The Accidental Time Machine

by Joe Haldeman

Book Overview

From the acclaimed author of Marsbound comes a mind-bending sci-fi adventure that will have you questioning the very fabric of time itself

Struggling grad school dropout Matt Fuller is toiling as a lowly research assistant at MIT when he inadvertently creates a time machine. With a dead-end job and a girlfriend who left him for another man, Matt has nothing to lose in taking a time-machine trip himself--or so he thinks.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441016162
• ISBN13: 9780441016167
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A plot that allows us to see many futures, and to feel satisfied with where it all ends up

I have read very few science fiction novels, preferring short fiction or non-fiction, but I can't resist time travel reading! This book was much better than I had even hoped. Mostly by accident, Matt gets control of a strange time machine---every time you use it, it takes you further into the future and further away from where it was first used. He jumps into the future many times, finding many types of societies and conditions on Earth, and along the way finds romance too. The ending made me so happy---I love ending that really tell what happened next! I do admit there were strange characters and perhaps some plot oddities, but I still give this book five stars because these didn't bother me at all---I loved reading the book, felt eager to hear what happened next and have a fairly light knowledge of physics, so mistakes in that area wouldn't bother me! I would recommend the book to any lover of time travel reading.

Science fiction reminiscient of fun, classic works

Tripping around the internet I have seen a variety of reviews for Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Joe Haldeman's latest offering, The Accidental Time Machine. They range from effusive praise to damning criticism and everything in between. What many of them do, without fail, is admit that Joe Haldeman is a singular author with stellar works of science fiction to his credit. I myself have limited experience with the works of Joe Haldeman, and unless this book wins an award this year, I have not read any of his award-winning fiction. What I can unequivocally say is that both of the Joe Haldeman books I have read, Old Twentieth and The Accidental Time Machine, have been a delight. There is a certain type of book that reminds me of the kind of science fiction novel that got me hooked on the genre in the first place. Whenever I happen upon that type of book, be it older science fiction or something recently written, I cannot help but enjoy the experience. The Accidental Time Machine fits that mold. While some may criticize this type of work as "sci fi lite" or "more of the same ol' schtick", I truly believe that it takes a great deal of skill to write the type of science fiction that has broad appeal, a page-turning plot, an appealing central character, and enough science and vision to keep the story grounded in a science fiction universe. The Accidental Time Machine delivers just that kind of engaging story. The Accidental Time Machine tells the story of young Matthew Fuller, a semi-motivated MIT lab assistant whose recent creation, a caliber built for nothing resembling time travel, begins disappearing and reappearing for no apparent reason. A series of experiments leads Matt to discover that the machine stays gone for predictably longer periods of time. It is not long before Matt decides to include himself in the experiments. Not surprisigly this leads to the kind of difficulties that impel Matthew to continue pushing the reset button on the make-shift time machine, sending himself to ever greater distances into the future. As the future becomes ever stranger, and more dangerous, Matthew cannot help but believe that an incident in his past indicates that he himself found a way back in time. That way back is Matthew's only hope of delivery from a future that is nothing like the world he is from. With The Accidental Time Machine Joe Haldeman has crafted a futuristic adventure story that is hard to put down. With each jump into the future the story becomes more interesting and more suspenseful for both Matthew Fuller and the reader. While scientific theory is certainly a part of the equation, Haldeman never diverts from the thrust of the story long enough to the alienate the reader with scientific mumbo-jumbo. Instead he weaves that into the story in such a way that it does not detract from the adventure in even the slightest way. Matthew Fuller is a very likeable, accessible everyman and as such is a very comfortable hero for the reader to j

Good Fun

I'm not a huge fan of time travel stories and time travel paradoxes are usually more annoying than entertaining (ie, "omg!" the guy says, "I'm my own mother!".) This book, however, is a page-turning SciFi action/adventure tale that is a consistently enjoyable ride. Haldeman's crystal clear prose is engaging for both SciFi fans and for more mainstream readers. This one is Good Fun!

An enjoyable time travel romp

_The Accidental Time Machine_ by Joe Haldeman is a fun, quick read, one I thoroughly enjoyed. Not perhaps ultra deep, as the book does not tackle any of the great questions of life or of science fiction, but it was an enjoyable time travel romp, the story of one man and later a companion of his and their journey farther and farther into the future. The main character is Matt Fuller, a graduate school dropout of sorts (forever putting off finishing his Ph.D), barely eking out a living working as a lab assistant at MIT. Working with Dr. Marsh, he discovers that a machine he had put together for the professor, a simple device designed to emit a single photon, a calibration device that was part of a larger experiment that Dr. Marsh was working on, had the power to vanish. Matt pushed the button on the machine and the device disappeared, reappearing a second and a half later. The professor of course didn't see this happen, assumed, not incorrectly, that Matt had had too little sleep and real food (other than Twinkies and coffee), and should go on home for the evening. Matt pushed the button again, and the machine dutifully vanished, then reappeared 15 seconds later. Naturally, Dr. Marsh didn't see this event either. The machine was not designed to move at all, either in time or space, and Matt had no idea how or why the device was vanishing and reappearing. All he knew was that it was big news, that unless he had proof Dr. Marsh and others would assume he was on drugs and/or insane, and that he had to get more "scientific" about his study of it. Essentially stealing the device, Matt set up a somewhat more controlled environment at home, worked out the math, and figured out that the device would be gone in ever larger increments and also reappear slightly farther away each time. His calculations showed for instance that a fifth push of the button would cause it to vanish for 6 hours and 48 minutes, then 3.34 days, and then 465 days, and then for about 15 years (and also physically farther and farther away from its original position). Getting ever more elaborate with his experiments after each jump, after one of the jumps he decides to see - after verifying a newly bought pet turtle survived the jumps - to see if he could jump with the machine. Talking an acquaintance of his into letting him sit in his old-fashioned all-metal car (as apparently anything metal in contact with the device along with that thing's contents jumped as well), Matt got in the car, pushed the button...and well, found himself in the near future, wanted for murder of the car's owner, who apparently dropped dead when his car with Matt inside it vanished, thus beginning Matt's adventures through time, jumping ever forward into the future to escape one predicament after another. The first few jumps were to a futuristic world but still quite recognizable to Matt, but the farther future - 177.5 years or so into the future, then to the 45th century, then several million years

Told With Both Humor and Affection - A Fine Novel!

I've often said that Joe Haldeman is the most interesting and talented Science Fiction writer of our time. He is an artisan who experiments with different writing styles, yet always manages to be a master storyteller. Haldeman's current novel does not disappoint. Like his classic "Forever War", he creates a novel whose protagonist is thrust across millennia; but, this is an entirely different treatment of the topic. Haldeman seems to prefer a very compact writing style and his current novel is a clinic on how to implement it correctly. Overall, I think this is one of Haldeman's best. The wordsmithing is excellent. The story is well-told and one of the most humorous novels he has written. You write what you know, and Joe has pulled from his professorial experiences at MIT to write a very playful tribute to that Institution, its professors, and its students. But, you'll appreciate the references regardless of your background. His characters are quirky and well-developed. The situations he creates for his protagonist range from the mundane to the absurd as he explores differing views on science and technology and what the future may hold. You will also find some pointed commentary about the relationship of current politics to science as well. Within this framework, Haldeman has interwoven a story of a man coming of age and discovering himself in the process. Told with great humor and affection, this novel will please both Haldeman fans and those who have not previously read his works. I wish I had a time machine to see what Haldeman has for us next! I most highly recommend it!!