Atlantis and Other Places: Stories of Alternate History

Atlantis #4

by Harry Turtledove

A one-of-a-kind collection from the New York Times bestselling "maven of alternate history." (San Diego Union- Tribune) A famous naturalist seeks a near-extinct species of bird found only on the rarest of lands in "Audubon in Atlantis." A young American on a European holiday finds himself storming an enchanted German castle in "The Catcher in the Rhine." The philosopher Sokrates plays a key role in the Athenian victory over the Spartans in "The Daimon." Centaurs take a sea voyage aboard "The Horse of Bronze" to a land where they encounter a strange and frightening tribe of creatures known as man. London's most famous detective, Athelstan Helms, and his assistant Dr. James Walton are in Atlantis investigating a series of murders in "The Scarlet Band." This collection includes these and seven more amazing stories of ancient eras, historical figures, mysterious events, and out-of-this- world adventure from the incomparable Harry Turtledove.

Genres: Alternate History, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Historical

441 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2010

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darn good collection of Turtledove's alt history stories, covering a wide swath of time from early history with centaurs to quirky sci-fi with aliens stealing thrones. The book begins and ends with longer works in the setting of Atlantis in the 19th century. What I enjoyed most about these stories is how he built the worlds. These really aren't action-heavy works; most tend to be intriguing slow burns, which suited my mood perfectly.

[Joey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most notable story here is the first one, which imagines Atlantis as an immense island in the middle of the Atlantic comprised of what is now much of the East coast of North America. John James Audubon visits Atlantis in search of species that are rapidly declining due to European and Terra Novan (what is now the U.S.) colonization. It's really a vehicle to document the destruction of isolated ecosystems when the scourge of humanity appears, bringing cats and rats and other invasive species with it. I'm a bit of a zoology geek, so that was pretty fascinating stuff. Otherwise I may not have made it through.

The ideas here are interesting, but the execution is lacking. The writing is plodding and rarely shines, but it's serviceable enough to keep some of the stories engaging, while others are nearly unreadable (or unlistenable, as it were, since I did this one on audiobook). Harry Turtledove is a widely-lauded writer of alternate history and speculative fiction, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt; maybe the stories in this collection just aren't the best introduction to his work.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would not say that this is exactly in the "Atlantis" series by Mr. Turtledove...but it's also not in the series. Amongst this collection of alternate history stories, there are three I believe which take place in the setting. The others are "and Other Places"...some are interesting and well-written, like the Sherlock Holmes analog, the Military Spy/Agent Hitler in a German-occupied France (after a WW1 victory), and Audubon exploring Atlantis. Others are somewhat silly, like the Space Cadet Hamster and the Intelligent Octopods. And still others are something else...like the world inhabited by mythological creatures invaded by the tribes of Man.

If you like Harry Turtledove and you like Alternate Histories, give this book a gander. I don't believe that you need to be familiar with the "Atlantis" series to enjoy these - but you should also read those anyway.

[B. Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating the individual stories independently. Overall its a solid 3:

“Audubon in Atlantis" - *** - Solid and entertaining story.

"Bedfellows" - *** - Progressives wet dream about Bushie and Osama in love, but it was funny.

"News from the Front" - ** - Hard to follow but a Right-wingers wet dream about how WWII might have gone if the press treated FDR like they did Bushie.

"The Catcher in the Rhine" - *** - Solid.

“The Daimon" - **** - History geeks like me will like it.

"Farmers' Law" - *** - Solid.

"Occupation Duty" - **** - Nice play on current events.

"The Horse of Bronze" - ***** - Really good.

"The Genetics Lecture" - ** - Short, with a twist you could see coming a mile away.

"Someone Is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy" - **** - Really, Really FUN!

"Uncle Alf" - ** - Tiresome journal/letter format, and frankly you know its Adolph from the get-go.

"The Scarlet Band" - **** - Fun Holmes Ripoff.

[Jane Debano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternate History is a genre that asks the question – what if our history had taken a different track? What if the Nazis had won WW II? What if the South had won the Civil War? Harry Turtledove is the Grand Master of this type of science fiction/fantasy and this collection of stories is proof of his skill. What if Atlantis was a real place with exotic animals found nowhere else and John Jacob Audubon went to sketch and paint them before they went extinct? What if Roosevelt had the tabloid press of today at the beginning of WWII? What if Holden Caulfield stepped into the middle of German Mythology while on a European tour? What if Goliath killed David? What if the Kaiser drove the English out of France, won the Great War and a lowly Sgt. Hitler was sent to France to hunt spies and terrorists. My favorite story was also one of the shortest: Who is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy, but I’m a sucker for puns and this story is full of them.
Some of these stories compelled me to check out the actual history, so I could appreciate the difference, i.e. Alcibiades and the battle between the Athenians and Spartans. In Turtledove’s story, Daemon, the presence of Socrates certainly changes the outcome of not only the battle, but probably Western Civilization as we know it. While all the stories may not be to your taste, most will entertain.

[Marla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked "Audubon in Atlantis", it really conveyed Audubon's sadness at a species going extinct, his quest to find one before they do while on what might be his last trip like this, and also that he has to kill one for scientific purposes which means he's helping to hasten their end.

I've never read Sherlock Holmes so I'm not sure how close Turtledove's Helms and Dr Walton are to their counterparts, but I found them a bit snobbish and stuck up even, though I did like his slight alteration of their names. There was a lot of traipsing about, talking to a few people and then you turned the page and the case was solved. It seemed abrupt to me, though I had already figured out who was behind it. But I suppose it was better than another one of the stories, in ancient Greece, that just went on and on. I kept turning the page expecting the story to be over but it kept going.

One story, The Catcher in the Rhine, while I liked the play on words in the title, was just sort of purposeless. Perhaps if I had read 'The Catcher in the Rye' it might have made more sense.

Most of the stories were pretty forgettable. I found it odd that I liked his Atlantis series but don't care for anything else of his I've read.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but it reminded me of the concept from The West Wing of taking out the trash, bunching stories together on the date when no one was paying attention to the news so that the flaws in a particular one would not be detected. None of these tales were particularly well developed, even for the space they allotted.

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. When there are so many good books waiting to be read, why should I waste my time?

[anarresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, some set in the universe of Atlantis (where North America split and a continent of sits in the middle of the Atlantic) and some randomly set throughout time, past and future. All are alternate, even the fictional detective Helms and his assistant Dr. Walton and the ancient seafaring Centaurs encountering the tribe of two-legged men. This book feels like random stories Turtledove wanted to put somewhere, not a coherent collection. There are aliens and James Audubon, WWII reported as newspaper and social media headlines, comedies and meditations. I enjoyed some stories more than others, as I’m sure all readers will, so this is best for Turtledove fans or readers willing to stop a story and move to the next.

[Mark Moxley-Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent collection of shorts by Turtledove. A couple set in Atlantis, the rest a wide variety of places/topics/styles. All enjoyable. Even a couple that were out of my preferred range of styles turned out to be gripping and fun. A couple were familiar, having been in other collections, but it was worth getting for the ones I had not read- plus rereading those was enjoyable.

[JC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found these stories decent. Alternate history. His style is a bit irreverent and I found several stories distasteful. However the atlantis stories were fun and I did like them.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad political commentary, treacherous homosexuals, mediocre writing.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology. Always a pleasure to read this author.

[Jennifer VanderMeer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to most of the stories in this collection. In general they were reasonably good. However I wasn't really motivated to listen to any more of them.

[Dhove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Harry, but man does he have a tendency to get bogged down in historic details. It probably doesn't help that I listened to the audiobook, which was read by the same guy who did a similar series that bored me with details about historic battles.

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

as with any anthology, your mileage will vary. The Atlantis stories? great. The rest? sliding scale.

[Carl Palmateer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a miss, most of the stories are only OK.

[John Love IV · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, short story books are a mixed bag. Some stories are good, some are ok, and others are just bad. In this particular book, I've decided to evaluate each story. Mostly because some are quite enjoyable and I found others to be almost offensive.

Audubon in Atlantis is a short story based in Turtledove's Atlantis series. An elderly Audubon goes out on potentially his last trip to find a species of bird nearly extinct in Atlantis. As in Madagascar and New Zealand, Turtledove's Atlantis is separated from the mainland for potentially millions of years and so the creatures on the island, as in the two in our world, are different than on the mainland. The arrival of man threatens the existence of a myriad of unique animal and plant life. This is well written and the discussion and thoughts of Audubon are quite good.

Bedfellows is a juvenile and offensive attempt to hammer a point home that really doesn't need such attempts. Honestly, it's the worst thing I've ever seen come out of Turtledove. He attempts, in the following story, to excuse himself by saying you can't judge a persons politics by his stories. Of course, you can to a certain extent. I didn't feel that the story was an attempt at much of a political point so much as an attempt to score points with certain readers, much like a middle school boy tries to score points with his friends by making boob jokes. He might have been better off discussing what would have happened should either of the two characters NOT been a player in the world at that time. That's more to his strengths and he could have made the same point in much more interesting and less offensive ways.

News from the Front is less offensive and makes certain points about journalism in the US and how Americans react to the press. I think he went a bit overboard in the whole concept and really underestimated American's in general, not to mention FDR who, I believe, was a lot more intelligent than he gives credit for. Not to mention that the press was more divided at that time and he gave no play to the media that would have been supporting FDR. Conceptually interesting but overall, the story failed to impress.

The Catcher in the Rhine was an interesting story but that's about it. No points really, just a little time travel story. Fun but underwhelming. I think he could have done a lot more with it with a bit more time and length.

The Daimon is one I've read before. The concept is that when Alkibiadis leaves Athens in the Peloponnesian War, Socrates goes with him and, through Socrates typical annoying questions, convinces Alkibiadis not to return to Athens to answer charges made by his enemies but continue on to Syracuse and the rest of the campaign. At that point, it's all conjecture but fun. One of the better stories in the collection.

Farmer's Law is a story of little consequence. It's interesting to a point but don't look for too much here.

Occupation Duty has a divergence point about 3k back in history and is in the modern day middle east. Basically, it expresses the importance of the area that is not Palestine/Israel/Jordan etc in the world whether the Jews had ruled the area or not. Interesting as far as it goes.

The Horse of Bronze tells a story of mythical creatures and the introduction of man. All I can say about this is mythical critters have huge inferiority complexes. Other than that, it was a fun story.

The Genetics Lecture is a short twist story. Everything seems normal until the twist at the end. I saw it coming, well, not the exact twist but a twist of that nature but it was fun anyway.

Someone is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy was fun. Not going to go into it much but I enjoyed the silly little tale.

Uncle Alf is told by letters of an Uncle to his niece. In the modern US, uncle Alf would be in prison. I was of mixed opinion of this story. In some sense, it was interesting, in others, I wanted someone to shoot Alf. You can make your own decision of it.

The Scarlet Band is a weak Sherlock Holmes ripoff set in Turtledove's Atlantis. For all of that, I enjoyed it. Now the names are changed, of course, which helps. I can ignore some of the weaknesses that way and just enjoy the story.

Again, you must remember this is a short story collection. It's not a best of anything but a collection of stories by Turtledove. I think he's better when he writes them out as novels and gives stories more depth. Maybe he should have spent more time on those than some of his other tales.

The good stories are worth reading. The bad should make you demand your money back. The rest kill some time I guess. Hopefully, he can do better next time.

[Mike F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting but strange collection of stories by Turtledove. I've read some of his other alternate history series, such as the Guns of the South, and the Worldwar (alien invasion) series, they were much better written, and were longer which allowed more development and exposition of the story. This collection was just ok, some interesting stories but not as good as Turtledoves other work. Some of the stories were just weird and silly like the one about the Thrones, or the Catcher in the Rhine story.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects a number of alternate history short stories that were originally written and published in magazines or collections between 2000 and 2007. The title is drawn from the first and last story in the collection. Each returns fans to the world of Atlantis, which Turtledove as designed as being made up of a good chunk of the North American east cost. He has designed a popular series that has taken readers up through what is equivalent to the American Civil War. The first of these two tales have John James Audubon on an ecological journey to find and capture in art what is probably one of the last honkers (large flightless birds not unlike emus) in "Audubon in Atlantis." The other is a story that proposes that a character who is not unlike Sherlock Holmes who comes to Atlantis to help solve a series of murders that is tied to a church that is not unlike the Mormons in "The Scarlet Band."

In "Uncle Alf," readers get access to a series of letters written by a German operative in Lille, France shortly after the successful win in World War I. Uncle Alf proves to be Adolf Hitler, and he is writing to his niece about his experiences in France and provides insights into some of his scary beliefs and paranoia.

In "Bedfellows," Turtledove introduces an odd modern tale in which George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden take the ultimate step in showing how their actions and decisions often helped each other out. This is off-set nicely with a tale called "News from the Front," which presents through a series of articles how World War II might have been different if the press of that time had been as critical of the Roosevelt administration as the modern press was with the administration of George W. Bush.

In another story, entitled, "The Catcher in the Rhine," readers get an opportunity to join Holden Caulfield in a trip through the Rhineland. Turtledove does a great job of capturing the voice.

Other tales bring readers back to ancient Greece and other time periods.

I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of the short story when it comes to alternate history. I love the depth of detail that is usually included in novels that are tide to the genre. This gives you an opportunity to really explore the differences between the real historical events with the new alternate reality.

Short stories in the genre tend to be really more forceful in the presentation of a satirical or critical theme. The result is something less fun because there is little-to-no character development and less of a chance to absorb the new time.

With that said, these are really strong additions.

[Abe Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whilst the concept these stories present are interesting, clearly the first concept is the only really solid one. What if Atlantis was really there in the Altantic ocean and what if it was a normal-ish bit of land? What wasn't so solid was the writing. Constant repetition of things the reader has already been told over and over again, and all for stories that didn't go anywhere. I can't recommend this book, although I appreciate it's effort.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as alternative historical fiction.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tantor audio
Read by Todd McLaren
14.5 hours

Called a “Master of Alternate History” by Publishers Weekly, Harry Turtledove continues on that track with a set of 12 short stories. Topics and eras range from pre-history to the Peloponnesian War to the Byzantine Empire to World War II and two stories set in modern times. All of these stories have appeared in other publications.

This collection begins and ends with two stories about Atlantis, a topic he has explored more deeply in a trilogy. “Audubon in Atlantis” is the first story that Turtledove published about Atlantis. The famed 19th century naturalist John James Audubon has traveled to Atlantis to catalog some of its unique wildlife. Turtledove introduces his alternate world, including basics of the history of Atlantis and he introduces the House of Universal Devotion, a religion that is most analogous to the Mormon Church in regular history. Turtledove’s focus on laying down the ground rules for makes the first half of the story a bit tiresome. It does pick up once Audubon is in the field.

The last story, “The Scarlet Band” is chronologically Turtledove’s last story about Atlantis. In the story, Athelstan Helms and Dr. James Walton, the world famous detective duo (modeled after Holmes and Watson), are summoned to Atlantis to investigate a series of murders of prominent citizens who have been openly critical of the House of Universal Devotion. It is a fine ending to the collection, even if the murder is a bit too easily solved.

As in any collection, the quality varies...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...

[Joel Flank · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of short stories. The title is a bit of a misnomer, as two of the stories are set in Atlantis and tie into his Atlantis trilogy, the other 10 are not. I was expecting roughly half of the book to flesh out other times of the Atlantis timeline, with a sprinkling of other unrelated stories.

That being said, the stories were a good mix of whimsical, and serious, with a good variety of tones, including pastiches of Catcher and the Rye, Sherlock Holmes, and WWII era news reporting. My favorites were the fantasy themed "Horse of Bronze" about centaurs making a heroic expedition past known lands, to seek out tin for making bronze, and the strangest creatures they find at their destination, even more so than fauns, sphinxes, and sirens. As well as the tale of an ancient Greece that never was featuring Sokrates influencing a different future for Athens in "the Daimon".

"The Genetics Lecture" despite it's dry title is a fun little gem that takes all of 3 pages and left me with a smile on my face.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atlantis and Other Places is a collection of short stories published over the last ten years, in which Harry Turtledove does his best to showcase the freedom offered to writers of alternate history. Just ask “what if” and see what happens. For example:

What if 21st century news media existed during World War Two? What if centaurs suddenly discovered humans? What if complex intelligence had evolved in mollusks instead of people? They’re interesting ideas and it’s tough not to be curious about what sort of ride Turtledove has constructed for his audience.

What’s more, Turtledove clearly enjoys exploring these historical reversals and alterations. In “Uncle Alf,” which is told in a series of letters from Uncle Ade/ Alf, Turtledove speculates about what would have happened if Germany had won the First World War. ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read typical work by Harry Turtledove read a different book.
After reading others by this author then read this one. Think of this as a collection of short story ideas that never made it to being a book, instead kept short and not fully baked into a complete book length work. I don't know how he wrote this. It might of been the emptying of a closet full of old ideas collected across many years. If instead, he sat down to write this in one blast, his brain must have been on something, in that the range of ideas is extremely wide and very entertaining. There are comic spoofs of things like Sherlock Homes, a very warped version of what we currently see going on in the middle east, a view of the world as if Atlantis sits in the middle of the Atlantic, and many other mind bending exercises. Do not expect deep moral stories but instead enjoy a collection of very different refreshing odd stories.

[Zach Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of anything I have read by the prolific alternate history mavis Harry Turtledove (love the name, actually his birth name too, which is surprising), and I have to say I am sufficiently hooked. It is generally understood that prolific writers fall into the category of Quantity over Quality, however Mr. Turtledove, judging by this book at least, does not fit into this model. The stories were quite good and quite clever. However the longer stories for the most part are not nearly as well executed as the shorter variety. It would be unfair to explain every story in the collection, because that would take away from some of the fun in realizing what is going on. As for the audio book quality, all the stories were read by Tod McLaren, who had done a less then satisfactory job reading Snuff, but this book is a much better performance.

[Leons1701 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this, and I have to say, I really do like Turtledove's short fiction better than his novels most of the time. No repeated scenes to pad out the work and a lot fewer sex scenes (Harry can't write a good sex scene at all). Still, I felt most of these pieces from the last ten years were substandard work. Perhaps I'm just tired of seeing familiar events transposed into alternate settings, a common failing of Turtledove's work. So for example, I liked Uncle Alf a good deal more than Occupation Duty, though both works were quite disturbing in their way or at least tried to be. The Scarlet Band is probably the best or at least my favorite of the works in this volume.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of these very much (The Daimon did drag on a bit, as did Audobon in Atlantis) as I've been a sucker for alternate histories most of my life. Hadn't picked up much of Turtledove before, but will be picking some up from here on.

I will be reading the Atlantis books and would like any other books set in the world of Occupation Duty (so many little details that should be followed up on--Green Hammer, Sword Buddha, etc, etc), but not sure if there are any.

The Genetics Lecture, hands-down, was the funniest to anyone familiar with classic fantasy/horror! The Bronze Horse was somewhat disturbing and saddening. Uncle Alf--it took me a little while to figure out what was what. Bedfellows and Someone is Stealing... made me laugh (pun alert for the latter, however).