opens out into deep questions of bravery, sacrifice, and Right Action. The ending is as thrilling and scary as anything from a less philosophical novel. It is a remarkable novel.
It starts off as a simple elegiac report of one youth's experiences in World War II. Yes, he has a
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background in physics and engineering and meets a mysterious Eastern European scientist, but the engineering drawings she gives him and the philosophy behind them are mysterious, possibly incomprehensible. He actually spends more time listening to modern jazz and performing the normal Army duties that are his real job.Gradually, he becomes obsessed with building and working with this mysterious device. But does it work? And if it does, what is it really doing? As the years pass, he marries, has children and moves around the world. What started as a simple tale of WWII experiences opens out into deep questions of bravery, sacrifice, and Right Action. The ending is as thrilling and scary as anything from a less philosophical novel. It is a remarkable novel.
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LibraryThing member stubbyfingers
I first looked at this book because I had read in some forums that people think it could win this year's Hugo Award. The description on Amazon was intriguing and I was excited to read the book. But it was definitely a let down. This is a story about a machine that modifies human DNA to affect how
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we perceive and move through time and to make us more empathetic and less likely to fight. Unfortunately, in the first half of this book the machine does nothing. The first half of the book is set in WWII and there is barely the faintest hint of any science fiction to it. In addition, the characters are shallow and one-dimensional. The idea the author has of comparing jazz music to the flow of time is an interesting one, but it was very poorly developed. She talked about it a lot, but never really expanded on it, and frankly I was bored of hearing about it after a while. In the second half of the book the plot got much more interesting, although the depth of the characters didn't improve. Unfortunately, we zipped through historical events so quickly in the second half, moving from WWII to the 1980's in no time flat, that the whole thing felt superficial. The climax was over before it started. All in all, there are tantalizing ideas here, but the potential is never actualized. If this book wins the Hugo I'll be sorely disappointed. Show Less
LibraryThing member cdogzilla
Explores themes around progress, the applying ethics to technological development, growing more resistant to change with age, altruism, and dealing with loss in some intriguing ways as characters live and die and live again by working on a technological macguffin across multiple timestreams. The
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technology feels a little too magical and some elements of the novel (the author's father's diary) don't quite mesh. Those reservations aside though, I'd recommend this, particularly to someone who enjoys alternate histories as a way to explore themes of technological progress and how committed idealists affect human development. Show Less
LibraryThing member EndsWell
This alternative history was an interesting read, although it did drag at times. If you enjoy World War II literature (and I am on a WWII kick for sure), with a little bit of sci-fi thrown in, then pick this one up. I may look at Goonan's Nanotech Quartet in the future.
LibraryThing member craso
This is the story of one man’s life starting with the death of his brother during the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor and ending in the 1960’s. Sam Dance is a smart young enlisted soldier who is chosen by a mysterious female physicist to work on a device that can theoretically alter reality.
The story is well written with vivid descriptions of life during World War II. We see what it is like to by a young American soldier; drinking, carousing and playing jazz. We see the extermination camps, slave labor factories and German refugees after the allies have moved into Germany. This is more a story about the Second World War than it is a science fiction story. The science fiction elements do not come to the foreground until the second half of the book. This may discourage some science fiction readers. Those who enjoy good writing, whether or not it is genre fiction, should read this book.
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The goal of the scientist is to find a way to change human being’s propensity for war. Sam and his army buddy, Wink, work on the device while they service in Europe. They don’t know how or if the device works. After the war they go there separate ways. Sam finds a job, gets married and starts a family. They meet again at a company reunion and discover that they don’t just live in different parts of the country, they live in different realities.The story is well written with vivid descriptions of life during World War II. We see what it is like to by a young American soldier; drinking, carousing and playing jazz. We see the extermination camps, slave labor factories and German refugees after the allies have moved into Germany. This is more a story about the Second World War than it is a science fiction story. The science fiction elements do not come to the foreground until the second half of the book. This may discourage some science fiction readers. Those who enjoy good writing, whether or not it is genre fiction, should read this book.
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LibraryThing member bibliojim
I should have liked this book, because I love music and science fiction. The two of them together should be like heaven. But I found that the author tries to explain music in words that don't do a good job of conjuring up the experience, and seems to try to draw parallels between jazz and other
There is a lot in the book about the development of radar which in my opinion makes good history of science but not a very interesting plot for a book of fiction. I do give the author credit for a good try, though! The author writes that her own father was involved in the development of radar, and portions of his actual written memories from the war are incorporated into the book verbatim. This had to be a great challenge to write, and was surely a work of love. Yet I think this self-imposed restriction on the content of the book hurts the narrative.
I wasn't able to get into this book from either of my supposed "lightning rods" and was disappointed. Someone else who relates to music differently or who would enjoy reading the history of some real technical developments interspersed with some far-future timetravel device will have different mileage. Not my cup of tea. Perhaps the next book she writes will appeal to me more.
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aspects of life that just don't make sense and couldn't bring in a suspension of belief. She writes explicitly in her afterward that "the physicists, chemists, and biologists of the nineteenth and twentieth centures birthed modernity and its reflection and interpretation in literature, art, and music. Our art and our science are inextricably linked." That idea is the basis of a good part of the text, but I simply don't buy it. Jazz has definite roots, and they aren't in physics or chemistry or biology. The people involved with jazz knew little or nothing of those disciplines. There is a relationship in that both areas developed contemporaneously and both probably resulted from aspects of society. Yet, creativity in music and creativity in science are fundamentally different. For one thing, musicians strive endlessly to invent something brand-new, and it need not be founded on the past. Scientists strive endlessly to learn something new, and it is always based on what's been discovered in the past. The author has an interesting idea, but it just doesn't make sense to me though the author believes it.There is a lot in the book about the development of radar which in my opinion makes good history of science but not a very interesting plot for a book of fiction. I do give the author credit for a good try, though! The author writes that her own father was involved in the development of radar, and portions of his actual written memories from the war are incorporated into the book verbatim. This had to be a great challenge to write, and was surely a work of love. Yet I think this self-imposed restriction on the content of the book hurts the narrative.
I wasn't able to get into this book from either of my supposed "lightning rods" and was disappointed. Someone else who relates to music differently or who would enjoy reading the history of some real technical developments interspersed with some far-future timetravel device will have different mileage. Not my cup of tea. Perhaps the next book she writes will appeal to me more.
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LibraryThing member bookfairie
This is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. The main character is completely devoid of flaws, he is a handsome genius who is also approachable, funny, musically talented, popular, kind, with a strong sense of wrong and right; that is to say this character is extremely boring and I
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hated him about twenty pages in. The storytelling was consistently poor and in some points even unreadable. I don't think the author has a science background, the physics of her universe were described either in strictly philosophical terms instead of employing any actual science. The worst part is when she tries to use music theory to explain physics, it's a miserable failure. Skip this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member AlanPoulter
This is a wonderful novel novel. It starts with Sam Dance hearing about Pearl Harbour on the radio. He finds out that his brother, serving in the US Navy, was killed there.This sets off the main theme of the novel, a continual rumination on why things happen and how different outcomes would have
Two elements are used to give form to this continual 'why' question. One is a device, which continually changes shape to allow it to blend with the surrounding technology, and the other is music, jazz in particular, which is used to illustrate the ability to create the new by changing elements on the fly.
The device is first given to Sam by Dr. Eliani Handtz, a Hungarian physicist who will pop up again in the novel. Handtz teaches physics, and in her meeting with Sam, introduces him to her own weird synthesis of physics and biology that she believes will lead to a better understanding of human nature, and end the human race's propensity for fratricidal warfare. The device initially resembles the AA gun radar aimer that Sam and his buddy Wink are working on. By the end of the book it has passed through a variety of forms, ending up as part of a board game in the Dance household. Along the way it has also been at crucial foci like Hiroshima and a concentration camp.To add spice, the major Intelligence agencies are also after the device...
This novel sounds rather sad and grim but the jazz motif acts as a liberator of good feelings. Sam and Wink are lucky in getting to see some of the great jazz musicians of the time, although the military police jail them for being in 'off limits' clubs. What they hear inspires them to start their their own band, first playing dance music at venues in England, then more cutting-edge material after D-Day takes them to a comfortable billet at a German cafe.
After the war Sam and Wink part but at a company reunion discover that they live in different realities. Wink's world inspires Sam to hunt out his current Handtz device, which he discovers his radical daughter has been using...
The only false note of the novel for me comes with its climax in the Sixties, which seems too pat and concentrates on one obvious event too much for hindsight to credit.
Why did this book wait five years for a paperback version?
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been better.Two elements are used to give form to this continual 'why' question. One is a device, which continually changes shape to allow it to blend with the surrounding technology, and the other is music, jazz in particular, which is used to illustrate the ability to create the new by changing elements on the fly.
The device is first given to Sam by Dr. Eliani Handtz, a Hungarian physicist who will pop up again in the novel. Handtz teaches physics, and in her meeting with Sam, introduces him to her own weird synthesis of physics and biology that she believes will lead to a better understanding of human nature, and end the human race's propensity for fratricidal warfare. The device initially resembles the AA gun radar aimer that Sam and his buddy Wink are working on. By the end of the book it has passed through a variety of forms, ending up as part of a board game in the Dance household. Along the way it has also been at crucial foci like Hiroshima and a concentration camp.To add spice, the major Intelligence agencies are also after the device...
This novel sounds rather sad and grim but the jazz motif acts as a liberator of good feelings. Sam and Wink are lucky in getting to see some of the great jazz musicians of the time, although the military police jail them for being in 'off limits' clubs. What they hear inspires them to start their their own band, first playing dance music at venues in England, then more cutting-edge material after D-Day takes them to a comfortable billet at a German cafe.
After the war Sam and Wink part but at a company reunion discover that they live in different realities. Wink's world inspires Sam to hunt out his current Handtz device, which he discovers his radical daughter has been using...
The only false note of the novel for me comes with its climax in the Sixties, which seems too pat and concentrates on one obvious event too much for hindsight to credit.
Why did this book wait five years for a paperback version?
Show Less
LibraryThing member macha
a highly unusual foray, set in 1941-1980, during which the American government acquires technology that through the application of biochemistry, complexity theory, game theory, and quantum computing strives to create and manage alternate timelines. the changing landscape takes us through the
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creation of bebop to the ending of WW2 to a revisit of the Kennedy assassination, and gradually creates a chaotic set of lightly-managed futures in which some people move across the world into differing Whens without really noticing, with individual memories adjusting to the changes in a process compared in detail to the creation of music. a truly original idea, and the minute detail of the story as time and space pass through the narrative, changing gradually into a different modern world, makes it work. highly recommended. Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Nominee — Science Fiction Novel — 2008)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Winner — Science Fiction — 2008)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Winner — 2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
9.77 inches
ISBN
0765313553 / 9780765313553