In a future where humanity has colonized other planets, the concept of time travel has been developed and exploited for profit. A company called Time Enterprises offers trips to any point in history, but with a catch: each trip creates a new parallel universe, and the original timeline remains intact. The protagonist is a "half-tripper", someone who has traveled through time but not returned to their own era. They are stuck in the past, forced to live out their lives in a different time period. The half-trippers are treated as second-class citizens, denied access to advanced technology and forced to live in poverty. The story follows the protagonist's struggles to survive in the past, while also trying to find a way back to their own time. Along the way, they become embroiled in a plot by Time Enterprises to manipulate historical events for profit, and must use their knowledge of future events to prevent a catastrophic outcome.
By Mack Reynolds · First published 1964 · Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Psychological Fiction