Shorter than I remember, of course, but still quite good. The story is deceptively simple - Tycho Tithonus, the youngest of four siblings - the other three being very talented and thoroughly unpleasant - finds a small, silver, egg-like object while digging up a new vegetable garden.
As innocuous as is seems, that object is about to change everything. It is, in fact, a time machine. It's not very difficult - it has a series of dials on one end, which you turn to set the time you want to go to. Press the other end and it's done. And Tycho does what anyone would do when presented with such an amazing device: go back and re-work an unpleasant event in his past. And if by doing so he could maybe teach his nasty siblings to appreciate him more, well, so be it. Of course, the ramifications of this act don't become clear until it's much too late.
But the past doesn't really hold that much allure for young Tycho. It's over and done with, and was never very pleasant to begin with. So he decides to go to the future, to see what has become of himself and his family. A quick twenty-year jump to April 23, shows him what's in store for himself. A desperate, unhappy, bitter man, fronting for a lunar entertainment industry and reduced to begging sponsors for money.
Disappointed and upset, Tycho comes back. Later, he visits the future again - same day - only to find it has changed completely. He's no longer a sad, shapeless man but a tough, ruthless one, a man who uses his ability to travel through time to make money and ruin his family.
Terrified, Tycho returns to his own time. But his curiosity can't be stopped. He needs to see a future where everything works out right. Unfortunately, every time he goes there it's worse and worse. His future self becomes a monster and a murderer, a willing agent to bring beings of higher power onto this planet.
This is one of the things I've always liked about Sleator - his mind turns around corners. Everyone and his uncle can write about a time traveler going to the past and changing the present, but who writes about someone changing the future by messing about in the present?
Not many, I'll tell you that. Each time Tycho comes back from the future, the knowledge he has gained causes him to say something or do something that alters the course of his future in a new and terrible way. And seeing how much worse it gets just forces him to make even more terrible decisions, until you have the final, terrible paradox of an old Tycho trying to chase down and kill his younger self over the course of millennia.
Which does bring up the problem of paradox, unavoidable in any time travel book, known in fiction as "massive, gaping plot holes. It's impossible - as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Tycho vanished on April 23, and re-appeared twenty years later. Everyone else lived through that time, but he simply side-stepped it. Instead of finding a letter from his older self to his mother in their future house, he should have found perhaps a black-framed picture of 11 year-old Tycho with a note to the effect that they should have loved him more.
The only way I can think of to resolve this problem is to assume that Tycho was absolutely and incontrovertibly determined to return to his own time after each future visit, thus ensuring that he would eventually live out those twenty years.
Fortunately, Sleator handles these paradoxes in a very simple and straightforward manner. During one of Tycho's experimental first trips into the future, he meets his teenage self, who shows him how the dials work on the egg: "But," Tycho said. I mean, if we're the same person, how can we both be here at the same time? That bit there is the author saying, "Yes, I know there are paradoxes involved, but that's not the point of the book.
If you're reading carefully, you'll notice that Ludwig's hair has gone from proto-emo long to a nice crew cut. Even Tycho doesn't notice, which is interesting. When presented with the results of a change in time, he has a moment of jamais vu - the feeling of something familiar as totally new - and then the story moves on. The effects multiply and resonate, and even Tycho isn't aware of how much he's changed. Going back to the plot hole problem for a moment, there is the small issue of the egg's origin and purpose.
We know it was planted on Earth by aliens, something like million years ago. It seems they did so with the intention that it one day be found and used in order to prepare the way for their arrival and dominance of Earth - this is what can be gleaned by the ravings of older Tycho.
But why would an alien race which has time travel sorted out need such a roundabout way of conquering the world? Why drop it into some Jurassic mud and leave it at the whims of plate tectonics? Why not just show up at Tycho's house one day and drop it on his bedside table? This is never adequately explained in the book, probably because it's not what the book's about.
But it nagged me when I was a kid, and it still does now. All plot holes and paradoxes aside, it's a really good book, and if you have a kid, I recommend it. It's the kind of story that you really can pick apart and look from many angles. In one sense, it's a story about destiny. Tycho and his siblings are all named after extraordinary famous people - Ludwig Beethoven,Tamara Karsavina, Leonardo DaVinci, and Tycho Brahe - in the hopes that they would grow up to emulate them.
Tycho's siblings fall into line very easily, adopting the roles that they'd been given from birth. Tycho doesn't - he's interested in a little bit of everything, and isn't entire sure what he wants to do with his life. I knew that feeling when I was eleven years old. Hell, I know that feeling now. And of course it's about the futility of letting your future control your life. The future isn't fixed.
It's an organic, growing thing that you can't begin to control, and the tiniest change in the present could become a radical change in the future. Sure, it's good to have goals and plans, but to try and wield unbending control over who you're going to be is foolish at best. And that brings me to the nagging question that occurred to me right around chapter 9, the first time Tycho sees his adult self and is terribly disappointed in him.
Reading this again as an adult, I found myself wondering that if eleven year-old me suddenly appeared, what would he think? Would he be impressed at the path my life had taken? Would he be disappointed by my physical appearance? Would he be surprised at the relationship I have with my siblings? Would be be shocked that I have a boyfriend? What would his judgment be on his future?
Following right on the heels of that, of course, was the more important question of, "Who cares what eleven year-old me thinks of my life? Tycho doesn't know the twenty years of history and context that led to him becoming a miserable bastard. Perhaps if he had learned a little, he might have made better decisions when he returned to his own time.
And if eleven year-old me gave me any lip about what I'd become, I'd send him back to his own time with a whole host of new neuroses to deal with. Anyway, my point is this: The Green Futures of Tycho is a damn fine book.
It's a good time travel adventure, and it's a good allegory for the existential angst we all go through when we consider the future. While such feelings might be new and raw to a child of Tycho's age, and old and familiar to us adults, it's still something that we need to deal with. And perhaps that best way to do it is to simply appreciate what we have now. View 2 comments. William Sleator has a way of making his books stick with you well after you've completed them.
I've found myself thinking about The Green Futures of Tycho multiple times since I finished reading it yesterday. I stumbled across this book and decided to pick it up merely because I vaguely recalled liking a book I'd read by Sleator years ago. It took me at least three years before I decided to actually read this book, but I'm guilty of buying books to read and then choosing to read books I've check William Sleator has a way of making his books stick with you well after you've completed them.
It took me at least three years before I decided to actually read this book, but I'm guilty of buying books to read and then choosing to read books I've checked out from the library instead of those I already own.
My goal for this year is every time I read a book from the library I must read one of my own books. The purpose is to minimize extraneous books I've been meaning to read, but never get around to reading. I think the cover and title of this book is a little odd, which is probably why it took me so long to read it. I didn't know what to expect, so it was just easier to set aside until another time.
Once I started reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down. There were times it was a little grim, but merely to drive home the ramifications of time travel and meddling in the future. Or it might be a series of paths that branched off at frequent intervals, like the limbs of a tree. At each fork you might happen to go one way or the other. A very small decision at the beginning could lead you to a very different place at the end.
Mar 02, Zaz rated it it was amazing Shelves: zzaty-childrens-challenge , zz-books-read-in , standalone , p , sci-fi. A very nice piece of time travel, involving a strange device, a family and various futures. Time travel and its consequences aren't easy to picture for beginners, and I think it's especially the case for kids, so I was curious to try the book. It did well on both sides, with a simple but efficient way to travel in the past and the futures, and plenty of time to think about how a little event could change the future but also the people.
Tycho had interactions with the various members of his family A very nice piece of time travel, involving a strange device, a family and various futures. Tycho had interactions with the various members of his family, but also with himself, which was nice and helped to understand what the problems were.
Facing his futures wasn't easy and he had to deal with both the threats in the present, his fears, his siblings and his future selves. Because of all of this and never knowing how the things would unfold, the read was compelling.
It was also short and fast paced, making it entertaining. Overall, a good piece of scifi, with low tech, a focus on the human side, and the narrow point of view of a kid. Aug 27, Douglas rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Everyone. I met William Sleator when I was in 5th grade and he came to my elementary school to speak to us. I picked this book randomly and had it autographed and it soon became my all-time favorite book.
For a while there I was reading it at least once a year. It's been a while now, my friend I guess I should pick you up again! Years later I had the opportunity to introduce William Sleator to a group of elementary school children when we brought him in to speak at Truman State University during National I met William Sleator when I was in 5th grade and he came to my elementary school to speak to us.
Years later I had the opportunity to introduce William Sleator to a group of elementary school children when we brought him in to speak at Truman State University during National Reading Week activities.
What an honor I did get to hear the story about the ballerina losing her contact lens and another dancer scooping it up and putting it in his mouth until the end of the scene again, though I highly recommend all of Sleator's stories View all 3 comments.
I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it. The story was structured really well and it was interesting to read. The way the siblings interacted with each other was very relatable and sometimes funny, and the way Tycho could travel into the future, and seeing what life was like, was very interesting. The way the author wrote these characters, it is very interesting to see how he thinks they'd be in the future, and what our world would be like in the future.
Sep 23, Eric T. That was a trip. Six star sci-fi. I couldn't stop. Page turner as hell. And daaaamn it got dark. It was reasonably dark, and then it got freaking insane asylum crazy grim and chilling. That bent my mind a little. It's good clean horrifying time travel as a means to vastly different futures mostly. When aliens start getting involved I really start worrying there's not going to be a happy ending.
The story gracefully sidesteps the alien thing though, and it doesn't come up til almost That was a trip. The story gracefully sidesteps the alien thing though, and it doesn't come up til almost the last chapter, so don't worry. That was all over the place bonkers nuts. Sleator's got the goods. I've quoted it enough places already, no need for that here. I'm glad I read that. And in a day-ish. Making good bookwormy choices. View 1 comment.
Jan 06, Ren the Unclean rated it it was amazing Shelves: sci-fi. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really liked Green Futures of Tycho. It is about a kid who is the black sheep of his family and has the opportunity to change things after finding a mysterious object while playing outside.
GFoT handles time travel in a really cool way, and Tycho's thoughts as he works through the situations he finds himself in are believable and interesting. The introduction of alternate versions of Tycho is really cool, and something most time travel fiction doesn't do. Definitely recommended if you like YA or time travel! This was a childhood favorite that definitely held up to my memory.
I particularly liked the late 70s ultra-liberal parenting: Tycho must call his parents Brian and Judy, who named their children after those with famous accomplishments and then expected their children to excel in that area.
Beyond that, this is a fun quick action treatise on the dangers of messing around with time travel, all in a concise pages. Aug 22, Ian rated it liked it. This book was very exciting for me because i always had a interest in the future. It has always made me wonder about the paradoxes involved and how you would escape them. Dec 14, Blake Williams rated it really liked it.
A delightful revisit of a great read from childhood. As an adult it's easy to judge Sleator's work in a harsher way, so in one sense I'm judging this from an adult perspective as well as my inner child's. As an adult there are holes in the work, and the ending feels rushed but those holes go out the window when I consider how imaginative the work really is.
Time travel, paradoxes, and the vague possibility of remembering multiple universes are at the heart of this book. In a very real way Sleato A delightful revisit of a great read from childhood.
In a very real way Sleator is unapologetically ambiguous, having Tycho question what is happening along the way- the same way that the reader is too. Save Not today. Format ebook. Author William Sleator. Publisher Tom Doherty Associates. Release 01 October Subjects Juvenile Fiction. Search for a digital library with this title Search by city, ZIP code, or library name Learn more about precise location detection. View more libraries The Green Futures of Tycho. Copy and paste the code into your website.
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