Fantasy Lists of Note:
Best Epic Fantasy
Best Fantasy of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books
Best Urban Fantasy
SF Lists of Note:
Best Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Best Forgotten Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Popular Highly Rated Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books
SF Subgenres:
Alternate History
Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Space Opera
Steampunk
Locus Recommended Science Fiction:
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015,
2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2001, 2000
Sci Fi Award Nominees
2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006
Science Fiction By Decade:
1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s
Science Fiction By Year:
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009
Can't Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy By Year:
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
New Speculative Writers by Decade:
2000s, 2010s
Science Fiction By Ratings:
100,000 and more, 50000 to 99999, 25000 to 49999, 10000 to 24999
1000 to 9999, 100 to 999, Less than 100
Best Epic Fantasy
Best Fantasy of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books
Best Urban Fantasy
SF Lists of Note:
Best Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Best Forgotten Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Popular Highly Rated Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books
SF Subgenres:
Alternate History
Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Space Opera
Steampunk
Locus Recommended Science Fiction:
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015,
2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2001, 2000
Sci Fi Award Nominees
2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006
Science Fiction By Decade:
1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s
Science Fiction By Year:
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009
Can't Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy By Year:
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
New Speculative Writers by Decade:
2000s, 2010s
Science Fiction By Ratings:
100,000 and more, 50000 to 99999, 25000 to 49999, 10000 to 24999
1000 to 9999, 100 to 999, Less than 100
768 books ·
1,293 voters ·
list created July 16th, 2008
by Steven Harbin (votes) .
Steven
4277 books
2492 friends
2492 friends
Jessica
10479 books
1461 friends
1461 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3386 books
851 friends
851 friends
Alexandra
7808 books
413 friends
413 friends
JG (Introverted Reader)
4380 books
438 friends
438 friends
Rachael
1332 books
54 friends
54 friends
Debbie is on Storygraph
6227 books
101 friends
101 friends
Susan
1613 books
60 friends
60 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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Hooray for alternate history! Does anybody know of any alternate history novels set in/around the Revolutionary War period? I can't be the only person that's written some. ;) I'd really love to read another author's "alternate" take on the era, but I haven't found any other titles yet.
Try Harry Turtledove's Atlantis series. It starts with the age of colonization, but the east coast of North America was separated from the rest before the Europeans discovered it. The books are Opening Atlantis(discovery, colonization, and Alternate version of French-Indian War , The United States of Atlantis(Revolutionary War), and Liberating Atlantis(Civil War). Maybe not quite what your thinking of but in the same ballpark.
That sounds like just my style, yes! Funny, other people already recommended two of Turtledove's other titles to me--maybe I should just read everything he's written, lol. Thank you!
Great list - I've found many good suggested future reads (as well as some old favorites) here. Thanks, Steven, for creating it! The reason I didn't vote for 1984 is that I don't think it really belongs here. Sure, one could argue that it has become alternate history "after the fact", but when it was written in 1948, it was a dystopian novel set in the (then) near future.
Johan wrote: "Great list - I've found many good suggested future reads (as well as some old favorites) here. Thanks, Steven, for creating it! The reason I didn't vote for 1984 is that I don't think i..."According to that reasoning Margaret Atwood ought to be struck off as well, if I understand you correctly. Or would they still qualify because they haven't yet been proven wrong?
Personally the popularity of dystopian fiction bothers me a little; we've been headed to hell in a handbasket for centuries now & it seems to be taking far longer than we were promised/warned!
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis is a great read. What's not to like about a reimagining of the second world war where the Nazis had superpowered beings and the British had warlocks?
I agree with Johan and Ron; The Handmaid's Tale and 1984 are set in a dystopian future world. Likewise, so is On the Beach. Therefore, none of these really fit on this list.Also, Pillars of the Earth is purely historical fiction and should be removed from the list.
Another stupid list. Alternate History is very specialized. More than 3/4 of these are merely science fiction, apocalyptic, dystopian.
The title of this Listopia says "Best Alternate History Novels and Stories", yet Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, The Handmaid's Tale and 1984, which was written in 1949, are all set in the future....Due to this, and as earlier comments agree with me, I've removed these titles from this list. I've also removed On the Beach for the same reason. There are separate lists for dystopian novels, by the way, should anyone be interested.
Timeline 191 and other Turtledove books definitely belong here. The Draka franchise by S&M Stirling however, does not.
Bacigalupi's books (Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities) are great, but they're definitely futuristic, not alternate history. Also not AH: All Our Wrong Todays, The Peripheral, The Last Days Of New Paris
Perhaps there should be a definition of "alternate history" in the description?I don't think Never Let Me Go belongs here. And the "What if" books are collections of essays by historians, not novels.
I see I'm not the first one to quibble with which books are on a given list! On to my two cents worth (which now refers to an alternate reality where pennies were not disintegrated) - I don't really think the Red Mars, and the rest of the mars trilogy belong here. These books are first and foremost about the terraforming of mars. There is a war with earth, but that is in the future (unless I missed it, we can't even maintain a proper space station, let alone a lunar colony, let alone a mars colony).
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