This is a book review of Guardians of time by Poul Anderson. Written in 1960, my 1962 hardback edition is 176 pages, but is light and small. A fast paced time travel book, that could of easily got weighed down in detail, given the plot, characters and science involved, but didn’t. This book kept my interest from beginning to end.
The lead character is Manse Everard and the book starts from the beginning of his career as a time policeman. It’s a tale of character, morals and a healthy helping of common sense. Set in different locations and periods. From dealing with Mongols, to fighting against Hannibals army and all sorts in between. Taking on the roles of people of that era to accomplish his mission, sometimes with the help of colleagues, often not or leading the way.
This is a book that doesn’t leave your head spinning trying to deal with the concepts of time travel, but instead your enjoying the storyline, the places, the people the dialogue and the authors skill.
Even though the author furnished the book with enough detail about the different locations and cultures I found myself wanting to know more, but this would of distracted from the story and the balance of the book.
Writing this review forty-nine years after it was published I can’t and shouldn’t compare it to modern time travel literature or indeed the current theories of time travel, my advice is to just take it for what it is.
A well written time travel book from the 20th century that I’m sure I will go back and visit again.
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