Alternate Tyrants

Alternate Anthologies #5

by Mike Resnick (Editor), Roland J. Green (Contributor), Maureen F. McHugh (Contributor)

History is full of tyrants. But even the best of history's other rulers have always been just a few decisions away from tyranny. From 20 of science fiction's finest storytellers come exciting tales of despots that never were "Alternate Tyrants".

Genres: Alternate History, History, Collections, Short Stories, Anthologies

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of alternate history stories is the fifth in a series that Mike Resnick edited in the 1990s. As the title suggests, the theme is one of historical tyrants who never existed in the settings the authors envisioned or made choices that led to different developments. Written by a mixture of longtime pros and relative newcomers, the stories range across the span of human history, from ancient Greece to a near-future tale of a King William V who engineers the resumption of power by the British monarchy.

With the exception of Maureen F. McHugh's Hugo Award-winning short story "The Lincoln Train" (which is easily the best story in the book), all of the stories in this collection were original works published for the first time. This helps to explain the main problem with the collection; though the quality varies, nearly all of them feel like little more than a response to an assignment. Only a few such as Jack Haldeman and Barbara Delaplace's "That'll Be The Day" (about a 1960s America in which rock `n' roll stars run the country) or Mark Bourne's "Boss" (in which a chance encounter between Al Capone and a political fixer lead to the gangster becoming President) really rise above this to stand as interesting or imaginative tales in their own right. The rest depend on the awkward premise of the collection for their existence, and often do not reward the time spent to read them, which makes the collection one that only a diehard fan of the alternate history genre will want to read.

[Ronn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of good [not great] stories, but over all, the least essential of Resnick's "Alternate" series. Someone once said that there are no wrong alternate histories, only plausible or implausible alternate histories. Many of these are only barely plausible.

[Kevin Basantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"History is full of tyrants. But even the best of history's other rulers have been just a few decisions away from tyranny."

Continuing with Mike Resnick's anthologies, Alternate Tyrants features 20 short stories about the concept of the tyrant, but not always about the figures themselves. Probably because of that, or maybe the shorter number of stories, that this anthology feels more solid than the previous one I read (Alternate Kennedys, wich had 27).

As with Alternate Kennedys, I couldn't decide on the best 5, so here is a top 7:

1. Children of Tears by Adrienne Gormley
2. The Lincoln Train (Hugo Award Winner) byMaureen F. McHugh
3. That'll be the Day by Jack C. Haldeman and Barbara Delaplace
4. Boss by Mark Bourne
5. Infallibility, Obedience, and Acts of Contrition by Brian M. Thomsen
6. Amandla! by Laura Resnick
7. The Sword in the Stone by Michelle Sagara

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. Stories run from great to mediocre.

[Amélie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michelle West's story is about Prince Williams trying to manipulate the British Government to make it corrupt enough for him to seize power.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Alternate Tyrants" is one of a series of alternate history anthologies. This edition explores what might have happened had historical leaders taken a different, darker path. The book is uneven; some of the stories (such as those dealing with Pope Paul XXIII and Nelson Mandela) are rather good, while some aren't as convincing (such as MacArthur becoming warlord of Japan) and others are downright silly (a despotic President Buddy Holly). Overall this book isn't as good as the previous edition of the series that I read (Alternate Presidents), but it still offers a few memorable stories.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the fifth of the Tor alternate anthologies that Resnick edited, and the series seemed to be losing a little steam. It has some pretty good stories and some average stories and a clunker or two and one that really stands out and makes the others look slighter by comparison, "The Lincoln Train" by Maureen McHugh.

[Janet]

Anthology of alternate-history short stories with tyrants. Mark Bourne's excellent story, "Boss", has Al Capone be far too successful.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

so - so - -