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Title: Worlds That Weren't by S. M. Stirling, Mary Gentle, Walter Jon Williams, Harry Turtledove, Laura-Anne Gilman ISBN: 0-451-52898-0 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 02 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: German Freddy vs. Wyatt Earp !
Comment: Allright, I've read Nietsche and I've visited the OK Corral. I've got a copy of The Tombstone Epitaph dated October 27, 1881 with the headline "Yesterday's Tragedy--Three Men Hurled Into Eternity In The Duration Of a Moment." so you might be inclined to think that I'd probably give the last novella: " The Last Ride of German Freddy " by Nebula award winner and Kenpo Karate fanatic Walter John Williams the best marks , right?
You're right.
But not for the reasons you might imagine. It really stands out worlds apart (pun intended) from the other three 'alternative history' fantasy stories. Yes, I'm familiar with Greek history, and the catastrophic invasion of Syracuse. When Mark Twain was asked what was the turning point in his life he quipped "When Caesar crossed the Rubicon. "
He was right, of course, it changed Western Civilisation! Had he wanted to risk being a bit more obscure he could have gone further back in time and replied " When Alcibiades was arrested on the way to Syracuse. " If he hadn't, the expedition probably would have succeeded and it would have been The Athenian, not The Roman Empire that conquered the known world. However Harry Turtledove's handling of the story is lame, not because he has--as one reviwer noted--Socrates as an unlikely character aiding Alcibiades (Socrates did in fact fight as an Athenian hoplite, though not at Syracuse) but because the story never gets off the ground. It just doesn't deliver the goods.
Worse still are S.M Stirling and Mary Gentle's offerings. Were they in a hurry?
Ok, so it's er...light summer reading.
By contrast 'German Freddy' with Nietsche as a gambler and gunslinger in The Wild West who berates Curly and John Ringo for bribing elections--not because it's dishonest, but because these outlwas are now becoming 'citizens and taxpayers' instead of the warlike 'Roman Supermen' he admires ("What was Romulus? A bandit!) Falling in love with Tombstone's 'Helen of Troy' (Sadie) and debating philosophy with Doc Holliday between Poker hands is a pure delight. Well crafted and suspensefull.
Rating: 5
Summary: A well-developed alternate to traditional history settings
Comment: Science fiction fans of alternate history settings will want to place Harry Turtledove, et.al.'s Worlds That Weren't anthology high on their reading lists: it provides four novellas by Turtledove, Stirling, Gentle and Williams, each featuring a well-developed alternate world from 1452 Constantinople to a mysterious Old World figure stalking Tombstone. Each makes for a diverse, well-developed alternate to traditional history settings.
Rating: 4
Summary: Four Interesting Alternative Histories
Comment: "Worlds That Weren't" is a fascinating glimpse at four alternative histories written by writers who are masters of this subgenre of science fiction. Mercifully short is Harry Turtledove's contribution, which recasts the Athenian general Alkibiades as an early precursor to Alexander the Great, aided and abetted by a most unlikely warrior, Sokrates (It may be the least attractive of the four to those unfamiliar with Classical Greek history.). S. M. Stirling's look at an alternative Texas under the sway of a rejuvenated British Empire is set in the same time as his alternative history novel "Peshawar Lancers" and is a fascinating, gripping light piece of entertainment. A more sobering alternative history is presented by Mary Gentle's contribution, set in the same time as her novel "Ash", regarding the aftermath of the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by a non-Moslem Ottoman Turkish empire. Yet the best tale in this brief collection is saved for last, in Walter Jon Williams' delightful look at the famous gunfight at the O. K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, with one Friedrich Nietzsche as a gun-toting gambler.
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Title: Gunpowder Empire (Crosstime Traffic, Book 1) by Harry Turtledove ISBN: 076530693X Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 05 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Ring of Fire by Eric Flint ISBN: 074347175X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: 1901 by ROBERT CONROY ISBN: 0891418431 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: American Empire: The Victorious Opposition by HARRY TURTLEDOVE ISBN: 034544423X Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: 1634 : The Galileo Affair by Andrew Dennis, Eric Flint ISBN: 0743488156 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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