Up the Line
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 Cover of first paperback edition |
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| Author | Robert Silverberg |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novella |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Released | 1969 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-32585-0 |
Up the Line (1969) is a time travel novella by American science fiction author Robert Silverberg. The plot revolves mainly around the paradoxes brought about by time travel, though it is also notable for the liberal dosage of sex and humor. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1970.
[edit] Plot summary
The story's protagonist is Jud Eliott III, a failed Harvard history masters student. Bored with his job as a law clerk, he takes up a position with the Time Service as a Time Courier. After an introductory course, Jud shunts up and down the time line as a tour guide to tourists visiting ancient and medieval Byzantium/Constantinople. Jud's problems include not only stupid tourists, but also greedy and mentally unstable colleagues who attempt to cause various types of havoc with the past. He is forced to break the rules in order to patch things up without drawing the attention of the Time Patrol. When he meets and falls in love with the 'marvelous transtemporal paradox called Pulcheria' - his own multi-great grandmother - Jud succumbs to the lure of the past and faces the inescapable clutches of the Time Patrol.
[edit] Reference
- Silverberg, Robert (2005). Up The Line. ibooks, Inc. ISBN 1-59687-278-0.
