It strikes me as curious that some of the radium-age science fiction of the 1920s or '30s has aged better than some of the New Wave speculative fiction of the 1960's and '70s. Up the Line is a time-travel comedy, cleverly examining some of the potential paradoxes and problems of visiting the past, such as encountering yourself or how many tourists would want to visit popular destinations like the Crucifixion. (Aside: Remember the episode of Buffy where Spike says that if all of the vampires who...

This is a time travel comedy SF from 1969 with sex, drugs (but no rock’n’roll) playing with a Freudian theme. I guess it tried to be novel, daring and progressive when it was written, but actually hasn’t aged well. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for February 2023 at Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. The novel was nominated for both Hugo and Nebula in 1970 but lost both to The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, an immeasurably better book.This is a story originally...

Entre 3 y 3,5 ⭐Novela de viajes en el tiempo que no está mal. No es ni la mejor que he leído sobre el tema ni la que más me ha gustado de Silverberg, pero tiene a su favor un enfoque original que, desde entonces, se ha llevado más veces a la literatura y al cine.Año 2059. Los viajes en el tiempo son una realidad y un negocio. Los ciudadanos pueden contratar viajes turísticos al pasado bajo supervisión. Para ello el estado ha creado dos tipos de estructuras. Los guías temporales que acompañan a l...

Si s'haguessin descobert els viatges en el temps, estic segura que, tal com passa en aquest llibre, els farien servir les persones riques per fer turisme. La novel·la de Silverberg planteja unes paradoxes interessantíssimes, també m'ha agradat que sigui un llibre molt fresc i lleuger. Però a mi m'ha provocat moltes contradiccions, totes les dones que hi apareixen són només objectes sexuals que serveixen per satisfer les "necessitats" dels homes, tant si elles volen com si no. Entenc que el conte...

Sempre he tingut les meues reticències amb els llibres sobre viatges en el temps. Les paradoxes temporals exageradament enrevessades i les repetitives trames de visites al passat per intentar canviar-lo —espòiler, gairebé mai ho acaben aconseguint— em treuen bastant de polleguera. Sé que estic generalitzant i, per descomptat també tinc una llista d’honroses excepcions que, de fet, puc comptar amb els dits de la mà: La màquina del temps, d’H.G. Wells; La fi de l’eternitat, d’Isaac Asimov; «El so ...

Una bogeria canalla de paradoxes temporals molt divertida i paròdica, situada a Constantinoble, un lloc poc habitual en què se situen històries de viatges en el temps. En certs aspectes ha envellit una mica malament i hi ha bromes i situacions que amb la perspectiva actual serien inadmissibles. Però òbviament s’ha de situar en llibre en la seua època, que era una reacció en contra dels valors puritans i catòlics que imperaven la guerra cultural, i Silverberg es va passar de frenada amb certes qü...

Up the Line: Fornicating in ancient Byzantium – shameless time travel pornOriginally posted at Fantasy LiteratureRobert Silverberg was clearly a big fan of sex back in the late 1960s, and I’m sure he wasn’t the only one. But in Up the Line, he absolutely revels in it. He doesn’t miss a chance for his (all male) characters to fornicate with women at every possible opportunity both in the future and the past, in dozens of exotic time periods in Byzantium, Constantinople, Rome, etc. The act may be ...

Time travel headache feels like ice cream brain freeze.Paradox, paradox, discontinuity, paradox, transposal displacement, paradox.Nothing for a reader to do but drink a beer and keep reading.Robert Silverberg wrote this libidinous, vulgar carnival ride in 1969 and it was nominated for the Hugo Award. This represents my 25th Silverberg work reviewed and I have come to accept that his lasciviousness makes late era Heinlein look like a boy scout. There is just going to be sex in a Silverberg work, ...

I like time travel books, and so I was actually looking forward to this piece of boring, dated, sexist drivel. Oh, and I left out racist. The main character refers to his always "magnificently oiled" black friend as Sambo.Silverberg wrote it when he was in his early thirties and it was published in 1969. Maybe he was pissed that he was just a little too old for the summer of love and all the drug-inhanced screwing he imagined went on then. In any case with Up the Line he took his always libido-h...

Let's keep this simple....1) This book has not aged well. It's almost laughable today, but maybe it seemed trendy back in the 60's.2) The amount of sex in this book is really very unfortunate.3) The historical descriptions make the book of interest, but are also a bit dry.4) The plot doesn't really make an appearance until the last 20% of the book or so. Things pick up quite a bit. It tempted me to rate this book one star higher, but I have resisted. 5) The time travel gimmickry may have been cu...