When Murdoch was summoned to his grandfather's isolated Scottish castle, he had no idea of the old man's latest discovery -- nor where it would lead him. Sir Charles, a genius in far-out physics, had found a flew in the law of conservation of energy; in any process, an incredibly tiny increment of energy escaped -- back through time! Using this "tau" radiation, he could send messages into the past.
But Murdoch discovered records of messages he knew he had never sent. Were many futures possible? Could a message from Future X alter the past -- and thus wipe out Future X? But who would be foolish enough to send a message that could eliminate his own existence?
Then disaster struck. An advanced fusion reactor threatened to destroy all Earth. Grimly, Murdoch sat down to send back the words that would destroy everything he had learned to love.
| LoC Classification |
CPB Box no. 1744 vol. 8 |
| Cover Price |
$2.25 |
| No. of Pages |
311 |
| Height x Width |
6.8
x
3.8
inch |
| Original Publication Year |
1980 |
|
| Read It |
Yes (11/2/2011) |
| Purchase Price |
$2.00 |
| Owner |
John |
| Links |
Amazon
|
|
Thrice Upon a Time (1980) 310 pages by James P. Hogan
This novel started out with a lot of theoretical discussion between the protagonists, with a lot of "I knew this guy from when I worked at..." The first discussion was about sending messages back in time, and how would that affect reality. How does it avoid a paradox? What happens to the world when a message is sent back to a time where they hadn't previously received that message?
Murdoch and Lee are Americans, who are coming to work is Scotland with Murdoch's grandfather, Charles Ross, and Ted Cartland who are pioneering this technology. One of Charles' former colleagues is Elizabeth Muir who heads the nearby fusion plant which is just about to start production.
The fusion plant spawns another round of theoretical discussion.
There is a side story of a romance between Murdoch and Anne, going on during the first half of the book. Then there is a problem, how can I say this without it being a spoiler?, which causes them to utilize the capability of the message back in time device.
The technical discussion of the fusion plant operation may have been fascinating for some, but I suggest you skim through that section. It's the interaction of the people not the number of beams of atoms that come together in the fusion process that is integral to the story.
The book was a quick read, interesting, and really held together very well. A very good stand alone novel. I really enjoyed it.
