Good alternate History novels?

Question

Good alternate History novels?

Answer 1

Superman: Red Son is good if you're willing to go graphic novel and alternate history of an already fictionalized universe.  I'm not even a fan of Superman (Batman can whoop his a** any day of the week, and he frequently does in the comics) but I like the story.

Instead of landing in the Midwestern US and moving to Metropolis, he lands in the Ukraine, giving the Soviets a huge advantage in the arms race, which is no longer a nuclear race but a race to create super soldiers.  It's a really cool alternate continuity, if you're interested.

Answer 2

anything by this dude Harry Turtledove. The Plot Against America by by Philip Ross. a connecticut yankee is king Arthur's court by mark twain although if you don't like him its boring.  

Answer 3

Helen of Troy by Margaret George

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

Answer 4

Definitely anything by Harry Turtledove.  He also writes under several pseudonyms.  He has been a history professor, so he knows his stuff, and he has written a ton of it.

L Sprague De Camp

Andre Norton

I don't list specific books because their styles are so different, you should probably sample each and find one you really like.  There is a wikipedia page with tons of lists of books and authors

Answer 5

The Other Boleyn Girl!!

Answer 6

The Year of the Hangman, by Gary Blackwood.

It may be a little young, depending on how old you are, but I enjoyed it very much. It's about the American Revolution, if the British (god forbid) were winning/won the war.

Swiftly, by Adam Roberts.

This is a good book, too, it's about "what if Gulliver's Travels wasn't total fiction," and it's interesting.

Go here- www.uchronia.net for a list of many, many alternate history novels.

I hope I helped.

-Miss Daisy

Answer 7

This has to be my favorite genre of fiction, so I will probably give you way too many recommendations. Here goes:

SM Stirling

-The Peshawar Lancers - an asteroid impacts with Earth in the late 19th century and the northern hemisphere is virtually unihabitable. European states are reestablished in their more southern colonies. Technology develops differently and the Russian Empire is attempting to take over the world.

-The Sky People/In the Courts of the Crimson Kings - a real throwback to the days of pulp sci-fi. Earth discovers that there is life on Venus and Mars and focuses their space efforts on colonizing these worlds and contacting the inhabitants, only to find that there is an odd connection between these inhabitants and Earth. Lots of fun to read.

-Islands in the Sea of Time series - The island of Nantucket and a Coast Guard ship are sent back in time 3,500 years and must learn how to survive, adapt and maintain their technology and create alliances with local tribes. Follow this up with the Dies the Fire series, which details what happens in "our" timeline after the event that sends Nantucket back into the past - electricity and gunpowder no longer work and they are thrown into pre-Industrial times and must relearn how to survive.

-You might also consider Conquistador, which is more of a parallel universe story.

Harry Turtledove - probably the master of Alternate History.

-Worldwar/Colonisation series - aliens attempt to conquer Earth, expecting a Medieval civilization but arrive at the height of World War II. Bitter enemies create interesting alliances in their struggle for survival.

- Great War/American Empire/Settling Accounts series - the South does not lose the Civil War and sets the stage for several generations of future conflicts.

-Days of Infamy, End of the Beginning - It is December 7, 1941, and the Japanese launch an attack against United States naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor. The Japanese follow up their air assault with an invasion and occupation of Hawaii. With American military forces subjugated and civilians living in fear of their conquerors, there is no one to stop the Japanese from using the islands' resources to launch an offensive against America's western coast.

-The Two Georges - instead of declaring independence from England, George Washington and George III declare peace, forever changing the future of the world. This is more of a mystery, but is set in an alternate history environment.

-You might also like some of his other works such as the Crosstime History novels or Household Gods, but I would consider these more as parallel universe stories than alternate history.

Eric Flint

-1632/Assiti Shards series - A small West Virginia town is transported back to the year 1632 in Germany in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Technology still works, but they must create alliances with locals and struggle to create new governments and monitor the spread of their technology as well as adapting it to existing times and means. There is also a ton of fan fiction that has been published as companions to these books.

-1812: Rivers of War and 1824: The Arkansas War - details the War of 1812 and The Arkansas War if some small incident had happened just slightly different.

John Birmingham

-Axis of Time trilogy - a modern naval task force is transported back in time to just before the Battle of Midway due to an accident with an experimental weapon trial. Not all of the ships arrive together, which sets the stage for a battle of future technology between American and Japanese forces in the Pacific.

You might also like the Merchant Princes series by Charles Stross, but this is more of a parallel universe story than alternate history.

I hope that you check some of these books out. Many of these books are among my favorites, and would be a good place to start for anyone interested in alternate history.

Answer 8

Watchmen by Alan Moore

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth