In modern sci-fi, several novels feature present-day humans sent into the past, usually into times of conflict, thereby giving an opportunity to showcase their superiority in weapons and technology. Twain used the time travel device as a satire of feudalism and the monarchy, both concepts that the American ideal is diametrically opposed to. Mark Twain’s 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is perhaps one of the earliest such examples. Given the pressure to pack maximum entertainment into a 2-hour movie, perhaps it’s the written word that provides better opportunities. Surprisingly, Hollywood didn’t repeat this successful formula in later years subsequent time travel movies like 12 Monkeys (1995), Source Code (2011) and Looper (2012) have used time displacement as an element in a mystery/ thriller rather than to explore cultural differences.

A big part of the charm of the Back to the Future movies was seeing Marty McFly try to navigate a culture from 30 years in his past. Splash (mermaid among land-dwellers almost literally ‘fish out of water’!), Big (corporate world from a kid’s perspective) and even Cocoon (senior citizens suddenly able to participate in the activities of younger people).Īnd of course, using time travel as a device opens up many entertaining possibilities. In the 80’s there were some ‘fantasy’ movies in Hollywood which explored this trope from various angles, e.g. The country bumpkin in the city, the city dweller in the countryside ( City Slickers) or the foreigner in another land ( Coming to America) – these kinds of stories have used culture clashes as a basis for humor and melodrama. I didn't enjoy Eifelheim quite as much as River of Stars, though I felt that Flynn's occasional expositions of his characters' motivations didn't work so well here, and I found the shift from omniscient narrator to tight first-person at the end a bit jarring.We are all familiar with the ‘fish out of water’ trope in fiction. He has tried hard also ( not always successfully) to catch the linguistic flavour of the period. Flynn puts a lot of effort into creating a believable 14th-century world, with a relatively harmonious relationship between religion and science depicted some of the best passages are where the central character (the village priest) and the aliens try to make sense of each others' world-views in terms of their own.

Flynn's The Wreck of the River of Stars was one of the best sf books I read last year, and I had high expectations of this Hugo nominee: a story of aliens landing in 14th century Germany, and the contemporary historian (and his physicist girlfriend) who works out what happened way back then.

Eifelheim book