The Time Traders - Softcover

Norton, Andre

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0441812554 ISBN 13: 9780441812554

Publisher: Ace Books, 1987

Synopsis

If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past.

That was why young Ross Murdock, above average in intelligence but a belligerently independent nonconformist, found himself on a "hush-hush" government project at a secret base in the Arctic. The very qualities that made him a menace in civilized society were valuable traits in a man who must successfully act the part of a merchant trader of the Beaker people during the Bronze Age.

For once they were transferred by time machine to the remote Baltic region where the Russian post was located, Ross and his partner Ashe were swept into a fantastic action-filled adventure involving Russians, superstitious prehistoric men, and the aliens of a lost galactic civilization that demanded every ounce of courage the Americans possessed.

Andre Norton's earlier books, Star Born and The Stars Are Ours!, have made this author one of the most popular writers in the science-fiction field. In this daring adventure into the mists of time, readers will find themselves transported to still more exciting "other" worlds.

*

"Effectively utilizing the concept of time travel, the author . . . has written another imaginative, action-filled science fiction story for teenage boys. Young Ross Murdock ... is sent back into the Bronze Age, discovers a derelict galactic ship, and finds himself fighting . . . to gain control of the secrets of space flight."--ALA Booklist

About this title

Review

At the end of this century Ross Murdock is given the choice between prison and a dangerous role in a secret mission. Accepting the latter, but determined to escape at the first opportunity, the intelligent young man finds himself involved in a project which demands that he be projected back to various periods in history. For the Americans, aware that the Russians, somewhere in time, have learned the secret of space travel, must for the sake of national safety, obtain the same secret. Hurled back into the earliest ages of man, Ross' volatile intelligence is, for the first time, stimulated as he risks death, posing as a member of prehistoric worlds. By the time the Americans gain control of the secret, Ross is rehabilitated and is a willing participant in the benevolent army of the future. An interesting idea, well handled by Andre Norton, science fiction expert, who projects his reader deftly both backwards and forwards in time and injects his narrative with considerable and interesting historical information. (Kirkus Reviews) --Kirkus Reviews

Edition details

• Publisher: Ace Books
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0441812554
• ISBN 13: 9780441812554
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback