A.E. Albert: A Writer's Blog

Creative Methods of Time Travel in Literature
by A.E. Albert
@aealbert23

Creative Methods of

Time Travel in

Literature

When most people think of time travel, they think of a machine.  Or, sometimes the mode of transportation is vague and is left to the reader's imagination.  Here are few imaginative methods of time travel contrived by a few very imaginative authors.


1. The Time Machine: by H.G. Wells, 1895

A scientist and inventor, only identified as the time traveler, tells his dinner guests about his adventures in time.  The world is a very different place in 802, 701 AD.  Humans have evolved into two separate species, the Eloi and the Morlocks. What ensues is the protagonist's analysis of these opposite societies.  




Method: The Time Sled- A mechanized machine that takes it and it's occupants through time. 


"We are always getting away from the present moment. Our mental existence, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave.”
― H.G. Wells, The Time Machine


2. The Time Traveler's Wife: by Audrey Niffenegger, 2003

A man with a mysterious genetic condition has the ability to travel through time at random.  He meets his future wife and the author tells the tale of their very unorthodox life as the protagonist pops in and out of it.






Method: Genetic ability.

“Time is priceless, but it’s Free. You can't own it, you can use it. You can spend it. But you can't keep it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.”
― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife


3. Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban: by J.K. Rowling, 1999

Hermione has been taking more classes than she can possibly fit into her schedule.  Harry discovers the truth when they must travel back in time to save an ornery hippogriff and Sirius Black.






Method: Enchanted object. 

“Mysterious thing, Time. Powerful, and when meddled with, dangerous.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


4. A Wrinkle in Time: by Madeleine L'Engle

After our young hero's father mysteriously disappears, they take his experimental device and travel through time and space in order to find him.







Method: Tesseract- An object which can tap into the 5th dimension and fold the fabric of space and time.

"Speaking of ways, pet, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time


5. A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens, 1843

Ebenezer Scrooge has lived a long life of greed and selfishness.  On Christmas Eve, the ghosts of christmas decide that Scrooge is redeemable and embark on an adventure through time to help him see the error of his ways.





Method: The spirit of Christmas

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol



Here's a list of literature's 15 most famous time travel Novels:


1. The Time Machine: by H.G. Wells

2. The Time Traveler's Wife: by Audrey Niffenegger

3. Outlander: Diana Gabaldon

4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: by Mark Twain

5. A Wrinkle in Time: by Madeleine L'Engle

6. Slaughterhouse 5: by Kurt Vonnegut

7. The Accidental Time Machine: Joe Haldeman

8. The End of Eternity: Isaac Asimov

9. Timeline: Michael Crichton

10. A Door into Summer: Robert A. Heinlein

11. Hyperion: by Dan Simmons

12. The Shadow out of Time: by H.P Lovecraft

13. Guardians of Time: by Marianne Curley

14. Sound of Thunder: by Ray Bradbury

15. The Forever War: by Joe Haldeman