Any good Alternate History authors?

GlenBarrington · 05-11-2010, 06:41 PM

I've read most of the biggies, Turtledove, Conroy, SM Sterling, but I'm looking for some new authors. Any suggestions?

shootingMaNs · 05-12-2010, 12:59 AM

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.

shootingMaNs · 05-12-2010, 01:01 AM

Uchronia is the site. Great for finding new AH.

http://www.uchronia.net/

Katti's Cat · 05-12-2010, 01:53 AM

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.

GlenBarrington · 05-12-2010, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

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.

While I like historical fiction quite a bit, right now, I'm most interested in the 'what if' of history. I will be looking Rutherfurd up shortly though!

GlenBarrington · 05-12-2010, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shootingMaNs

Uchronia is the site. Great for finding new AH.

http://www.uchronia.net/

A wonderful find!

neilmarr · 05-12-2010, 06:03 AM

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

beespeckled · 05-13-2010, 02:04 AM

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

Guns4Hire · 05-13-2010, 03:05 AM

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.

mbovenka · 05-13-2010, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shootingMaNs

JPhillip K. Dick- "The Man in the High Tower"- another Nazi/ Japanese WWII win.

That's 'The Man in the High Castle', of course

GlenBarrington · 05-13-2010, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guns4Hire

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.

I enjoy them very much as well. But this brings up the question of how do we define alternate history? I've read all three authors, but I consider Flint and Birmingham to be mostly Science fiction writers. Where everything I've read from Conroy does seem to be true Alternate History by my definition

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!

daveconifer · 05-13-2010, 08:43 AM

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...

shootingMaNs · 05-13-2010, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbovenka

That's 'The Man in the High Castle', of course

Fixed, thanks!!

philpalm · 05-13-2010, 12:34 PM

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?

HistoryWes · 05-13-2010, 02:36 PM

I don't know if it's technically alternate history, but I'm reading (and loving) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.

05-11-2010, 06:41 PM	#1
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	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?

05-12-2010, 12:59 AM	#2
shootingMaNs later... Posts: 199 Karma: 2832520 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Endicott, NY Device: Sony PRS-600, iRiver Story HD, Nook Color Kobo Libra H2O	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

05-13-2010, 02:04 AM	#8
beespeckled Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 80874 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pacific NW USA Device: KOBO Aura One; Kindle Oasis 3	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.

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05-12-2010, 01:01 AM	#3
shootingMaNs later... Posts: 199 Karma: 2832520 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Endicott, NY Device: Sony PRS-600, iRiver Story HD, Nook Color Kobo Libra H2O	Uchronia is the site. Great for finding new AH. http://www.uchronia.net/

05-12-2010, 01:53 AM	#4
Katti's Cat Wizard Posts: 2,259 Karma: 175640 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Device: Sony PRS-600	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, 06:03 AM	#7
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	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

05-13-2010, 03:05 AM	#9
Guns4Hire Reading...Since 1970 Posts: 610 Karma: 7819 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nova Air C, Nova Pro, LifebookMars, BoyueT62+ Glowlight, NST, PB360	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, 08:43 AM	#12
daveconifer Zealot Posts: 109 Karma: 100001 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle	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...

05-13-2010, 12:34 PM	#14
philpalm Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2005 Device: sony clie tj-37	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
HistoryWes Teacher/Novelist Posts: 632 Karma: 2274466 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nevada Device: Nook STR, iPad	I don't know if it's technically alternate history, but I'm reading (and loving) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.