No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop
**Concept Overview of "No Enemy But Time"**
"No Enemy But Time" is a science fiction novel that intricately weaves two narratives across different timelines. The primary plot follows John Monegal, a young Black American who, after a challenging upbringing marked by his mother's struggles as a mute prostitute, embarks on a journey to the distant past of two million years ago. His character evolves from being an adopted child with vivid dreams of primitive life in East Africa to a time traveler studying proto-humans.
Set against the backdrop of a fictional East African country, the novel explores themes of identity, survival, and the human experience. As John, under the alias Joshua Kampa, trains for his time-travel expedition, he becomes embedded in the lives of a band of hominids, particularly forming a deep bond with a female named Helen. The story takes a poignant turn as it delves into love, loss, and the consequences of technology on primitive societies.
The narrative culminates in John's return to the present with his daughter Monicah, who inherits the legacy of vivid dreams, this time of the future. The novel ends with her choice to pursue her own journey through time, reflecting on the generational echoes of exploration and destiny. Overall, "No Enemy But Time" invites readers to contemplate the intersection of past, present, and future within the context of humanity's evolving story.
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No Enemy But Time
First published: 1982
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—time travel
Time of work: 1963-2002 and two million years in the past
Locale: East Africa
The Plot
The novel is composed of chapters that alternate between two narratives. The first begins in 1986 as protagonist John Monegal, a twenty-three-year-old black American, is undergoing survival training in a fictional East African country in preparation for a trip back in time to study proto-humans. The narrative, told in first person, centers primarily on his two years spent two million years in the past.
The other, third-person narrative begins in 1963 with John as a small child in Spain. John’s mother was a mute prostitute in Seville. Fearing that she would be unable to provide for her son, fathered by a black member of the U.S. Air Force, she gives the baby to a randomly selected Air Force family. John grows up as the adopted son of an enlisted man. Initially slow to develop, he adapts to his new life but is haunted by vividly realistic dreams of a primitive world that he slowly realizes is East Africa two million years ago.
After John’s adoptive father dies in a car accident, John moves to the Bronx with his mother and sister. When he discovers that his mother is writing a book about his dream experiences, he runs away to Florida. He works odd jobs, under the name Joshua Kampa, for eight years. His vivid dreams of Pleistocene Africa recur, and he avidly reads about anthropology and paleontology, becoming an amateur expert. He gets the attention of a famous hominid paleontologist from the African country of Zarakal, who offers him a chance to travel back in time.
After months of survival training with a local tribesman in Zarakal, Joshua is sent into the past. He tries to send back his observations, but his communicator fails. He meets a band of proto-humans, one female member of which seems closer to modern humans. He becomes tolerated and then accepted by the hominids, especially the female he calls Helen, with whom he falls in love. The hominids are fascinated by his technological artifacts, which include a handgun that he uses only when absolutely necessary. The death of a male member of the group who kills himself playing with the gun brings Joshua closer to the tribe. Helen becomes his mate.
A drought forces the hominid group to migrate. Helen adopts an Australopithecus baby who is later brutally killed. Joshua then realizes that Helen, formerly barren, is pregnant. Joshua and Helen spend happy months together before the baby is born. Helen dies in childbirth. Stricken with grief, Joshua takes his baby and flees as an erupting volcano disperses the tribe. He barely makes it back alive to his time machine, then returns to the present with his daughter.
The final chapters of the book cover the next fifteen years, as Joshua and his daughter Monicah first live in the United States, then move to Zarakal. Under the patronage of Zarakal’s leader, Joshua becomes an important government official. Monicah also has vivid dreams, but of the far future, not the far past. The novel ends with her decision, against her father’s wishes, to use the time machine to visit the future world of her dreams.