What Might Have Been, Vol. 4

This is not so much alternate Americas as the title would suggest, as alternate New Worlds. I think some of the stories in this collection make it the best of the volumes, and it is nice to see four female authors. The stories continue to make you think and contemplate on the way things could be, and therefore the way things are.But there are too few historical contingencies. Six stories deal with Columbus and three with Chinese expansion. When there is such a huge history of the Americas to deal with, it would have been nice to have more diversity- What if the Lost Tribes of Israel *had* made it here? What of that great book of alternate American history, the Book of Mormon? What if humans *hadn't* made it over the Bering Straight so early in our history? What if the colonization had come up from the Pacific Islands, as some historians believe it did in part? What if Hominids had made it over here much earlier and so had developed along Marsupial lines as did many other animals in South America? What if the colonies were all still under European control? One story on Columbus would have been sufficient- the plentitude of similarity became simply confusing. It also grew tiring to see Europeans repeatedly lambasted- they also did some good. Nor would any other culture's conquest necessarily been more beneficial to the Natives, as many authors would suggest. Evil lurks in the hearts of all men.Of the works on Columbus, the best was by the master Turtledove, with a very short letter detailing why exploration of the New World should not happen in Report of the Special Committee. Basically, if NASA had run the exploration of America. In Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail we get a humorous take on Columbus wandering into modern New York, seeing how an outsider would view our culture. It is more Fantasy than Sci-Fi, but a truly etic tale. Zebrowski continues with the quantum focus which he can't seem to escape in the poor Let Time Shape, where the Carthaginians establish an empire in the Americas, and are at a 19th Century level of technology when Columbus comes. Destination: Indies is the only story in this collection that was so stupid I didn't finish it. Columbus studies quantum mechanics and fights the "Dark Duke" who has a submarine with "microdemonic engineering". Ship Full of Jews was also disappointing- but what can one expect from Malzberg?- where Columbus has ships of Jews and felons, both being deported. The story ends suddenly with no clear idea of what was happening or about to happen. The Karamazov Caper has Columbus killed, a Reign of Ignorance begun so no European exploration occurs, Russia expands unchecked into the New World, and the Germans begin to do ethnic cleansing of Native Americans on the East Coast. It's a bit too many changes to take in, and the story takes place in Alaska, so it's not too different from our reality wherein Russia owned Alaska.Ink From the New Moon has Buddhists severely persecuted an

I love Asian history so "Round Eyed Barbarbarians", "Ink from the New Moon", & "The Sleeping Serpent" were my favorites. De Camp (Round Eyed Barbarians) is the master of the humorous alternate history story so William Sanders & Connie Willis are ,perhaps, more in his tradition than Turtledove. Turtledove's tried to be funny, but I wasn't impressed. Years after reading this I'd realize he has written some great stuff though so first impressions can be misleading. "Sleeping Serpent" by Sargent had some feminist points, but I don't remember it be as annoyingly preachy as later feminist sci-fi I would try. "Ink from the New Moon" was almost like a long poem about a suicidal Chinese man seeking a new life in a distant land & is in Dozois new alternate history anthology. I hope this doesn't sound anti-semitic, but the theme of Columbus being Jewish descended cropped up so often it made me wonder if it was true. I'm not sure if that idea cropped up so often because it has some truth in it or because it has emotional appeal. I wish one of the stories would've mentioned Muslim victims of the Inquisition, but oh well. (I'm Catholic by the way) The other stories are good ,if not too my taste, although Robinson's is more of a secret history or a history that could be true. As I recall it was also rather dry (Which is a common criticism of Kim Stanley Robinson I hear.) Red Alert by Oltion I thought was sort of lame. "If There Be Cause" by finch & "The Karamazov Caper" are the most memorable of the stories I disliked. Which means if you're of a different bent than me you might list them as the best stories in this anthology. Well I think I'll stop there.