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So, I finished the first book, and started the second, of the three part series "The Hot War" by Harry Turtledove. It got me to thinking of how I enjoy alternative history, but haven't read enough of said genre. It thought I'd toss it out there for discussion: what are some of your favorite alternative history books and films? Why so? Any you didn't care for?
I'll get us started:
I'll get us started:
- The Man in the High Castle (1962), by Philip K. Dick: This one is an early example of a book in the genre. It is of an alternate history where the Allies lost the Second World War and the victorious Axis have carved up the former US. It has some science fiction and mystical elements too.
- The Man in the High Castle (2015—present) series: This is a television series very loosely based upon the aforementioned. It is, in my humble opinion, outstanding. Ridley Scott (who also did Alien and Blade Runner) created a haunting alternative world in which part of the former United States is under Nazi occupation and the other Japanese. Beyond the taut story in the paranoid parallel universe, there are plenty of treats for the history fan. I binged watched each season when they came out.
- Resurrection Day (1999), by Brendan DuBois: In this book, the point of divergence is the Cuban Missile Crisis did not end well. The two superpowers nuke each other, our European allies do nothing and are largely spared, and the two former powers are in chaos. The text follows a reporter piecing together what really caused the conflict.
- Bombs Away (2015), by Harry Turtledove: This the first in a three book series called "The Hot War". The point of divergence in this one is Harry Truman authorizes atomic weapons in the Korean War and it quickly escalates to a full blown Third World War. The story is told through the eyes of many different people, military and civilian, on both sides of the fictional conflict.
