Alternate History

[Mathew]

I have only read two books in the genre and have really enjoyed both:

Pastwatch; The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
By, Orson Scott Card

After Dachau
by, Daniel Quinn (As a side note If you have not read "Ishmael" by Quinn go do so now I will wait)

Can anybody offer some suggestions of good books in the genre? Are there any "Must Reads"?

[Sean]

Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes, set in a world where Carthage destroyed Rome, leading to Africa becoming the dominant force in the world and colonizing America with Irish slaves.

[Kithkannan]

Harry Turtledove is the first name I think of when it comes to Alternate History. He wrote a series which (as I understand it) rewrote World History from the American Civil War (I'll call it circa 1850, I know someone will correct me later) all the way through atleast the 1950s, and possibly later, I'm not entirely sure. Blood & Iron is the only book in the saga I've managed to get my hands on so far, but it was very well written and thought out. It picks up circa 1918 shortly after the end of a World War in which the Confederate States of America and the rest of the Axis powers were crushed by the USA and her allies (don't remember the exact alliances on each side, but remember them being slightly different from our version of WW1) It follows through the rebuilding efforts of a CSA which has been decimated much like our Germany was, and the growth of the Socalist movement in a USA who is booming and celebrating their first victory over the CSA.

[Patrick]

If you want something compleatly off the wall try the Age of Unreason series. Newton's Cannon. In short Isaac Newton focuses more on Alchemy than what we call Science now. Extrapolate from there.

As the series goes on it just gets more and more weird (child gods, fireballs and flying ships). Fun read.

[Noel]

Pavane by Keith Roberts is one of the classics in this sub genre as is Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick I think. both excellent examples.

[[deleted user]]

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin is considered one of the alt-history classics. I enjoyed that book.

Some other decent ones are...
The Plot Against America
Farthing
The Eyre Affair

[Al]

Howard Waldrop should get a mention in this thread, I think probably:

http://www.sff.net/people/waldrop/int...

[Mathew]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I can now load the kindle I'm getting for Christmas (assuming my wife picks up on my subtle hints, that is me telling her I want one everyday)

And a quick intro to Pastwatch:

In an utopia future we have the ability to use machines look back in time and watch actual history. but secretly some bad things are happening and the pastwatch team figures out that the biggest turning point in our civilization's history is Columbus's crossing to America. Don't want to get more specific than that and spoil it.

The book has a really neat theory on how the stories of Noah and Atlantis may have been started. Which I believe is what Card was planning on expanding into a whole book but Card never got around to writing the sequel.

[Space Preacher]

My favorite alternate history (short) story is hands-down "Thor Meets Captain America". It appeared in a pretty good (3 stars?) anthology called Hitler Victorious, which has a self-evident premise.

The story itself concerns the Nordic gods existing and aiding the nazis (with the exception of Loki who sides with the Allies). There is a lot of myth-play (nuclear winter being connoted with Fimbulwinter) and it really feels like a great comic book. Did I mention the author, David Brin, has it available on his website for free?

I tend to fall into pseudo-fantasy and metaphysics with my alt-history, so bear with my as my next contribution is the cold war in a world where Lovecraft's monsters replace nuclear weapons; Charles Stross's novella, "A Colder War". If you read The Atrocity Archives, you'll be right at home. Also available for free.

Finally, gonna throw some not-free stories. Stephen Baxter's (co-author of the Time Odyssey books with Arthur C. Clarke) short story "The Pacific Mystery" (available in the great collection, The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction), which takes place in a world where circumnavigation of the world is impossible, right around the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese never engage America and the Americans enter WWII too late and German dominates the world. The Germans (and conscripts from other countries) build a giant airship capable of months-long flight and embark on a journey to finally cross the Pacific Ocean. Very weird sci-fi ensues.

And Christopher Priest's story of a permeable multiverse, The Separation. A world where pacifists ended WWII a few years earlier, among other things.

A novel I haven't read but that sounds fascinating is The Iron Dream, wherein a young Hitler emigrates to the United States and gains work as a SF illustrator and eventually author. The book includes his Hubbard- / Heinlein-esque story, Lord of the Swastica, which is apparently a deconstruction of Joseph Campbell's ideas.