All the Myriad Ways | Topics for Discussion & Projects

All the Myriad Ways Topics for Discussion

1. Niven believes the idea of alternate timelines to be nonsense, and in "All the Myriad Ways" he shows why. If this is so, why has he continued to write alternate timeline stories such as the Svetz series (please see the entry for "There Is a Wolf in My Time Machine") and "The Return of William Proxmire"?

2. What clue tips us off that the timeline of "All the Myriad Ways" is not actually our own? (A help for the teacher: Note the references to the Cuba War.)

3. Is it possible that some people would never kill themselves or murder anybody and thus would never have a timeline in which they commit suicide or murder?

4. What does Niven imply about human nature with the events of "All the Myriad Ways"?

5. "All the Myriad Ways" paints a grim picture of...
(read more)