The Time Traders

Written by Andre Norton

Narrated by Charles McKibben

If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past.
That was why young Ross Murdock, above average in intelligence but a belligerently independent nonconformist, found himself on a hush-hush government project at a secret base in the Arctic. The very qualities that made him a menace in civilized society were valuable traits in a man who must successfully act the part of a merchant trader of the Beaker people during the Bronze Age.
For once they were transferred by time machine to the remote Baltic region where the Russian post was located, Ross and his partner Ashe were swept into a fantastic action-filled adventure involving Russians, superstitious prehistoric men, and the aliens of a lost galactic civilization that demanded every ounce of courage the Americans possessed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Audio Realms
• Release date: Jul 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781467696623

Andre Norton

For well over a half century, Andre Norton was one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy authors in the world. Since her first SF novels were published in the 1940s, her adventure SF has enthralled readers young and old. With series such as Time Traders, Solar Queen, Forerunner, Beast Master, Crosstime, and Janus, as well as many stand-alone novels, her tales of action and adventure throughout the galaxy have drawn countless readers to science fiction. Her fantasy, including the best-selling Witch World series, her "Magic" series, and many other unrelated novels, has been popular with readers for decades. Lauded as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, she is the recipient of a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention. Not only have her books been enormously popular; she also has inspired several generations of SF and fantasy writers, especially many talented women writers who have followed in her footsteps. In the past two decades she worked with other writers on a number of novels. Most notable among these were collaborations with Mercedes Lackey, the Halfblood Chronicles, as well as collaborations with A.C. Crispin (in the Witch World series) and Sherwood Smith (in the Time Traders and Solar Queen series). Andre Norton passed away in 2005.

Reviews for The Time Traders

[ikeman100 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good book by Norton. I'm not into her books Fantasy but I do like her SF, like this one, when I can find it.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book when i was young and liked it very much, though i have not reread it for a long time.In the Cold War opening, the Russians are gaining technological advantages from time travel. Ross Murdock (the continuing series hero) and his partner Ashe are sent back to the Bronze Age as Beaker People merchants and find the Russian technology comes from dealing with aliens.This is probably the very copy I first read in the Wood County Ohio library. It is only Norton's third sf novel and I was surprised it came out in 1969 when I was 19 -- I thought I remembered reading it earlier.

[zeborah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Holds up fairly well considering the passage of time; though it still is very much of its own period, with the Reds as antagonists and Our Hero being of the "misfit because society no longer needs heroes - until now!" variety.There was, if I recall correctly, approximately one woman in the whole novel, which is quite a feat considering the range of small communities Our Hero travels through willingly or not; a greater range of races were included even though (England/Europe being chosen as the playground of the novel) they didn't feature for the greater part of the story.A bit action-adventurey for my tastes, and the aliens' motives were obscure, but all-in-all perfectly readable.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't really like Ross Murdock - he's a rather nasty person (with good reason, but still). On the other hand, he has excellent adventures. Recruited out of court, hauled along on a back-time trip that turned unexpectedly nasty, heading out again on a harder trip that got even worse... He's funny when Ashe reduces him to a boy again (rarely). And his desire to have Ashe respect him is amazingly transparent to the reader, though it's never explicitly stated. His stubbornness is exactly what's needed to produce the best possible result, from the Project's point of view...but I still don't like him much. Good but not excellent story.

[salimbol · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining but dated time travel story.

[bzedan_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ha, nothing like conscription as the start of a story. This wise-ace, street bastard is forced to join these time travellers fighting the REDS. God, I love it. It's like an wormhole onion of espionage. My thing lately has been combinations of feudal/hunting/medieval society mixed with The Science of Future (a lot of the short stories I was reading last month by Everett Cole on Gutenberg follows that sort of line). This has that, since they bounce around a bit between Now and Then and some people from Super Tech Whenever? Norton has a decent skill in letting bad crap happen to her main characters. These are stories where you see you only have a pinch of pages left and you wonder how the hell they'll get out of that.

[deusxmachina-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After the slog that was The Scarlet Letter, this was a real refreshing romp. The bull-headed scoundrel Ross Murdock gets force-recruited into a secret American time-travel unit that tries to uncover where the Russians have all that fancy new technology from they display so openly. The assumption is that an advanced civilization has lived on Earth long before humankind crawled out of their caves, and that the "Reds" have found their leftovers. Ross and his boss Gordon Ashe are sent back to 2k BC only to discover that their outpost under the disguise of prehistoric traders has been bombed. The locals believe that the wrath of their gods has manifested and shenanigans ensue, resulting in a series of near-death-experiences, surprising discoveries and mad dashed through time and space.The contrast between prehistoric hunter-gatherer culture (that seemed plausibly described to a non-expert like me) and the far advanced technology was one of the charmes of this novella, but I also like the protagonists - Ross, even if he's sometimes a bit of a Gary Stu with all his miraculous new skills (American training methods are really remarkable) and the way sheer stubborn willpower takes him through all and every situation) and Gordon Ashe with his stoic experience. There was some handwaving and some plotholes (you don't have time pressure when you have time travel at your disposal), but all in all this was much better than most of this kind of pulp fiction.