The Big Time

De: Fritz Leiber

Narrado por: Suzanne Toren

Have you ever worried about your memory, because it doesn't seem to recall exactly the same past from one day to the next? Have you ever thought that the whole universe might be a crazy, mixed-up dream? If you have, then you've had hints of the Change War.

It's been going on for a billion years, and it will last another billion or so. Up and down the timeline, the two sides, "Spiders" and "Snakes", battle endlessly to change the future and the past. Our lives and our memories are their battleground. And in the midst of the war is the Place, outside space and time, where Greta Forzane and the other Entertainers provide solace and R&R for tired time warriors.

Fritz Leiber was one of the most important sci-fi and fantasy writers of the 20th century. The Big Time, which won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, is his most famous SF novel.

©2000 The Estate of Fritz Leiber (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Interesteing Concept, Poor Execution

The overall theme of this book, how a war between two factions altering the past to gain supremacy affects the psyches of the people fighting that war, was interesting. However, it just didn't generate a very interesting story. For much of the book, it felt more like a mystery trying to figure out who did it than a science fiction story investigating the how or why of the action. Ultimately, the story's resolution of returning everything to the status quo was disappointing.

Reflexiva y Corta

The Big Time es una novela corta que transcurre entre varios personajes extravagantes en un único espacio, una mezcla de bar + spa + burbuja temporal. Fritz Leiber nos relata en primera persona lo que ocurre y lo que piensa Greta, la protagonista.

La novela trata conceptos complejos como viajes en el tiempo y sus efectos, no solo en la historia sino en la memoria de las personas, y los plasma en conversaciones ingeniosas en el contexo de una supuesta guerra entre Arañas y Serpientes.

El estilo de Leiber es muy rápido, tanto que no logré acercarme o empatizar con ningún personaje o facción, y quizás no era el objetivo del autor. No busquen una aventura: la novela es una tertulia filosófica entre los personajes, con un par de misterios que resuelve de forma eficaz sobre el final.

Es un libro interesante que abre varias interrogantes sobre las motivaciones humanas y los medios que somos capaces de usar para vencer a nuestros enemigos, con argumentos o con violencia, y cómo sobrellevamos situaciones complejas que no logramos entender por completo.

Good, But Lacking Something

Suzanne Toren's accent range was unexpectedly good. I enjoyed her reading of this. The story itself was passable, but seemed to lack something in the end. Leiber's writing was vivid and the yarn was enjoyable and a new concept for me. I think the story suffers somewhat from age, but it was a bit nice to get that nostalgic feeling of the sci-fi I read as a kid.

Golden age SF delight.

Fun classic SF story that might not be up to the fancy standards of some but is still a good story well told.

a nice story, a bit confused

the concept is interesting and the performance is good, but the story itself is not the best...

The only thing enjoyable was the presentation.

While impressed with the presentation I found the story overly drawn out and complex enough to leave much wanting. A very entertaining premise but, given the depth behind the characters and setting, it fell far short of achieving excellence. It definitely didn't deserve the Hugo award. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that part of the inspiration for the TV series Loki didn't come from this. Loki is... meh, okay at best but far better fleshed out.

Poor Hugo story

The story was confused and muddy. If there was a big idea here, I completely missed it.

A classic novel that hasn't aged well

"The Big Time" hasn't aged well. On the plus side, the novel does create suspense, and I found myself interested in aspects of the characters. But overall, the themes won't resonate much with the modern reader and the characters are a bit thin. Readable if you are a student of science fiction (it won the Hugo), but give it a pass if you are looking for a great novel.

boring

if you read this book in the 1950s it might be mildly interesting but as far as today's standings go it's pretty hard to stay engaged

a little dated but amusing.

Worth the price(nothing) and maybe even worth the listen. Slightly out dated very 50s science fiction. a little jokey with some very good ideas that have been copied since.