The Time Traders
The Time Traders is a science fiction novel by Andre Norton, first published in 1958. It follows Ross Murdock, a young man with a troubled past who volunteers for a secret government project involving time travel. As he navigates different historical eras, including a Bronze Age trading society and a glacial outpost, he confronts both Soviet agents and a mysterious alien race known as the 'Baldies.' This novel is notable for its exploration of time travel and its place within Norton's Forerunner universe, marking the beginning of The Time Traders series.
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“A wise guy doesn't spill his ignorance. He uses his eyes and ears and keeps his trap shut”
— Andre Norton
“Smiths were sacred in the old days. We know that they made a secret of their trade which overrode the bounds of district, tribe, and race. A smith was welcome in any village, his person safe on the road. In fact, the roads themselves were under the protection of the gods; there was peace on them for all wayfarers. The land was wide then, and it was empty. The tribes were few and small, and there was plenty of room for the hunter, the farmer, the trader. Life was not such a scramble of man against man, but rather of man against nature”
— Andre Norton
“He discovered that lack of sight confuses the ear.””
— Andre Norton
“Ross Murdock wouldn’t have seemed formidable to any one glancing casually at him as he sat within the detention cell. He was a little above average height, but not enough to make him noticeable. His brown hair was cropped conservatively and there was nothing remarkable about his unlined boy’s face”
— Andre Norton
“They were only two in the thin web of men strung out through centuries of time with orders to seek out that which did not fit properly into the pattern of the past: to locate the enemy wherever in history or prehistory he had gone to earth.””
— Andre Norton
