The Big Time

The Big Time (1958) is a short science fiction novel by Fritz Leiber. It was awarded the Hugo Award during 1958. The Big Time is a story involving only a few characters, but with a vast, cosmic back story. The storyline features members of one of two factions, both capable of time travel, engaged in a long-term war (referred to as the Change War within the story) with each other. Their method of battle involves changing the outcomes of events throughout history. The two opposing groups are nicknamed the Owls and the Snakes after their respective sponsors. The true forms or identities of the Spiders and the Snakes, how those nicknames were chosen, or whether they are in any way descriptive are all, likewise, unknown. New soldiers, entertainers, and medical staff are recruited by existing Change War participants from various places and times: Cretan Amazons, Roman legionnaires, eight-tentacled Lunans (natives of Earth's moon before it was rendered uninhabitable through warfare 1 Ga ago), Hussars, Wehrmacht Landsers, Venusian satyrs (recruited from Venus 1 Ga in the future), American GIs, Space Commandos, and soldiers from the armies of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and Stalin may find themselves fighting side-by-side or on opposing sides. Likewise, medical staff and entertainers are inducted into the temporal war to provide medical treatment, rest, and relaxation for injured and weary combatants.