The Big List of Time Travel Adventures

 1981



   The Saga of Pliocene Exile
by Julian May
First book: 1981

A band of twenty-second century exiles steps through a gate to the Pliocene where they hope to start a new life, but they didn’t expect to find exotic aliens for company.
  1. The Many-Colored Land (1981)
  2. The Golden Torc (1982)
  3. The Nonborn King (1983)
  4. The Adversary (1984)

 “None of the above,” said Aiken Drum. “I choose Exile.” 




   “Death in Vesunna”
by Harry Turtledove and Elaine O’Byrne (as by Eric Iverson and Elaine O’Byrne)
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, 19 Jan 1981

Lou Muller and his partner-in-crime Mark Alvarez (a.k.a. Lucius and Marcus) travel back from 2059A.D. to obtain Sophokles’s lost play Aleadai, but when the owner of the rare manuscript won’t part with it, they kill him and take it, counting on the obscurity of the backwater second-century town to stop the Time Patrol from discovering their foul deed. That may be so, but they didn’t count on Gaius Tero, one of the second century’s finest, and the sharp-tongued physician Kleandros.

 Whatever. And as for the Time Patrol, why are we here in the boondocks instead of at the library of Alexandria? Why do we insist on so much privacy when we make our deals? Just so they won’t run across us. And they won’t. 


   “The Final Days”
by David Langford
First publication: A Spadeful of Spacetime, Feb 1981

During an important presidential election between the slick Harman and the less polished Ferris, scientists detect eyes that are watching Harman from the future, perhaps because he is fated to be such an important political figure.

 The people have this hint of the winning side, as they might from newspaper predictions or opinion polls—but the choice remains theirs, a decisions which we politicians humbly accept. 


   “Graffiti”
by Gary Alexander
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, 19 Apr 1981

Seventeen years working as the nighttime janitor in the Winston Building and Harv Blasingame has neer seen the likes of this futuristic graffiti that refuses to be obliterated.

 THE ALLIANCE IS AN IMPOTENT SHAM, IT’S PRINCIPAL EXPORT BEING STUPIDITY AND TREACHERY. 


Some of the stories were collected in this 1985 collection.   The Pshrinks Anonymous Stories
by Janet Asimov (as by J.O. Jeppson)
First time travel: Asimov’s Science Fiction, 13 Apr 1981

I haven’t read all of psychiatrist Janet Asimov’s stories of a lunchclub whose Pshrink members relate to each other stories about various patients, but the two I did read had fantastic case studies involving time travel.
  1. The Hotter Flash (13 Apr 1981) Menopausal time travel in Asimov’s
  2. The Time-Warp Trauma (21 Dec 1981) Central Park time warps in Asimov’s

 Doctors don’t know anything. I lived through it, and I know that my hot flashes certainly were hotter. 

—“The Hotter Flash”


   The Cases of Ben Hardy, Time Detective
by Warren Salomon
First story: Asimov’s Science Fiction, 11 May 1981

For me, Salomon’s first story of Ben Hardy, hard-boiled temporal private eye, was about one Delorean shy of having enough boisterous fun that I could completely ignore the inconsistencies in the time-travel model—but even so, I had fun as Ben attempted to restore time to its rightful path for heiress Patricia Wadsworth (and in the process try to figure out the familial relations between himself, Pat, Pat’s parents, the inventor of time travel, and that dastardly lawyer).
  1. Time & Punishment (11 May 1981) first story in Asimov
  2. Time on My Hands (Oct 1982) in Asimov’s
  3. As Time Goes By (Feb 1984) in Asimov’s

 They all say that. “Why is it,” I asked her, “you seem to remember the, ah, original sequence? In a reality change, memories are altered along with everything else. How can you be certain that time has been tampered with?” That question usually ends it right there. 




   Star Trek: The Entropy Effect
by Vonda N. McIntyre
First publication: Jun 1981

Spock and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise transport a time-traveling criminal, Dr. Georges Mordreaux, between planets.

 The effort required to change an event is proportional to the square of its distance in the past. The curve of a power function approaches infinity rather quickly. 




   The Day Time Ended
aka Time Warp, aka Vortex, aka Earth’s Final Fury, aka Black Thunder
by Wayne Schmidt, J. Larry Carroll, David Schmoeller, et.al. (Bud Cardos, director)
First release: 31 Jul 1981

After an hour or so of mundane conversation, a triple supernova, a UFO, a tiny mannikin/alien, and creepy lights, the Williams family and their horses are transported through a time-space warp to an unknown time for the other twenty minutes of the movie. (The creepy lights stick around, too.) It’s hard to tell for sure, but I think they’re going to live out their lives amongst the weird lights and crystal structures of this new time. Sadly, I never did see the giant lizard.

 Steve, you know what this is, don’tcha? It’s a time-space warp. 


   “Dinosaur Weather”
by Dona Vaughn
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, 3 Aug 1981

The real reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs becomes apparent, a reason that makes a certain restaurant cat very happy and very fat.

 I frowned and made a mental note to buy an umbrella. 


   “On the Nature of Time”
by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini
First publication: Amazing, Sep 1981

A boy grows up hating his father; hence, when he invents a time machine, he uses it to go back and kill his father before his own conception.

 When I was sixteen I wished that the dream of my father’s murder had not been a dream at all. 




   Superbook
by Akiyoshi Sakai
First episode: 1 Oct 1981

Young Chris Peeper finds a magic Bible that transports him, his friend Joy, and his robot Gizmo back to Old Testament happenings. The first run was anime, followed by a second run of 3-D CGI animation.

 ♫ Chris and Joy and everyone were having lots of fun. Superbook fell off the shelf: look what they’ve done. When it hit the computer, oh, they were surprised. Superbook got programmed in; now it’s computerized.♫  




   Ulysses 31
created by Jean Chalopin and Nina WOlmark
First time travel: 31 Oct 1981

When a future Ulysses angers the gods, he and his children are exiled to travel space forever. Time travel occurs in the ninth episode, when they enter the domain of Chronos, and in a later episode where they head back to meet the original Ulysses.

 Time! I must turn it back! This must work! 




   Time Bandits
by Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin (Gilliam director)
First release: 6 Nov 1981

A boy’s bedroom is invaded by six midgets who have stolen The Almighty One’s map which then leads the whole lot of them on adventures through time.

 Is it all ready? Right. Come on then. Back to creation. We mustn’t waste any more time. They’ll think I’ve lost control again and put it all down to evolution. 


   “End Game”
by Brian Aldiss
First publication: Asimov`'s Science Fiction, 21 Dec 1981

Thing wonderous: a review that is palindromic. Yes, palindromic! Is that review a wonderous thing?

 Thunder. Distant sound.
Questions posed shake universes like constructs , like universes, shake posed questions, sound distant thunder. 



No Time Travel. Move along.
  “These Stones Will Remember” by Reginald Bretnor, Asimov’s, 16 Feb 1981 [viewing the past ]

  “The Jaunt” by Stephen King, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Jun 1981 [differing time rates ]

  “The Gernsback Continuum” by William Gibson, Universe 11, Jun 1981 [alternate timelines ]

  “Liros: A Tale of the Quintana Roo” by James Tiptree, Jr., Asimov’s, 28 Sep 1981 [no definite time travel ]
  aka “What Came Ashore at Lirios”

  “The Pusher” by John Varley, F&SF, Oct 1981 [time dilation ]

 

19 items are in the time-travel list for these search settings.
Thanks for visiting my time-travel page, and thanks to the many sources that provided stories and more (see the Links and Credits in the menu at the top). —Michael (main@colorado.edu)