The Turquoise Path, by Yonca Evren, from Flickr As an historical fiction author, I often fanaticize about travels through time. Where would I go? Who would I most want to meet? How would I change history, if I possibly could? Believe me...I've given the matter some thought.
Ray Bradbury once wrote a short story called "A Sound of Thunder." (So, who doesn't like Ray Bradbury, right???) Imagine, if you will, a scenario in which you could travel to any year in the past. Ray Bradbury wrote of a safari company that would take visitors to any year in the past. The visitor can shoot any animal, even prehistoric ones, hear the unique sounds of long-dead voices, smell their peculiar odors, feel the individual textures of the hides of living creatures.
With Ray Bradbury, there's always a catch, right? Here it is: The visitor must never veer from a specially designed modern pathway or risk changing the future.
Would I consider changing the future, if I could? But could I change the future if I would? What would be the consequences of such a rash act? Who wouldn't be born? Or who might I harm without any knowledge of the fact? One of my favorite authors wrote a long series of historical novels with just such a premise. If you're a fan of the Outlander series you know the name of the author, Diana Gabaldon. Her heroine traveled into the morass of mid-18th century Scotland. Her heroine encountered consequence after consequence from her endeavor to alter the past.
Country Road, Take Me Home, Donna Goode My current plan is to ensure that King Edward I of England had one more healthy living son who produced many heirs and eventually inherited the throne. (Edward II was a pretty bad king, over all--but, of course, so was Richard II, Edward II's great-grandson. In fact, of all the Plantagenet kings, I might consider calling these two the worst. But of course, there was also King John....) But think of it...no War of the Roses...no Tudor kings...or Stuarts...or Hanoverians. Would Cromwell have entered history had Edward III's healthy, legitimate son ever been born? (See what knowing something about history does for your outlook?)
I digress. Okay, so where...and when...would you go if you could visit the past? Would you step off Bradbury's modern Path of Time?
I digress. Okay, so where...and when...would you go if you could visit the past? Would you step off Bradbury's modern Path of Time?