Time and the Soldier

I love science fiction because it pushes the envelope in many ways. As a genre, it tends to focus on big ideas, sometimes at the expense of characterization, but the best writers find ways to turn “what ifs” into great stories.

TIME AND THE SOLDIER, a 2011 book by veteran SF author, David Dvorkin, brings new twists to a classic time travel scenario. His tale starts in 1945 with a secret, Manhattan Project-style operation that discovers the rudiments of time travel just before the end of World War II. Dvorkin takes soldiers good at surviving and killing, mixes them with equally focused and determined women, and sends them “downstream” into the future on a complicated, 150 year journey that tests all their skills and determination. That journey also tests their humanity and severely stretches the bonds of love between them. At times, the reader may not know quite who to root for. In the end, we have to root for our own flawed humanity and what we might create in some unknowable future.

Learn more about Dvorkin at www.dvorkin.com. His science fiction titles have included three Star Trek novels. He’s also an author of mysteries, horror, and some non-fiction titles. If you happen to haunt SF Cons, he turns up regularly at MileHiCon in late October in Denver.