Times Without Number facts for kids
First expanded edition (1969)
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| Author | John Brunner |
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| Cover artist | John Schoenherr |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
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Publication date
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1969 |
| Media type | Print (book) |
| Pages | 156 |
| OCLC | 1145589 |
Times Without Number is a science fiction novel by John Brunner. It tells a story about time travel and an alternate history – a world where past events happened differently, leading to a very different present.
Contents
About the Book's Release
John Brunner first wrote three shorter stories in 1962. These stories appeared in a British magazine called Science Fiction Adventures.
Later that same year, these stories were combined and changed into a novel called Times Without Number. It was published as part of an Ace Double, which meant two books were sold together.
In 1969, the book was published again by Ace Books. This version was much longer and had been updated by Brunner himself.
A Different History: The World of the Book
The story of Times Without Number takes place in the years 1988–1989. But it's not our 1988! It's a world where history took a very different turn.
When Spain Conquered England
In this alternate world, the Spanish Armada (a huge fleet of Spanish ships) successfully invaded England in 1588. This was a big change from our history, where the Armada failed. A powerful Spanish general, the Duke of Parma, led the invasion. He was helped by another army from the Spanish Netherlands, led by a brilliant military leader named the Earl of Barton.
Barton quickly defeated the Dutch rebels, keeping the Netherlands under Spanish control. This meant Spain and the Catholic religion stayed strong in that part of Europe.
The Rise of the Empire
Later, Spain also managed to conquer France. This made the Spanish Empire incredibly powerful. However, while they were busy in the north, Islamic forces from the Mediterranean Khalifate took back Spain itself.
Spanish people then moved to Britain, making it the new center of their empire. Over time, the people of Britain became more like the Spanish. The Spanish language became the main language, and English almost disappeared. People in the capital city, Londres, called themselves "Imperials" instead of "Spaniards." Most of them saw the Armada's victory as a good thing.
North America and Other Powers
The Empire already controlled South and Central America. So, they didn't need to conquer North America. Instead, they gave weapons to the Mohawks and encouraged them to conquer other Native American tribes. The Mohawk leaders, ruling from New Madrid (which is where New York City is in our world), became important nobles in the Empire.
However, other Native American tribes didn't like the Mohawks' power or the European support they received. This dislike becomes important later in the story.
In Europe, the Empire had a rival: the "Confederacy of the East." This was a group of countries including Lithuania, Poland, Prussia, and the Russ (Russia). They were a powerful match for the Empire, locked in a long cold war.
Scotland and Sweden-Norway remained independent. Sweden-Norway was the last place where Protestantism (a different Christian religion) was common. In the Far East, China was the main power, with Japan being a smaller, but admired, neighbor.
Time Travel and Its Rules
In 1892, an Italian man named Carlo Borromeo discovered how to travel through time. But even with time travel, technology in this world was not much more advanced than in the 1500s. People still rode horses, and cities were lit by fires.
Time travel could have been used for instant travel, but this was strictly forbidden. People feared it could cause a time paradox (where changing the past messes up the present).
It was also quickly realized that time travel could be a very dangerous weapon. Using it carelessly could destroy all of reality. To prevent this, the "Treaty of Prague" was created. This treaty strictly controlled time travel. Only two special groups were allowed to use it: the Western Empire's Society of Time and the Confederacy's Temporal College. The Catholic Church, guided by a special rule from the Pope, watched over both groups. Both powers wanted to keep time travel a secret and worried about China trying to develop its own time machines.
Society and Culture
In this alternate 20th century, slavery still existed, and there was no democracy. However, the Catholic Church was less strict than it had been in the 1500s. Protestantism was seen more as a curiosity than something to be hated. The Inquisition (a Church court) still existed, but it used hypnotism instead of torture. There was even a movement for women's equality among upper-class women.
Overall, this alternate world was more humane than some other fictional worlds based on a Spanish victory.
The main character is Don Miguel Navarro, a member of the Society of Time. His job is to make sure history stays the same, so the Empire isn't accidentally erased.
The Aztec Mask
In 1988, Don Miguel is at a party. His hostess shows off an old gold Aztec mask. Don Miguel immediately knows it's illegal. He investigates and finds out that a powerful nobleman, Don Arcimboldo Ruiz, has been illegally taking things from the past.
Don Miguel is given the job of returning the mask to the exact moment it was taken from the past. This means putting it back just in time for a bloody Aztec ceremony involving human sacrifice. Don Miguel is not allowed to stop the ceremony, and it leaves him very disturbed. Because of his success, Don Miguel becomes well-known and respected.
A Dangerous Discovery
Later, Don Miguel attends a New Year's Eve party in New Castile (North America). He meets Lady Kristina, the daughter of the Swedish ambassador. They leave the party to explore the city of Londres.
Suddenly, a panicked crowd fills the streets. Don Miguel learns that the palace is burning, and the entire Royal Family and other important people have died. The attack was carried out by female warriors from an alternate timeline (a different version of reality). Senior members of the Society of Time had secretly contacted this other timeline.
Don Miguel and Father Ramón, a wise Jesuit who studies time, manage to contact an earlier version of Father Ramón. They prevent the massacre from happening. But this event makes Don Miguel very worried. He realizes his superiors are doing dangerous experiments, and his entire reality could be destroyed at any moment.
The Conspiracy in California
Needing a break, Don Miguel travels to California, a quiet place rarely visited by Europeans. In this history, there was no California Gold Rush. Gold mines are owned by the Empire and worked by local Native Americans. While relaxing, his host, a Native American engineer named Two Dogs, shows him a steel drill bit found in a new mine.
Don Miguel fears this means someone from the future has broken the time travel treaty. The Society investigates. Father Ramón says no rules were broken, even though a team finds people from the 20th century mining in the past. Don Miguel and Father Ramón talk to the mining group's leader and convince them to stop. Father Ramón wants to avoid any conflict between the Empire and the Confederacy of the East.
A Shocking Betrayal
When they return, Don Miguel learns the truth: Two Dogs planted the drill bit! Two Dogs is leading a secret group of Native Americans who want to overthrow the Empire. They are using the Eastern Confederacy but have their own plans. In the fight that follows, Two Dogs escapes, and Father Ramón is killed. Everyone believes Two Dogs will now travel into the past to harm the Empire.
To protect their history, the Society sends Don Miguel and many others into the past. Their mission is to stop Two Dogs from changing the pivotal event of the Armada. But while undercover in 1588 Cadiz, Don Miguel makes a terrible discovery: Two Dogs has already succeeded! The brilliant general Earl of Barton no longer exists. He was likely killed by Two Dogs when he was young. Also, Parma is no longer leading the fleet.
Don Miguel tries to rush back to the present to warn everyone. But he is caught by the wave of changing reality, which is very painful. He arrives not in New Madrid, but in New York City, in Central Park, surprising everyone.
A New Reality
Don Miguel realizes that people in this new timeline don't know about time travel. He is the only one who knows its secret. He thinks that timelines where time travel exists eventually collapse when someone changes the past so much that time travel itself is never invented. He decides to accept his new life as an "exile" in this new world. He keeps the secret of time travel to himself, never revealing how to build a time machine.
Ironically, Two Dogs' plan to hurt the Empire backfired. His actions created a new timeline where Native Americans are much worse off than they were in the world he destroyed.
The Nature of Time in the Story
The book shows a very specific idea about time travel. There can only be one timeline. Unlike other stories where changing the past creates a new, separate timeline, here, changing the past completely destroys the old future. A new timeline takes its place. It's like a zero-sum game – for one timeline to exist, the other must be wiped out.
However, earlier in the story, when the female warriors attack, it seems like alternate timelines can exist side-by-side. This difference is not fully explained. Father Ramon calls the world the warriors came from a "potential world." This suggests that only one timeline is truly real, while others are just possibilities.
This complex idea is a closely guarded secret of the Society's top members. Don Miguel, being a lower-ranking member, was not supposed to know any of this. He only got a glimpse because of the emergency. Before he could learn more, his entire timeline was destroyed.
Similarities to Other Stories
Times Without Number was published in the same year as Keith Laumer's Worlds of the Imperium. Both books feature an Italian inventor near the end of the 19th century who makes a key discovery (time travel in Brunner's book, travel to alternate timelines in Laumer's). This discovery then greatly shapes later history.
This book also shares many similarities with Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series, even though their historical origins are different. In both, a Catholic Empire based in London rules Britain, France, and the Americas. Christianized Native Americans are even part of the nobility. Both empires are monarchies (ruled by kings) and conservative, without democracy, but they are still fairly kind. They are also in a long cold war with an Eastern European rival. And while they are technologically behind our world, they have a special knowledge (time travel or magic) that our 20th century doesn't.
See also
- Pavane
- Ruled Britannia
