Short Story Review – Ripples in the Dirac Sea
Book Details
“Ripples in the Dirac Sea” by Geoffrey A. Landis | The Time Traveler’s Almanac collection
Editors: Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer
Total Pages in the collection: 960
Published: March 18, 2014 by Tor Books
My Review
As if time travel couldn’t get any more interesting, this little gem pops up–but it’s not without its flaws.
The narrator of the story is speaking to us in hindsight, bemoaning his own impending doom. At first it seems a bit jumbled as to what the guy is talking about, but as his story unfolds we begin to understand that as a physics professor, he had discovered how to travel through time.
Apparently the “Dirac Sea” is the name given to the sea of negative particles all around us and throughout the universe, and if you jump into that sea and harness its power, you can go back in time (you can’t go into the future unless the Dirac Sea gives positive energy).
So, our dear narrator likes jumping back to 1965, hanging out with his hippie friends, and testing out different time travel scenarios and paradoxes–including trying to prevent his own birth by killing his father. He comes to the conclusion that no matter what you do in the past as a traveler, you cannot change or influence the future.
Bummer. However, this point is essential to remember.
[spoiler below!]
Okay, on the eve of our intrepid time traveler’s glorious speech and undeniable proof to the scientific world that time travel is indeed possible, an arsonist burns down his hotel room. Our dear professor escapes in the only way possible–by hooking up to his time machine and getting the heck out of there–back to the 1960s. The problem? He always returns to his present, a smoke-filled, fiery death trap. Each time he returns to his present, he inches toward his own inevitable demise. A bit depressing, but also very fascinating!
I didn’t care too much for some of the technical explanations or rebuttals interspersed throughout the story (hence my rating), but other than that, I did enjoy the story. Time travel isn’t always pretty, and sometimes in doing the most amazing feats, we inadvertently ruin ourselves.
My Rating:
3.8 out of 5
About The Time Traveler’s Almanac
The Time Traveler’s Almanac is the largest and most definitive collection of time travel stories ever assembled. Gathered into one volume by intrepid chrononauts and world-renowned anthologists Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, this book compiles more than a century’s worth of literary travels into the past and the future that will serve to reacquaint readers with beloved classics of the time travel genre and introduce them to thrilling contemporary innovations.
This marvelous volume includes nearly seventy journeys through time from authors such as Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, H. G. Wells, and Connie Willis, as well as helpful non-fiction articles original to this volume (such as Charles Yu’s “Top Ten Tips For Time Travelers”).
The Time Traveler’s Almanac Review Group
This review is part of an on-going review series. We’re trying to review a short story per week from The Time Traveler’s Almanac. Please join us and share your thoughts! My partners in crime on this reading adventure includes the following authors and bloggers. Check out their reviews as well:
Timothy C. Ward
D.J. @ MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape
H.M. Jones
Preston from the Leighgendarium
I think the story would have been better if it didn’t seem some jumbled.
Agreed, Preston. Instead of soaking in the story and going along for the ride, I was trying to figure out exactly what was going on. It was also hard to connect with the narrator.
The scientific explanations were a let down for me too. I understood that Dirac Sea had to with pos and neg particles, but how that related to time-travel and how made it work… not a clue. Was not explained well at all.
I was happy at first to see that we were going to get physics, but the poor execution just left me frustrated.
Yes, DJ, I experienced the same frustration. However, I will say there were aspects to the story that I thought were well done.
I liked the different narrative arch, actually, but was confused by the explanation of the Dirac Sea. If it were clearer and his character more relateable, it would have been a higher rating.