The Accidental Time Machine

By: Joe Haldeman

Narrated by: Kevin Free

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Joe Haldeman is the esteemed Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Forever War. Things are going nowhere for lowly MIT research assistant Matt Fuller - especially not after his girlfriend drops him for another man. But then while working late one night, he inadvertently stumbles upon what may be the greatest scientific breakthrough ever. His luck, however, runs out when he finds himself wanted for murder - in the future.

©2007 Joe Haldeman (P)2008 Recorded Books

Cool idea. Tediously told.

Haldeman tells you everything every philosopher imagines about time travel. Over and over and over and... ZZZZZZzzzzzz. Okay I knew the book was 7hrs when I bought it. What I didn't know is that the author magically made it seem like 42 hours... Or at least when I stopped listening it seemed like a trick to mash that many minutes into such a small container... Not an interesting trick.

Hey, if you just want to hear, say, the first forty percent of this book... Well, that part's not bad... Filled with potential. When I pressed 'stop' I no longer cared about the questions raised in the beginning. Kevin Free reads alright, although my wife, who listened along with me on a long road trip, found his female voices weird.

In all... pass on this one.

Unexpected Sci-Fi

When I read reviews before buying, I kept reading that it had a twist. How much of twist could a time travel book really have? It's a big one.

The story and characters are good on their own, nobody stands out as amazing, just solid enjoyment. But the twist had me literally going, "Huh? Huh? HUH!"

I stuck it out because I was so curious to see how the author could take me from "OMG No" to "Yay!" And he does.

A fun, light story

Any additional comments?

I both love and hate time travel stories. I usually hate the ones that allow the protagonist to bop around at will. Especially ones that try to make a suspenseful (race against the clock) story to save the day - when all they have to do is use their stupid time machine and go back... say 12 hours more, etc.... i.e. Heros (TV show).

The time travel stories I love are ones where there are restrictions. This is one of those stories. This grad student, Matt, discovers that a simple device seems to be able to jump forward in time. The restrictions are that the amount of time it moves forward is exponential each time; so a few seconds turn into a few minutes, to days, months, years, etc. There is no going backwards.

So the story turns out to be him moving forward in time, further and further each time. It's a bit light heated but clever. A warning - if you can't handle a story that discusses and rebukes religion then steer clear.

When I first started listening to the narrator I was a little turned off - he seemed young and amateurish. But he actually ended up doing a pretty good job actually and since the story was completely centered around Matt (who is young and a bit immature) , the narrator's voice became totally appropriate and fit perfectly.

In all, this is a quick, witty, funny, and overall fun story. It was not at all what I expected and I was presently surprised.

It's about time

Science Fiction has been around for about a century and yet this is the first book that bases a story on a Time Machine only going forward in time. While the scenarios are sometimes a bit odd, and the secondary premise is left unexplained, I still feel this is a book worth reading. Something about the characters stays with you long after the book is back on the shelf.

Good time travle Sci Fi. A good fun story!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Some Time books can be sort of crushing, all "paradox" this and "I went back to change it all" that.. This story is nice and simple and easy to enjoy. and that's what i did, enjoy it.
It had all the good parts about practical time travel coupled with a nice story.
recommended.

The Accidental Time Machine

I have had many wonderful experiences with audio books. This was not one of them. The writing was sophomoric. The plot and the characters were weak. The narrator was average (although he didn't have a lot to work with). The author borrowed some classic icons from other great works such as the monolith from 2001 A Space Odyssey, but even then wasn't able to use them with any literary impact. On the positive side, the book had a good title.

No Time

You will wish you had remained in 2008 rather than have wasted your time reading this science fiction piece of dribble. It is especially disappointing after Mr. Haldeman's entertaining book, The Forever War. This book is written with the imagination and care of a poorly educated American seventh grader. Your time will be better spent doing nothing.

Fun Read, Err Listen :-)

Hard science fiction that brought back memories of when I lived in Bahston. Just plain fun - a good yard to listen to with some elements here and there to make you think for a "gray minute" (listen to the book for that now obvious meaning). Probably one of the better ways I've spent 8 hours recently. Not polished enough for five stars but a page turner or enough to have you sitting out in the car waiting for a good place to turn the MP3 player off.

This book has me going back and considering Mr. Halderman's other selection.

Well Written and Well Read

Don't let the cover picture and title keep you away. A great science fiction selection, hard science with a human side, humorous and compassionate as well.

Run of the mill time travel

I have liked other of Haldeman’s books, but this one was pretty uninteresting. There are a lot of time travel stories and this one does not bring anything new. It seems to be trying to be funny, but it was not successful enough. I don’t recall laughing once, though I may have smiled a few times. I suspect this was targeting younger readers, but I would not recommend this even to teens. Not that it is bad, there is just not enough of anything to make it worthwhile.

The narration was pretty good, very clear and had a nice humorous tone, but the writing was just not funny enough.