The Grandfather Paradox [Paperback]

"Steven Burgauer is a man bristling with ideas . . . " Neil Walsh , SF Site -- SF SITE, Neil Walsh

You won't find much more in the way of adventure than is contained herein. -- Science Fiction Chronicle

Take a hot-blooded female clone from the future and match her up with a daring adventurer from the past, and you have the makings of a great science-fiction story. Now, let them time-travel and you have The Grandfather Paradox.

By the time Man reached out to the stars for the second time, memories of His first botched effort had long since receded into the dim past. In much the same way that the first Euros believed they had "discovered" the New World when in fact it had been found thousands of years earlier by migrating Asians, the space explorers of the second wave were scarcely even aware that there had been a first wave. Thus, it should have come as no surprise to anyone that when Man met Himself out there, He did not believe that was what He'd found.

I've been a fan of Samuel Clemens almost since I could first read. So, when I set out to write a time-travel story, I knew Samuel Clemens would be in it. Then too, I've always been fascinated by the religious exoduses that have occurred throughout history--the Jews, the Mormons, etc.--so when I set out to contemplate how the galaxy might be settled, it occurred to me that a religious exodus might be one way. The West was settled this way; why not the stars? With these two elements in mind, The Grandfather Paradox was born. It's time-travel at its best!

The clone Andu knew only as Prime Alpha reached for her blaster. He hadn't noticed it before, but all this time the weapon had just been sitting there, unattended, on a small white table next to the hospital room door. Now, as Prime Alpha linked her long delicate fingers around the grip of the blaster and pointed it at his chest, Second and Third felt the cold touch of gray metal against their skin.

Andu stared down the barrel of the blaster with grave apprehension. He could see grim determination in the female clone's eyes.

Moving slowly now, so as not to spook her, he raised his hands above his head as if to surrender. He spoke in even, unhurried tones.

"Take it easy, Prime Alpha. I'm not an alien. I'm a human, just like you."

"We are not human," the clone replied. "We are Prime."

Marooned in the present, their only hope for the future lay in the past.

But first there was still the small matter of staying alive. The planet they were marooned on was crawling with bird-beasts, parrotlike carnivores that stood two meters tall, weighed upwards of fifty kilos, and had a giant scooped beak like a pelican. They normally swallowed their prey whole, though not before crushing them to death in their vise-like jaws.

Then there were the vipers--writhing snake-like creatures armed with dozens of sucker-bearing tentacles. They sprayed their victims with acid, then ate them while they were still alive.

But it got worse. Much worse . . .

Now, join Andu Nehrengel and his three female clone companions on an intense voyage through time. First stop: the Civil War and the Battle of Shiloh, April 1862, one of the most horrendous land battles of all time. Meet Mark Twain when he is still a riverboat pilot. Journey with him north to Missouri when he joins the Confederacy. Then it's back to the future and on to Mars!

In the immortal words of Robert A. Heinlein, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. This is a theme Steven Burgauer picks up time and time again in his series of future-history sci-fi adventures. From invention to property rights to personal freedom and choice, these books follow the adventures of a space-faring family three centuries in the future.

Steve turned to writing in 1993 after a long and distinguished career as a stockbroker and founder of a successful mutual fund. To date, he has completed seven science-fiction adventures, one mystery, one investment guide, and three short stories:

The Railguns of Luna, The Brazen Rule, The Last American, Fornax, In The Shadow of Omen, Treachery On The Dark Side, The Grandfather Paradox, Naked Came The Farmer, and The Wealth Builder's Guide, an investment primer.