Quote:
Originally Posted by SleepyBob
What's the difference?
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Parallel universes, like the lines in geometry, are totally distinct, even if some events echo each other. (The most common ones are the ones where the laws of nature are diferent so that magic is real or humans coexist with other sentients. Think OZ or Wonderland or the parallel universe of Asimov's THE GODS THEMSELVES.)
Alternate timelines start out the same until something changes and those changes ripple out. Like most alternate history novels (Harry Turtledove's GUNS OF THE SOUTH, etc, Eric Flint's 163x project...).
Of course, if the story is set far enough from the point of divergence, the alternate timelines can play out as if they were true parallel universes. It's all a matter of what the author needs to tell the story.
