I want to write about a time traveler who travels through time and space. I have a beginning for such a story but not much else.
Who is your favorite time traveler? Mine, in case you don’t know (in which case you’re new around here), is the Doctor. I like all the Doctors, by the way. I’m not here to pick a fight.
I’m also fond of those lunatics in The Time Bandits. That movie is deeply weird, especially the ending.
But I also love time travel that is deadly serious. Everyone should read Dana’s story in Kindred. (Read anything by Octavia Butler though.) It’s a brilliant book.
I enjoyed the novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, but I can’t say Henry is my favorite time traveler. I resisted reading this novel for a while because of all the hype (you know, as you do), but I ended up reading her other books, Her Fearful Symmetry and The Night Bookmobile, which I loved, loved, loved. So I finally then read TTTW. One day I hope to be at the end of the sentence, “If you liked books by Audrey Niffenegger, you’ll like books by…”
And no, I have not read or seen Outlander. But I have read HG Wells, The Time Machine, and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Oh, I’ve read How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu, which was weird and fun (and which I lent to a friend, so I no longer have–you know how that goes!). Of course, I’ve seen Back to the Future and loads of other time traveling movies.
What makes a great time travel story? And why do we love them? Or why do some places not love them so much? So, again, who’s your favorite time traveler?
And if you could travel in time, where and when would you travel to?
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Thanks for reading!
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 
My favorite time traveler is Mr. Dunworthy and all the members of Oxford University’s history department in Connie Willis’ books. If you haven’t read THE DOOMSDAY BOOK or TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG, or BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR, I highly recommend them.
A series that will hurt your head is Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books. Time travel is involved. Everything is involved.
Best time travel movie? BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. I’ve never seen a movie that used time travel so simply and beautifully as that one did in the scene where the boys need a car.
I have not heard of Connie Willis’ books, so I shall look them up! And yes, I’ve read one of Fforde’s books. Enjoyed it and hope to read more.
Also, I am embarrassed to admit I have never seen Bill and Ted…I should probably remedy that.
You might like this book: The Time Traveler’s Almanac, edited by Anne and Jeff VanderMeer.
A couple of other references for you:
The Man Who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold
“All You Zombies,” a short story by Robert Heinlein (it was a favorite of Carl Sagan’s — and no, it’s not about actual zombies! (laughing))
…and you know how much I like the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde, in which time travel plays such a big part.
I have VanderMeer’s Wonderbook, which I love! So I will definitely look at this Time Traveler one. The others I haven’t read but shall check out. And I really enjoyed the one Thursday Next novel I read–more are on my list of books to read. Thanks for the recs!