Collision Course (Bayley novel)
{{Short description|1972 novel by Barrington J. Bayley}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Collision Course
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = File:CollisionCourse.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Barrington J. Bayley
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = Chris Foss
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Science fiction
| publisher = DAW Books
| release_date = February 1973
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
| pages = 175
| isbn = 978-0-87997-043-7
| dewey=
| congress=
| oclc= 670871
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Collision Course ({{aka}} Collision with Chronos) is the fourth novel by the science fiction author Barrington J. Bayley. The novel was inspired by the multiple time dimensions proposed by J. W. Dunne. The plot centers on the collision of two alternate "presents", with disastrous implications for reality.
Literary significance and reception
Rhys Hughes, in his review of Bayley's work, ranked the novel as Bayley's third-best but still the most original time paradox story in modern SF, noting that, for the first time, Bayley's novels had reached the high standards of his short stories.{{cite web
|url=http://www.uri.edu/artsci/english/clf/n6_a3.html
|title=Annihilation Factotum: The work of Barrington J. Bayley
|work=The Council for the Literature of the Fantastic
|accessdate=2012-11-07
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004220800/http://www.uri.edu/artsci/english/clf/n6_a3.html
|archivedate=2012-10-04
}}
John Clute described Collision Course, along with Empire of Two Worlds and Annihilation Factor, as "variously successful" but held that The Fall of Chronopolis was Bayley's most fully realised time travel story.{{cite web
| url = http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bayley_barrington_j
| title = Bayley, Barrington J.
| work = SF Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition
| accessdate=2012-10-27
}}
Reviewing the novel in Vector, Brian Stableford criticised Bayley's tendency to arbitrarily switch between viewpoints but concluded that "[y]ou will find it a rewarding experience.""Collision with Chronos", Vector 83, September 1977
In 1990, Collision Course won the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated novel.
It was translated to Polish in 1983 and reviewed by Maciej Parowski in "Fantastyka" (5/83, p. 50).