The concept of a cross-time version of a world war , involving rival paratime empires , was developed in Fritz Leiber ' s Change War series , starting with the Hugo Award winning The Big Time ( 1958 ) ; followed by Richard C. Meredith ' s Timeliner trilogy in the 1970s , Michael McCollum ' s A Greater Infinity ( 1982 ) and John Barnes ' Timeline Wars trilogy in the 1990s .