The Time Traders by Andre Norton (free)

Review of eBook The Time Traders by Andre Norton

This story is very readable in 2017, though it was originally published in 1958. The author's use of technology found by the protagonists and ancient settings, enables her to step around technical and scientific details that will not hold up over time. The characters can use the alien technology they find but they do not necessarily understand how it works, and therefore cannot try to explain it. The other books in this series, that I have read, share this trait, though The Time Traders book has the most contemporary feel. This book is a favorite of mine, and was actually the catalyst for this blog. I am always looking for a public domain books that I can download a free ebook of that are comparable to the stories being written today.

Gutenberg is probably the largest collection of public domain works so this is, of course, my main resource. Gutenberg, though, has maybe too many books, and I have had to read a lot of silliness to get to gems like this. For this reason, this book is one of my greatest treasures. I hope you like it too.

 The Plot:

Ross, a tough and sharp criminal, is recruited for a secret government project. Initially Ross sees the project as a chance to escape but once he meets the team, and it's leader Ashe, and gets first hand experience with the danger and importance of their mission, he commits whole heartedly. Soon, Ross is trained to live as a Beaker trader of Bronze-Age Europe and, using found alien technology, sent back in time. In these stories, both the USA and the USSR have found ancient alien spacecraft on earth and have start to reverse-engineer the technology. These ships are not in good condition and they cannot get much from them, however both sides created limited time-travel abilities from what remained. The Russians progress is better than the US and they suspect the Russians have access to better specimens in the past, specifically Bronze-Age Europe. The US has therefore been sending agents back in time to locate this cache of technology and our anti-hero is sent back to join the team. Agents stationed back in time work very hard to blend in and keep their existence secret from the inhabitants, so their search is generally slow and tedious. However, Ross and Ashe arrive at a momentous time, and things get hot for them pretty quickly.

I do not want to give away any more of the plot than this. The whole story is good and because most of the action takes place in the past, with sticks and stones, and due to Andre's wonderful use of found alien technology, the story never feels dated. The characters are well developed and made me care about them, even the minor characters. The main characters interact with many groups of people in the current time (relevant to when the book was published I guess) and in the past and all of these are also well described and interesting. There is suspense and some good action as well. I feel this book would make a very nice contemporary movie actually. However, Andre Norton is a little obscure today, unfortunately, and I imagine Hollywood are not looking at her work. At least we readers can enjoy it, and as a free ebook as well; I guess we should be grateful for that.

Free eBook Download at Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19145 

Misc. links for more information: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Traders
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Norton
http://andre-norton-books.com/index.php/worlds-of-andre/series-by-andre-l-thru-z/time-traders-series