Rivers of Time is a 1993 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in paperback by Baen Books.[1] All but one of the pieces were originally published between 1956 and 1993 in the magazines Galaxy, Expanse, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and Asimov's Science Fiction, and the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur. The remaining story was first published in the present work.
Author | L. Sprague de Camp |
---|---|
Cover artist | Bob Walters |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Science fiction |
Publisher | Baen Books |
Publication date | 1993 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 258 |
ISBN | 0-671-72195-X |
OCLC | 29138676 |
LC Class | MLC R CP01173 |
The book collects the author's nine tales[2] of time-traveling hunter Reginald Rivers, the hero of his 1956 classic, "A Gun for Dinosaur". He wrote another Rivers story in 1990 to fulfil a request by Robert Silverberg for a dinosaur story for his 1992 anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur; afterwards, de Camp added to the sequence until he had enough stories for a book.
In 2012, Audible Studios released an unabridged audio-book recording of Rivers of Time narrated by James Adams.[3]
The Rivers stories take the form of first-person narratives by the protagonist told to companions whose identities vary, but who have in common the fact that their contributions to the conversation are omitted, and must be inferred from those of Rivers. Every story is an anecdote from Rivers' career as a conductor of time safaris to previous eras, both to hunt prehistoric creatures and for scientific purposes (and, occasionally, anti-scientific purposes). In addition to Rivers, the main recurring characters include fellow members of his safari firm, including his partner Chandra Aiyar, camp boss Beauregard Black, and cook Ming. In most instances, the actions of their human clients prove more troublesome than those of the extinct fauna, a theme set in "Faunas", a 1968 poem by de Camp that precedes the stories. An afterword by the author tells how he came to write the series.
Prehistoric species of various eras featured in the series include Agriochoerus, Alamosaurus, Archaeotherium, Brontops, Camptosaurus, Columbian mammoth, Coryphodon, Deinosuchus, Diprotodon, Eurypterid, Gastornis (called Diatryma), Gorgosaurus, Hoplophoneus, Hyaenodon, Ichthyostega, Mastodon, Megalania, Merycoidodon, Metamynodon, Metoposaurus, Mylodon, Ornithomimus, Parasaurolophus, Phenacodus, Placerias, Postosuchus, Procoptodon, Rutiodon, Saurophaganax or Allosaurus (referred to as Epanterias), Stegosaurus, Teratosaurus, Triceratops, Troodon formosus (presented as Stenonychosaurus, and supposedly a type of pachycephalosaur), and Tyrannosaurus trionychus.
Tyrannosaurs of the genus Gorgosaurus are mentioned occasionally, and many times Reginald Rivers will say that the Raja is out in some period in the Cenozoic, taking a group to hunt some form of prehistoric mammal such as titanothere, entelodont, or uintathere. Prehistoric marsupials and Indricotherium are mentioned in "The Synthetic Barbarian," and numerous Pleistocene megafauna are seen in "The Mislaid Mastodon," including Castoroides ohioensis and the American lion.
While Rivers of Time is a well researched time travel series, paleontological knowledge has improved since the stories were written, rendering some aspects of its portrait of the prehistoric past obsolete. Dated material includes the following:
A tenth story of Reginald Rivers, "Gun, Not for Dinosaur", authored by Chris Bunch,[2] appeared in Harry Turtledove's 2005 tribute anthology honoring L. Sprague de Camp, The Enchanter Completed. This story contains elements of scientific racism and white supremacism as Rivers' client, a racist Texas millionaire, and his two Boer bodyguards attempt to prevent the evolution of Negroes by going back in time in Africa to kill their prehistoric ancestors.
Janice M. Eisen, reviewing the work in Aboriginal Science Fiction, calls de Camp "one of the great old pros of the SF field. When reading him, you're always guaranteed a good time, and sometimes more." She gives the collection a three star rating, deeming it "lightweight, amusing work ... very well done candy, with a little paleontological education thrown in," and "particularly sharp shots at fundamentalists and animal-rights activists." But the stories, she feels, "are very old-fashioned;" often "merely vignettes, with action but little plot, and they all follow the same formulaic structure." She finds the characters "drawn with broad strokes on high-quality cardboard, [with] motivations ... at best shadowy. " She notes, however, that "de Camp's sense of humor never fails, and the tales are often witty." She judges them "best, and funniest, if they're not all read at one sitting."[4]
The collection was also reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe in Locus no. 95, Dec. 1993, and Don D'Ammassa in Science Fiction Chronicle no. 169, Jan. 1994.[1]