Rivers of Time
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 First edition of Rivers of Time |
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| Author | L. Sprague de Camp |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short stories |
| Publisher | Baen Books |
| Released | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 258 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 067172195X |
Rivers of Time is a 1993 collection of short stories by science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in paperback by Baen Books. All but two of the pieces were originally published between 1956 and 1993 in the magazines Galaxy, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and Asimov's Science Fiction, and the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur. The remaining pieces were first published in the present work.
The book collects the author's nine tales of time-traveling hunter Reginald Rivers, the hero of his 1956 classic, "A Gun for Dinosaur". He wrote another Rivers story in 1990 to fulfil a request by Robert Silverberg for a dinosaur story for his 1991 anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur; afterwards, de Camp added to the sequence until he had enough for a book.
The Rivers stories take the form of first-person narratives by the protagonist told to companions whose identities vary, but who have in common the fact that their contributions to the conversation are omitted, and must be inferred from those of Rivers. Every story is an anecdote from Rivers' career as a conductor of time safaris to previous eras, both to hunt prehistoric creatures and for scientific purposes (and, occasionally, anti-scientific purposes). In addition to Rivers, the main recurring characters include fellow members of his safari firm, including his partner Chandra Aiyar, camp boss Beauregard Black, and cook Ming. In most instances, the actions of their human clients prove more troublesome than those of the extinct fauna, a theme set in "Faunas", a 1968 poem by de Camp that precedes the stories. An afterword by the the author tells how he came to write the stories.
[edit] Contents
- "Faunas" (poem)
- "A Gun for Dinosaur"
- "The Cayuse"
- "Crocamander Quest"
- "Miocene Romance"
- "The Synthetic Barbarian"
- "The Satanic Illusion"
- "The Big Splash"
- "The Mislaid Mastodon"
- "The Honeymoon Dragon"
- "Afterword"
[edit] Trivia
A tenth story of Reginald Rivers, "Gun, Not for Dinosaur", authored by Chris Bunch, appeared in Harry Turtledove's 2005 tribute anthology honoring L. Sprague de Camp, The Enchanter Completed.
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