The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century

October 1, 2001
A ghostly ferry makes passages between coexisting "different Earths"; a 20th-century man describes his impact on the Civil War, brought about by time-machine tricks; and Mozart, Thomas Jefferson and Marie Antoinette end up as employees at an oil refinery in The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg. Contributors include Poul Anderson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ward Moore and Susan Shwartz.

March 1, 2002
Adult/High School-Several of the subgenre's best-known writers are represented in this collection of 12 short stories and two novellas originally published between 1952 and 2000. Some pieces are concerned with time travel or alternate realities, while others are straightforward short stories set during historical times (including our own altered present). Selections range from Ward Moore's classic "Bring the Jubilee," a picaresque tale set in a defeated post-Civil War North, to Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner's "Mozart in Mirrorshades," a cheeky clashing of myriad futures. Themes often reflect a concern with ethics, individual responsibility, and the consequences of decisions-and, of course, the nature of history. Few readers are likely to enjoy all stories equally well, but most should discover something that is to their taste; for many libraries, Kim Stanley Robinson's stunning "The Lucky Strike," a soldier's story of the atom bomb and Hiroshima, would, on its own, justify the price of the book. Also notable are William Sanders's "The Undiscovered," a funny and touching tale of Shakespeare lost in the New World; Jack Chalker's "Dance Band on the Titanic," a ghost story about the ethics of suicide; and Turtledove's "Islands in the Sea," in which Islam wins a crucial eighth-century debate with Christianity. Other writers included are Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Susan Shwartz, and more. For imaginative readers, these stories can open new vistas on the past and inspire a new sense of the possibilities of present and future.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2001
It isn't any wonder to find Turtledove editing an anthology of alternate history tales, nor to find none of the 14 stories in it less than superb. Turtledove and veteran anthologist Greenberg have balanced literary and historiographic excellence very well, leaving as the only possible complaint to lodge the fact that selecting only 14 stories doesn't do justice to a genre that includes more than twice as many outstanding novels. Ranging in length from Ward Moore's short novel "Bring the Jubilee" to Greg Bear's five-page "Through Road No Whither," the selections represent most of the living authors who have tackled alternate history, including Turtledove, and they happily include Allen Steele's "The Death of Captain Future" and William Sanders' "The Unexpected," which haven't been put in a book nearly as often as they ought to be. As an introduction to alternate history at its best, this collection perhaps cannot be bettered--lengthened, yes, but not bettered.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)