“‘All You Zombies—’” (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert A. Heinlein
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Science fiction
- Time of Work: 1945-1993
- Setting: Cleveland, Ohio; New York City; somewhere under the Rocky Mountains
- Principal Characters: The narrator
- Genres: Short fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Future, Space flight or travel, Time travel, Atomic bomb, Zombies or living dead
- Locales: New York, NY, Cleveland, OH
The Story
“’All You Zombies—’” takes full advantage of the cause-and-effect paradox inherent in the concept of time travel. The tale assumes not only the existence of time travel but also its necessity. To forestall the atomic destruction of the earth, for example, agents of the Temporal Bureau must selectively manipulate what becomes the past, taking care not to leave too many anachronisms. Temporal agents do not change the past, for that is impossible; rather, it is their hidden presence in past events that ensures that history turns out as it really does. For...
[The entire page is 1390 words long]
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