June Science Fiction Theme: Alternate History

[[deleted user]]

The June Science Fiction Theme: Alternate History is open for Nominations.

We can argue back and forth about Alternate Histories and where they fall in the great pantheon of Science Fiction and Fantasy (and I love that debate and we can have elsewhere ...) but for our purposes, I think we should avoid any alternate histories that have what are usually considered magical accoutrements or creatures a la Naomi Novik's Temeraire series or Stirling's Peshawar Lancers .... but I think other than that, the field should be wide open and there is lots to choose from ....


Remember our few rules:
1. They must be available as an ebook
2. One nomination and one seconding per person
3. No nominating your own book and
4. Mods can veto a nomination if they decide the book doesn't fit ... :-)


And, as always, authors selected in the past 12 months may not be nominated. For a list, you may check here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...




Nominated and Seconded
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
1632 by Eric Flint
Farthing by Jo Walton
Equilateral by Ken Kalfus


Nominated
The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove

[[deleted user]]

I nominate a book I read before (more than 10 years ago) but want to reread: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.

[Michael]

I recommend Empire State by Adam Christopher

[[deleted user]]

It's been on my radar for a while so I'm going to nominate Farthing by Jo Walton

[[deleted user]]

Michael wrote: "I recommend Empire State by Adam Christopher"

I've looked that this book - and it's on my wishlist pile - but I'm not sure if it really qualifies. It's definitely a parallel reality but it's not an alternate history per se .... convince me. :)

[Joella]

I nominate 1632 by Eric Flint.

[Bob]

I nominate Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card

[Ian]

Bob wrote: "I nominate Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card"

Seconded

[Ian]

I nominate The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove

[Charmalee]

I nominate The Displaced Detective, Arrival by Stephanie Osborn

[Joe]

I nominate The Daedalus Incident by Michael J. Martinez. I do want to clarify this nomination, there are two story lines embedded in the book, one straight SciFi and one alternate history with SciFi elements. I still think it fits the category but wanted to be upfront.

[[deleted user]]

So, Empire State and the Displaced Detective are parallel worlds more than an Alternate History - although the two are related. And Daedalus is steampunk which is also similar but related.

I know I said this is wide open - am I being a fanboy by then being uncomfortable with the similar-but-different? :-) Should I sit down and shut up?

[Sharon]

Joella wrote: "I nominate 1632 by Eric Flint."

Second this. I have to admit this is one of my all-time favorite 'alternate universe' books by one of my favorite authors.

[Trinity]

I second The Man in the High Castle. Sounds fascinating.

[[deleted user]]

I'm rereading the entire Ring of Fire series - including the Gazettes. I started in July and I'm about halfway through ....

[Donna]

I'll second Farthing. I read Walton's Among Others last year and really enjoyed it.

[Julia]

Geoffrey wrote: "It's been on my radar for a while so I'm going to nominate Farthing by Jo Walton"

I too vote for Farthing by Jo Walton. I like that it blends AH with mystery and is written by a woman. Online reviewers describe it's theme as relevant and consistently rate it highly. I personally want to see how Walton represents women authors in this genre. There aren't many from which to choose.

[Esther]

I'd like to nominate "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest.

[Suzi]

okay, so I looked up Steampunk on wikipedia and it says "a sub genre involving steam powered machinery."

It goes on to describe a lot of other elements that it could contain. So is steam powered machinery really the only defining feature of this sub genre?

(if there us a better place on this gruop to post the question, let me know, but it seemed applicable to the current nomination discussion. And I wanted to kniw what you guys think.)

[[deleted user]]

That's my thought, Suzi, steampunk isn't alternate history per se ... an alternate history is a story based upon a change to the historical timeline and how that affected the timeline itself. I'm not necessarily opposed to all steampunk books - for example, The Difference Engine falls somewhere into both sub-genres ....

... on the other hand, I don't want to be an alt hist fanboy purist so I need to find a balance :)

[Clare]

Bring the Jubilee, Ward Moore.

[[deleted user]]

Clare wrote: "Bring the Jubilee, Ward Moore."

Good choice but I'm having trouble finding legal ecopies of this one ....

[John]

I would like to nominate Equilateral by Ken Kalfus.

It looks like a fun story, is not too long, and the kindle edition seems to be at a very low price :)

[John]

I'm on mobile, so I can't edit my previous comment, but I wanted to caution about the reviews for Equilateral; several of them seem to contain unmarked spoilers. GRRR.

[[deleted user]]

I read Equilateral last year. It was a fair to good novel. But it weighs heavy to literature side on the scale with science fiction.

[Ian]

I would like to nominate 'the list of seven', by Mark Frost.
a rollicking adventure set in the 19th C with Arthur Conan Doyle as the main character investigating an evil cult.

[Leah]

Ian wrote: "Bob wrote: "I nominate Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card"

Seconded"

If OSC wrote it, it's good!

[Micah]

Drat. I can't nominate it 'cause it's not available as an ebook...but if you like this genre and you like witty writing, then do give Making History by Stephen Fry a read. It's a nice little twist on the "go back in time and kill Hitler" theme. Quite nicely done.

[Michael]

I'd like to nominate Tunnel Through the Deeps by Harry Harrison.

The tunnel is Transatlantic and the world is one where America was discovered by John Cabot rather than Columbus.