Gold, Jerome,
The Inquisitor
(Black Heron 1991, 0930773136, 0930773144)
Goldring, Maurice,
La république populaire du France, 1949-1981: de l'assassinat
du General De Gaulle (12 juin 1949) au coup d'etat du General Massu (10 mai
1981)
(Belfond 1984, 2714416454)
Goldsmith, Howard,
"Do Ye Hear the Children Weeping?", in
HV
What if:
Germany won WW2.
Story:
An American couple rents a house in Munich and find it haunted by the
previous occupant's Dachau experiments.
Goldstone, Cynthia, & Avram Davidson,
"Pebble in Time", in
f&sf Aug 1970; and
Laughing Space: Funny Science Fiction
(eds. Isaac Asimov & J.O. Jeppson)
(Houghton Mifflin 1982, 0395305195)
What if:
The Mormons bypassed Salt Lake and settled near the San Francisco Bay.
Story:
A time traveler accidentally diverts Brigham Young and company.
Goodman, Arthur,
If Booth had Missed: A Drama of the Reconstruction
Period
(Samuel French 1932)
What if:
A black employee of Ford's theater prevented John Wilkes Booth from killing
Abraham Lincoln.
Story:
Lincoln rather than Johnson is impeached and tried for trying to fire
Secretary of War Stanton, with more dramatic results.
Comments:
A three-act play first presented by the Morningside Players in New York City
in 1932.
Gormley, Adrienne,
"Children of Tears", in
AT
Gorodischer, Angelica,
"De navegantes", in
Trafalgar
(Hyspamerica 1988)
What if:
Spain pursued an even more aggressive colonial policy.
Story:
An Argentine space traveler finds a planet exactly like Earth c. 1492, and
he speeds up the "Spanish" conquest of all the "Americas".
Gorodischer, Angelica,
"El oro de Tiresias", in
Axxon #22 (Jul 1991)
What if:
Peron never became president, and Argentina remained under the control of
the military.
Story:
Peron is imprisoned as he begins to become popular and dies in jail. 100
years later, a student speculates about what might have been.
Gotschalk, Felix C.,
"The Napoleonic Wars", in
BT
What if:
Napoleon was not defeated at Waterloo.
Story:
Assassination attempts are constant in 1958 New Orleans, capital of New
France and home of the Emperor-in-exile of Eurasia
Graeme, Bruce: see
Armstrong, Anthony, & Bruce Graeme
Graham, Otis L., Jr.,
"1887: Whites and Indians--Was There a Better Way?",
in
SAH
What if:
...
Comments:
...
Graham, Otis L., Jr.,
"1917: What If the United States Had Remained Neutral?", in
SAH
What if:
The United States was not drawn into WW1.
Comments:
...
Graham, Otis L., Jr.,
"1933: What Would the 1930s Have Been Like Without Franklin Roosevelt?", in
SAH
What if:
FDR was either not nominated for president in 1932 or died at the hands
of Zangara the next spring.
Comments:
...
Graham, Otis L., Jr.,
"1945: The United States, Russia, and the Cold War--What if Franklin
Roosevelt Had Lived?", in
SAH
What if:
FDR enjoyed better health.
Comments:
...
Graham, Otis L., Jr.,
"1974: What If There Had Been No Watergate?", in
SAH
Green, Martin,
The Earth Again Redeemed: May 26 to July 1, 1984, on
This Earth of Ours and Its Alter Ego
(Basic 1977, 0465017631; Sphere 1979)
What if:
King Antonio defeated the Portuguese invading the Kongo at Mbwila in 1665.
Story:
Interaction of two worlds diverging from the battle, one with the Congo
at the heart of Christianity and one like ours but post-nuclear war.
Green, Roland J.,
"Exile's Greeting", in
Microcosmic Tales: 100 Wondrous Science Fiction Short-Short Stories
(eds. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander)
(Taplinger 1980,
0800852389; DAW 1992, 0886775329)
What if:
The American Revolution failed.
Story:
HMS Bellerophon prepares to transport a defeated enemy leader to exile on
St. Helena, but is he Napoleon?
Green, Roland J.,
"The Goodwife of Orleans", in
Alt
What if:
Henry V of England did not die in 1422 and was able to consolidate his hold
on the crown of France.
Story:
A young woman from the village of Arc helps preserve English power in France.
Green, Roland J., & John F. Carr,
Great Kings' War
(Ace 1985, 0441302009)
Comments:
1st sequel to Piper's
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.
Story:
In their first attack on Lord (now King) Kalvan, Styphon's House hits him
with three forces, but is defeated in all cases.
--------------------------------,
"Siege at Tarr-Hostigos", in
There Will Be War 8: Armageddon
(eds. Jerry Pournelle & John F. Carr)
(publ. unknown)
Comments:
3rd sequel to Piper's
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.
Story:
Lord Kalvan loses his citadel to the forces of Styphon's House.
Green, Roland J.,
"The King of Poland's Foot Cavalry", in
AT
Green, Roland J.: see also
Carr, John F., & Roland J. Green
Greenland, Colin,
Harm's Way
(HarperCollins UK 1993, 0002239167; Avon 1993, 0380768836;
SFBC 1993; HarperCollins UK 1994)
Griffin, Peni,
"Books", in
IAsfm Nov 1991
Story:
A used bookstore gets alternative/fictional world customers.
Grigg, John,
1943: The Victory that Never Was
(Hill & Wang 1980, 0809073773)
What if:
The US and Britain invaded France a year earlier.
Comments:
Discussion of Allied errors in WW2.
Final chapter speculates that invading a year earlier would have given a
postwar advantage to the West.
Grimwood, Ken,
Replay
(Arbor House 1986, 0877957819; Thorndike 1986,
0896218058; Berkley 1988; Ace 1992, 0441715923)
Story:
At death's edge, a man has a chance to relive and change his life, again
and again and again.
In one life, he finds altered Hollywood history.
Comments:
Winner: 1988 World Fantasy Award for best novel
Grousset, René,
Figures de proue
(Plon 1949)
Guedalla, Philip,
"If the Moors in Spain had Won", in
IIHHO (all eds.)
Trans.:
German tr. by Walter Brumm,
"Wenn die Mauren in Spanen geseigt Hatte", in
Das science fiction jahr
(ed. ...)
(Heyne 1987)
What if:
Ferdinand and Isabella's army was defeated at Lanjaron in 1491.
Story:
An overview of the history of the great, enlightened Kingdom of Granada.
Gunn, Eileen,
"Fellow Americans", in
IAsfm Dec 1991; and
AP
What if:
Hardball mud-slinging brought disgrace to LBJ in 1964, leading to the
election of Barry Goldwater as president.
Story:
Vignettes of 1991, when Bush is president and Quayle is veep, but Tricky
Dick has a popular TV talk show that's been on the air for 20 years.
Guthridge, George: see
Gluckman, Janet, & George Guthridge
Gygax, E. Gary, & Terry Stafford,
Victorious German Arms: An Alternate Military History of World War II
(T-K Graphics 1973);
orig. in
Int'l Federation of Wargamers newsletter
What if:
The Axis adopted a coherent grand strategy, resulting in a quick victory at
Stalingrad.
Story:
Detailed account of German victory in WW2, ending with domination of Europe
and Africa.
Haffner, Sebastian,
Anmerkungen zu Hitler
(Kindler 1978, 3463007193)
Trans.:
English tr. by Ewald Osers,
The Meaning of Hitler
(Macmillan 1979, 0025472909; Weidenfeld & Nicolson
1979, 0297775723; Harvard Univ 1983, 0674557751)
Comments:
Biography of Hitler includes discussion of the Nazis making a peace after
the fall of France.
Hahn, Ronald M.,
"Hey, Mr. Spaceman", in
Ein dutzend H-bomben
(Ullstein 1983)
Hahn, Ronald M., & Harald Pusch,
Die temponauten: science fiction-roman
(Corian 1983)
What if:
The first atomic bomb was used in 1943 on Berlin.
Story:
An amnesiac time traveller is hunted by a competing time travel agency in
the Klondike of 1896-97, where he meets Jack London, among others.
Haiblum, Isidore,
The Tsaddik of the Seven Wonders
(Ballantine 1971; Doubleday 1981, 0385171374)
Trans.:
German tr. by Ingrid Herrmann,
Der Zadik Der Siebun Wunder
(Heyne 1994, 3453072669)
Story:
Alternate events in Judaic history.
Haldeman, Jack C., II,
"The Case of the Snuffed Simian", in
AWC
Haldeman, Jack C., II,
"Death of a Dream", in
AW
What if:
J. Egar Hoover decided to smear Martin Luther King, Jr. just before he gave
the "I Have a Dream" speech, and the civil rights movement fell apart.
Story:
A decade later, MLK prepares to assassinate law-n-order President Richard J.
Dailey and weeps over the race war which has been consuming the country.
Haldeman, Jack C., II,
"South of Eden, Somewhere Near Salinas", in
BAOF
What if:
James Dean became a race driver, Natalie Wood a reporter and Sal Mineo a
mechanic.
Story:
Dean and Wood come together at the Indy 500, but she frets about the dangers
of his profession.
Haldeman, Jack C., II, & Barbara Delaplace,
"That'll Be The Day", in
AT
Haldeman, Joe,
The Hemingway Hoax
(William Morrow 1990, 0688090249; Avon 1991, 0380708000);
revision of
"The Hemingway Hoax", in
IAsfm Apr 1990;
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eighth Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(St. Martin's 1991, 0312060092, 0312060084);
Nebula Awards 26: SFWA'S Choice for the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of
the Year
(ed. James Morrow)
(HBJ 1992, 0151649340, 0156654725);
and
The New Hugo Awards: Volume III
(ed. Connie Willis & Martin H. Greenberg)
(Baen 1994, 067187604X; SFBC 1994)
Story:
A professor planning a Hemingway forgery is killed by a timeline
protector and awakes as another timeline's version of himself.
Comments:
"The Hemingway Hoax" winner: 1990 Nebula for best novella, 1991 Hugo for best
novella
Haldeman, Joe,
"No Future in It", in
Omni Apr 1979
The Best of Omni Science Fiction
(ed. Ben Bova)
(Omni 1980);
and
Dealing in Futures: Stories
(Viking 1985, 0670806358; ROC 1993, 0451452585)
Story:
In a bar discussion, a man claims to have traveled back in time and invested
in all the right scientific inventions, but it didn't work.
Hale, Edward Everett,
"Hands Off", in
Harper's Mar 1881;
Hands Off
(J.S. Smith 1895);
Our Christmas in a Palace
(publ. unknown);
Works, Vol. 2
(publ. unknown);
Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Fantasy of the 19th Century
(eds. Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg)
(Beufort 1982, 0825300991);
and
AH
What if:
Joseph was not sold into slavery in Egypt.
Story:
A godling discovers the implications of altering an event, as he watches the
Phoenicians take over the Mediterranean.
Hamilton, Franklin,
"What If--?", in
1066
(Dial 1964)
What if:
William the Conqueror was beaten at Hastings and the Norman Conquest was
averted.
Story:
Two possibilities; either fragmented England was later occupied by France or
Harold united the land, but it spent the next millenium in isolation.
Hammura Ryo,
Sengoku jieitai
(Hayakawa Shobo 1971; Kadokawa Shoten 1978, 1979)
Story:
...
Comments:
Basis of the 1981 Kadokawa movie Sengoku Jietai.
Harness, Charles L.,
"1894", in
Analog Aug 1994
What if:
Prince Albert died of typhus two weeks early, and without his softening
words, H.M. gov't sent an insulting message to the U.S. over the Trent
affair.
Story:
An H.G. Wells from a world where Britain intervened in the U.S. Civil War
invents a time travelling machine and is sent back in time to save Albert.
Harness, Charles L.,
Lurid Dreams
(Avon 1990, 0380757613)
What if:
Gambling debts did not force Edgar Allen Poe to quit the Univ Virginia, and
he later lived to serve as a Confederate general at Gettysburg.
Story:
Via astral travel, a 21st-century man searches for when/where Edgar Allen
Poe's life turned to literature.
Harness, Charles L.,
"O Lyric Love", in
Amazing Stories May 1985
Harris, Raymond,
The Schizogenic Man
(Ace 1990, 0441753981)
What if:
Cleopatra's son Kaisarion escaped the Romans or Cleopatra murdered
Octavian.
Story:
Through cyber-simulation a man visits Cleopatra's Egypt and tries to save
her son Kaisarion.
He awakes in a slightly altered present.
Harris, Robert,
Fatherland
(Random House 1992, 0679412735; Hutchinson 1992; Thorndike 1992, 1560545569,
1560548959; Arrow 1993, 0099263815)
Trans.:
Portugese tr. ...,
Patria Amada
(Record 1993)
What if:
Nazi Germany met greater success invading Russia, and after discovering that
Britain had broken the Enigma code, forced a peace in the west.
Story:
A cop in 1964 Nazi Berlin investigates an apparent suicide and finds himself
unwrapping a 20-year-old cover-up of what happened to the Jews.
Comments:
Basis of the 1994 HBO movie Fatherland (see Campbell's
"The shrinking of Fatherland").
Harrison, Harry,
"Down to Earth", in
Prime Number
(Sphere 1975)
Story:
An accident apparently sends two astronauts sideways to an Earth where WW2
is still dragging on in 1971.
Harrison, Harry,
A Rebel in Time
(Tor 1983, 0523485549)
Trans.:
German tr. by Bodo Baumann,
Im Suden nichts neues
(Bastei-Lübbe 1984)
Story:
A racist army officer goes back in time to help the South win the Civil War;
a black soldier follows in order to defeat him.
Harrison, Harry,
"Run from the Fire", in
Epoch
(eds. Robert Silverberg & Roger Elwood)
(Berkley/Putnam's 1975, 0399114602; Berkley 1977, 0425033155);
Catastrophes
(eds. Isaac Asimov et al.)
(Fawcett 1981);
and
Time Wars
(eds. Charles G. Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg)
(Tor 1986, 0812530489, 0812530497)
Story:
A man from our world aids others in timelines where the sun is about to go
nova, including one where Europe is feudal and Iriquois run N America.
Harrison, Harry,
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
(Putnam 1972, 039911047X)
Trans.:
Spanish tr. by ...,
El Invasor del Tiempo
(publ. unknown)
What if:
Napoleon conquered England.
Story:
Our hero goes back to fix time about to unravel.
Harrison, Harry,
A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!
(Faber 1972, 0571099963; New English Library 1976; Berkley 1974;
Pinnacle/Tor 1981, 0523485050; Tor 1991, 0812515919;
vt Tunnel Through the Deeps,
Putnam's 1972, 0399109188; Berkley 1974, 0425025659);
orig. serial in
Analog Apr-Jun 1972
Trans.:
German tr. by Tony Westermayr,
Der grosse Tunnel
(Goldmann 1979)
What if:
Spain remained Islamic after Christian defeat at Navas de Tolosa in 1212,
and the War of the Roses fizzled after the early death of Louis XI.
Story:
A descendant of executed British-American rebel George Washington is in
charge of building the ultimate tunnel.
Comments:
See also the reference mat'l entry for Harrison's
"Worlds Beside Worlds".
Harrison, Harry,
West of Eden
(Bantam 1984, 0553050656, 0553249355;
Bantam 1985)
Trans.:
Portuguese tr. by Ana Maria Falcão,
A Oeste do Eden
(Gradiva 1986)
---------------,
Winter in Eden
(Bantam 1986, 0553051636; Bantam 1987, 0553266284)
---------------,
Return to Eden
(Bantam 1988, 0553053159; Bantam 1989, 0553277006)
What if:
Dinosaurs did not die out and did develop intelligence.
Story:
Conflict between warm climate saurians and cool climate humans.
Comments:
Synopsis of trilogy in Lodi-Ribeiro's
"Hist—rias Naturais Alternativas".
Harrison, Harry,
"The Wicked Flee", in
New Dimensions I
(ed. Robert Silverberg)
(Doubleday 1971; Avon 1973);
Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year (1971)
(ed. Lester Del Rey)
(Dutton 1972);
and
The Best of Harry Harrison
(Signet 1976)
Story:
A scientist flees from 2017 of a world where the death of Henry VIII and
imprisonment of Luther aborted the Reformation.
An inquisitor follows.
Harrison, Harry, & Tom Shippey,
The Hammer and the Cross
(Legend 1993; Tor 1993, 0312854390; Tor 1994)
What if:
King Aella of Northumbria provoked a massive Viking invasion of England by
executing a noted Viking leader.
Story:
An half-English, half-Danish bastard thrall falls in and out with the
invaders, finally becoming king of a religously-tolerant northern England.
------------------------------,
One King's Way
(Legend 1994, not yet published)
Harrison, Harry, & Tom Shippey,
"Letter from the Pope", in
WMHB2
What if:
The last Christian king in England broke with the church.
Story:
In 878, Alfred receives the letter from the pope that pushes him over the
edge.
Hauser, Eva,
"One Day in the Life of Zoya Andreyevna", in
One Eye Open #2 (not yet published)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel,
"P.'s Correspondence", in
United States Magazine and Democratic Review Apr 1845;
Mosses from an Old Manse
(Wiley & Putnam 1846; Putnam's 1851; Ticknor &
Fields 1854, 1865; Fields, Osgood 1871; Houghton, Osgood 1880; Houghton,
Mifflin 1883, 1893; H. Altemus 1893; T.Y. Crowell 1903);
and
Complete Works, Vol. 2
(Houghton-Mifflin 1882)
What if:
Byron, Burns and Shelley lived longer lives, but Dickens died early.
Story:
A letter describes encounters with various literary and politcal figures
during the 1840s.
Heinlein, Robert A.
Job: A Comedy of Justice
(Ballantine 1984, 0345313577, 0345320603)
Story:
A man and a woman go hopping between worlds, apparently because some deity
has it in for them.
Comments:
Nominee: 1984 Nebula for best novel, 1985 Hugo for best novel.
Heinlein, Robert A.,
To Sail Beyond the Sunset: The Lifes and Loves of
Maureen Johnson (Being the Memoirs of a Somewhat Irregular Lady)
(Putnam's 1987, 0399132678)
What if:
The 1940 US election went another way.
Story:
Memoirs of an immortal woman.
Comments:
A short discussion of alternate universes is primarily a retroactive
rationale to the Heinlein canon, but includes a few historical details.
Herløv Petersen, Arne,
"En plads i historien", in
Haabet er Groent
(Klim 1991)
What if:
Egyptians never built tbe pyramids.
Story:
A time traveller performs a match trick for pharaoh and inspires him to
build the pyramids.
Herløv Petersen, Arne,
"En flue paa v¾ggen", in
Haabet er Groent
(Klim 1991)
What if:
The Swedish rebellion of 1521 was put down.
Story:
A time traveller changes history to its main course by sneezing.
Herløv Petersen, Arne,
"Haabet er groent", in
Haabet er Groent
(Klim 1991)
What if:
The Turks conquered Vienna in 1583
Story:
A Turkish immigrant in Denmark suffers from racist attacks and changes
history to live in a Muslim Europe.
Herløv Petersen, Arne,
"Soefaerden til Cipangu", in
Information Oct 1992
What if:
Columbus sails to Japan
Story:
A Jewish translator on the Santa Maria saves Columbus from mutiny by
magically transporting the ship to Japan, thereby destroying the Americas.
Hermansen, Sjur,
"Alternativ naatid", in
Algernon Jan 1992
What if:
Germany won WW2, with a "Nazi-style Glasnost" in the 1990s.
Story:
Two friends contemplate founding a new party, "The Environmental Fascists".
Hernandez, Lea,
"Al Einstein--Nazi Smasher!", in
AW
What if:
Albert Einstein became a professional musician, and later a spy.
Story:
On a mission to Peenemünde, Al meets temptress Eva Braun and the evil
dictator Schicklgruber.
Hersey, John,
White Lotus
(Knopf 1965; Bantam 1966; Vintage 1990, 0679727509)
What if:
Warlord-run China conquered the US in an undescribed war in the mid 1900s.
Story:
Story of an Arizona girl who is taken into slavery in China.
Hertel, Francois,
"Lepic et l'histoire hypothétique", in
Jérémie et Barabbas
(Le Jour 1966)
What if:
Montcalm defeated Wolfe, leading to French victory in the French and Indian
War.
Story:
1940s Canada as a prosperous, ultra-Catholic nation.
Hirose Tadashi,
Erosu
(Hayakawa Shobu 1971)
Hoffman, Nina Kiriki,
"Visitors", in
Weird Tales Winter 1991/92
Story:
A woman is visited by her future self, telling her to commit suicide because
everything gets worse, but she has been visited before.
Hogan, James P.,
The Proteus Operation
(Bantam 1985, 0553050958)
What if:
The Nazis remained an obscure political party or Churchill did not return
to the British cabinet after the 1939 German invasion of Poland.
Story:
Beleaguered Americans from 1975 go back in time to prevent Nazi victory in WW2
and promote US atomic weapons research.
Unfortunately it's not their own past.
Hohlbein, Wolfgang E.,
"Im Namen der Menschlichkeit", in
Jupiter
(ed. Thomas Le Blanc)
(Goldmann 1985)
What if:
A peaceful revolution overthrew Rome and Jesus became the new "Caesar".
Story:
Travelers from a peaceful Empire are sent back in time to undermine the
Toltecs, but their time machine crashes near Jerusalem, 30 AD.
Holm, John: see
Shippey, Tom
Hood, Gwenyth,
The Coming of the Demons
(Morrow 1982, 0688007767)
What if:
Aliens disrupted the execution of Conradin Hohenstaufen in 1268 Naples.
Story:
Trying to fix things without technological interference, the aliens become
involved in the conflict over who should be Holy Roman emperor.
Hoyle, Trevor,
The Gods Look Down
(Panther 1978; Ace 1982, 0441294979)
Story:
During an attempt to travel into a potential future, a man finds himself
retrieved from a red ocean by a slave ship traveling to New Amerika.
-------------,
Seeking the Mythical Future
(Panther 1977; Ace 1982)
-------------,
Through the Eye of Time
(Panther 1977; Ace 1982)
Hull, E. M.,
"The Flight that Failed", in
Science Fiction Adventures in Dimensions
(ed. Groff Conklin)
(Vanguard 1953);
and
Adventures in Dimension
(ed. Groff Conklin)
(Grayson 1955)
Story:
A man from a world in which Germany won WW2 comes back to a flight that had
been shot down to save it and change his past so that Germany lost.
Ing, Dean: see
Reynolds, Mack, & Dean Ing
Iverson, Eric G.: see
Turtledove, Harry
Jablokov, Alexander,
"At the Cross-Time Jaunters' Ball", in
IAsfm Aug 1987;
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Fifth Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(St. Martin's 1988, 0312018541);
and
The Breath of Suspension
(Arkham House 1994, 0870541676)
Story:
An art critic of Shadow worlds is haunted by marital trouble and assassins
as he visits various worlds.
Jablokov, Alexander,
"Beneath the Shadow of Her Smile", in
The Breath of Suspension
(Arkham House 1994, 0870541676)
Jackson, Donald,
Valley Men: A Speculative Account of the Arkansas
Expedition of 1807
(Tickner & Fields 1983, 0899191983)
What if:
The American expedition to explore the Arkansas River was not canceled.
Story:
The trip to Pike's Peak and sidetrip to Santa Fe, as seen by a young
physician/naturalist.
Jacobs, Will, & Gerard Jones,
The Beaver Peapers: The Story of the "Lost Season"
(Crown 1983, 0517549913)
Story:
Extraordinary efforts are made to keep "Leave It to Beaver" on television
for one more year.
Jacobson, Dan,
The God-Fearer: A Novel
(Bloomsbury 1992, 0747512582; Macmillan Atheneum
1993, 0684196603; Sceptre 1993, 0340594952)
What if:
There was no Jewish revolt against Rome, and Judaism rather than Christianity
became the dominant religion of Europe.
Story:
C. 1400, an old Jewish man recalls the part he played as a youth in the
persecution of a Christer girl for witchcraft.
Jakes, John,
Black in Time
(Paperback Library 1970)
Jeanne, René: see
Laumann, E.M., & René Jeanne
Jenkins, Will F.: see
Leinster, Murray
Jennings, Philip C.,
"Captain Theodule and the Chileland Kommandos", in
Amazing Stories Jul 1991
Story:
Realities of European colonization and imperialism are turned upside down.
Jensen, Reidar,
"Brev til min venn Wolfgang Wegener, februar 1924", in
Historien som ikke ville slutte
(Gyldendal Norsk 1978)
What if:
WW1 never took place, and Lenin died in Switzerland in 1924.
Story:
A letter-writer tells his friend about this strange Russian exile.
Jeschke, Wolfgang,
Der letzte Tag der Schopfung
(Nymphenburger 1981; Heyne 1985)
Trans.:
English tr. by Gertrud Mander,
The Last Day of Creation
(St. Martin's 1982, 0312470614; Century 1982,
0712600426)
What if:
Mexico stretched from Canada to Venezuela or the Axis enjoyed greater
success in WW2.
Story:
A US attempt to steal Arabian oil using a pipeline in the past runs into
trouble vs. people from other timelines.
Johnson, James B.,
"Conestoga History", in
Analog May 1987
Johnson, Peter,
Gordon of Khartoum
(Patrick Stephens 1985, 0850597916)
What if:
Gordon was rescued from Khartoum in 1885.
Story:
...
Johnson, Robert B., & Billie Niles Chadbourne,
Times-Square Samurai; or, The Improbable Japanese Occupation of New York
(Tuttle 1966)
Jones, Charles O.,
"What If There Had Been a Nixon Presidency Without
Watergate? (1973)", in
WIESSF
What if:
The Watergate break-in never happened or was never discovered.
Comments:
Hostile relations between Nixon and Congress still existed, causing the
Democrats to reorganize Congress in defense.
Jones, Diana Wynne,
The Lives of Christopher Chant
(Greenwillow 1988, 0688078060)
What if:
Magical laws were codified in the early 1300s, replacing scientific
technology.
Story:
After dream-traveling to other timelines, an English boy becomes the great
mage Chrestomanci.
------------------,
Charmed Life
(Greenwillow 1977, 0688801382; Macmillan 1977, 0333214269;
Knopf/Bullseye 1989, 0394820320; Mammoth 1993, 0749714735)
Story:
Two English children go to live with Uncle Chrestomanci.
------------------,
The Magicians of Caprona
(Greenwillow 1980,
0688802834, 0688842836)
Story:
Two children from powerful, magic-working Italian families cannot perform
magic themselves, but save the city of Caprona from an enchanter.
------------------,
Witch Week
(Greenwillow 1982, 0688015344; Knopf/Bullseye 1989, 039480600X;
Mammoth 1993, 0749701749)
Story:
Chrestomanci visit a timeline where Guy Fawkes blew up Parliament,
somehow disrupting magic in other timelines, including ours.
Jones, Douglas C.,
The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer
(Scribner's 1976, 0684147386; Warner 1977)
What if:
Custer was the sole survivor among elements of the 7th Cavalry wiped out at
the Little Bighorn.
Story:
Army commanding General William Sherman orders Custer court-martialed for
disobeying orders and negligence.
Jones, Gerard: see
Jacobs, Will, & Gerard Jones
Jørgensen, Per C.,
"Neste aar i Jerusalem", in
Algernon Jan 1992
What if:
Chaos elsewhere made imperial Russia the sole superpower, and about to start
a war with the Baghdad Califate in a different '91.
Story:
A Jewish refugee tries to get out of Jerusalem.
Kagan, Janet,
"Love Our Lockwood", in
AP
What if:
Minor candidate Belva Ann Lockwood was elected US president in 1888.
Story:
During the election of 1892, Lockwood personally leads the way to universal
suffrage.
Kagan, Janet,
"Space Cadet", in
BAOF
What if:
Dan Quayle became president, or an actor, or a soldier, or an astronaut.
Story:
Pres. Quayle tries out the 'Things As They Should Be' machine, seeing other
rolls he might have filled, but makes a mistake while visiting Mars.
Kagan, Robert A.,
"What If Abe Fortas Had Been More Discreet? (1969)",
in
WIESSF
What if:
Supreme Court Justice Fortas was less eager to supplement his income and was
less cozy with LBJ's White House.
Comments:
Speculation that the effect of a more liberal court in the 1970's would have
most noticeable in four cases, particularly one involving busing.
Kantor, Mackinlay,
If the South had Won the Civil War
(Bantam 1961);
revision of
"If the South had Won the Civil War", in
Look 22 Nov 1960
What if:
Grant was killed on 12 May 1863 and Sherman died in the Vicksburg debacle.
Also, occupation of Culp's Hill led to rebel victory at Gettysburg.
Story:
Vicksburg, Gettysburg and the end of the war, followed by a review of US,
CS and Texas history until reunification in the 1960s.
Comments:
Synopsis in Fadness's
"What If the South Had Won the Civil
War?".
Katze, Rick,
"Bobbygate", in
AK
What if:
JFK did not die in 1963 and ran for reelection the next year.
Story:
A reporter stumbles onto links between Robert Kennedy and a break-in at the
Republican national headquarters, and Joe Kennedy has to take charge.
Katze, Rick,
"Worldcon Blues", in
AWC
Kaye, Lenny,
"If Elvis Had Lived", in
The Complete Elvis
(ed. Martin Torgoff)
(Delilah 1982)
What if:
Elvis Presley was rushed to the hospital in time to prevent his death in
1977.
Story:
Elvis shapes up, goes back to his musical roots and receives a medal from
President Reagan.
Kazantzakis, Nikos,
Teleutaois peirasmos
(publ. unknown)
Trans.:
English tr. by P.A. Bien,
The Last Temptation of Christ
(Simon & Schuster 1960)
What if:
Jesus fled his doom.
Story:
Jesus dreams of the possible result.
Comments:
Basis for the 1988 Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ.
Keen, Tony,
"Napoleon's Airship", in
Visions ... 1990 (4:3)
What if:
Napoleon had a dirigible to supply aerial intelligence at Waterloo.
Story:
A British time traveler seeking to reverse his country's subjugation
finds he isn't the only meddler at Waterloo, and he won't be the last.
Kessel, John,
"The Franchise", in
Asimov's Science Fiction Aug 1993
What if:
After meeting Babe Ruth, George Bush decided to become a professional
baseball player, and later that year Fidel Castro did likewise.
Story:
The 1959 World Series becomes a personal battle between the Giants' ace
pitcher Castro and the rookie Senator first baseman.
Comments:
Nominee: 1994 Hugo for best novelette.
Kilian, Crawford,
The Fall of the Republic
(Ballantine 1987, 0345342739)
Story:
Mental Trainables of 1998 use information gained from the future of a
similar timeline to speed up the end of an American Emergency.
----------------,
Rogue Emperor
(Ballantine 1988, 0345350782)
Story:
Intemporal Agent Jerry Pierce investigates the assassination of the Roman
emperor Domitian in another timeline by means of an antitank weapon.
----------------,
The Empire of Time
(Ballantine 1987, 0345325381)
Story:
Pierce tries to find out how disaster struck Earth in the future, visiting
alternate Earths along the way.
King, Tappan,
"The Crimson Rose", in
AO
Story:
Mary Tudor's false pregnancy was true, and Spain's grip on the English
throne held.
What if:
Mary's son falls hostage to pirates while in the New World and there
meets his Aunt Elizabeth.
King, Tappan,
"The Mark of the Angel", in
AW
What if:
Wounded while on a mission from Rome to Paris in 1943, amnesiac Angelo
Roncalli became a member of the Fench underground.
Story:
In 1961, Pope John Paul XXIII is reminded of his days in the Resistance.
King, Tappan,
"Patriot's Dream", in
AP
What if:
Leila Morse accepted Samuel Tilden's proposal, putting backbone into his
effort to be president during the Electoral College debate of 1877.
Story:
In 1896, Sam and Leila Tilden tell a reporter how it all happened, and how
Tilden became the Great Reformer and head of the Liberal Party.
Kingston, Jeremy,
Robert Silverberg's Time Tours #6: Caesar's Time
Legions
(Harper 1991)
Story:
...
Comments:
Follow-up to Silverberg's
Up the Line.
Klein, Edward: see
Chesnoff, Richard Z., Edward Klein,
& Robert Littell
Knight, Damon,
"What Rough Beast", in
f&sf Feb 1959;
Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 9
(ed. Robert P. Mills)
(Doubleday
1958; Ace 1959;
vt Flowers for Algernon and Other Stories,
...);
and
Off Center
(Gollancz 1969; Award/Tandem ...)
Story:
A man from Novo Russie has the mental power to fix things by altering the
events that caused them.
Knox, Ronald,
"If the General Strike had Succeeded", in
IIHHO (1931, 1972, 1974 eds. only)
What if:
The 1926 British general strike succeeded.
Story:
An imaginary 1930 London Times shows the social impact of the strike.
Koja, Kathe, & Barry N. Malzberg,
"In The Last Chamber", in
AT
Koja, Kathe, & Barry N. Malzberg,
"Literary Lives", in
AO
Story:
Two possible relationships between Ernest Hemingway and Dorothy Parker.
Komatsu Sakyo,
"Chi ni wa heiwa o", in
SF Magajin ... 1961; and
Chi ni wa heiwa o
(Hayakawa Shobo 1963)
What if:
The US invaded Japan at the end of WW2.
Story:
...
Koning, Hans,
"Ifs: Destiny and the Archduke's chauffeur", in
Harper's May 1990
Story:
Short descriptions of numerous ifs: e.g., delaying the Nazi invasion of
Poland to 1941, making William III a heterosexual, etc.
Koontz, Dean,
Lightning
(Putnam's 1988, 0399133194; Thorndike 1988, 089621222X);
included in
Three Complete Novels
(Putnam's 1993, 0399138439)
What if:
The US and Great Britain attacked the Soviet Union after defeating the Nazis.
Story:
After falling in love with a 1980s woman, a time traveler from 1944
Berlin reshapes her life, and inadvertently changes history.
Comments:
Explicit AH content is brief, appearing only at the end.
Kornbluth, C.M.,
"Two Dooms", in
Venture Science Fiction Jul 1958;
A Mile Beyond the Moon
(Doubleday 1958);
Great Short Novels of Science Fiction
(ed. Robert Silverberg)
(Ballantine 1970);
The Best of C.M. Kornbluth
(Doubleday 1976, 0345254619; Taplinger 1977, 0800807235);
What If? Volume 1: Stories that Should Have Won the Hugo
(ed. ... Lupoff)
(Pocket 1980);
HV;
The World Treasury of Science Fiction
(ed. David G. Hartwell)
(Little, Brown 1989, 0316349410);
The Fantastic World War II
(ed. Frank McSherry, Jr)
(Baen 1990, 0671698818);
and
The Great SF Stories: 20
(eds. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg)
(DAW 1990, 0886774055)
What if:
The US did not develop the atomic bomb.
Story:
A Los Alamos worker concerned about the power of the bomb is given a
glimpse of the Axis partition of America.
Kress, Nancy,
"And Wild for to Hold", in
IAsfm Jul 1991;
WMHB3; and
Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(St. Martin's 1994, 0312105045)
Story:
22nd-century people trying to prevent past mass bloodshed kidnap four
historical figures, one of whom is an angry Anne Boleyn.
Comments:
Nominee: 1992 Hugo for best novella.
Kress, Nancy,
"Ars Longa", in
BAOF
What if:
Walt Disney was convinced by one his teachers to turn away from the vile
commerce of cartoons to the higher calling of true art.
Story:
An interview with that teacher in preparation for an article about Disney's
first exhibition, at age 49 in a public library.
Kress, Nancy,
"The Battle for Long Island", in
Omni Feb/Mar 1993; and
The Aliens of Earth
(Arkham House 1993, 0870541668)
Story:
In 2001 Long Island, a Hole opens up and occasionally emits wounded
soldiers from different Battles of Long Island.
Krohn, Wolfgang: see
Böhme, Gernot, Wolfgang van den Daele,
& Wolfgang Krohn
Kruas, Stephen,
"Frame of Reference", in
Analog May 1988
What if:
Albert Einstein accepted an invitation to visit CalTech in 1925 and while in
transit was arrested after delivering a lecture in Louisville, KY.
Story:
Clarence Darrow humiliates William Jennings Bryant at a trial to decide
whether Einstein violated a law against contradicting the Bible.
Kube-McDowell, Michael P.,
Alternities
(Ace 1988, 0441017746)
What if:
Different timelines spun off a cosmic bubble in late 1950, with US and
Soviet gov'ts of varying degrees of liberalism/repression.
Story:
A right-wing US seeks a crosstime bolthole for its leaders as nuclear war
grows closer.
Kube-McDowell, Michael P.,
"Because Thou Lovest the Burning-Ground", in
AW
What if:
After failing several university exams, Mohandas Gandhi met a Thuggee
cultist along the road and became his disciple.
Story:
Gandhi's new education and the violent movement he starts years later after
the massacre at Jallianwalla.
Kube-McDowell, Michael P.,
"I Shall Have a Flight to Glory", in
AP
What if:
Barred from the presidency in 1877 by subterfuge, Samuel Tilden turned the
tables on James Garfield in 1880.
Story:
With Charles Guiteau at his side, Garfield vainly attempts to convince
Tilden that they can fix the corrupted electoral system.
Kube-McDowell, Michael P.,
"The Inga-Binga Affair", in
AK
What if:
It was revealed during WW2 that Navy officer John F. Kennedy was having an
affair with a suspected Nazi spy.
Story:
Alerted that the FBI is taping his trysts, JFK plots to get out from under
his father's control.
Kurland, Michael,
Perchance
(Signet 1989, 0451157656)
What if:
Columbus's first voyage had a fourth ship or the Americas were invaded
by Europeans c 1000 BC or Germany won an early WW1.
Story:
An apprentice from Philadelphia meets an amnesiac girl who can blip
between timelines, and a lot of people are hunting for her.
Kurland, Michael,
A Study in Sorcery
(Ace 1989, 0441790925)
----------------,
Ten Little Wizards
(Ace 1988, 0441800572)
Kurland, Michael,
The Unicorn Girl
(Pyramid 1969, 051503391X)
Story:
Crosstime junket, with a stopover in Garrett's
Lord Darcy world.
Kurland, Michael,
The Whenabouts of Burr
(DAW 1975)
Story:
Crosstime adventure involving slightly different versions of the US
Constitution.
Kurland, Michael, & S.W. Barton,
The Last President
(Morrow 1980, 0688036104; Lorevan/Critic's Choice 1985, 0931773091)
What if:
The Watergate break-ins went undetected.
Story:
Nixon & Co.'s further activities (more break-ins, internal confinement
camps, canceled elections, etc) provoke a military coup.
Comments:
Borderline AH, as names have been changed.
Kuttner, Henry: see
Padgett, Lewis
Lackey, Mercedes,
"Jihad", in
AW
What if:
After Deraa, T.E. Lawrence experienced a revelation and preached holy war.
Story:
Led by the now-Muslim Lawrence, the Arabs capture Damascus without British
help.
Lackey, Mercedes, & Larry Dixon,
"Dance Track", in
BAOF
What if:
Isadora Duncan drove an ambulance in WW2 Italy, met Ettoire Bugatti and
after he offered her a job, pushed her way to becoming a race car driver.
Story:
In the late 1950s, Duncan has retired from driving but works as chief
mechanic for a hot young driver out of Hollywood.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Assault on Fat Mountain", in
BT
What if:
The state of Franklin resisted suppression by N Carolina and became
independent Appalachia.
Story:
Backwater USers constantly complain about the wealth of Appalachia.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Entire and Perfect Chrysolite", in
Orbit 6
(ed. Damon Knight)
(Putnam's 1970; Berkley 1970);
Strange Doings: Stories by R.A. Lafferty
(Scribner's 1972, 0684125307);
and
The Golden Road: Great Tales of Fantasy and the Supernatural
(ed. Damon Knight)
(Simon & Schuster 1974, 067121554X)
Story:
A group of people from the Africa of Erastothenes's world-map goes sailing
and lands on the Africa of our world.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Interurban Queen", in
Orbit 8
(ed. Damon Knight)
(Putnam's 1970; Berkley 1971, 0425019705);
Survival Printout
(eds. Leonard Allison, Leonard Jenkin & Robert Perrault)
(Vintage 1973, 0394718577);
Looking Ahead: The Vision of Science Fiction
(eds. Dick Allen & Lori Allen)
(HBJ 1975, 015551184X);
Car Sinister
(eds. Robert Silverberg et al)
(Avon 1979, 0380453932);
Ringing Changes
(Ace 1984);
and
AH
What if:
Trolleys took the place of the automobile in America's growth.
Story:
An older man reminisces about when he had to choose between investing in
trolleys or autos, and then helps hunt down an auto outlaw.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Rainbird", in
Galaxy Dec 1961;
The Seventh Galaxy Reader
(ed. Frederick Pohl)
(Doubleday 1964);
Strange Doings: Stories by R.A. Lafferty
(Scribner's 1972, 0684125307);
Beyond Tomorrow: An Anthology of Modern Science Fiction
(ed. Lee Harding)
(Wren 1976, 0858851695);
Against Tomorrow
(ed. ... Hoskins)
(Fawcett 1979);
and
The Great SF Stories: 23
(eds. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg)
(DAW 1991, 0886774780)
Story:
An 18th-century inventor grows old, then uses a time machine to go back to
give himself advice.
His younger self repeats the process, etc.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies", in
Universe 8
(ed. Terry Carr)
(Doubleday 1978, 0385124751; Popular Library 1978)
What if:
Television was invented 60 years earlier on somewhat different principles.
Story:
A review of an early television series.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"The Three Armageddons of Enniscorthy Sweeny", in
Apocalypses
(Pinnacle 1977, 0523401485)
Story:
In a world in which the World Wars were never fought, a man produces comic
operas based on events in our world, thereby corrupting his own.
Lafferty, R.A.,
"Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", in
Galaxy Feb 1967;
World's Best Science Fiction: 1968
(eds. Donald A. Wollheim & Terry Carr)
(Ace 1968);
Alpha 1
(ed. Robert Silverberg)
(Ballantine 1970);
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
(Ace 1970, 0441580505, 0441580513);
Transformation
(ed. ... Roselle)
(Fawcett 1973);
and
As Tomorrow Becomes Today
(ed. Charles W. Sullivan)
(Prentice-Hall 1974, 0130500399, 0130500216)
Trans.:
German tr. by Karl H. Kosmehl,
"Karl der Grosse, frustriert", in
SVW
Trans.:
German tr. by Gisela Stege,
"So frustrieren wir Karl den Grossen", in
Die fussangeln der zeit
(eds. Karl Michael Armer & Wolfgang Jeschke)
(Heyne 1984)
Story:
Future scientists experiment with the battle at Roncesvalles, altering their
past without realizing it.
Laidlaw, Marc,
"His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes", in
Omni Sep 1989;
WMHB2; and
Omni Visions One
(ed. Ellen Datlow)
(Omni 1993)
What if:
After Benedict Arnold's betrayal of West Point, George Washington was
captured, tortured and executed.
Story:
200 years later, an art curator stumbles upon AmerInds who regret their part
in Washington's torture and have elevated him to a Christ figure.
Lansdale, Joe R.,
"Letter from the South Two Moons West of
Nacogdoches", in
Last Wave #5; and
By Bizarre Hands
(Avon 1989, 0380712059)
Trans.:
German tr. by Nobert Stresau, "Brief aus dem Sueden, zwei Monde, westlich von
Nacogdoches", in
HSL
What if:
Jesus was run over by a donkey cart and John the Baptist became the Messiah.
Story:
A letter from one AmerInd to another reveals the divisions in a N America
controlled by Japanese, Aztecs and various tribes.
Lansdale, Joe R.,
"Trains Not Taken", in
RE:AL ...; and
By Bizarre Hands
(Avon 1989, 0380712059)
What if:
Japan colonized the western part of N America and Europe the east, leaving
no major frontier.
Story:
James Hickock meets Bill Cody on a train in the Dakotas, and both lament
their uninteresting lives as businessmen.
Laski, Harold J.,
"If Roosevelt had Lived", in
The Nation 13 Apr 1946
What if:
Roosevelt did not die in 1945.
Story:
Ponderings on changes in America's place in the world, including control of
the bomb and the start of the Cold War.
Laski, Marghanita,
Tory Heaven; or, Thunder on the Right
(Cresset 1948)
What if:
Conservatives won the 1945 British elections.
Story:
A class-ridden utopia.
Laumann, E.M., & René Jeanne,
Si, le 9 thermidor...: hypothèse historique
(Tallandier 1929)
What if:
Robespierre escaped the guillotine.
Story:
...
Laumer, Keith,
Worlds of the Imperium
(Ace Double #... (Ace 1962);
Berkley 1977; exp Tor
1983, 0523485425; Tor 1986, 0812543790, 0812543807);
orig. serial in
Fantastic Stories Feb-Apr 1961
Story:
A man from our world becomes an agent for a world run by an Anglo-German
imperium, and visits another where civilization fell after Germany won WW1.
-------------,
Beyond the Imperium
(Pinnacle/Tor 1981, 0523485131; Tor 1986, 0812543815, 0812543823)
(-----------),
The Other Side of Time
(Berkley 1965; Walker 1971; Signet 1972);
orig. serial in
Fantastic Stories Apr-Jun 1965
Story:
Our hero is trapped in a timeline where Napoleon won a glorious victory at
Brussels in 1814.
(-----------),
Assignment in Nowhere
(Berkley 1968; Dobson 1972, 0234776323)
Story:
The last Plantagenet visits a timeline where Richard Couer de Lion
avoided battle at Chaluz but succumbed to French conquest in his old age.
-------------,
Zone Yellow
(Baen 1990, 0671720287)
Story:
Concluding with conflict versus a crosstime invasion of rat-like creatures.
Lawrence, Edmund,
It May Happen Yet: A Tale of Bonaparte's Invasion of
England
(The Author 1899)
What if:
The French invaded England in 1805.
Story:
Once ashore, Napoleon has trouble deciding what to do next.
Le Brun, Claire,
"Les chansons de geste: la tentation de l'uchronie au moyen
âge", in
imagine... #14 (Autumn 1982)
Leacock, Stephen,
"The Hohenzollerns in America", in
The Hohenzollerns in America, with the Bolsheviks in Berlin, and Other
Impossibilities
(John Lane/Bodley Head/S.B. Gundy 1919)
What if:
Kaiser Wilhelm and family members were exiled to America after WW1.
Story:
Their voyage across the Atlantic, in 3rd-class steerage, and the Kaiser's
final days as a street pedlar.
Leacock, Stephen,
"If Germany Had Won", in
The Hohenzollerns in America, with the Bolsheviks in Berlin, and Other
Impossibilities
(John Lane/Bodley Head/S.B. Gundy 1919)
What if:
Germany won WW1.
Story:
Farcical entries from the New York Imperial Gazette during 1925.
Lee, Rand B.,
"Knight of Shallows", in
Amazing Stories Jul 1983;
The Year's Best Science Fiction, First Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(Bluejay 1984, 0312944837, 0312944829);
and
The 1984 Annual World's Best SF
(eds. Donald A. Wollheim & Arthur W. Saha)
(DAW 1984)
What if:
Margaret Thatcher was assassinated and the Falklands crisis went nuclear.
Story:
Barely AH tale in which a man hunts a murderous version of himself through
different Key Wests.
Leiber, Fritz,
The Big Time
(Ace 1961; Gregg 1976, 0839823347; Collier/Macmillan 1991, 0020698410);
orig. serial in
Galaxy Mar & Apr 1958
Story:
At a Snake enclave somewhere outside space and time, a soldier preaches
ChangePeace as the enclave maintainer disappears.
Comments:
Winner: 1958 Hugo for best novel
-------------,
"No Great Magic", in
Galaxy Dec 1963;
The Secret Songs
(Rupert Hart-Davis 1968);
The Change War
(Gregg 1978, 0839824939);
The Great Science Fiction Series: Stories from the Best of the Series from
1944 to 1980 by Twenty All-Time Favorite Writers
(eds. Frederick Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander)
(Harper & Row 1980, 0060133821);
and
Changewar
(Ace 1983, 044110259X)
Story:
The Snake vs. Spider battlefield moves to an anachronistic performance of
MacBeth before Elizabeth I.
-------------,
"Catch that Zeppelin!", in
f&sf Mar 1975;
The Worlds of Fritz Leiber
(Ace 1976; Gregg 1979, 0839824777);
The 1976 Annual World's Best SF
(eds. Donald A. Wollheim & Arthur W. Saha)
(DAW 1976);
Ship of Shadows
(Gollancz 1979);
Nebula Winners Eleven
(ed. Ursula K. Le Guin)
(Harper & Row 1977; Bantam 1978, 0553117424);
The Hugo Winners, Volume Four (ed. Isaac Asimov)
(Doubleday 1985, 0385189346);
and
The Best of the Nebulas
(ed. Ben Bova)
(Tor 1989, 0312931751)
Story:
The son of Marie Sklodowska and Thomas Edison invented an
electricity cell which lead to pollution-free automobiles, and
a change in the outcome of WW1 created a more humane and scientifically
advanced Germany, averting WW2.
Story:
While walking in NYC, a man suddenly shifts to a more peaceful timeline
where electric cars fill the streets and zeppelins the air.
Waiting to board a zeppelin at the Empire State Building, he dines
with his historian son.
Suddenly he is afraid of how terrible it would be
if he was somehow thrown into that bad other reality (our own) and finds
himself desperately trying to hold on to this beautiful world.
Comments:
Non-AH entries in series include The Change War and "Try and Change the
Past" (Astounding Mar 1958, and The Best of Fritz Leiber).
Comments:
Winner: 1976 Hugo for best novella
Leiber, Fritz,
"Business of Killing", in
Science Fiction Adventures in Dimensions
(ed. Groff Conklin)
(Vanguard 1953)
Story:
A traveler finds a parallel world in which wars are treated as business
ventures.
Leiber, Fritz,
"Destiny Times Three", in
Astounding Mar 1945;
Five Science Fiction Novels
(ed. Martin Greenberg)
(Gnome 1952);
and
Binary Star #1
(ed. ...)
(Dell 1978, 0440105641)
Story:
In the future, someone gets a "probability machine" that lets him make real
all the possible outcomes from various choices.
Leigh, Stephen,
Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur World
(Avon 1992, 0380762773)
--------------,
Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur Planet
(Avon 1993, 0380762781)
--------------,
Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur Warriors
(Avon 1994, 0380762803)
Story:
Three teen-agers are enmeshed in chaotic time-storms, etc., unleashed by a
time-travelling hunter and guide.
Comments:
Somewhat more AH sequels to Bradbury's
"A Sound of Thunder".
Third volume in series is Leigh & Miller's Dinosaur Samurai; fifth
is Leigh & Miller's Dinosaur Empire.
Leigh, Stephen, & John J. Miller,
Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur Samurai
(Avon 1993, 038076279X)
--------------------------------,
Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur Empire
(Avon 1994)
Comments:
In same series as Leigh's Dinosaur World.
Leinster, Murray,
"The Other World", in
6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction
(ed. Groff Conklin)
(Dell 1954);
and
BAW
Story:
Ancient Egyptian priests discovered a parallel uninhabited world and sustain
themselves by looting ours, for merchandise and slaves.
Leinster, Murray,
"Sideways in Time", in
Astounding Jun 1934;
Sideways in Time
(Shasta 1950)
WoM;
Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s
(ed. Isaac Asimov)
(Doubleday 1974, 0385024193);
The Best of Murray Leinster
(ed. J.J. Pierce)
(Ballantine 1978; Garland 1983, 0824042107);
and
The Time Travelers: A Science Fiction Quartet
(eds. Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg)
(Donald I. Fine 1985, 0917657349)
Story:
On 5 Jun 1935, portions of Earth swapped places with their analogs in other
timelines and a professor tries to take advantage of it.
Leinster, Murray,
Time Tunnel
(Pyramid 1964)
What if:
Napoleon established a permanent dynasty.
Story:
Men from our world use a time tunnel to investigate odd historical memories
and a mysterious scientist in 1804.
Comments:
Not to be confused with Leinster's The Time Tunnel or Timeslip! A Time
Tunnel Adventure.
Lesage, Alain-René
Les Aventures de Monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit de
Beauchêne, capitaine de filibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France
(Ganeau 1732; Dufour & Roux 1780)
What if:
AmerInds discovered Europe before vice versa.
Comments:
Explicitly AH content seems limited to part 4.
Lewis, Anthony R.,
"...But the Sword!", in
AW
What if:
Francis Bernardone of Assisi became a Crusader rather than a priest, but
quit in disgust after witnessing the sack of Constaninople.
Story:
Francis is drafted by the pope to lead a new militant order and leads the
crusade that recaptures Jerusalem in 1221, causing his later canonization.
Lewis, Anthony R.,
"In the Beginning...", in
AWC
Lewis, Anthony R.,
"Keep Watching the Skies", in
AWC
Lewis, Lloyd,
"If Lincoln Had Lived", in
Abraham Lincoln: His Life, Work and Character
(ed. E. von Wagenknecht)
(Creative Age 1947)
Lewis, Oscar,
The Lost Years: A Biographical Fantasy
(Knopf 1951);
included in
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction Vol. 2
(ed. Anthony Boucher)
(Doubleday 1959)
What if:
Lincoln survived Booth's assassination attempt and suffered an unpopular
second term trying to implement a humane Reconstruction.
Story:
Diary and newspaper excerpts about the last month of Lincoln's presidency
and his vacation in California during the summer of 1869.
Ley, Olga,
"Checkmate in Six Moves", in
BT
What if:
Kerensky had Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin arrested in Jul 1917 and shipped back
to Switzerland.
Story:
How it was done, with an afterword promoting tourism in the 1975 Russian
republic.
Linaweaver, Brad,
"The Bison Riders", in
Tales from the Great Turtle
(ed. Piers Anthony & Richard Gilliam)
(Tor 1994, 0312856288)
What if:
The Aztecs did not fall to the Spanish.
Story:
An AmerInd from our timeline visits during his dreamquest a N America where
the Aztecs war against the N American tribes.
Linaweaver, Brad,
Moon of Ice
(Arbor House 1988, 0877959455; Tor 1993, 0812520203);
revision of
"Moon of Ice", in
Amazing Stories Mar 1982; and
HV
What if:
FDR was impeached in 1942, and Nazi Germany used nuclear weapons in 44 to
win the war in Europe.
Story:
The diaries of Joseph Goebbels and his daughter describe the victory, and an
SS plot 20 years later to kill all non-Aryans via biological warfare.
----------------,
"Under an Appalling Sky", in
Grails: Quests, Visitations, and Other Occurrences
(eds. Richard Gilliam, Martin H. Greenberg & Edward E. Kramer)
(Unnameable 1992; Penguin 1994);
and
Grails: Visitations of the Night
(eds. Richard Gilliam, Martin H. Greenberg & Edward E. Kramer)
(ROC 1994, 0451453042)
Story:
A int'l expedition, dominated by Nazis trying to discredit Judaism, hunts
for the Holy Grail and finds...yeti.
Comments:
Also in series is Linaweaver & Ritch's
"The Littlest Stormbringer".
Linaweaver, Brad,
"The Other Scabbard", in
Excalibur
(ed. Richard Gilliam, Martin H. Greenberg, & Edward E. Kramer)
(Warner 1995, 0446670847, not yet published)
Linaweaver, Brad,
"Unmerited Favor", in
AW
What if:
Jesus preached a more militant line.
Story:
He hands out weapons and takes his new followers out into the desert to
confront Satan. Several are angered they're not attacking the Romans.
Comments:
Conceivably, this might be secret history.
Linaweaver, Brad, & William Alan Ritch,
"The Littlest Stormbringer", in
Michael Moorcock's Elric: Tales of the White Wolf
(eds. Edward E. Kramer & Richard Gilliam)
(White Wolf 1994, 1565041755)
What if:
In same timeline as
Moon of Ice.
Story:
Boys attending a Hitler Youth camp in SS-run Burgundy perform a ritual which
summons Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion, Elric of Melniboné.
Littell, Robert: see
Chesnoff, Richard Z., Edward Klein,
& Robert Littell
Livy (Titus Livius)
Ab urbe condita
Trans.:
English tr. by B.O. Foster, Ab urbe condita
(Harvard Univ/Heinemann 1926, 1948, 1957, 1963, 1975, 1982,
0674992105, 0439991910)
What if:
Alexander the Great lived longer and turned west to attack the Romans.
Story:
A digression in book IX, 17-19, of this history of Rome patriotically
suggests that the Romans would have beaten him.
Comments:
Almost certainly the oldest AH, written during the reign of Augustus (31
BC-14 AD).
Locke, Robert Donald,
"Demotion", in
Astounding Sep 1952; and
Prize Science Fiction
(ed. Donald A. Wollheim)
(McBride 1953;
vt Prize Stories of Space and Time,
...)
What if:
Hitler was killed during an Allied bombing raid.
Story:
Change the past tale.
Lodi-Ribeiro, Gerson,
"A Ética da Traição", in
Isaac Asimov Magazine de Ficção Científica #25; and
O Atlântico tem duas Margens
(ed. José Manuel Morais)
(Caminho 1993)
Trans.:
French tr. by Jean-Pierre Moumon, "L'Ethique d'une Trahison", in
Antarès #41/42
What if:
Intervention by the USA et al. led to Paraguayan victory at Riachelo in 1865
and in the Triple Alliance War, followed by the fall of Brazil.
Story:
A modern Brazilian temporal physicist destroys his life's work and flees to
Paraguay to prevent his timeline from being altered into ours.
Long, Karawynn,
"And Make Death Proud to Take Us", in
AT
Long, Norton E.,
"What If Napoleon Had Not Sold Louisiana? (1803)", in
WIESSF
What if:
Napoleon did not sell Louisiana to the US, and it was captured by the
British during the Napoleanic wars.
Comments:
Speculation that Lousiana would have remained British/Canadian territory,
and Texas and California Mexican, thus aborting US superpowerdom.
Longmate, Norman,
If Britain Had Fallen
(BBC/Hutchinson 1972,
0563122269; Stein & Day 1974, 0812816692; Arrow 1975, 0099099004)
What if:
Nazi Germany invaded England.
Story:
After a narrative scenario of Operation Seelöwe, some speculative essays
discuss the direction that the occupation would have taken.
Comments:
Originally presented as a BBC TV program.
Comments:
Synopsis in Morton's
"Introduction to Sealion".
Longyear, Barry B.,
"Collector's Item", in
Analog 27 Apr 1981; and
It Came from Schenectady
(publ. unknown)
Story:
A man finds a silver 1978 quarter and essays by his father's students about
visits by a mysterious friend urging them to higher goals.
Longyear, Barry B.,
"The Dreyfuss Affair", in
Amazing Stories Nov 1993
What if:
Booth did not shoot Lincoln.
Story:
An agent from the 22nd century is sent back to 1865 to fix a renegade time
traveller's murder of John Wiles Booth.
Three possibilities are shown.
Louvish, Simon,
The Resurrections
(Four Walls Eight Windows 1994, 1568580142);
revision of
Resurrections from the Dustbin of History: A Political Fantasy
(Bloomsbury 1992, 0747511918)
What if:
Rosa Luxemburg lived to lead the Communist takeover of
Germany in 1923, forcing the National Socialists to flee to America,
and in 1924, the struggle for power in the Soviet Union
was won by Trotsky rather than Stalin.
Story:
In the late 1960s, while the deaths of Mussolini and Trotsky bring turmoil
to the rest of the world, Joseph Goebbels strives to put Adolf Hitler's
other son in the White House.
Ludwig, Emil,
"If the Emperor Frederick had not had Cancer", in
IIHHO (all eds.)
What if:
Frederick did not die of throat cancer in 1888 and his reign as Kaiser lasted
longer than 91 days.
Story:
Overview of Bismarck's construct of a network of peace treaties while
Frederick worked on liberalizing the domestic scene.
Lukacs, John,
"If Hitler had Won the Second World War", in
The People's Almanac #2
(eds. David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace)
(Morrow 1978, 0688033725; Bantam 1978, 0553011375)
What if:
Nazi Germany used paratroops to invade England on 3 Jun 40, right in the
midst of the Dunkirk chaos.
Story:
The later history of Europe and how Hitler's successors tempered his worst
excesses.
Comments:
Accompanies Fadness's
"What if...?" synopses
of other AHs.
Lupoff, Richard A.,
"At Vega's Taqueria", in
Amazing Stories Sept 1990
Story:
A mural showing an Aztec wearing a football helmet leads a man to doubt his
sanity until he discovers he is shifting from one timeline to another.
Lupoff, Richard A.,
Circumpolar!
(Simon & Schuster 1984, 0671499416; Berkley 1985, 0425081931)
What if:
The Earth were disk-shaped, with the North Hole at the center.
Story:
Two groups, American and German, travel to the other side.
------------------,
Countersolar!
(Arbor House 1987, 0877958580; Ace 1989, 0441117910)
Story:
Albert Einstein races the Perons to counter-Earth.
Lupoff, Richard A.,
Into the Aether
(Dell 1970, 0440038308)
What if:
Muscovites drove the Muslims out of Spain, c. 1000.
Story:
Adventures on a space-faring galleon.
Lupoff, Richard A.,
"Jubilee", in
AT
MacCreigh, James: see
Pohl, Frederick
MacDonald, John D., & Debra Doyle
Robert Silverberg's Time Tours #3: Timecrime, Inc.
(Harper 1991)
Story:
...
Comments:
Follow-up to Silverberg's
Up the Line.
MacFarlane, W.,
"Ravenshaw of WBY, Inc.", in
Analog Mar 1970; and
Analog's Lighter Side
(ed. Stanley Schmidt)
(Davis/Dial 1982, 038527775X; Davis/Dial 1983)
--------------,
"Meet a Crazy Lady Week", in
Analog Aug 1970
--------------,
"Heart's Desire and Other Simple Wants", in
Analog Apr 1971
--------------,
"One-Generation New World", in
If Mar 1971
--------------,
"Country of the Mind", in
Analog May 1975
Story:
A crosstime traveler hops back and forth from world to world (for no really
coherent reason).
Mackay, Scott,
"The Sages of Cassiopeia", in
f&sf Dec 1994
What if:
Tycho Brahe's twin brother was born alive, but an idiot.
Story:
....
Macksey, Kenneth,
Invasion: The German Invasion of England, July 1940
(Macmillan 1980, 025780301; Arms & Armour 1980, 0853683247; Greenhill 1990)
What if:
Hitler decided, just before Dunkirk, to invade Britain.
Story:
A campaign history of July 1940, when Germany destroyed the RAF, invaded
England and forced HM gov't to flee across the Atlantic.
Comments:
Synopsis in Morton's
"Introduction to Sealion".
MacLeod, Ian R.,
"Snodgrass", in
In Dreams
(Morrow 1992);
and
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Tenth Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(St. Martin's 1993, 0312094248, 031209423X;
vt Best New SF 7,
Robinson 1993, 1854872346)
What if:
Upset by a studio exec during a 1962 recording session, John Lennon walked
out on the Beatles and nobody asked him to come back.
Story:
30 years later, chronically unemployed Lennon is living in Birmingham when
the Beatles pass through during their "Greatest Hits" tour.
Mahr, Kurt,
Menschen zwischen der Zeit
(Terra 1961)
Story:
Hunt for a man who is trying to destroy the world financial system with
dollars from a timeline suffering high inflation.
Mahr, Kurt,
2 * Professor Manstein
(Terra 1961)
Story:
A scientist from our world is transported to another to fight an alien
invasion.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"All Assassins", in
WMHB1
What if:
Nixon was elected president in 1960 and Johnson in 1964 and 1968.
Story:
In 1972, "the senator" runs again.
Upset by his change of heart on the Vietnam war, "Lee" decides to shoot him and
his running-mate in Dallas.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Allegro Marcato", in
BAOF
What if:
Arturo Toscanini was uninterested in music as a child, and after immigrating
to America, worked the San Francisco docks and learned baseball.
Story:
"Art Tosca" manages the NY Yankees during four straight World Series
championships, despite violent arguments with a slumping Babe Ruth in 1927.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Andante Lugubre", in
Science Fiction Age May 1993
What if:
Tchaikovsky lived much, much longer than 53 years and eventually emigrated
to Hollywood.
Story:
At age 99, Tchaikovsky attends a meeting of Jewish composers protesting
Hitler's policies.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Another Goddamned Showboat", in
WMHB2
What if:
Ernest Hemingway became a hack science fiction writer.
Story:
In 1941, Hemingway is still struggling to get published when the latest
issue of Amazing arrives, featuring a story by a kid named Asimov.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
Chorale
(Doubleday 1978, 0385131380)
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Fugato", in
AW
What if:
Leonard Bernstein was drafted by the US Army and classified 1A.
Story:
Trapped in an Ardennes farmhouse two years later, infantryman Bernstein
contemplates the path that led him there.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Heavy Metal", in
AP
What if:
JFK argued with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley during the presidential election
campaign of 1960.
Story:
A look at the losing campaign, as Bob Kennedy tries to cure his brother's
self-destructive activities.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Hitler at Nuremburg", in
BAOF
What if:
Hitler did not commit suicide as the Russians swept into Berlin.
Story:
Maunderings as Hitler insists the Final Solution was Eichmann's idea, but
other war crime defendants all claim they were just following his orders.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"In the Stone House", in
AK
What if:
Joe Kennedy, Jr., survived WW2 and was elected US president in 1952.
Story:
Joe Kennedy's presidency collapses after the firing of SecState McCarthy and
in 1963, Joe decided to end his brother's for betraying the family.
Comments:
Nominee: 1993 Hugo for best novelette.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"January 1975", in
Analog Jan 1975;
Down Here in the Dream Quarter
(Doubleday 1976, 0385122683);
and
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Storie
(eds. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander)
(Doubleday 1978, 0385130449; Avon 1978, 0380507730)
What if:
Nixon was elected president in 1960.
Story:
A writer in that timeline tries to convince his editor to accept a series of
stories based on the premise that Kennedy was elected.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Kingfish", in
AP
What if:
Huey Long survived the assassination attempt in 1935 and became president in
1936 by stealing away FDR's vice-president.
Story:
John Nance Gardner tells how he struck a deal with the Kingfish, and then
how they dealt with Hitler.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
The Remaking of Sigmund Freud
(Ballantine 1985);
revision of
"Emily Dickinson--Saved from Drowning", in
Chrysalis 8
(ed. Roy Torgeson)
(Doubleday 1980, 0385170408)
What if:
...
Story:
Freud is murdered by a disappointed patient, only to be reincarnated aboard
a spaceship whose crew need analysis.
Comments:
Nominee: 1985 Nebula for best novel.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Ship Full of Jews", in
Omni Apr 92; and
WMHB4
What if:
Columbus carried several hundred deported Jews along during his first voyage.
Story:
Columbus argues with a rabbi about conditions below decks.
Meanwhile, over on the Santa Maria, Torquemada plots.
Malzberg, Barry N.,
"Turpentine", in
WMHB3
What if:
Radicals who took over the UChicago campus in 1968 went looking for the
campus reactors.
Story:
The radicals make extreme demands, forgetting that LBJ is a vengeful
lame-duck.
Malzberg, Barry N.: see also
Koja, Kathe, & Barry N. Malzberg
Manglese, Jack,
"Bobby Frost", in
Alternate Worlds #2 (not yet published)
What if:
Robert Frost played professional baseball before becoming a poet.
Story:
Excerpt from a biographical dictionary of American poets.
Includes one poem Frost might have written, "The Pitch Not Thrown".
Mann, Phillip,
A Land Fit for Heroes: Book I: Escape to the Wild Wood
(Gollancz 1993, 0575055154; Gollancz 1994, 0575057165)
What if:
Rome never fell.
Story:
A student, a mechanic and a servant at Britannia's Battle Dome flee into the
"uncivilized" forests.
Mann, Phillip,
A Land Fit for Heroes: Book II: Stand Alone Stan
(Gollancz 1994)
Marr, Andrew,
"Without Her", in
Alternate Worlds #1 (Jan 1994)
What if:
Labour defeated the Conservatives in the 1978 British elections and Margaret
Thatcher did not become Prime Minister.
Comments:
An abridged transcript of Martin Davidson's BBC-TV program examining a
history of the UK in the 1980s with Thatcher as a backbench MP.
Marriott, J.A.R.,
"If Queen Victoria--? An Historical Phantasy", in
Fortnightly Apr 1941
What if:
William IV's heir was male.
Story:
Effect of British retention of Hanover on German reunification and the world
wars.
Martin, George R.R.,
"Under Siege", in
Omni Oct 1985; and
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Third Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(Bluejay 1984, 031294487X, 0312944861)
Trans.:
German tr. by Barbara Heidkamp, "Belagert", in
HSL
What if:
Fremont was elected US president in 1856.
Story:
A mental time traveler trying to prevent the Russian capture of Sveabourg
in 1808 fails, but later emigrates to America and becomes a Republican.
Martin, George R.R. (ed.),
Wild Cards I
(Bantam 1987, 0553261908)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards II: Aces High
(Bantam 1987, 0553264648)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild
(Bantam 1987, 0553266993)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad
(Bantam 1988, 055327628X)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards V: Down and Dirty
(Bantam 1988, 0553274635)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole
(Bantam ..., 0553282530)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks
(Bantam 1990, 0553288520)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards IX: Jokertown Shuffle
(Bantam 1991, 0553291742)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards XI: Dealer's Choice
(Bantam 1992)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards: Card Sharks
(Baen 1993, 0671721593)
-------------------------,
Wild Cards: Marked Cards
(Baen 1994, 0671722123)
What if:
In 1946, a genetically-tailored virus from outer space was released in
Earth's stratosphere, killing many but giving super powers to others.
Story:
A series of "mosaic novels" explores the effect of the virus during the
ensuing decades.
Curiously, history isn't altered all that much.
Comments:
Though called mosaic novels, many of these volumes might be considered
anthologies.
However, individual entries for each story are not included in this list.
Comments:
Also in series are Martin & Miller's
Wild Cards VII: Dead Man's Hand,
Snodgrass's
Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire, and
Milan's
Wild Cards XII: Turn of the Cards.
Martin, George R.R., & John J. Miller,
Wild Cards VII: Dead Man's Hand
(Bantam ..., 055328569X)
Martine-Barnes, Adrienne,
The Crystal Sword
(Avon 1988, 038075455X)
------------------------,
The Fire Sword
(Avon 1985, 0380754541)
------------------------,
The Rainbow Sword
(publ. unknown)
------------------------,
The Sea Sword
(publ. unknown)
What if:
An alteration in the progeny of Henry II resulted in a different English
royal succession.
Also, magic works.
Story:
A woman from our world visits a different olde England.
Mason, David,
The Shores of Tomorrow
(Lancer 1971, 0447752170)
Story:
Exiles from different N Americas of 1965 meet.
Masters, Roger D.,
"What If Napoleon Had Not Invaded Russia? (1808)", in
WIESSF
What if:
Appendicitis and pneumonia prevented Napoleon from invading Spain in 1808,
and reading Rousseau altered his tactics.
Comments:
A more devious Napoleon leads France to world power by isolating Britain,
having built up the French fleet and made alliance with Russia and America.
Maurois, Andre,
"If Louis XVI had an Atom of Firmness", in
IIHHO (all eds.)
Trans.:
German tr. by Walter Brumm, "Wenn Ludwig XVI. eine Spur von Festigkeit
gezeigt hatte", in
Das Science Fiction jahr
(ed. ...)
(Heyne 1986)
What if:
Louis XVI were more stubborn, retaining Turgot as finance minister.
Story:
An historian from our world goes to Heaven and reads an encyclopedia entry
on the reign of Louis XVI (1774-1820).
Max, Nicholas,
President McGovern's First Term
(Doubleday 1973, 0385042124)
What if:
By asking the voters if they could trust Nixon for 4 more years, George
McGovern was elected president in 1972.
Story:
An administration insider describes how McGovern's strong moral compass
is diverted by playing politics to get his policies enacted.
Mayer, Christian: see
Amery, Carl
Mazarin, Jean,
L'histoire detournée
(Fleuve Noir 1984)
What if:
Germany won WW2 using atomic weapons.
Story:
WW3 in 1989 against Japan.
McAllister, Bruce,
"Southpaw", in
Asimov's Science Fiction Aug 1993
What if:
Fidel Castro accepted the contract offer from the New York Giants and
became a profesional baseball player.
Story:
While a struggling rookie pitcher in 1951, Castro's eyes are opened to
the troubles at home and he arranges a meeting with countryman Desi Arnaz.
McAuley, Paul J.,
Pasquale's Angel
(Gollancz 1994, 0575054891; Morrow 1995)
What if:
Leonardo da Vinci, the Great Engineer, kicked off the Industrial
Revolution three centuries early.
Story:
A 1518 Florence in which an engineer and reporter Niccolo Machiavegli
investigate a locked tower murder.
McDevitt, Jack,
"The Tomb", in
WMHB3
What if:
Constantine was defeated by Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, leading to the
complete break-up of Rome and a never-ending dark age.
Story:
C. 1700, a young man meets an old man excavating a tomb in a ruined city.
McDonald, Ian,
"The Best & the Rest of James Joyce", in
Interzone #58 (Apr 1992);
and
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Tenth Annual Collection
(ed. Gardner Dozois)
(St. Martin's 1993, 0312094248, 031209423X;
vt Best New SF 7,
Robinson 1993, 1854872346)
What if:
James Joyce took up an occupation other than writing.
Story:
In another timeline, Joyce consults with Carl Jung about troublesome dreams
in which he becomes a musician or a physicist.
McGarry, Terry,
"The Best Little Worldcon in...", in
AWC
McHugh, Maureen F.,
"The Ballad of Ritchie Valenzuela", in
AO
What if:
Richie Valens got in trouble during a visit to Tijuana.
Story:
A Hollywood film crew shoots a movie about the famous bank robber.
McHugh, Maureen B.,
"The Lincoln Train", in
AT
McHugh, Maureen F.,
"Tut's Wife", in
AW
What if:
Tutankhamen's widow sought a husband to protect her and to help spread the
faith of Aten in Egypt.
Story:
Ankhesenpaaten tries to manipulate a powerful general.
McMullen, Sean,
"A Greater Vision", in
Analog Oct 1992
What if:
Aborigines in Australia progressed much much faster, developing steam
engines by 22000 BC, atomic power by 10000 BC and rockets by 800 BC.
Story:
Worried by Europe's increasingly speedy and warlike technological progress,
aborigines decide to stop Columbus's expedition.
Go to next section.
Robert B. Schmunk
(altworld@panix.com)