Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

In finding a book, or maybe a trilogy of books. About 20 years ago, I remember seeing on a newstand a book in which a modern day army squadron or battalion went back in time to save the Alamo. I wish I had bought the book at the time, but for whatever reason, I didn't. I don't recall the exact title or author, but it seems that I saw another similar book a few years later. So it may have been a series. If anyone recalls such a book, please let me know the title and author so I can finally purchase this book.

[ December 11, 2003, 17:29: Message edited by: gregebowman ]

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Google says:

"Remember the Alamo!" Here's the amazon listing:
amazon

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

double post!

[ December 11, 2003, 17:42: Message edited by: spoon ]

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Hehe, I was looking. Didn't find it, but I found a humerous little time travel short story. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

http://www.chessedinburgh.fsnet.co.uk/chandler/34.htm

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Thanks, Spoon. I'll try looking for it in some of the used book stores around here.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Good work guys!

How about this...

A novel by John Brunner about a talaented computer programmer gone anti-establishment. I read part of it as a teen & have never been able to remember the title or recognize the book when looking at John Brunner titles.

Thanks In Advance

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

That's not much to go on Samurai, but you may be thinking of "Stand on Zanzibar."

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

As a kid I once read a short story about a robot who's human had a heart attack and it used a screw driver behind the ear to shut down the human then dissassembled it, repaired the damage and then reassembled it. But when it attempted to turn on the human, it did not function.

I think it might have been in one of those Azimov sci-fi book things.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The novel you are looking for is Shockwave Rider. It has been out of print for a long time (1976?). Many credit it as a precursor to cyberpunk.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Thanks Geckomlis,

I will try to track it down.

I got a copy of stand on zanzibar recently and could not 'get into it'. I don't think that is what I am looking for. But thanks anyway. I will check to be sure.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Happy to help. Try your local public library first. Even if they do not have it, they can get it via inter-library loan.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

If your looking for some great time travel stories look for Weber/Flints 1632/1633 or Stirlings 'Island' books where Americans go back in time to fight the Trojan war with flintlocks etc (great stuff!!).

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Another great time travel book I enjoyed reading is called The Prometheus Operation, about a squad sent back in time to alter the effects of WWII. Don't remember the author, however. Anyway, they go back to pre-WWII days in America, find out their time machine doesn't work, and get, among others, Albert Einstein to help repair it, and ultimately change their past, in which Japan had won. It's really a great read.

Another time travel book I enjoyed was Lightning, by Dean Koontz.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

Thanks again Geckomlis!

I have found a copy of Shockwave Rider on Ebay. It should be here in a week! It was part of a batch of 9 John Brunner paperbacks.

My favorite time travel stories are "The End Of Eternity" by Asimove and "Millenium" by Varley.

"The End Of Eternity" is about an 'agent' whose job is to go back in time and 'adjust' the timeline in order to preserve their way of life. He becomes unhappy and stages a bit of a revolt. IMHO, this is one of Asimov's best.

"Millenium" is about a group of humans from the distant future who are snatching people from airplanes just before crashes. Their goal is to repopulate the planet with better, unmutated stock. It is very interesting in that the story is told in first person singular from two character's point of view. Their timelines are not in synch so the sequence of events is different for each of them. This was made into a movie with Kris Kristoferson. The movie had its good points, but the book was much better.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

http://www.baen.com/library/

you can find some of that here as well....

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

I read Millenium about 20 years ago. It was ok, but not my favorite time-travel story. IIRC, the movie was pretty much faithful to the book.

Has anyone seen Timelines yet? Again, Michael Crichton puts out a quality book, but I'm just wondering how much the movie differs from the book. I like the description of how they do the time travel. They basically "fax" people thru time.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, I went to a used bookstore near where I work. They had a lot of books by this Kevin Randle guy, but none of the Remember books. I guess I'll have to look elsewhere. Maybe even try hitting a couple of the flea markets when I get the chance.

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

I love books like that. Add to christmas list!
Anyway I remember an old Outer Limits episode where a squad of modern infantry men get sent back to Little Big Horn to fight for Custer and get killed anyway. The fellow soldiers can't find them but notice their names suddently appear on a historical grave marker in modern time. I'm seriously gonna get Remember the Alamo.
Also remember the Saturday Night Live skit "What if Napoleon had a B-52?" followed by "What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub?"

Happy Festivus "Festivus for the rest of us"

Re: Sci-Fi readers, need your help...
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Don't watch SNL that much anymore, so I missed those skits. But I thought that Little Big Horn episode was from The Twilight Zone. Could be wrong; it's been an awful long time since I've seen it. But of all the sub-genres of sci-fi, time travel has to be my favorite. So I do get a kick out of reading alternate history books.

Speaking of such, I've been interested in reading Harry Turtledove, but I want to read his books in order. Which book should I start out on for his alternate history of the Civil War and afterwards?