A Time Odyssey
Encyclopedia
A Time Odyssey is a series of novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s co-written by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...

 (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film...

) and Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...

. , the series consists of:
  • Vol. 1 – Time's Eye
    Time's Eye (novel)
    Time's Eye is a 2003 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the first book in the A Time Odyssey series...

    (3 March 2003)
  • Vol. 2 – Sunstorm
    Sunstorm (novel)
    Sunstorm is a 2005 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the second book in the series A Time Odyssey. The books in this series are often likened to the Space Odyssey series, although the Time Odyssey novels ostensibly deal with time where the...

    (29 March 2005)
  • Vol. 3 – Firstborn (26 December 2007)


The 2008 Gollancz edition of the most recent book describes itself on the cover as the "Conclusion" of the series, but the plot is not concluded in the book. The immediate threat is averted but the enemy is not defeated, suggesting that further novels in the series were intended. With the death of Clarke, one of the two authors, it is not clear whether these will be written.

Premise

The story is based on Clarke's previous Space Odyssey novel series. In the introduction to the Time's Eye
Time's Eye (novel)
Time's Eye is a 2003 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the first book in the A Time Odyssey series...

, Clarke describes the premise as "neither a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

 nor a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

" to Space Odyssey, but an "orthoquel" (a neologism coined by Clarke for this purpose, combining the word sequel with ortho-, the Greek prefix meaning "straight" or "perpendicular", and alluding to the fact that time is orthogonal to space in relativity theory
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....

). In Space Odyssey, a race of benevolent godlike aliens with highly advanced technology decides to use machines called "monoliths" to travel across space with the intention to ensure the survival chances of intelligent life (including Earth) and "test" and "weed out" species that have no possibility for intelligence.

In the Time Odyssey series, not-so-benevolent godlike aliens start an endless mission to regulate the development of sentient life in the Universe, in order to prevent all other species from harnessing too much of its energy, which would only accelerate the inevitable entropic death of the Universe, thus rendering sentient life impossible at the end of the universe. Consequently, these "Firstborn" are destroying other intelligent species. To preserve a record of these eradicated species, the Firstborn create a new alternate universe
Multiverse
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...

containing the species' homeworld in different time periods.
This preservation sub-universe is the main plot of the first book, "Time's Eye." Time periods in Earth's history are taken and re-assembled. The periods seem to date from 2-and-a-half-million years ago to 8th June 2037. Characters caught up in this include Bisesa from 2037, Rudyard Kipling from 1885, the hordes of Genghis Khan from the 13th century and the army of Alexander the Great from the 4th century B.C. This "patchwork" earth is later re-christened Mir, Russian for Peace and World. The second book opens with Bisesa being taken from Mir and placed in her London flat on 9th June 2037. The second book follows the building of the Shield to 20th April 2042; to the opening of the first space elevator in 2047. The last book switches between Mir - years 32 to 35 - and Earth - A.D. 2069 to 2072.
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