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mrs_jackal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
4.0
This book has two themes run together, one of which works better than the other.
The first theme is about Asher Sutton and what he found on the seventh planet of 61 Cygni. This is classic, magnificent sense-of-wonder sf, told in Simak's unhurried, thoughtful prose.
The second theme is about the world Sutton came from: a far-future society of humans and their android servants, treated as inferiors although they're the same in almost every respect as humans made in the traditional way.
I don't believe in this future society, so for me the book's second theme agonizes pointlessly over a non-issue. The Android Problem was a preoccupation of sf writers around the middle of the twentieth century, but I think it's been out of fashion for decades by now, and it has the quaintness you sometimes find when writers in the past imagine the future and get it wrong.
Thus, this novel is in part a great classic, but it also has elements that don't really stand the test of time. Simak was of my grandparents' generation, approximately; and by now I'm old enough to be a grandfather myself.
The first theme is about Asher Sutton and what he found on the seventh planet of 61 Cygni. This is classic, magnificent sense-of-wonder sf, told in Simak's unhurried, thoughtful prose.
The second theme is about the world Sutton came from: a far-future society of humans and their android servants, treated as inferiors although they're the same in almost every respect as humans made in the traditional way.
I don't believe in this future society, so for me the book's second theme agonizes pointlessly over a non-issue. The Android Problem was a preoccupation of sf writers around the middle of the twentieth century, but I think it's been out of fashion for decades by now, and it has the quaintness you sometimes find when writers in the past imagine the future and get it wrong.
Thus, this novel is in part a great classic, but it also has elements that don't really stand the test of time. Simak was of my grandparents' generation, approximately; and by now I'm old enough to be a grandfather myself.
lyleblosser's review against another edition
Not my favorite Clifford Simak tale, but still intriguing with Simak's usual deftness of writing.
b1ueb0y's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
thebeardedpoet's review against another edition
4.0
Should synthetic life (androids) have equal rights with humanity? Also at what point does an artificially enhanced person cease to be human? These are some of the questions at sake in this wacky and wild science-fiction novel. It includes such things as alien thought-beings, androids, resurrection, time travel, secondary body (and mind) back-up systems, the ability to inhabit the thoughts of others, the ability to power a space ship with pure thought, and more--including mundane space-travel, gun battles, and gadgets. The plot has to do with a sacred book that triggers a war. Some say the book argues for the equality of all intelligent life. Some would rather the book say that humanity is uniquely significant and superior. The man who is destined to write that book is hunted by time-travelers, most of whom want to influence his writing of the book for the sake of their cause. I found the novel to be confusing sometimes but on the whole an entertaining read.
corymojojojo's review against another edition
5.0
Simak has a beautiful way of combining cool sci-fi ideas with a real down-to-earth, cozy feel that I just love. This is a really clever time travel story, but really it’s about seeing humans as equals with all types of life, no matter the origin, and how corporate greed and ethnocentrism corrupts that. There are a lot of layers to this story, and while it wasn’t as tight as his other books I’ve read, it all came together quite satisfyingly in the end. Simak has some beautiful prose and philosophies that I really connected with in here. At this point Simak is competing for my favorite author, I can always count on his writing to hook me in and leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.
weaselweader's review against another edition
4.0
A true sci-fi classic winner!
TIME AND AGAIN opens in a distant future on earth that includes androids, robots, interactive television, weather control, mentophones - an ingenious device that allows instantaneous interstellar communication, dramatically extended life spans, travel to distant star systems and a humanity that has conquered the galaxy and spread its seed far and wide. After a 20 year absence, Asher Sutton returns to earth from an expedition to 61 Cygni, a system that until now has defeated every attempt at landing and exploration. In the attempt, Sutton has miraculously survived a crash that left his ship disabled and, by all odds, should have killed him. His ship has somehow managed to return to earth apparently without the actual ability to do so and Sutton, through some extraordinary feat of bio-medical engineering, appears to have been modified into something that is considerably less than completely human. He is mentally linked to someone he refers to as "Johnny". The administration on earth wonder what all of this can possibly mean.
On the surface, TIME AND AGAIN is a thrilling story of time travel. Sutton is carrying a book which he has not yet actually written - a summary of his philosophies that, in a not too distant future, will result in the achievement of the dreams of the Android Equality League, their right to be recognized as sentient beings and a release from their treatment as mere property. But, before the book can even be actually written, Sutton must survive assassination attempts by revisionists - humans from the future who are using time travel as the means to prevent its publication.
Simak's personal credo that reflects his quiet midwest upbringing, his pastoral approach to the science fiction genre and his concerns about humanity and its use of technology as a means to violent conflict are never very far from the surface. Indeed, they rather shine through the writing like a beacon. But, make no mistake - Simak never falls into the trap of preaching. The clear social commentary is never intrusive and never detracts for even an instant from an exciting story line.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak was openly critical of humanity's impression of its own importance in the universe - "Not by strength did he hold his starry outposts, but by something else ... by depth of human character, by his colossal conceit, by his ferocious conviction that Man was the greatest living thing the galaxy had ever spawned. All this in spite of much evidence that he was not ... evidence that he took and evaluated and cast aside, scornful of any greatness that was not ruthless and aggressive".
He also used comedy as a vehicle to make a dark statement against weapons. He jests about "the code" having been changed to require everyone under age 100 to bear arms as a way of passing comment on his feelings against the US's unique constitutional amendment regarding the "right" to bear arms. His philosophical argument against Sutton's attempted use of the Christian commandment "Thou shalt not kill" as an exemption from the code is perhaps a little blunt but does serve to point out some of the ironies involved in, for example, a right wing Bible Belt fundamentalist Christian packin' an iron.
Finally, his creation of the Android Equality League represents an ingenious platform from which Simak can express his concerns about the ethical issues related to the problems of advanced artificial intelligence and voice his courageous, clear condemnation of the white's treatment of black people in the 1960s US and his support of the civil rights movement.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak has created a story that many have suggested is his finest work. I was excited with the turn of every page and found I couldn't disagree with them!
Paul Weiss
TIME AND AGAIN opens in a distant future on earth that includes androids, robots, interactive television, weather control, mentophones - an ingenious device that allows instantaneous interstellar communication, dramatically extended life spans, travel to distant star systems and a humanity that has conquered the galaxy and spread its seed far and wide. After a 20 year absence, Asher Sutton returns to earth from an expedition to 61 Cygni, a system that until now has defeated every attempt at landing and exploration. In the attempt, Sutton has miraculously survived a crash that left his ship disabled and, by all odds, should have killed him. His ship has somehow managed to return to earth apparently without the actual ability to do so and Sutton, through some extraordinary feat of bio-medical engineering, appears to have been modified into something that is considerably less than completely human. He is mentally linked to someone he refers to as "Johnny". The administration on earth wonder what all of this can possibly mean.
On the surface, TIME AND AGAIN is a thrilling story of time travel. Sutton is carrying a book which he has not yet actually written - a summary of his philosophies that, in a not too distant future, will result in the achievement of the dreams of the Android Equality League, their right to be recognized as sentient beings and a release from their treatment as mere property. But, before the book can even be actually written, Sutton must survive assassination attempts by revisionists - humans from the future who are using time travel as the means to prevent its publication.
Simak's personal credo that reflects his quiet midwest upbringing, his pastoral approach to the science fiction genre and his concerns about humanity and its use of technology as a means to violent conflict are never very far from the surface. Indeed, they rather shine through the writing like a beacon. But, make no mistake - Simak never falls into the trap of preaching. The clear social commentary is never intrusive and never detracts for even an instant from an exciting story line.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak was openly critical of humanity's impression of its own importance in the universe - "Not by strength did he hold his starry outposts, but by something else ... by depth of human character, by his colossal conceit, by his ferocious conviction that Man was the greatest living thing the galaxy had ever spawned. All this in spite of much evidence that he was not ... evidence that he took and evaluated and cast aside, scornful of any greatness that was not ruthless and aggressive".
He also used comedy as a vehicle to make a dark statement against weapons. He jests about "the code" having been changed to require everyone under age 100 to bear arms as a way of passing comment on his feelings against the US's unique constitutional amendment regarding the "right" to bear arms. His philosophical argument against Sutton's attempted use of the Christian commandment "Thou shalt not kill" as an exemption from the code is perhaps a little blunt but does serve to point out some of the ironies involved in, for example, a right wing Bible Belt fundamentalist Christian packin' an iron.
Finally, his creation of the Android Equality League represents an ingenious platform from which Simak can express his concerns about the ethical issues related to the problems of advanced artificial intelligence and voice his courageous, clear condemnation of the white's treatment of black people in the 1960s US and his support of the civil rights movement.
In TIME AND AGAIN, Simak has created a story that many have suggested is his finest work. I was excited with the turn of every page and found I couldn't disagree with them!
Paul Weiss
cametoconquer's review against another edition
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25