Science Fiction Time Travel

Magnus shoved in another big bite of food, chewed and swallowed. “I am going tae take most of the vessels. I will secure them, guard them, and will live the rest of m’life as the keeper of the vessels. Nae a king but a guardian.” Lady Mairead tossed her napkin to the table and threw up her hands. “This daft idea makes a mockery of thoughtful decisions.” Magnus took a sip of coffee. “Tis nae a mockery, tis a wise idea. Dost ye want tae ken how I hae came tae it?” “It canna possibly be through deliberation.”

Life is good for Team Weird, now heroes and fully fledged Time Police officers. Luke can't wait to bear arms. Jane has a date. And Matthew still hasn't had his hair cut. But Time waits for no one, and neither do criminal masterminds. A major threat to the Timeline is looming, one far deadlier than mere idiots who want to change history. And when a familiar face becomes a Very Important Lead, will conflicting family loyalties spell trouble for Team Weird?

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

A simple blink is all it takes to yank Pru from the car with her dad into a world of hurt. She awakens in 2305 to find herself pinned under what's left of CHRONOS headquarters, thanks to a recent terrorist attack. Their prime suspect? Her mother, Katherine Shaw. And everyone wants to know how Pru got her hands on a CHRONOS key.

Alex Hawk spent a decade trying to return from Kragdon-ah. Now he is safely back in the 21st century with daughters Amy and Sanda and his loyal, giant dog. All is peaceful and good, until 10 years later, Alex hears an incredible commotion in the basement where the door into time still stands safely behind a brick wall. The wall has fallen. A giant warrior has stepped through and uttered four words in a language Alex has almost forgotten: "Manta-ak! We need you!"

Sam Ryder's life already sucks, and it's about to get worse when he's fired from his dead-end job as a programmer. He's about to head home to escape into his favorite RPG, Alien Civilization, when he's offered a thrill ride on a death machine by a gorgeous woman straight out of one of his games. Before Sam can say "WTF?", he's been whisked away to a dark world of monsters and goddesses, his body transformed from Outcast to Warrior, the second level on a ladder that may eventually carry him all the way to Demigod.

In an Arizona desert a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it.

In the final days of World War II, Catherine Hastings meets the man she wants to marry. Flight surgeon Jonathan Brandon isn't just handsome - he's everything Catherine could hope for in her betrothed. But her dream of a happily ever after is shattered when Jonnie vanishes before their wedding, leaving Catherine bereft, broken-hearted, and with a lifetime of unanswered questions.

It's sink or swim for Jack and Annie when Magic Tree House whisks them off to the middle of the ocean. And that's just the beginning....

It started as a routine Miami to Charlotte flight for the passengers, crew, and Federal Air Marshal Stephen Mason. But a freak storm over the Atlantic propels the airliner unexplainably back in time to the early 18th century.

Daniel Rice is a government science investigator whose specialty is solving seemingly intractable problems through scientific inquiry. But Daniel's intellectual strength is sorely tested by the bizarre realities he finds in the quantum world. Extra dimensions of space trap the unwary, probability replaces cause and effect, and time isn't what anyone imagined. The other side of the mirror is a place full of dangers, but it's also somewhere a dedicated scientist can uncover secrets that connect humans with something greater.

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets 16-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A devastating attack by the lich Quatach-Ichl has left Zorian and Zach reeling as their remaining restarts tick away. As they recover, they make preparations for their final confrontations with Red Robe, the lich, the primordial being, and the invaders—all within the shadow of a question they can’t answer: can Zorian and Zach both survive outside the time loop? When the time loop is broken, sacrifices will be made, bonds will be tested, and trust will be more important than any magical skill or power—and even then, success is not guaranteed.

Two teenagers are catapulted back in time to alter history and save the medieval kingdom of Wales ... David and his man-at-arms, Ieuan, find themselves alone and on the run from a company of English soldiers who've sworn vengeance for the recent death of their king. Meanwhile, Llywelyn lays on his deathbed, wounded by a traitor's arrow. And once again, it is David and Anna, and all that they represent, that holds the key to the survival of Wales.

A remote cottage on the wild coast of Cornwall sounded to Blythe Barton Stoe like the perfect escape from the pain and humiliation of recent events in her Hollywood life. But soon she seems to be reliving a centuries-old tragedy, and the handsome owner of the shabby manor house on the hill appears vitally entwined in her destiny.

Siblings Abby and Doc have been racing through time to fix history after Abraham Lincoln, Abigail Adams, and Neil Armstrong started popping up in the wrong places, at the wrong times. When Amelia Earhart accidentally lands her plane in ancient Greece, Abby and Doc partner with Kyniska, the first woman to win the Olympics, to get Amelia back on track to finish her first solo flight across the Atlantic.

Ryan "Quicksave" Romano has begun a new time-loop. His goal? To prevent New Rome's destruction at the hands of the vicious Meta-Gang. To do so, our favorite courier must explore both sides of the law: to become a corporate superhero in one loop, and a scenery-chewing supervillain in the next!

The Hopi share tales of a devastating global flood like those found in cultures across the world. But some also speak of beings from the stars, massive flying objects, and a cataclysmic war between two hyper-advanced civilizations—Atlantis and Lemuria—that triggered this flood. But what if these stories aren't just mythology? What if they're real?

Fans have long wondered what happened to Ahsoka after she left the Jedi Order near the end of the Clone Wars and before she reappeared as the mysterious Rebel operative Fulcrum in Rebels. Finally her story will begin to be told. Following her experiences with the Jedi and the devastation of Order 66, Ahsoka is unsure she can be part of a larger whole ever again. But her desire to fight the evils of the Empire and protect those who need it will lead her right to Bail Organa - and the Rebel Alliance.

Thanks to The Book, Joe, Sam, and Fred are back in the Stone Age, where there aren't any math problems. But there's a tribe of hostile cavewomen, a hungry-looking saber-toothed tiger, a bone-rattling earthquake, and a woolly mammoth who wants to turn them into toe jam. Worst of all, Joe, Sam, and Fred have discovered that writing hasn't been invented yet - so how can The Book get them back home?