'The Big Time' is a locked-room mystery set in a recuperation station outside the universe, where soldiers from across time rest between missions. The soldiers - including a tentacular alien, a Roman Centurion, a British Tommy, a Nazi officer, and others - have all been recruited to fight a universe-spanning, time-spanning war between two mysterious factions who repeatedly rewrite history to try to ensure their own far-future cosmic dominance. Sounds awesome!
My understanding was that it was an influential classic of the Change War trope. Now I've read it, I wouldn't use the word 'classic': the novel has aged extremely poorly, and while there are certainly things to like, these are the mainly on the ideas front rather than the execution. As a piece of post-WW2 pacifist fiction, it contains some interesting reflections on the nature and futility of war, but the overall package feels very wooden and awkward. Unfortunately, unless you are interested in the history and development of the Change War trope, I would advise against reading this old novel.I received a battered 1961 Ace paperback edition of 'The Big Time' with a funky cover from a friend. As I read, my old paperback was coming apart in my hands. First the front cover fell off, and I took to using it as a bookmark. Then, the back cover fell off. I started imagining the old book just wanted to be read one more time in its old life, and I felt sorry for it. I wonder how many people had read this copy before the covers finally gave way in my hands, perhaps thought it was mind-blowingly inventive in its first decades of life. I'm going to repair the cover with Sellotape as best I can and then donate the book to a local charity shop, hopefully it will find a reader who enjoys it more than I did.Following this short, interesting, but unsatisfying foray into the Change War trope, I think it is probably about time for me to read 'This Is How You Lose The Time War', published 61 years after 'The Big Time'.
