Hi all,

Just wondering if you've got any alternate history to recommend. Indie authors would be great, but any name but Harry Turtledove is good. I have nothing personally against Turtledove, it's just that I'm pretty unaware of who else writes in this subgenre!

Well, there is H. Beam Piper and his Paratime and Kalven of Otherwhen

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29745

Not historical, but sort of the results of branches in history happening up to the modern day

Andre Norton had a similar series called Time Traders (a few of which are PD)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Traders

Probably the best is The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.

The absolute most enjoyable series (for me) was Randell Garrett's Lord Darcy series

Baen has a omnibus of this for $4

http://www.webscription.net/p-255-lord-darcy.aspx

Only one novel, but a lot of short stories.


Again at Baen, there is a series by Eric Flint that is sort of alternative history. It's sort of like a Yankee in King Arthur's Court, people go back in time and change history, not really alternate. But you can read the first one free:


http://www.webscription.net/p-379-1632.aspx

I have tried to find an alternate to Turtledove over the years, but haven't succeeded. Consequently, my Turtledove library keeps growing (I have every hardcover book he has written and published in my library). Newt Gingrich and someone else whose name currently escapes me (William Forster or something like that) tried their hand at turtledoving for the American Civil War, but the books are not near the caliber of Turtledoves.

Hello

Regarding this subject I advise the Uchronia website as a source of information: http://www.uchronia.net.

Best regards,

While it's not his typical genre, Philip Roth does have The Plot Against America --but a lot of people don't get his ending.

Robert Harris - "Fatherland". :thumbsup:

The best Alternative History book I ever read was, "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson. That book was epic.

It's still on my TBR list, but S.M. Stirling's The Change series, which is the overall name of the stories of the Nantucket series and the Emberverse series. In the Nantucket series the island of Nantucket is transported back in time to the Bronze Age. The Emberverse series explores the after effects of this change, mostly dealing with the Willamette Valley area of Oregon.

Jo Walton did the excellent "Small Change" trilogy with a fascist post-WWII Britain.

Mary Gentle does some very good AU (mostly medieval-to-Renaissance European).

S.P. Somtow has "The Aquiliad", a hilarious AU in which ancient Rome made it as far as the Americas and are being meddled with by time-traveling aliens, seen from the viewpoint of a Lakota chief whose relatives include one "Equus Insanus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse)".

Speaking of ancient Roman AU, Robert Silverberg has the "Roma Eterna" collection of short stories, in which the Roman empire likewise kept going until space travel.

A lot of historically-set/time-travel-involving sf/fantasy tends to verge on AU sometimes, due to filling-in-the-blanks of the unknown and incorporating the magic/tech.

You can pick up L. Sprague de Camp's classic Lest Darkness Falls for 50% off direct from the publisher's website (http://www.phoenixpick.com/catalogue/PPickings.htm) with the discount coupon offered in their monthly free book newsletter: DIR06579, usable on any of their other books, as well.

Hope this helps.

I like Robert Conroy.

Check out this site:

http://www.abebooks.com/books/war-alternate-reality-fiction-history-turtledove/alternative-histories.shtml

Wow. Great recommendations, everyone! Darn, mobileread is great.


The best Alternative History book I ever read was, "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson. That book was epic.

This has a really intriguing premise. This is now pretty high on my to read list.

Wow. Great recommendations, everyone! Darn, mobileread is great.




This has a really intriguing premise. This is now pretty high on my to read list.

Glad to help.

How about The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick?

How about The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick?

Mentioned up-thread, but it's a good one. Read it years ago and it's time I read it again.

Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

A parallel universe where Neanderthals won the race war.

Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card. What if the New World inhabitants were vaccinated and had metalworking skills when the conquistadors came a callin'?

Robert Harris - "Fatherland". :thumbsup:

+1 For "Fatherland". I found it to be one of the most gripping books that I have read in the last few years.

I'm glad I wandered into this thread! Thanks for all the recommendations, people. I read most of Turtledove's stuff, but I kinda petered out after a marathon. I love it, but I need to read a different style.

Crosstime Traffic was tight, though. :)

J

You can pick up L. Sprague de Camp's classic Lest Darkness Falls for 50% off direct from the publisher's website (http://www.phoenixpick.com/catalogue/PPickings.htm) with the discount coupon offered in their monthly free book newsletter: DIR06579, usable on any of their other books, as well.

Hope this helps.

This is an excellent book - I really enjoyed it. Has a nice touch of humor to it. I second the recommendation.

Another one I really liked is Orson Scott Card's "Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus."

Interesting premise that I won't spoil for you but the colonization of the New World does not go like in our history books in this novel.

Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card. What if the New World inhabitants were vaccinated and had metalworking skills when the conquistadors came a callin'?

Cripes, that's sounds amazing! I really liked his Tales of Alvin Maker series. Not really alt history, but great magic system and mixing of historical characters with certain knacks.

It's still on my TBR list, but S.M. Stirling's The Change series, which is the overall name of the stories of the Nantucket series and the Emberverse series. In the Nantucket series the island of Nantucket is transported back in time to the Bronze Age. The Emberverse series explores the after effects of this change, mostly dealing with the Willamette Valley area of Oregon.

These are good, although the Emberverse series is more postapocalyptic sf than alt history in tone; Stirling also wrote _The Peshawar Lancers_ (a meteor shower devastates Europe and moves the center of the British Empire to India; story picks up a few generations later).

I found a couple on my bookcase that I had forgotten about. Unfortunately, they aren't available as ebooks. "SS-GB" by Len Deighton, and "Resurrection Day" by Brendan DuBois. Both are excellent. "SS-GB" is about Nazi occupied Britain, and "Resurrection Day" about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis that results in a nuclear war.

It really irritates my wife when I "help" her with the spring cleaning, and she finds me sitting in the hallway leafing through a pile of books. :)

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and historian William R. Forstchen have written several alternate history books about the civil war and one about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I've only read the one on Pearl Harbor and found it fascinating. I believe they are all available as ebooks as well.

...

It really irritates my wife when I "help" her with the spring cleaning, and she finds me sitting in the hallway leafing through a pile of books. :)

Actually that is a little-known but highly advanced spring cleaning technique that I have practiced faithfully for several decades;
I was even recently awarded the "slightly dusty book jacket".

Well, it was thrown at me in a rather rude manner accompanied with a loud speech that involved quite a bit of eye rolling and door slamming; but I was quite thrilled to have won. ;)

Looks like later this year Stephen King's pulling a Turtledove:

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/

Non e-book alt-hist -

Bring the Jubilee - Ward Moore

And for those with warped tastes... The Iron Dream - Norman Spinrad

+1 For "Fatherland". I found it to be one of the most gripping books that I have read in the last few years.

+2!!!

Great recommendations here. I found Fatherland interesting and liked SS-GB, though I read it many years ago and wonder how I would find it now.

I'm excited to finally get to Dick's The Man in the High Castle. I've heard of that one for years.

Slowrain, you got me again with your comment about Roth's The Plot Against America. I'll have to check it out now. Thanks.

That all said, I find normal history so damn intriguing I rarely get to books dealing with the alternate side. Maybe I should more often.

What? No Ring of Fire series yet? :p
The first book, 1632 by Eric Flint is a good read (and probably the entire series for someone more interested in the "history" aspect). Available for free (http://www.webscription.net/p-379-1632.aspx) from Baen. The next few are also free.

The historical era is the time of the Thirty years war. Fascinating stuff and Flint is an actual historian (it shows :)).

I recommended The Plot Against America by Philip Roth back on the first page. Amazon and B&N both appear to have it for less than $1 right now. I think it's a good book and a great deal.

Here's (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131959) the thread where the deal is mentioned. I don't know how long it will last, so grab it quickly.

I agree the first couple of books in the series are quite good (later books, not so much, IMO). But is the premise of what I call "Connecticut Yankee" books alternate history? While similar to AH, to me it is closer to science fiction in that modern technology and the people who know how to use it are inserted into an earlier era. (time travel)

To me, alternate history hinges the 'what if' to a single point in time. i.e. "What if this particular event turned out differently? The event could be large; "What if the South had won the US Civil War? (50% of all Harry Turtledove books - Joke alert). Or it could be small, "What if Sam Houston's injury received in the war of 1812 was much less serious than it actually was (Eric Flint's Rivers of War - Excellent read).How would people's decisions and subsequent events been different?

What keeps any book of fiction from being dreary is universal, a good plot, a logical universe, well defined characters, and good writing.

someone mentioned 1632 by Eric Flint. It continues with 1633, Ring of Fire,etc.

read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1632_series

I love it!
scott

I'm not that great with this genre as I immediately start thinking "Steam Punk". However, given that you mention indie authors, I thought I would do a bit of a search for you.

Dawn Crescent - David Dvorkin ("Engaging characters and fast-paced writing make Dawn Crescent a real pleasure!" - Harry Turtledove.)


In 1991, at the beginning of Desert Storm, the defeat of American forces at the battle of Khafji is the signal for a broad and bloodily successful anti-Western uprising. In this alternate history, America faces endless war in the Middle East, a resurgent Soviet Union, and growing tyranny at home.


Budspy - David Dvorkin ("Smart, fast, and mean" - Kirkus. "Involving." - Booklist. "Masterful." - Asimov's. "A well-told tale of crime and conscience." - Indianapolis News)


Decades after defeating the Allies in World War Two, Nazi Germany rules Europe and dominates the world. But there’s rot at the core of the Reich, and an American agent is assigned to help the Germans root it out.


Beneath Gray Skies - Hugh Ashton


Beneath Gray Skies describes a 1920s world that might have been, had the American Civil War never been fought. The new Nazi party in Germany, Confederates, and British and American intelligence services engage in intrigue and treachery, as the giant Bismarck–the largest Zeppelin yet constructed–crosses the Atlantic carrying a priceless gift from the Old World to the New.


I can't really vouch for any of these I'm afraid, but I thought seeing as you specifically mentioned independent authors as a preference I'd try to throw a couple into the mix. I think David Dvorkin might be worth a look if Harry Turtledove himself has given (or sold :devilish:) his endorsement.

Regards
Caleb

...Dawn Crescent - David Dvorkin ("Engaging characters and fast-paced writing make Dawn Crescent a real pleasure!" - Harry Turtledove.)


In 1991, at the beginning of Desert Storm, the defeat of American forces at the battle of Khafji is the signal for a broad and bloodily successful anti-Western uprising. In this alternate history, America faces endless war in the Middle East, a resurgent Soviet Union, and growing tyranny at home.
...

I haven't read an AH dealing with Desert Storm. Looks pretty good!

I agree the first couple of books in the series are quite good (later books, not so much, IMO). But is the premise of what I call "Connecticut Yankee" books alternate history? While similar to AH, to me it is closer to science fiction in that modern technology and the people who know how to use it are inserted into an earlier era. (time travel)

To me, alternate history hinges the 'what if' to a single point in time. i.e. "What if this particular event turned out differently? The event could be large; "What if the South had won the US Civil War? (50% of all Harry Turtledove books - Joke alert). Or it could be small, "What if Sam Houston's injury received in the war of 1812 was much less serious than it actually was (Eric Flint's Rivers of War - Excellent read).How would people's decisions and subsequent events been different?

What keeps any book of fiction from being dreary is universal, a good plot, a logical universe, well defined characters, and good writing.

You're quite right, in principle ;). The problem is that while the Rig of Fire series started out as a displaced in time (which by the way leads to an alternate history whose course is well-documented in the series), most of it devolves (from my pov of course) into a regular alternate history template by the 3rd or 4th book with the "displaced in time" aspect barely recognizable.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and historian William R. Forstchen have written several alternate history books about the civil war and one about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I've only read the one on Pearl Harbor and found it fascinating. I believe they are all available as ebooks as well.

Does anyone know if Gingrich is going to continue the Pacific War series? I just finished Days of Infamy and would like to know how they see the war ending.

+1 on Robert Conroy. He has some fresh scenarios.

In 1991, at the beginning of Desert Storm, the defeat of American forces at the battle of Khafji is the signal for a broad and bloodily successful anti-Western uprising. In this alternate history, America faces endless war in the Middle East, a resurgent Soviet Union, and growing tyranny at home.


You would have to completely suspend disbelief for this one. how did the Iraqis prevail-with the help of ASBs?

Just finished reading Michael Flynn's novella " The Forest of Time" , set in an alternate universe where the American Revolution failed. Recommended.

I know I'm coming really late to this thread, but here goes.

I'm not at all a fan of Turtledove. He's a Byzantine Empire historian writing althistory of the US, and it really shows. He makes mistakes a first year grad student couldn't get away with.

I agree with the Spinrad recommendation. Its very twisted, sometimes horrific, but very well written.

Roth is also a great writer as well.

Mack Reynolds did a book with a time traveling anthropologist who helps Aztecs defeat Cortez simply by providing a few warnings.

And if you're interested in reading history, the What If? series are quite good.

The most fully fleshed out, historically constrained, and logically developed alternate history I've read and enjoyed is definitely the Ring of Fire series from Eric Flint (and others). The first three, 1632, Ring of Fire, and 1633 are available from the Baen Free Library (http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx).