AH: starter books suggestions

[jrittenhouse]

The other day, the dad of a friend of Meredith’s brought up alternate history fiction, and obviously was interested in it; I was somewhat surprised because I had never really talked to the guy and had no real idea as to why he brought that and wargaming up with me! (Two subject dear to my heart and all that.)

He asked for a list of recommendations

Comments

[shana]

Jo Walton: Farthing, and if he likes it, the sequels, Ha'penny and Half a Crown.

[jrittenhouse]

I thought about those long and hard, and left them out. Part of the problem is that while *I* liked 'em, I wouldn't drop them on a novice who is bored to tears with WW2.

[txtriffidranch]

Well, Bradley Denton's Wrack and Roll is a lot of fun...and then there's Kim Newman's Born in the USSA, where the big Communist revolution happened in the US, Britain was the main player in the Vietnam War, and the big event in the 1980s was when Prince Charles was scheduled to marry the Czar's oldest daughter. (Much in the same way as Anno Dracula, the book mixes fictional and real characters, where Isaac Asimov is Russia's most famous astrologer and everyone knows Harlan Ellison is an American spy because he's appointed as a Minister of Culture and everyone knows that Americans don't have culture. The book starts at the collapse of the Iron Curtain, where English rock and roll enthusiasts track down Buddy Holly to ask him about this strange musical form, with their being assisted by governmental drone Hunter S. Thompson. Oh, and you can't forget how the Fall of the Curtain was celebrated with a tour across the United States by Cliff Richard, with every performance opened with Anglican minister John Simon Ritchie and his American

[jrittenhouse]

Well, to be honest, I tend to be a serious tightass on the subject of AH in regard to 'this has to be connected to real historical stuff and not just fun-and-games weirdness', and I don't care for *any* of Kim Newman's stuff. I just got in a new book for the Sidewise Awards review about a seekrit project with using Godzilla against Tokyo, so to speak, at the end of WW2...and I'm dreading having to read it. You'd love it, I'm sure.

Very very few funzies AH in my list of favorites - this is just an off-the-top-of-my-head listing, and needs work.

[blindgeoff]

Hmmm.... Wheels of If comes to mind...

[jrittenhouse]

That's a good suggestion; my problem is to find the durn thing easily is a real problem. Replay and Alternities are tough enough to dig up.

[blindgeoff]

NESFA Press republished it in Years in the Making: The Time Travel Stories of L Sprague DeCamp in 2005. Needless to say, Lest Darkness Fall is there too!

[jrittenhouse]

Excellent idea for most of us, but not the first thing he'd be likely to find in a store/amazon/library. But I'll check on that!

[aisb23]

While I agree about most of recent Turtledove I do recommend his earlier Agent of Byzantium.

And on a quirkier note I'm a big fan of Randall Garrett's "Lord Darcy" stories even if they are heavy on the fantasy with a working magic system.

[jrittenhouse]

Agree on the Byzantium book. My taste for Turtledove includes most of his early stuff, but does NOT include the Big Series stuff, which is terrible.

The Lord Darcy stuff is very clever, but they're more fantasy-mystery stuff in my mind, and not pure enough as AH to really be something I'd recommend as a good example of the genre.

[aisb23]

I got a chance to talk to Turtledove last year at Orycon and I said something very similar, basically I liked his Greek themed stuff, either Agent of Byzantium or Videssos or the straight historical fiction he writes under the name of H.N. Turteltaub, but that his more recent stuff leaves me flat.

He said he prefers the Greek stuff too, but Civil War and WW2 AHs sell. I suppose you can't blame the man for wanting to make a living.

[jrittenhouse]

I've heard the same from Stirling (this stuff sells, so...) about the stuff that I can't stand being the stuff that they put time into. I don't begrudge the man a living, I just can't stand what he's selling.

[rono_60103]

Robert Conroy - 1942: (recent publication) Excellent treatment of the idea of a more thorough Pearl Harbor attack as the AH, and a subsequent occupation of Hawaii.

I may have to take a look at this one given my personal history: my mom was just a few islands away (Hawaii, a.k.a. The Big Island) on December 7, 1941, so impacts to that area at that time would directly impact my family. (My mom wasn't quite nine at the time)

On the other hand, I have heard enough stories about the war from the perspective of someone growing up on Hawaii during the war, I might spot some different problems than others have commented on.

[jrittenhouse]

There's three versions out there - one by Harry Turtledove, which isn't bad (split in two books) and a Forstchen/Gingrich one. Both are loaded up with tons of people suffering in detail. I found this one (1942) easier going.

[aisb23]

I, surprisingly, actually liked the Forstchen/Gingrich one.

[jrittenhouse]

The only F/G one that I can't abide for writing reasons is the one about an attack on Oak Ridge, which was dreadful. I just think this one is a far better read.