05-11-2010, 06:41 PM | #1 |
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Any good Alternate History authors?
I've read most of the biggies, Turtledove, Conroy, SM Sterling, but I'm looking for some new authors. Any suggestions?
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05-12-2010, 12:59 AM | #2 |
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J. N. Stroyar- "The Children's War"- The Nazi's win WWII. The sequel isn't as good, but worth a read.
Stephen Baxter- "Voyage"- AH about Nixon not cutting NASA's budget, tells story of the first manned mission to Mars in the 1980's. Robert Sobel- "For Want of a Nail"- American Revolution fails, reads like a history text of the formation of two different countries, the United States of Mexico, and the Confederation of North America. Takes it up to the 1960's(I think?) Phillip K. Dick- "The Man in the High Castle"- another Nazi/ Japanese WWII win. There are tons more. I used to know of a website that listed AH titles and authors, including upcoming new stuff. If I can find it, I'll post a link. Last edited by shootingMaNs; 05-13-2010 at 11:00 AM. Reason: Changed Tower to Castle- totally missed it |
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05-12-2010, 01:01 AM | #3 |
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05-12-2010, 01:53 AM | #4 |
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Have you tried Edward Rutherfurd? Latest book is 'New York' and tell the story of the city. Not sure if you are after historical fiction as well though.
A writer I recently discovered is Peter Fitzsimmons. He writes mainly about WWII, but his book 'Tobruk' is great. |
05-12-2010, 04:34 AM | #5 | |
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Thanks. . .
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05-12-2010, 04:36 AM | #6 | |
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Thanks!
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05-12-2010, 06:03 AM | #7 |
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Fatherland is a favourite of mine, Glen. If you Google up alternate US history, though, you'll also find some cracking good stories built around the idea of the South coming out winners in the War Between The States. And, of course, there's the classic Man in the High Tower that paints a picture of the western states of America after Japan wins WW2 and takes over. Good luck. Neil
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05-13-2010, 02:04 AM | #8 |
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I did a quick keyword search in the public library catalog for "alternative history fiction". I haven't read any of these authors, but some of their titles look intriguing:
Sara Douglas Judith Tarr John Roberts Maddox Eric Flint Stephen Baxter Mary Gentle Steven Barnes Last edited by beespeckled; 05-13-2010 at 02:08 AM. |
05-13-2010, 03:05 AM | #9 |
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Eric Flint - Ring of Fire series (1633, 1634 etc...there is like 8 books or something).
John Birmingham - Axis of Time series (Weapons of Choice, Designated Targets, Final Impact). Robert Conroy - He seems to do just stand-alones (1862, 1901, 1945, Red Inferno: 1945) I enjoy the above authors very much. |
05-13-2010, 04:03 AM | #10 |
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05-13-2010, 07:12 AM | #11 | |
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Quote:
The series you mention for them (Flint and Birmingham) are really what I call Time displacement stories. Someone from our era goes back in time. But a true Alternate history, in my eyes at least, wouldn't have time travelers. Instead, the author plays "what if". What if this one thing occurred differently? How would that alter the events that did occur? The events leading up to the change must be historically accurate, and the event after the change need to be believable and logically consistent. An excellent example of true AH is Flint's "1812, The Rivers of War". In the War of 1812, Sam Houston received a groin wound that nearly killed him and caused him to spend a year or so in recovery. Because of that, Houston, who was able to walk on both sides of White and American Indian cultures, wasn't available to help represent his adopted people when key decisions were being made regarding how they would be treated by the US Government. Which ultimately led to the Trail of Tears. (and which probably was part of the reason he ultimately left for Texas later on) But in the novel, he slips a fraction of a second before he is slated to be injured and avoids that debilitating wound. He is free to represent his people and thereby help chart a new course of interaction between Washington (Andrew Jackson) and the native Americans. I'm quite excited by this sort of novel which combines elements of speculative fiction, history, and good story telling. Other authors, like Harry Turtledove, don't normally concentrate such small 'what if' differences, but I don't care, as long as the change and the flow of events is logically consistent. I want more! Last edited by GlenBarrington; 05-13-2010 at 08:07 AM. Reason: Spelling Errors - ARRRGGHHH! |
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05-13-2010, 08:43 AM | #12 |
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There's a new Civil War alternate history book just out called Flight of the Southern Cross by Karl David Stein. It's a "what-if" scenario that changes the way the war plays out. I'm pretty sure it can be had on Smashwords. The author said that paperbacks won't be out until June...
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05-13-2010, 11:02 AM | #13 |
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05-13-2010, 12:34 PM | #14 |
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So that would mean in AH there are world perspective, US perspective and what other country perspectives.
Science fiction accounts of AH would include time displacement/alternative what ifs and other "means" like alien invasion, witchcraft and dimensional parallels? I suppose chaotic AH is not your cup of tea? |
05-13-2010, 02:36 PM | #15 |
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I don't know if it's technically alternate history, but I'm reading (and loving) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
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