Science fiction authors love to play "what if?" When they play this game with physics or chemistry, you get hard SF. When they ask "what if a war were to be fought in outer space?", space-opera is usually the result.
But when writers ask that question about history, the result falls into a recognized sub-genre of science fiction: alternate history. Blogcritics have taken on the topic from many different viewpoints.
The Amazing Worlds of Harry Turtledove: Alternate History Part III
Multiple worlds, many wars: "Master" Harry Turtledove's treasure trove of Alternate History war sagas.
Posted to Books by Ashok K. Banker on September 10, 2005
S.M. Stirling's Nantucket Trilogy: Alternate History Part II
History was never such fun! The Nantucket Trilogy and other must-read Alternate History thrillers.
Posted to Books by Ashok K. Banker on September 9, 2005
If India & Pakistan Had Joined Forces Against The British Empire: Alternate History, Part I
One of my favourite genres is "alt-hist." Or, to spell it out, Alternate History. It's often considered a sub-genre of Science Fiction (SF), or as some people prefer to call it, Speculative Fiction. That's because most of the early alternate history...
Posted to Books by Ashok K. Banker on September 8, 2005
Review: The Rivers of War
An interesting alternate history of the War of 1812 and America's relationship with the Cherokee.
Posted to Books by Bill Wallo on July 5, 2005
Review: Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove
I've been a Harry Turtledove fan ever since I read Guns of the South, which was my introduction to the vast genre of science fiction known as alternate history. As a history student married to a history student, I...
Posted to Books by Warren Kelly on June 1, 2005
Interview: A Chat with Eric Flint
CO: The River of Time is a new world for you, what type of world is it, fantasy, sci-fi alternate history? EF: Alternate history, of the type that’s sometimes called “pure” alternate history. What I mean by that is that...
Posted to Books by theco on May 4, 2005
Article comments
1 - Mark Sahm
As a fan of AH, I actually was expecting something different in this post. But it was still very informative. Thanks for bringing those links together, DrPat.
As to what I was thinking, I anticipated questions like:
"How different would Blogcritics be if Eric Olsen was a woman?"
or
"What if liberals and conservatives could actually have an unemotional and rational debate?"
2 - Ashok K. Banker
This was a great idea, to group together all the articles on the topic! Sort of like a 'home page' on blogcritics for the topic 'alternate history'. Crossref all the other linked entries, and you've got yourself a wikiblogopedia!
3 - Nancy
Oooo...thanks! And I was just asking on Ashok's other thread if there was a summary of althist books anywhere!
4 - DrPat
The compilation needed to be made so it could be linked to the Books front page, in honor of the attention Ashok has been getting!
5 - DrPat
Mark, I actually removed several posts (no, not "What if Eric Olsen were a woman" -- though I think Dawn might have a few thoughts on that topic) that weren't SF Alt-history, but focused on politics and other more-current events.
But that sounds like a fun idea for a post!
As for your second example, I know from my own experience that some seeming hot-button topics elicit fairly balanced and mature comments. My latest is "Katrina could alter Louisiana geography, Mississippi river flow", which went on rationally for quite a while during a lot of pretty nasty mud-flinging in other threads.