(pb; 1969)
From the back cover
“Judson Daniel Elliott III thought of himself as being a pretty square type. But he was simultaneously attacked by restlessness, weltschmerz, tax liens and unfocused ambition. This left him, with several horrible alternatives.
“In the circumstances, he was glad to accept the advice of Sam, his friendly black guru, who introduced Jud to the Time Service, Sam himself being a part-time Time Serviceman.
“And a roistering bawdy lot
they turned out to be. Judson was astounded at the ease with which he took to
the swinging life of a Time Courier—and before he knew it, he had, of course,
landed himself in a marvelous transtemporal paradox whose name was Pulcheria.”
Review
Set in the “now-time” of 2059 (for the most part), Up is a lusty, socially freewheeling science fiction tale, with a young lothario protagonist who time hops and leads tourist groups through the early centuries of mankind, and quickly learns and exploits the loopholes in the rules regarding his profession. This fast-moving, well-written first-person narrative has the distinctive tone of the free-love 1960s, with occasionally egregious (especially in the uptight now) language—e.g., Elliott’s sex-enthusiastic attitude and his brief, well-intended and wince-inducing descriptions of “black guru” Sam, and Elliott’s pointed, and quick-temper use of a certain racial epithet—for which he promptly apologizes).
If you are mature and open-minded enough to take these occasional that didn’t age well elements with maturity, understanding and brief-wince grace, Up might be a humorous, blast-from-the-past science fiction thrill-source. If you’re not, skip the mostly deft, historically pulpy and time-travel picaresque Up.
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