I consider this to be an exciting new example of how fiction can be written in the era of the internet. This book represents a collaborative and interactive writing process between the hoaxters and the online communities with which they were playing. I think there are very interesting ideas to explore if the reader approaches the book in this light. Or, maybe Titor is really some dude from the future and we are all missing the boat on his apocalyptic warnings... ( )

A couple of years ago, an unknown poster calling himself John Titor began posting to web forms dealing with physics and time travel, claiming to be on a mission from an alternate 2036 to acquire an IBM 5100 portable computer. His story was that he had gone back to the year 1975 to acquire this computer (and have a couple of modifications made to it, and then travelled to 1998, whereupon he lived with his younger self and parents. Ordinarily, it would be easy to dismiss this as a hoax, but certain details make it not quite such a cut and dried thing. He was able to discuss the physics and basic operating principles of his time travel device (which have, by now, been proven feasible by physicists), he never got involved in any flame wars, and he was surprisingly articulate and willing to speak intelligently with people. On top of that, a couple of things he mentioned from his timeline happened to come true a few years ago.

This book is one-sided in that it's made up of Titor's answers to questions posted by readers of those forums. They are often very detailed, and the poster was willing to admit when he simply didn't know something. It is also made up of text that can be found elsewhere on the Net; there is a small amount of new material mixed in, namely posts from someone claiming to be Titor's mother, but if you're not a hardcore researcher of the Titor enigma, you can safely do most of your research without buying this book.

I rate this book three stars because I have no way of proving or disproving who and what John Titor was. At any rate, it's a fascinating read. ( )