19. A book that involves alternate reality, alternate worlds, or alternate history

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Sometimes this reality is not 100% appealing and real life is not always what you want. This week's prompt gives you a chance to escape this world for a bit, looking at alternate realities, alternate worlds, and alternate historical timelines. Whether you go for a book that involves just a hint of change, or you opt for a completely new world, you'll be transported by these books. Whether the place you're transported to is more or less appealing than our reality is entirely up to you.

Some goodreads genres to get you started:
"GR Genre - Alternate World: https://www.goodreads.com/genres/alte...
GR Shelf - Alternate Reality: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
GR Shelf - Alternate History: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
GR Shelf - Quantum Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
GR Shelf - Portal Fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/..."

Listopia:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt? Any recommendations?

[Angie]

I read a lot of this kind of thing. The one I have written down is In an Absent Dream from the Wayward Children series. The series is really well done.

[Rebecca]

For this one I am considering The Cabin on Souder Hill which seems to have a creepy alternate reality that gives me almost Coraline vibes (which would also work for this one). Or A Master of Djinn which is alternate steampunk set in Egypt - I've read the related short stories/novellas and really enjoyed them, so do want to read this at some point either way.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

In an Absent Dream is so good, Angie. One of my most favorite entries in that series.

[D.L.]

Dark Matter is alternate history. At least it was tagged that way 20+ times so since it's on my TBR gathering dust I'll read that for this task.

[Nancy]

Not sure yet on this one, possibly The Ten Thousand Doors of January? If Neil Gaiman ever releases his Neverwhere sequel I'll read that, but I'm not counting on that actually happening.

I've read 30 of the books on the Listopia so apparently I really like this genre!

[NancyJ]

I suggested this prompt, so you'd think I would have made a decision already, but I haven't. I'm going to make sure to check the Powell awards lists to identify the books that were nominated for sci-fi/fantasy awards.

@D.L. Dark Matter definitely fits. I think it might be on all the related tag lists, and it's #1 on the quantum fiction tag list.

For people who aren't really that into science fiction, I suggest that you consider His Majesty's Dragon (alternate history). I read my first Temeraire book this year and loved it. It's smart, adult, with great relationships, work situations, and history.

[Ellie]

I liked that A History of What Comes Next was an alt history that stuck super close to actual history, so I'm most likely going to read the sequel for this prompt, Until the Last of Me.

[Irene]

Came across this in the GR giveaways, now it's available as part of Amazon's First Reads for November. So I thought I'd post it here in case it interests anyone, so they can grab it while it's free.

Three More Months by Sarah Echavarre


The protagonist's mother passes away before they can arrive home. Days before the funeral, they discover they've gone back in time 3 months.

[Sydney]

I'll be reading Wolf by Wolf for this one, since it's an alternate history that speculates what would happen if the Axis powers won WWII.

As I'm looking back over the synopsis, I'm also realizing the main character's name is Yael, if anyone is looking for a book with a main character whose name begins with A, T, or Y.

[Kathy]

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs - Catherine Howe
The Book of Longings - Sue Monk Kidd
The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

[KP]

Old Man's War
Wolf by Wolf
A Tale for the Time Being
His Majesty's Dragon

[dalex]

Someone mentioned using The Book of Longings for this prompt and it got me thinking - what is the difference between a book based on reality with some creative license and alternate history?

It seems to me that all historical fiction has its basis in reality with a few "what if" conjectures by the author, like filling in the unknown plot holes. So to be alternate history it has to drastically change what is actually known to be historically accurate - the Nazis won WW2, there was no flu epidemic in 1918, President Kennedy was never assassinated, dragons prevented 911, etc.

Thoughts and opinions?

[Kathy]

I was wondering exactly this about "alternate history, dalex, when I chose Book of Longings and The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs. I think you're right that the alternate history has to have drastic change. So I probably won't be reading alternate history! lol!

Another thought. Are "alternate world," alternate reality," and "portal fantasy" just other names for the genre "fantasy?" Or do some books called just fantasy not fit these terms?

I'll probably read The Midnight Library or maybe The Ten Thousand Doors of January

[Kahlia]

This is one of my most-read genres/themes, so I thought I'd jump in with some of my favourites (many of them are also on the listopia). In my head an 'alternate reality'/'alternate world' is about an alternate to Earth (where Earth still exists as a reference point), so I don't personally feel like any fantasy novel would count.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (alternate history of the space race)
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (time-slip novel where France has won the Napoleonic Wars).
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry (the French Revolution, but Robespierre is a necromancer)
The Diviners by Libba Bray (1920s NYC, but with magic)
The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller (WWI, but with flying paramedics)

[Pearl]

The Calculating Stars
Dark Matter
Midnight Library
The Eyre Affair

I liked;
A Tale for the Time Being
The Book of Two Ways
Exit West

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph]

I'm trying to decide between A Master of Djinn or The Conductors or The Library of the Dead. Defy or Defend has also been sitting around in my e-reader.

[Dana]

I love this prompt!!

Some possibilities:
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Gone by Michael Grant
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
1984 by George Orwell
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

[Eve]

Do we think Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell would work for this? Specifically with the Simon/Baz fan fiction being a sort of alt history of the fictional author’s story?

[Joy D]

Two I enjoyed and can recommend (alternate history):
The Plot Against America
The Man in the High Castle

[Kati]

I'm planning to use The Calculating Stars for this prompt. I already own it but have never read it. in fact, I should probably figure out which books I already own to fit each of the prompts and knock out 52 books in my ever piling TBR stack.

[Ira]

I have many options for this but I am tempted to go with The Magicians by Lev Grossman

[Guylian]

I have just Zum Paradies (To Paradise) by Hanya Yanagihara (was able to get an ARC copy). A perfect fit for this prompt.

[Lin]

I read Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It was a 4 star for me. I enjoyed it.

Evidently this is a theme I ready often, I've read 13 books and have 3 marked to read of the top 100 on the listopia.

My favorites were The Midnight Library, The Night Circus, The House in the Cerulean Sea.

My all time favorite - Oona Out of Order

[Jazzy]

I chose something a bit different.

I Can Jump Puddles (1955) by Alan Marshall (Australian Author)

I Can Jump Puddles is Alan Marshall's story of his childhood - a happy world in which, despite his crippling poliomyelitis, he plays, climbs, fights, swims, rides and laughs. His world was the Australian countryside early last century: rough-riders, bushmen, farmers and tellers of tall stories - a world held precious by the young Alan.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Books with time loops would work such as

Replay
Rewinder
Recursion
Hmm, there seems to be a hint in beginning your title with Re-

If you are up for something long, Guy Gavriel Kay writes books based on medieval/Renaissance Europe or Asia, but with a twist, like there is some magic, or there are 2 moons and the people worship a goddess.

[Pearl]

I read Dark Matter and I liked it quite a bit. I waited until December to read a sci-fi book for the Future tag last year. I'm getting more comfortable with it now.

[Adam]

Reading Song of Susannah for this week.

Continuing down my road to the Dark Tower.

Roland and his Ka-tet are scattered across multiple whens and wheres in their search for Susannah and their quest to protect the rose one of the keys to the central nexus of all realities, the Dark Tower.

[Jacqueline]

I read A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow for this one. A Sleeping Beauty fractured fairy tale where our Heroine goes into a parallel story featuring another Sleeping Beauty. Think the Spider-Man Multiverse but with Sleeping Beauties. Really enjoyed it. She's got another one coming out later in the year that features the Evil Queen from Snow White. As I am trying to read books that fit multiple prompts this year this one also fits some other prompts for this year including book under 220 pages. It fits some Popsugar prompts as well.

[Stacey]

I read and really loved A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. The novel was a last minute add, but from the start, I knew it would become a favorite. There's some quantum physics here, the idea that alternate realities exist and I'm here for it. Atmospheric, intelligent and zen, with characters you want to learn more about (old Jiko, Nao, the Harukis) and live next door to (Ruth, Oliver and Pesto, I'm talking to you) this tale really makes you consider new possibilities for all of us time beings.

I'd recommend anything by Murakami for this prompt, along with Never Let Me Go, A Clockwork Orange and The Chosen and the Beautiful.

[Tracy]

I've started reading A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Tataki. This isn't like all the books I've seen on the various lists for this prompt, which all seem to be either some version of fantasy/fiction. This book is actual history taken from the point of view of those who didn't write the history books, i.e., "History is written by the victors".

Although it has merit, it's not totally grabbing my attention (maybe because I ended up with the "Young People's" edition?), so before I continue, I wanted to be sure that this sort of book was even one of the intentions of the prompt. Any thoughts?

edit: typo

[Severina]

I read Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark. I'm in the minority as I didn't like it at all.

[miss.mesmerized]

Terry Pratchett Equal Rites
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Discworld novel

[Samantha]

I read Oona Out of Order for this, I really enjoyed it.

I think the book that I enjoyed the most that would fit this category would be Recursion

[Janette]

Would work here?

[Joy D]

Just finished this brilliant book, which was published in 1996 and includes an alternate history/reality of 2019-2020.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - 5* - My Review

[Anastasia]

The Space Between Worlds
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏳‍🌈

I highly recommend this book. I counts as a portal fiction, alternate world, and dystopian. I have started following this author hoping that she is going to write more novels soon.

[Tracy]

I just finished reading Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore. I think it is "alternate reality/worlds" in that in several of the main character's lives he exists in future worlds beyond what is currently possible. And being a book that revolves around reincarnation, there are many times spent in a version of the afterlife (may or may not line up with your personal beliefs).

I personally loved it, and look forward to the many conversations my husband and I will have about it (he read it first, and couldn't wait for me to finish it, too).

[JessicaMHR]

I just started Lord of the Flies and was wondering if it would fit here.

[LeahS]

I think it could. The initial marooning of the boys is set in the real world, but I think you could argue that it does explore an alternative reality, a world with only children in it.

[LeahS]

I read Civilisations by Laurent Binet, an alternate history, in which the Incas (and later the Aztecs) invade sixteenth century Europe, thanks to some immunity against European diseases conferred by an earlier Viking settlement and a knowledge of Spanish from a failed expedition by Columbus. The sixteenth century is a period I've studied/read a lot about, so that probably helped my enjoyment of this book but it is easy to read and an interesting look at power and colonisation.

[Shannon]

I'm going to decide between one of these:

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan

I am leaning toward The Gloaming because I have the book on my bookshelf and had to order it from England (I could not get it in the US) after LOVING her book The Gracekeepers.

[Laurel]

I went with The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova, a family saga with an incredible matriarch, her descendants and the magic within them. Orquídea creates a house and land that is a refuge from her past and is full of magic.

[Sherri]

I read A Master of Djinn

[Kathy]

I read and recommend The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

[Udari]

Would The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead fit this prompt?

[Joanne]

I felt like Dark Matter was a perfect fit and I've been meaning to read this for ages, so I finally did. Very entertaining.

[Leah]

Udari wrote: "Would The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead fit this prompt?

"


I would say so.

[Udari]

Leah wrote: "Udari wrote: "Would The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead fit this prompt?

"


I would say so."

Thank you Leah

[Aimee]

I've just started reading The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter for this prompt, as it is set in a steampunk alternate Victorian Britain that is divided into a northern republic and a southern kingdom.
It was recommended to me by a friend, who finished the whole trilogy in just a couple of days! The audiobook is narrated by Gemma Whelan (Yara in Game of Thrones) and she reads it brilliantly.

Other books I'd recommend for this prompt:
- A Dead Djinn in Cairo and all other books in that series (they can be read pretty much as standalones, although there are some small references to earlier stories in the later ones). They're set in an alternate early 20th Century Cairo where magic and djinn are real.
- Soulless, set in an alternate Victorian London where vampires, werewolves etc are all real and live in high society
- His Majesty's Dragon, set in an alternate version of the British Regency Era, with dragons who fight in the Napoleonic Wars
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, another Napoleonic Era alternate world, this time with magic
- The Next Together, a romance about two people who keep finding each other across vast time periods and end up changing history