Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) was not the first time travel story. However, it was probably the first in the subgenre of the person transported to an earlier era, who decides to bring his new home “up to date” as part of his survival plan. 21st century inflation has brought us from one individual to entire islands, fleets, and towns.
We invite people to discuss their favourite time travel stories of this genre. We’ll begin with the following.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain (1889)
Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp (1939)
Nantucket, series, by S.M. Stirling (1998 – 2000)
Axis of Time, series (aka World War 2.0) by John Birmingham (2004 – 2007, plus short fiction)
1632 series (aka Ring of Fire), started by Eric Flint; expanded into a shared universe with many contributors, many novels, much short fiction. Their online magazine also features non-fiction articles and discussions of how to adapt 21st century technology to the 17th century. And it’s still going strong.