Joe Haldeman – The Accidental Time Machine
Finally, I turned over to some science-fiction novel again. Browsing in some recommendations, I found out about Joe Haldeman, who is very well known for his SF. So I decided to purchase The Accidental Time Machine for a first read of this author, and I was in no way disappointed.
Haldeman’s writing is clear and eidetic, the protagonists are well introduced and become three-dimensional throughout the story, which starts somewhat in the future from now, but still reasonable close to be familiar to the reader. It jumps right into the matter of the novel, when Matthew Fuller accidentally discovers the time machine. After some testing, he dreams of a bright, rich, and popular future of his, but he causes rather trouble when jumping into the future.
Haldeman sets out very uncommon scenarios each time Matthew travels further into the future, which is the only direction the time machine goes. It’s not at all as the protagonist imagined, and neither what the reader expects from what one knows about time travelling stories since H.G.Wells. Especially, the story does not end, where it begins, but still delivers a closed and somewhat surprising loop wrt. the plot.
Very good read, enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully, soon again.