While some time travel sci-fi books are considered classics, these seven are largely unknown, despite their exceptional entertainment and creativity. The idea of time travel didn’t start with science fiction, existing in folklore and fantasy for centuries before sci-fi became a thing. However, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells popularized the concept in the sci-fi world. Since then, time travel has become one of the most enduring story motifs in the sci-fi genre.
Alongside Wells, many celebrated sci-fi authors, such as Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, wrote books that take characters on adventures through time. They took the idea in very different directions. However, not every great time travel sci-fi book has received the widespread recognition it deserves. These seven books, both old and new, are fantastic, underrated reads for people who love the genre.
7
Tomorrow Was Once Beautiful by Amy Orrell
Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once is truly one of the most beautiful time-travel stories of this decade, despite being relatively unknown. In 2150, time travel accelerated climate change and humanity’s destruction. British historian Jack Elliot, born of Mixed Era Origin, can remember parallel versions of time, making him the ideal person to fix the world through time travel. He goes back in time, nearly dying in the process, and is saved by a second-generation woman named Maddie, who is searching for her sister, Suraya.
Her sister’s mysterious disappearance collides with Jack’s search for the inventor of time travel technology in a propulsive page-turner. The time travel science is plausible. The world’s possible destruction provides high stakes for the story, increasing the tension. On top of that, Jack and Maddie are lovable protagonists who are easy to root for. From a more technical perspective, the prose flows well, and every word feels intentional. Ultimately, Tomorrow Was Once Beautiful deserves a bigger audience
6
The Traveler by Joseph Eckert
Joseph Eckert’s sci-fi time travel book The Traveler, another contender for best time-travel book of the 2020s, will make readers want to hold their loved ones a little tighter. The book follows Scott Treder, a loving father to a 7-year-old named Lyle. One day, while driving to work at 7:52 am, Scott suddenly jumps forward by 24 hours. The next day at the same time, he slips forward 48 hours. This pattern continues every day, doubling each time. Meanwhile, his adult son becomes an expert in quantum physics, desperate to get his dad back.
Many time travel books take a soft sci-fi or magical approach to the central concept, but The Traveler by Joseph Eckert uses a hard science fiction approach to time travel, comparable to Andy Weir, without being difficult to understand. At the same time, the book has an emotional core, as the love between a father and his son could change the world for the better.
5
The Last Beginning By Wren James (Published Under The Name Lauren James)
The sci-fi romance The Next Together by Wren James gained some traction, but the duology’s second book, The Last Beginning, went completely under the radar. The second book is just as good, and new readers can understand it without the first. The Last Beginning takes place sixteen years after two teenagers, Katherine and Matthew, vanished. Clove Sutcliffe uses a time machine to find the couple—her biological parents, who appear repeatedly throughout history. Along the way, she meets Ella, a mysterious young woman who seems to be everywhere she goes.
It’s no secret that the sci-fi genre struggles with diversity, though it has started to improve. I’m not surprised that a YA Sapphic time-travel book written by a trans author isn’t well known. However, the story deserves an audience for its creativity and uniqueness. James is always inventive with their stories and creates characters with big personalities. Plus, the book blends traditional storytelling with an epistolary format, including internet entries and notes to enhance the plot.
4
The Edge of Yesterday by CJ Birch
The Edge of Yesterday is a book I picked up on a whim, never having heard of the author, and I was delightfully surprised. In a dystopian future, civilization exists only in four underground cities due to world domination by nanobot technology. Easton Gray, an operative from the Ministry of Discourse sent to the past, is on a mission to kill the inventors of the nanotechnology that puts the human race on the verge of extermination and his sister, who inherits the technology after his death. When she arrives in history, though, she finds herself drawn to Dr. Tess Nolan, one of the two individuals she’s sent to assassinate. If she follows her heart, she could fail to save humanity.
The Edge of Yesterday is refreshing, offering plenty of surprises to keep readers engaged. The time travel technology and morality are also explained well enough that non-sci-fi readers can understand what’s going on. Plus, the author describes the setting so masterfully that it sucks you into the book, as if you’re existing alongside the characters.
3
Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer
The 1970s were a great era for sci-fi, and one of the best time travel books in the genre, Dinosaur Beach, has fallen out of the pop culture zeitgeist. In the book, Ravel, an agent for a futuristic organization called Nexx Central, is sent back in time to fix the timeline, but he must also navigate an ongoing war between time-travel factions. He initially goes to 1936, where he finds love with a woman named Lisa, but he’s forced to leave for a station called Dinosaur Beach, set in the Jurassic Period. When rival time agents destroy Dinosaur Beach, Ravel gets chased through time.
Dinosaur Beach is a great sci-fi time travel book from 1971, and the reason it has been virtually forgotten is very simple. The book was a pulp fiction novel written by author Keith Laumer, who wrote somewhere between thirty and forty books in his career, plus a ton of short stories and magazine pieces. Still, Dinosaur Beach is a really fun read for folks who enjoy high-octane, adventurous genre fiction that is entertaining but not groundbreaking.
2
The Infinite Miles by Hannah Fergesen
Hannah Fergesen’s 2023 book The Infinite Miles is a clear homage to Doctor Who, making it the perfect read for folks who enjoy whimsical and clever time travel sci-fi stories. The book follows Harper Starling, a woman whose best friend Peggy went missing thirty years earlier. She’s left with only memories and reruns of their favorite TV show, Infinite Odyssey. Suddenly, Peggy appears, asking to be taken to Argonaut, the show’s main character.
Harper thinks the series they love is nothing but fiction until Argonaut shows up and sweeps her away. It turns out, Peggy traveled through space and time with the lead character of Infinite Odyssey until a destructive alien race called the Incarnate essentially brainwashed her. Argonaut leaves Harper in 1971, where she must find a way to save her best friend. As a passionate Whovian, I can confirm that The Infinite Miles feels like an episode or serial of Doctor Who. I’m not surprised to hear that Fergesen’s second book was an actual Doctor Who novel. They clearly love the show. However, The Infinite Miles is also just plain fun, making it a great choice for anyone who likes sci-fi time travel stories.
1
Time Pressure by Spider Robinson
Mindkillers, Spider Robinson’s first book in the Deathkiller series (also called the Lifehouse series), is one of the best cyberpunk books of the 1980s, but the author shifts genres moving into the sequel. Time Pressure by Spider Robinson mostly stands on its own, tying into the previous book only at the end, so it’s a great read for those familiar with Mindkillers and for individuals just looking for an underrated sci-fi time travel book.
The story follows a time traveler named Rachel who is sent to 1973 Nova Scotia to record human history and spread The Mind, a global hive mind. She is taken in by Sam Meade, a US draft dodger living at a hippie commune. As with other Spider Robinson books, there is plenty of sex and drugs to go around, plus a humorous tone. It’s not going to be one for people who want a cleaner story. However, it’s worth the read for those who like a raunchier book and want creative ideas surrounding technology and time travel.
