All My Sins Remembered - Joe Haldeman

In March, while reading Sci-Fi novels pertaining to time travel, I read Joe Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine. This was my first time reading anything written by the veteran science fiction writer, and in my blog post on the novel, I said that I had enjoyed the humor in the beginning, but I was disappointed at how the story had devolved into a "cautionary tale" involving a scientist/atheist time traveler who confronts a Christian theocracy. I found Haldeman's dig against religion unnecessary.

In spite of that, I enjoyed enough of  The Accidental Time Machine to read one of Haldeman's non-time travel Sci-Fi books.

For that, I choose Haldeman's 1977 military science fiction novel, All My Sins Remembered.

In many ways, I found the earlier work to be superior. With one exception, however. 30 years before The Accidental Time Machine, Haldeman had the need to find a way to have his anti-religion dig.

The book tells the story of Otto McGavin, a Prime Operator for the Confederacion who undergoes "immersion therapy & hypnotic personality overlay" when going undercover for the Confederacion's secret service, the TBII.

In many ways, it seems like the novel is a trilogy of short story adventures. I enjoyed the book, although I might have enjoyed it a bit more had Otto McGavin's third mission involved someone other than a wayward Catholic priest.

The Accidental Time Machine

Unlike far too many of the books found on the list of the 23 Best Time Travel Science Fiction Books, Joe Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine is actually about time travel.

The beginning of The Accidental Time Machine is pretty funny. I thought that if Haldeman could maintain the level of humor throughout the entire book, this one might be my favorite time travel book so far. Unfortunately, Haldeman pretty much abandons the humor and makes the book a "cautionary" tale. When the protagonist, Matt Fuller, arrives in AD 2252, he finds a theocracy controlled by "Jesus". I suppose quite a few Sci-Fi fans see Haldeman's having a scientist/atheist time traveler confront a Christian theocracy as an act of bravery on Haldeman's part. I, on the other hand, found that part of the novel a bit ho-hum. Maybe a little better than the traditional "time traveler meets world ruled by artificial intelligence", but Haldeman goes there later as well.

Sadly, The Accidental Time Machine starts with a bang and ends with a whimper.