Alternative History Novels

I enjoyed History class in school, but I never thought I would read it for fun. Once again, though, I find adult perceptions are really different from the teenage variety. Don't get me wrong - real history books aren't any more fun now than they were then. In the past year or so, however, I have read three alternative history series. This is a different take on your standard history lesson: an author tackles the age-old-question "What If?" by retelling history ... differently.

Nevertheless, I must say that these novels are not for the faint of heart. With Eric Flint, for example, I skipped or scanned major sections of one of his books because it reminded me too much of a real history book, and besides, it turned out not to be super important for the rest of the story.

Some Possible What If Scenarios:

• What if Germany would have won World War I (or WW2)?
• What if the Roman Empire never fell (or implode)?
• What if an alien race attacked humans during World War Two?
• What if modern Americans were mysteriously transported to 17th Europe?

Every one of these questions have been discussed in story mode at one time or another, but the last three questions were subject matters of the three series I read recently. Harry Turtledove and Eric Flint were the authors (Turtledove considered two of the three questions).

Stay tuned for more in upcoming blog entries.