Jack West

I have always found it to be an unwritten rule that time travel is only for Science fiction, there is just a deep connection between time travel and technology. After some deep thinking, okay well it was more like deep sleeping, I came to the conclusion that that is just totally redonkulous. SILLY FOOLISH PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THAT WAY AND YES I AM TALKING TO YOU AUTHOR OF THE SUN TREADERS WEB COMIC. Me? YES YOU!

Alright now that we have gotten past that weird moment where I talk to myself I can get to the good part. Firstly, when comparing Fantasy and SciFi I am not talking about Tolkein fantasy (sorry), I am talking about High Magic fantasy were Wizards can call down a meteor storm, stop time, and bend the fabric of reality with a wish spell. The idea really came to me when I realized that with magic this powerful, where a Cleric can call upon his deity and not only regrow limbs, fix blindness, but actually bring back the dead. In a super advanced Sci-Fi theme the laws of physics usually still apply thus creating a limit or at least a hindrance to many mind bending exploits.

 

So I say in a world where, if you spend enough years flipping through ancient texts and studying the arcane arts, you can just throw the laws of physics out the window, shouldn’t time travel occur somewhat frequently. So I guess I am posing two questions here, what are your thoughts of time travel in Fantasy, and after reading the paragraphs following this one, which is you favorite type of time travel. 

Over the years there have been hundreds of different types of time travel from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, to Star Trek, to Danny Phantom. But which is your favorite? Ill cover the basics here with a few examples.
 

(Sheriff Carter and Dr. Grant, Einstein-Rosen Bridge)
I’ll cover the more excepted theory, The Einstein Bridge, first. This is the worm hole theory, where basically two points in time can be connected with a hole in time and space. Depending on the variation of the theory these holes will either connect to a different time on in the same universe, or to an alternate universe. That brings me to my next example, Sliders, where they didn’t actually time travel but because they went to alternate universes, different events never happened causing the current time to appear totally different. It varied from dinosaurs, to the 60’s to medieval Europe, to an extremely advanced society,etc. 
Lastly before I get into time travel with a vehicle I would like to touch upon my favorite type of time travel, Quantum Leap. Dr. Sam Beckett theorized that one could time travel within their own life time, by sending their brainwaves through time, not any mass. My favorite part in this is not just that he takes over the bodies of others, and that he teaches Buddy Holly the song Peggy Sue and Michael Jackson the moonwalk, but how he gets the idea. He gets the idea as a child while watching a science fiction show, eventually during his travels he is on that very show and causes his ideas to be displayed on said show, thus giving himself the idea in the first place. Lastly the show incorporates religion into time travel in a very tasteful way.

 
I now get to my last section, time machines. The oldest account of a time machine that I have personally read is the novel by H.G. Wells… called The Time Machine. But there have been much more recent displays, particularly Back to The Future, and Dr. Who, anyone care for a Jelly Baby? By using a time travel the user can travel from one point in time unscathed compared to ideas similar to the Terminator, where the traveler arrived naked.. The two biggest differences between Traveling in the Tardis and the Delorean, is that with the later it is nearly impossible not to change the future by traveling to the past. Each time Marty’s actions cause a significant change in his town. In Whovian time, however, there are fixed points in time, where no matter what you do they will always happen. I could go on about this forever but I will leave with a question instead.

What is your opinion on time travel in a Fantasy theme, and what is your favorite type of time travel?