Monday, May 08, 2017

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

The Best Alternative Histories in Literature

4 comments:

Jeff Meyerson said...

I've read a number of them:

The Plot Against America
Fatherland
The Man in the High Castle
The Yiddish Policeman's Union (Israel doesn't exist; the Jews have Alaska instead)
SS-GB
Resurrection Day
Farthing (and the two sequels)
Bring the Jubilee

Deb said...

They're always so dystopian. How about an alternate history where Reagan or Dubya weren't elected? What a different world we might be living in today! Sigh.

Don Coffin said...

I've read 6 of those (of which 3 involve World War 2); all 6 are excellent:
Fatherland
The Man in the High Castle
SS-GB
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Difference Engine
The Gate of Worlds

(Bill's alt-history story about Buddy Holly is pretty damned good, too.)

Toby O'B said...

I enjoy Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker stories set in an America of 1800-20 that is radically different. But those are fantasies which depend on a gimmick: everyone in the world has a "knack", one magic talent. For me it's one major flaw is how influential Christianity still is in that world. What was so amazing about a guy who could do a party trick of changing water into wine when everybody could do something magical?