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When I was in school I read an amazing time travel novel. I can remember the details of the story but can't recall the name of the book or the author. I was hoping that somebody might be able to help me remember!
In the story time travel was possible by entering a sort of coccoon-like pod which would then project you through time. I have a vague recollection that only backwards travel was possible, but might have this bit wrong.
The further away from your starting time that you went, the less distinct that your surroundings would become, the less "real". Furthermore, if you met travellers who had started their journey from a time far removed from your own, they would likewise seem ghostlike and insubstantial. The closer your starting times were, the easier it was for you interact with other travellers. The novel described it like talking to someone through thick, smoky glass.
There was also a sort of "common ground" that travellers would walk upon, as if the universe had a floor and reality sat upon this floor. When far removed from your own time, you would be walking around on this weird floor as opposed to the landscape of the time that you were visiting.
There were also a few sex scenes where the travellers were from relatively close points of origin, with the emotional and physical sensations being slightly dulled due to the fact that the lovers were from different times and so couldn't interact fully with each other.
The most interesting aspect of the novel, though, was the revelation that time was flowing in the opposite direction to that which we believed it to. So the future was actually the past and vice versa. The characters travel to the beginning of time, only to discover that it is actually the end (or was it the other way around, lol!)
Anyway, I do recall that the author's surname began with an early letter in the alphabet (probably an A or a B), as the book was in that part of the library.
It has been over 20 years since I read the novel and I still think about it often. I'd love to be able to remember who wrote it and what it was called and get myself a copy.
Can anybody help?!
In the story time travel was possible by entering a sort of coccoon-like pod which would then project you through time. I have a vague recollection that only backwards travel was possible, but might have this bit wrong.
The further away from your starting time that you went, the less distinct that your surroundings would become, the less "real". Furthermore, if you met travellers who had started their journey from a time far removed from your own, they would likewise seem ghostlike and insubstantial. The closer your starting times were, the easier it was for you interact with other travellers. The novel described it like talking to someone through thick, smoky glass.
There was also a sort of "common ground" that travellers would walk upon, as if the universe had a floor and reality sat upon this floor. When far removed from your own time, you would be walking around on this weird floor as opposed to the landscape of the time that you were visiting.
There were also a few sex scenes where the travellers were from relatively close points of origin, with the emotional and physical sensations being slightly dulled due to the fact that the lovers were from different times and so couldn't interact fully with each other.
The most interesting aspect of the novel, though, was the revelation that time was flowing in the opposite direction to that which we believed it to. So the future was actually the past and vice versa. The characters travel to the beginning of time, only to discover that it is actually the end (or was it the other way around, lol!)
Anyway, I do recall that the author's surname began with an early letter in the alphabet (probably an A or a B), as the book was in that part of the library.
It has been over 20 years since I read the novel and I still think about it often. I'd love to be able to remember who wrote it and what it was called and get myself a copy.
Can anybody help?!
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