Corrupting Dr. Nice
FIrst edition cover
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| Author | John Kessel |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
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Publication date
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1997 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 316 pp |
| ISBN | |
Corrupting Dr. Nice is a science fiction novel by John Kessel, published in 1997. It is a time travel novel modeled on the screwball comedies of the 1930s.
The story follows the rich and klutzy Owen Vannice ("Dr. Nice") as he exports a dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period. On the way to the twenty-first century, he is stranded in Jerusalem in 40 AD, where he and Genevieve Faison fall in love. However, he leaves her after discovering that she and her father are con artists. She takes revenge by impersonating a representative of the Committee to Protect the Past, marrying him and then pulling a series of surprises that leave him feeling betrayed. He realizes that he still loves the Genevieve he met in Jerusalem; they both return there and are reconciled. Meanwhile the Zealot Simon is involved in a failed attempt to take over the time travel station in Jerusalem. He stands trial and is acquitted after a courtroom face-off between Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ.
Corrupting Dr. Nice was nominated for the 1998 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Corrupting Dr. Nice is set mainly in three eras: the twenty-first century, 40 AD and the Cretaceous Period. In 2063 AD, time travel is commonplace. Time travelers feel free to exploit the past without fear of changing their own history because each visit creates an alternate history called a "moment universe". The Saltimbanque Corporation uses it for tourism and to exploit the resources of the past. Famous historical figures are snatched from their time and brought to the twenty-first century (these include Amadeus Mozart, Sigmund Freud, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus Christ from several different times in his life). After visitors leave a moment universe, it continues with its new history. In a few of them, permanent installations are created that can be revisited and used as way stations for time travel. One is set up in the Jerusalem of 40 AD, complete with hotels.
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