The Big List of Time Travel Adventures

 1992



   “Down the River Road”
by Gregory Benford
First publication: After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jan 1992

On the verge of becoming a man, John travels a river that is an admixture of time-flow and liquid metal—or possibly of magic and science—with the goal of finding out about a father whom he barely remembers.

 John followed the boot tracks away from the launch. They led inland, so there was no time pressure to fight. His clothes dried out as he walked beneath a shimmering patch of burnt-goald worldwall that hung tantalizingly behind roiling clouds. 




   ドラゴンボール
English title: Dragon Ball (translated from Japanese)
adapted by Takao Koyama
First time travel: 8 Jan 1992

Sent to Earth as a mere baby to lay preparations for an alien invasion, Goku suffers a clonk on the head, losing all memory of his mission and subsequently becoming a champion defender of our planet. I haven’t watched enough episodes to know for sure when the first time travel occurred, but it may have been in Episode 122 of the second Dragon Ball series (Dragon Ball Z, “My Dad is Vegeta”) in which time traveler Trunks arrives with a warning. Trunk and time traveling continued into the reboot series, Dragon Ball Z Kai, which I’ve seen on the Toon network.

 Thirdly, please tell me the grown-up version of my mysterious son from the future is with you. 

—Bulma in Dragon Ball Z Kai, “Bulma Discovers a Time Machine”




  Reggie Rivers #2
“The Big Splash”
by L. Sprague de Camp
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jun 1992

Just what caused the dinosaurs’ extinction?

 The scientists had been arguing for half a century over the nature of the K-T Event. Some said a comet or a planetoid hit the Earth; others, that one or more of those big super-volcanoes, like the one that mad your Yellowstone Park, cut loose with an eruption that blanketed the Earth with ash and smoke. 




   Waxwork II: Lost in Time
by Anthony Hickox (Hickox, director)
First release: 16 Jun 1992

After the flaming climax at the end of Waxwork (which had no time travel that I could see), Mark and Sarah (a different actress) crawl home only to be followed by a disembodied hand that (before being garbage disposaled into tiny pieces) hacks Sarah’s nearly evil stepfather to death. Nobody at Sarah’s subsequent trial for murder believes that story, so after listening to a movie of dead Patrick Macnee, they escape into a series of bad horror movie remakes from Frankenstein to Aliens.

Of course, all these movies are set in different times, but is there any actual time travel? The final scene gives a definitive answer, although it does not manage to generate even half a star for my rating.

 We burned that place to the ground. Nothing could have got out. 




   Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures (Live)
created by Darren Starr
First episode: 28 Jun 1992

The Two Great Ones become the two lame ones, although the Elvis episode has some redeeming factors.

 It’s a completely creepy feeling to fail before a large group of Elvises. 




  Time Trap #2
Back to the Time Trap
by Keith Laumer
First publication: Jul 1992

Twenty-two years after the first installment, Laumer provides a sequel to Roger Tyson’s humorous adventures with powerful time traveling aliens who fling Roger back in forth in time.

 “This is Roger; he’s as helpless and bewildered as I am. We were just planning how to escape from this, ah, time trap. How did you—’
“Went in the pantry,’ Fred grunted. 




   “Two Guys from the Future”
by Terry Bisson
First publication: Omni, Aug 1992

Two guys from the future show up in an art gallery (to “salvage the works of art of your posteriors” because “no shit is fixing to hang loose any someday now.”) where they meet a security-guard-cum-artist and her boss, Mimsy.

 “We are two guys from the future.”
“Yeah, right. Now get the hell out of here!”
“Don’t shoot! Is that a gun?”
That gave me pause; it was a flashlight. 




  Reggie Rivers #3
“The Synthetic Barbarian”
by L. Sprague de Camp
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, Sep 1992

Clifton Standish’s motivation for travel to the Mesozoic is not entirely what it seems.

 One day this bloke Standish came in with his friend Hofmann, saying they wanted a time safari to cave-man days, to shoot dinosaurs the way our ancestors used to do. 




   The Ugly Little Boy
aka Child of Time
novelization by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg
First publication: Sep 1992

The story of Ms. Fellowes and Timmie is augmented by the story of what his tribe did during his time away.

 He was a very ugly little boy and Edith Fellowes loved him more dearly than anything in the world. 




   Darkwing Duck
created by Tad Stones
First time travel: 18 Sep 1992

The crimefighting duck (or his pals) time traveled at least five times, some of which used arch-nemesis Quackerjack’s Time Top (no word on whether it was stolen from Brick Bradford).
  1. Paraducks (18 Sep 1991) to earlier in DW’s life
  2. Quack of Ages (18 Nov 1991) back to 1921
  3. Time and Punishment (19 Nov 1991)     Gosalyn to the future
  4. Inherit the Wimp (19 Sep 1992) DW’s ancestors to the present
  5. Extinct Possibility (5 Dec 1992) to the time of the dinosaurs

 Need I remind you about the time with the floor wax, the peanut butter and my VCR? 




  Reggie Rivers #4
“Crocamander Quest”
by L. Sprague de Camp
First publication: The Ultimate Dinosaur, Oct 1992

Long before T. rex was king of the predators, the Triassic was terrorized by the 5-meter long amphibian K. col with a meter-long head, a powerful jaw, and rows of sharp teeth.

 Imagine a newt or salamander expanded to crocodile size, with a huge head for catching smaller fry, and you’ll have the idea. Might call it a crocamander, eh? 




   The Guns of the South
by Harry Turtledove
First publication: Oct 1992

A faction from the early 21st century brings boatloads of AK-47 machine guns back to General Lee in the War between the States.

 My friends and I—everyone who belongs to America Will Break—come from a hundred and fifty years in your future. 




   Captain Planet and the Planeteers
aka The New Adventures of Captain Planet
created by Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle
First time travel: 31 Oct 1992

Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, sends out five magic rings which are obtained by teenagers who are then tasked with protecting the planet Earth, sometimes individually and sometimes by combining to call forth Captain Planet who (among other things) can even take them into the past (“OK at the Gunfight Corral”).

 There she is, boys: my own time machine. 


   Quantum Leap Novels
First book: Nov 1992

  1. The Novel (aka Carny Knowledge) (Nov 1992)    Ashley McConnell
  2. Too Close for Comfort (Apr 1993) Ashley McConnell
  3. The Wall (Jan 1994) Ashley McConnell
  4. The Beginning (Jan 1994, UK) Julie Robitaille
  5. The Ghost and the Gumshoe (Jan 1994, UK) Julie Robitaille
  6. Prelude (Jun 1994) Ashley McConnell
  7. Knights of Morningstar (Sep 1994) Melanie Rawn
  8. Search and Rescue (Dec 1994) Melissa Crandall
  9. Random Measures (Mar 1995) Ashley McConnell
  10. Pulitzer (Jun 1995) L. Elizabeth Storm
  11. Double or Nothing (Dec 1995) C.J. Henderson
  12. Odyssey (Mar 1996) Barbara E. Walton
  13. Independence (Aug 1996) John Peel
  14. Angels Unaware (Jan 1997) L. Elizabeth Storm
  15. Obsessions (Mar 1997) Carol Davis
  16. Loch Ness Leap (Jul 1997) Sandy Schofield
  17. Heat Wave (Nov 1997) Melanie Kent
  18. Foreknowledge (Mar 1998) Christo Defillipis
  19. Song and Dance (Oct 1998) Mindy Peterman
  20. Mirror’s Edge (Feb 2000) Ester D. Reese

 “Oh, boy,” he whispered. 




  Reggie Rivers #5
“The Satanic Illusion”
by L. Sprague de Camp
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, Nov 1992

Murder most foul when religious fundamentalists plan a time safari to disprove the theory of evolution.

 It will demonstrate that all these prehistoric beasts, whereof your clients bring home heads, hides, and photographs, did not live in succession, but all at the same time. 



Romance Time Travel of 1992
Bodice rips are a more workaday mode of time travel than time ships.
  Outlander 2: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon




No Time Travel. Move along.
  “Compound Interest” by Jim Heath, Eidolon, Spring 1992 [despite title, no time travel ]

  “Atlantis” by Orson Scott Card, Grails, Oct 1992 [viewing the past ]

  The Poof Point by Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman, Nov 1992 [backward aging ]

 

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)