In the last blog, I discussed alternate history, the difference between alternate and alternative, and what it means. If you haven't read the first blog and are new to this genre, I recommend reading it before reading this one.
In this blog, I'll cover:
What is an alternate history novel?
Is alternate history science fiction?
Why write alternate history?
The best alternate history books
What is an alternate history novel?
While there's a practice in exploring tangents in timelines from a purely historical perspective, there's also an entire genre of novel writing utilizing it as a story framework. Alternate history novels, sometimes incorrectly, I think called alternative history books, can vary in realism. Some novels will hold closer to the facts, like my series, The Kaiser's Machines, while making more subtle changes. Others might depart entirely from realism and push more into the realm of science fiction.
Two contrasting examples are Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee and the United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas.
In the former, the book plays with what really happened at the Battle of Gettysburg and imagines a future where the Confederacy won. While dealing with time travel, the facts of the events still hold closer to our actual timeline. On the other hand, inspired by Man in the High Castle, Tieryas approached the same premise of the US losing World War II against the Axis powers, creating a world with towering mechas, machines that appear across a variety of genres, including anime, steampunk, and science fiction.
Is alternate history science fiction?
According to Goodreads, alternate history is a subgenre of speculative fiction, which appears to be how it's described across other sources such as Wikipedia. The difference, though, is a divergence in the meaning of the genre "speculative fiction" between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Traditionally, the term has been associated with science fiction only. Now, it's considered a "supergenre" that encompasses the following genres as well as books on alternate history:
Science Fiction
Examples: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Foundation by Isaac Asimov, Dune by Frank Herbert
Sci-fi Fantasy Fiction
Examples: A Game of Universe by Eric S. Nylund, Dragonrider by Anne McCaffrey
Supernatural Fiction
Examples: Frankenstein by Marry Shelley, Pet Cemetery by Stephen King
Space Opera Fiction
Examples: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
Urban Fantasy Fiction
Examples: Magic Bites by Kate Daniels, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Dystopian Fiction
Examples: 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Apocalyptic Fiction
Examples: The Extinction Trials by A.G. Riddle, Edge of Collapse by Kyle Stone
Post-apocalyptic Fiction
Examples: The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Alternate History Fiction
Examples: Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove, The Kaiser's Machines by EA Baker
Superhero Fiction
Examples: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, The Boys by Garth Ennis
To answer the question more succinctly, it can be science fiction or have sci-fi themes, but it isn't necessarily exclusive to that genre.
Why write alternate history?
Every writer would probably give you a different answer to this question. Rather than going that road of speculative fiction (see what I did there), I think it's better to examine this question from my perspective. Since I write both fiction and articles on military history, I feel there are two sides to this question. On the one hand, studying other possible outcomes provides a deeper understanding and appreciation of the events and how they happened in our timeline.
At the same time, because I think that sentiment also applies to fiction writing, it's also just exciting to explore these timelines in narrative form. I believe all writing is escapism, and alternate history can take us to a reimagined world, revealing both the worst and best it has to offer; this juxtaposes against our sense of reality, making us appreciate our history, both as a society and individually, and perhaps informs not only present in a way but the future.
The best alternate history books
While I cringe at the thought of claiming this list, I am about to provide the end all be all best in the genre; I think I much prefer the notion that there are often listed in top lists. With that being said, there are many I have not read, so take this list with a grain of salt.
Here is my top 10 list of best alternate history books:
Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. The book is a wonderful psychological exploration of a reimagined outcome of the greatest event of the 20th century, World War II. I have personally read this one and enjoyed the Amazon series.
If the Allies Had Fallen: Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War II by
This one is the only book on here that's not fiction. Instead, it's a collection of papers exploring many different potential tangents during World War II. So if you want to nerd out, this is your book.
The Plot Against America
I have not read the book, but I did watch the mini-series on HBO. It explores the election cycle leading up to World War II, where Charles Lindbergh defeats FDR in the presidential election of 1940. It was a very interesting show, and one day, I will read the book to compare.
V – S Day: A Novel of Alternate History
Here's another one that is on my to-read list. It made it on my list because I love the premise. Imagine if the space race had occurred in the early days of World War II.
Watchman by Alan Moore
While this dips into the superhero genre and is not "pure" alternate history, it does explore our timeline through a different lens. I have not read the graphic novel, but I did enjoy the movie when it came out. This is another one I intend to read and compare to the film.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Wait. What is this doing on an alternate history list? Okay, I know it's a stretch. Look, I simply love Tolkien. He's the reason why I decided to become a writer. But I do have a point to make. While he never explicitly said he wanted to make a mythology for England, the Rohirric language is the Mercian dialect of Anglo-Saxon. And if you read the Hobbit, there's a mention of how golf is invented. So, Tolkien made attempts to connect the tale to our world. So, I would argue that his writing starts as a tangent and converges with our timeline at some point. Okay, maybe that's more than a stretch. But I still love Tolkien, and he will find his way onto my lists one way or the other, so get used to it.
Fatherland by Robert Harris
In the same vein as Man in the High Castle and The Plot Against America, this book is a murder mystery set in a world where the Nazis won the war. Charles Lindbergh also makes an appearance in this one. Why can't he just stick to flying planes?
The Year of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Another to-read for me, the novel explores the scenario of the Black Death killed 99 percent of the world's population. As a result, Buddhism and Islam are more prominent in the world, with Christianity becoming a mere passing thought.
1632 by Eric Flint
I have seen Flint's novels on the racks of Barnes and Noble but have failed to pick on up. Cowritten by dozens of contributors and authors, the book takes the populace of a modern West Virginian town. It transplanted them in 1632 in the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove
In a way, I saved the best for last. Turtledove is a mainstay in this genre and, quite frankly, turned me onto it. This book explores the premise of if the South had won the Civil War thanks to a time-traveling agent who brings modern weaponry and advanced studies to General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
While this list should give you plenty of reading material in the genre, the next blog will help explain how to write alternate history—at least from my perspective.
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