A Relic of the Pliocene

by Jack London

Neither our narrator Thomas Stevens nor the mighty hunter Nimrod realized that the modern-day mammoth of this story arrived in the frozen north via time travel, but why else would F&SF have reprinted the story some 42 years after London’s passing?

— Michael Main

I pardon your ignorance concerning many matters of this Northland, for you are a young man and have travelled little; but, at the same time, I am inclined to agree with you on one thing. The mammoth no longer exists. How do I know? I killed the last one with my own right arm.

“A Relic of the Pliocene” by Jack London, in Collier’s, 12 January 1901.

Ounce of Prevention

by Paul A. Carter

“Ounce of Prevention” by Paul A. Carter, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Summer 1950.

Journey

by Gene Hunter

“Journey” by Gene Hunter, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1951.

Time Tourist

by Thomas A. Meehan

“Time Tourist” by Thomas A. Meehan, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1951.

C. P. Ransom 4

The Hyperspherical Basketball

by H. Nearing, Jr.

“The Hyperspherical Basketball” by H. Nearing, Jr., Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1951.

Stair Trick

by Mildred Clingerman

“Stair Trick” by Mildred Clingerman, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1952.

The Last Magician

by Bruce Elliot

“The Last Magician” by Bruce Elliot, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1953.

Mission

by Kris Neville

“Mission” by Kris Neville, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1953.

The Maladjusted Classroom

by H. Nearing, Jr.

A Klein bottle and temporal displacement.

— Dave Hook

“The Maladjusted Classroom” by H. Nearing, Jr., Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1953.

a Gavagan’s Bar story

The Untimely Toper: A Gavagan’s Bar Story

by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

A man kills a bat in Gavagan's Bar and a wizard curses him, unmooring his feet in time.

— Dave Hook

“The Untimely Toper: A Gavagan’s Bar Story” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953.

Mr. Kinkaid’s Pasts

by John R. Pierce

“Mr. Kinkaid’s Pasts” by John R. Pierce, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1953.

The Poundstone Paradox

by Roger Dee

“The Poundstone Paradox” by Roger Dee, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1954.

Time Payment

by Michael Shaara

“Time Payment” by Michael Shaara, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1954.

Time Patrol 1

Time Patrol

by Poul Anderson

In the first of a long series of hallowed stories, former military engineer (and noncomformist) Manse Everard is recruited by the Time Patrol to prevent time travelers from making major changes to history. (Don’t worry, history bounces back from the small stuff.)

— Michael Main

If you went back to, I would guess, 1946, and worked to prevent your parents’ marriage in 1947, you would still have existed in that year; you would not go out of existence just because you had influenced events. The same would apply even if you had only been in 1946 one microsecond before shooting the man who would otherwise have become your father.

“Time Patrol” by Poul Anderson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1955.

Threesie

by Theodore R. Cogswell

“Threesie” by Theodore R. Cogswell, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1956.

The Past and Its Dead People

by Reginald Bretnor

“The Past and Its Dead People” by Reginald Bretnor, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1956.

Impact with the Devil

by Theodore R. Cogswell

“Impact with the Devil” by Theodore R. Cogswell, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1956.

Time Trammel

by Miriam Allen deFord

“Time Trammel” by Miriam Allen deFord, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1956.

Poor Little Warrior!

by Brian Aldiss

You are reading an artsy story, told in the second-person, about a time traveler from AD 2181 who hunts a brontosaurus.

Time for listening to the oracle is past; you’re beyond the stage for omens, you’re now headed in for the kill, yours or his; superstition has had its little day for today; from now on, only this windy nerve of yours, this shakey conglomeration of muscle entangled untraceably beneath the sweat-shiny carapice of skin, this bloody little urge to slay the dragon, is going to answer all your orisons.

“Poor Little Warrior!” by Brian Aldiss, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1958.

Timequake

by Miriam Allen deFord

“Timequake” by Miriam Allen deFord, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1958.

Mad Friend 1

The Misfit

by G. C. Edmondson

“The Misfit” by G. C. Edmondson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1959.

What Rough Beast?

by Damon Knight

“What Rough Beast?” by Damon Knight, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1959.

“—All You Zombies—”

by Robert A. Heinlein

A 25-year-old man, originally born as an orphan girl named Jane, tells his story to a 55-year-old bartender who then recruits him for a time-travel adventure.

— Michael Main

When I opened you, I found a mess. I sent for the Chief of Surgery while I got the baby out, then we held a consultation with you on the table—and worked for hours to salvage what we could. You had two full sets of organs, both immature, but with the female set well enough developed for you to have a baby. They could never be any use to you again, so we took them out and rearranged things so that you can develop properly as a man.

“‘—All You Zombies—’” by Robert A. Heinlein, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1959.

Success Story

by H. M. Sycamore

“Success Story” by H. M. Sycamore, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1959.

Time Patrol 2

Brave to Be a King

by Poul Anderson

Patrolman Keith Denison uses some sketchy tactics (sketchy to the Patrol, that is) to track down his partner Keith Denison, who’s disappeared in the time of the Persian King Cyrus the Great,

— Michael Main

In the case of a missing man, you were not required to search for him just because a record somewhere said you had done so. But how else would you stand a chance of finding him? You might possibly go back and thereby change events so that you did find him after all—in which case the report you filed would “always” have recorded your success, and you alone would know the “former” truth.

“Brave to Be a King” by Poul Anderson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1959.

Change War series

The Oldest Soldier

by Fritz Leiber

“The Oldest Soldier” by Fritz Leiber, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1960.

All In Good Time

by Miriam Allen deFord

“All In Good Time” by Miriam Allen deFord, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1960.

A Stitch in Time

by John Wyndham

“A Stitch in Time” by John Wyndham, Argosy (UK), March 1961.

The Mist

by Peter Grainger

“The Mist” by Peter Grainger, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1962.

When You Care, When You Love

by Theodore Sturgeon

Sylva—an heiress who is used to getting her way—devises a plan to (sort of) save her terminally ill lover, Guy Gibbon.

— Michael Main

But lots of things were crazier and some bigger, nd now they’re commonplace.

“When You Care, When You Love” by Theodore Sturgeon, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1962.

The Lost Leonardo

by J. G. Ballard

“The Lost Leonardo” by J. G. Ballard, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. March 1964.

Story of a Curse

by Doris Pitkin Buck

“Story of a Curse” by Doris Pitkin Buck, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1965.

Minor Alteration

by John Thomas Richards

“Minor Alteration” by John Thomas Richards, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1965.

Now and Then

by Jonathan Rosenbaum

“Now and Then” by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1965.

Encounter in the Past

by Robert Nathan

“Encounter in the Past” by Robert Nathan, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1967.

The Secret of Stonehenge

by Harry Harrison

“The Secret of Stonehenge” by Harry Harrison, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1968.

Pebble in Time

by Cynthia Goldstone and Avram Davidson

“Pebble in Time” by Cynthia Goldstone and Avram Davidson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1970.

“Willie’s Blues”

by Robert J. Tilley

A music historian travels back to the 1930s to uncover the real story of how Willie Turnhill rose from an extra in the Curry Band to tenor sax virtuoso ever.

— Michael Main

He thinks of me now as the one person who’ll be able to say who’s the original and who’s the plagiarist when “the other guy” does eventually turn up!

“‘Willie’s Blues’” by Robert J. Tilley, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1972.

Time Patrol 3

Gibraltar Falls

by Poul Anderson

As part of an crew assigned to crew to observe the filling of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic in the late Micene, Patrolman Tom Nomura breaks the rules to use time travel to rescue Feliz a Rach when she’s swept over the falls.

— Michael Main

The Mediterranean floor lay ten thousand feet below sea level. The inflow took most of that drop within a fifty-mile strait. Its volume amounted to ten thousand cubic miles a year, a hundred Victoria Falls or a thousand Niagaras.

“Gibraltar Falls” by Poul Anderson, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1975.

Jeffty Is Five

by Harlan Ellison

“Jeffty Is Five” by Harlan Ellison, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1977.

Slow Birds

by Ian Watson

Every year, Jason Babbidge competes in the skate-sailing race on the two-and-a-half-mile-wide glass surfaces left behind by slowly flying birds when they occassionally explode before disappearing. This year’a race is not a win for Jason, but even worse is what happens when his brother Daniel climbs aboard one of the birds afterwards.

— Michael Main

They were called slow birds because the flew through the air—at the stately pace of three feet per minute.

“Slow Birds” by Ian Watson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1983.

In the Upper Cretaceous with the Summerfire Brigade

by Ian Watson

“In the Upper Cretaceous with the Summerfire Brigade” by Ian Watson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1990.

Invaders

by John Kessel

The story tells us of two sets of invaders—the 16th-century Spaniard Pizarro, who violently invaded the Incan Empire, and the Krel, who economically and culturally invaded 21st-century Earth—and we briefly hear of one man’s use of Krel tech to travel from the 21st century to the 16th.

— Michael Main

Sf is full of this sort of thing, from the power fantasy of the alienated child to the alternate history where Hitler is strangled in his cradle and the Library of Alexandria is saved from the torch.

“Invaders” by John Kessel, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1990.

Ransom

by Albert E. Cowdrey

Time travel agent Maks Hamilton is told by mysterious kidnappers that if he ever wants to see his own son again, he must travel back three centuries—just before the Troubles—to abduct another boy.

Despite the characters’ belief that they can change history, up in the ITTDB Citadel we all agreed that the characters are an unreliable source and this story actually lives in a carefully crafted single static timeline along with a nice bootstrap paradox.

— Michael Main

I want you to bring someone from the past to the present—someone who would otherwise die only a few hours afterward. Surely that’s possible.

“Ransom” by Albert E. Cowdrey, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 2002.

Marley and Marley

by J. R. Dawson

Somewhat jaded 28-year-old Marley comes back through time to take care of 12-year-old orphaned Marley.

— Michael Main

He told me all the horrible things that would happen if I broke any Time Laws. Worlds would collapse. I would turn inside out. Important people would die and important things wouldn’t happen.

“Marley and Marley” by J. R. Dawson, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November/December 2017.