The River of Time
by David Brin 
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This collection of short science-fiction stories by the author of the Uplift series includes The Crystal Tears which won a Hugo Award on publication.Tags
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A reread of a short story collection from Brin that contains some interesting stories. Some fantasy, some alternate history, some speculative fiction. As is usually the case with story collections some are hits and some are misses, but all worthwhile reads.
My favorites are...
The Crystal Spheres - an interesting take on why we've never seen aliens in our neck of the woods
The Loom of Thessaly - an archaeologist travels to a place that he can't get to, only to find the loom of the world and the ancient beings that weave our lives
Captain America Meets Thor - written many years before the MCU, its an interesting alternate history take on WWII and how the Asgardians (though not from Asgard in this story) might have impacted that show more struggle.
Lungfish - Another interesting take on why we haven't seen aliens around. From Brin's afterword of the story; Crystal Spheres is what happens when we are too early to find "neighbors". Lungfish is how it might go down, if we were too late.
8/10
S: 9/12/17 - 9/23/17 (12 Days) show less
My favorites are...
The Crystal Spheres - an interesting take on why we've never seen aliens in our neck of the woods
The Loom of Thessaly - an archaeologist travels to a place that he can't get to, only to find the loom of the world and the ancient beings that weave our lives
Captain America Meets Thor - written many years before the MCU, its an interesting alternate history take on WWII and how the Asgardians (though not from Asgard in this story) might have impacted that show more struggle.
Lungfish - Another interesting take on why we haven't seen aliens around. From Brin's afterword of the story; Crystal Spheres is what happens when we are too early to find "neighbors". Lungfish is how it might go down, if we were too late.
8/10
S: 9/12/17 - 9/23/17 (12 Days) show less
The River of Time by David Brin (1987) short stories
My favorite story is "Thor Meets Captain America". ..the Nazis find a way to channel the Norse pantheon of gods and turn the war around at the last minute. But the fact that humans have souls, and these beings don't, means we still have a chance.
Then comes "The Loom of Thessaly"…how do you outwit people who are older than humanity? By taking advantage of their reclusiveness…and their ignorance.
These are not super fantastic stories, but they are definitely readable, and more than a little memorable. I gave this collect 4 stars because, while all the tales are good reads, only a few approach captivating.
My favorite story is "Thor Meets Captain America". ..the Nazis find a way to channel the Norse pantheon of gods and turn the war around at the last minute. But the fact that humans have souls, and these beings don't, means we still have a chance.
Then comes "The Loom of Thessaly"…how do you outwit people who are older than humanity? By taking advantage of their reclusiveness…and their ignorance.
These are not super fantastic stories, but they are definitely readable, and more than a little memorable. I gave this collect 4 stars because, while all the tales are good reads, only a few approach captivating.
Welp. Crystal Spheres, the one that won the awards, is a fine story, but not amazing. I wonder what I'll think of the rest...
The Loom of Thessaly is a lot of fun, but with a serious message. Reads a bit like a 'three wishes' tale. Memorable. Title is literal.
The Fourth Vocation of George Gustaf is a mostly funny What If, bur it dryly points out that it could be a scary one, too.
Senses Three and Six is sort of Literary, sort of pretentious... sorry, but no.
Toujours Voir is an attempt at exactly 250 words. Reads like it's meant to be melancholy or something but the bit I understand is evil horror.
A Stage of Memory is ok, but I liked Walter Miller's tribute to a washed up actor better.
Just a Hint is an idea story in the best classic vein, show more but the punch is weak.
Tank Farm Dynamo is a tech idea story and I didn't understand the tech.
Thor Meets Captain America is an ugly alternate history, written for a challenge and not because Brin's heart was in it.
Lungfish is the only story that has a female character as a full-fledged person. It's also the one that explores most directly the idea of personhood. "Today 'mankind' included all types... all citizens so long as they could appreciate music, a sunset, compassion, and a good joke.... defined not by his shape but by a heritage and a common set of values."
The River of Time was inspired by a dream and reads, imo, like a near-nightmare. Just, no, if you believe it, David, write it out, if not, don't waste my time with this scrap of nonsense.
Y'know, I've tried Brin a couple of other times, too. Given that he says himself that he writes novels differently than short stories, and that I only kinda liked these, I do think I'm about done.
[b:Back to Methuselah|737580|Back to Methuselah|George Bernard Shaw|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356126476l/737580._SY75_.jpg|3089881] has been added to my lists.
Not a horrible book, but I just can't round up from 2.4 stars. show less
The Loom of Thessaly is a lot of fun, but with a serious message. Reads a bit like a 'three wishes' tale. Memorable. Title is literal.
The Fourth Vocation of George Gustaf is a mostly funny What If, bur it dryly points out that it could be a scary one, too.
Senses Three and Six is sort of Literary, sort of pretentious... sorry, but no.
Toujours Voir is an attempt at exactly 250 words. Reads like it's meant to be melancholy or something but the bit I understand is evil horror.
A Stage of Memory is ok, but I liked Walter Miller's tribute to a washed up actor better.
Just a Hint is an idea story in the best classic vein, show more but the punch is weak.
Tank Farm Dynamo is a tech idea story and I didn't understand the tech.
Thor Meets Captain America is an ugly alternate history, written for a challenge and not because Brin's heart was in it.
Lungfish is the only story that has a female character as a full-fledged person. It's also the one that explores most directly the idea of personhood. "Today 'mankind' included all types... all citizens so long as they could appreciate music, a sunset, compassion, and a good joke.... defined not by his shape but by a heritage and a common set of values."
The River of Time was inspired by a dream and reads, imo, like a near-nightmare. Just, no, if you believe it, David, write it out, if not, don't waste my time with this scrap of nonsense.
Y'know, I've tried Brin a couple of other times, too. Given that he says himself that he writes novels differently than short stories, and that I only kinda liked these, I do think I'm about done.
[b:Back to Methuselah|737580|Back to Methuselah|George Bernard Shaw|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356126476l/737580._SY75_.jpg|3089881] has been added to my lists.
Not a horrible book, but I just can't round up from 2.4 stars. show less
This book is a collection of David Brin's short stories. Most of the stories demonstrates Brin's ability to blend science fiction and fantasy tastefully and almost seamlessly. Each story is followed by an "author's note"; which only increases my respect for Brin's integrity.
A collection of Brin's short stories and novellas with some commentary by the author. Generally good stuff if you like Brin. It varies from scifi to fantasy.
Collection of short science fantasy stories by David Brin. My favorite story (not surprisingly one of the more "pure" SF stories) was "Tank Farm Dynamo."
Some stories better than others. My favorite was "Thor meets Captain America", where the Nazis were close to winning WWII because they had managed to summon the Norse gods to fight on their side.
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David Brin is a scientist, writer, and public speaker. He was born in Pasadena, California, on October 9, 1950. Brin attended the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and later earned a doctorate at the University of California. He accepted a position as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company. Brin is a former fellow at the California show more Space Institute and serves on several government and nongovernment advisory committees dealing with issues involved with technological growth. Brin has lectured all over the world on such topics as space flight, ecology, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Brin deals with global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, and pollution of Earth. His 1987 novel, The Uplift War, received the Hugo Award and the Locus Award. His novels have been translated into 20 languages. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
David Brin is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Awards and Honors
Awards
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The River of Time
- Original publication date
- 1986
- People/Characters
- Chris Turing; Loki; Thor; Clotho; Lachesis; Atropos (show all 8); The Fates; George Gustaf
- Dedication
- To my teachers - Jim Arnold and Paul Libby, Charles Bures and Charlie Peck, and especially Dr. Henry Booker - for their patience and mercy
- First words
- It was just a luckychance that I had been defrosted when I was – the very year that farprobe 992573-aa4 reported back that it had found a goodstar with a shattered crystalsphere. [The Crystal Spheres]
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Yet it widens, and deepens as it flows.
And eventually, there is the Sea.
[The River of Time] - Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Contents:
Destiny
*The Crystal Spheres
*The Loom of Thessaly
*The Fourth Vocation of George Gustaf
Recollection
*Senses Three and Six
*Toujours
*A S... (show all)tage of Memory
Speculation
*Just a Hint
*Tank Farm Dynamo
*Thor Meets Captain America
Propagation
*Lungfish
*The River of Time
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Statistics
- Members
- 913
- Popularity
- 29,210
- Reviews
- 10
- Rating
- (3.51)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 7
