| Title | : | A Traveler in Time |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 14 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1953 |
A Traveler in Time Reviews
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Tongue-in-cheek time traveling tale from the curator of Cthulhu.
Vanderkamp is a crazy looking crank who lives with his nagging sister. Of Dutch decsent, he has a keen interest in the original New York when it used to be called New Amsterdam, so much so that he built his own time machine to take him back there.
I'll give Vanderkamp credit for acknowledging where he got the idea from ('H. G. Wells was there first. I owe it to Wells.'), as well as his model for the machine itself, a spinning top design stolen from the pages of Brick Bradford, a 1930s comic strip hero in the vein of Flash Gordon who I confess to never having heard of before.
Originally published in Orbit volume 1 number 2, 1953. -
Typical story about an eccentric inventor who invents a time machine and takes it back to 1650 to New Amsterdam. Told from the perspective of a newspaper reporter who is assigned to write the story as a local color piece. He doesn't believe the story, but is hard put to account for the valuable antiques that begin to show up. Not much to recommend except it's a cute way to spend a half hour or so.
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17/20 32 mins. Part of LibriVox Audiobook “Short SF Collection Vol. 058”. Quite well narrated by Dan Grozinski dg73. I’m a sucker for time traveler stories, this one is not really that great though..
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not a bad little time travel story, if a bit generic. thought the little twist at the end was fun but nothing astounding, 2.5 stars!
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...just another time travel/time machine story.
Nevertheless entertaining !
Would recommend ! -
In 1953, a man named Vanderkamp builds a time machine in his workshop in the Bowery section of Manhattan and repeatedly travels to 1650, when the neighborhood was a Dutch colony known as New Amsterdam. There, Vanderkamp befriends a Dutch woman named Anna Van Tromp who bears a striking resemblance to his nagging sister, Julie. Vanderkamp tells Anna about the future, often bringing back small appliances and gadgets from his time until one day when Vanderkamp and his sister disappear. A few weeks later, Anna appears in the Bowery.
A passable short story with a convoluted payoff. The reason for Anna’s appearance in 1953, and her subsequent fate, makes no sense in the context of the story. It was as if Derleth could not find a more suitable ending. -
Time (mostly) and space are the objectives of this story. Derleth tells us a story about time travels and he succeeds in this attempt. Elementary scientific knowledge and imagination are all it takes and Derleth is a master of both.
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An adequate story that needs a bit more. Much too close to HG Wells.
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Lowkey evil, I love it.
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Short, entertaining story
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Not very engaging...
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Honestly don't know what time traveling will be like, but does it ever seem even remotely possible?
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3,5 stars rounded up to 4.
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Not every one who was a Lovecraft contemporary was a compelling writer. Derleth succeeds outstandingly in that capacity.
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Time travel is taken very lightly in this one. Focus is on comedy that is mildly funny.
